Cape Town City Ballet

About 2 week ago we went to the CTCB open day, held at Baxter. We got to sit in on a rehearsal, a class and there were workshops on stage make-up etc. it was a fabulous morning! I

 particularly enjoyed the rehearsal as not only was the ballet beautiful, but the teacher/ director told stories about performances of the piece being rehearsed over the past half century. 

This past weekend we went to see the production we had seen rehearsed - Swan Lake. It was fabulous to see the dances we had seen rehearsed, and to know more of the background. #1 was particularly taken by it all, and I think her love of ballet has been taken to new heights.

However, what astounded me is that the final scene, in which Rotbart is killed and Odette is set free, made me cry. CRY!! I don't cry at ballet. Ever. Never ever. Yet, I cried in the final scene. The Odette dancer played her character so well, so beautifully I couldn't help myself.

One thing I can say for sure - I was so impressed with so many of the dancers, and with the scenery, an dust the whole experience, that I think we'll be making more of an effort to attend the ballet in future!

TWD

Human Rights Day is coming up (21 Mar, in case you forgot). Every year it's a bit of a non-event in my life. Sad, but true. I try to spend some time thinking about how hard various nameless and faceless (in most cases) people have fought for me to enjoy the life I do - everyone from the Brits and Yanks who won WWII to the Sufragettes, to the ANC during Apartheid. I spend time thinking about what Jesus, as the greatest human rights activitst, has done for humanity.

But that's as far as it gets.

I never personally go out there and do something to help others either appreciate the rights they have, or help those who aren't free to experience their rights.

This year is different.

This year I've signed up as a TWD activist. TWD - That Was Different. Check out the website. Essentially the idea is that activists will sign up to do something crazy or weird, and get sponsored to do it. The entire proceeds will be going to various educational projects based in Cape Town that are linked to the Common Good Foundation.

What am I doing? Well, I'm taking part in a dancing flashmob. Not just any flashmob. No sirree. I get to do Thriller, and Gangam style, amongst others.

So - apart from coming to watch me (I'll post final details closer to the time, but it will be on the 21st), why not sponsor me? I'm trying to raise R1500, and I'm currently about a third of the way there. C'mon - pay me to do some silly dances to help the kids in Cape Town get a better education. You know you want to!! How? Just go to my sponsorship page on GivenGain and click the button to donate by EFT or credit card. Easypeasy. (The money doesn't come to me directly. It sits in GivenGain's allocated account until the 21st, and is then paid directly to Common Good. I only mention that in case you're worried that I'm going to use some of it for myself... ;)) 

Neuroeducation

A bit of a mouthful, but apparently very good for you.

We had a (VERY) short ProGro presentation yesterday by some staff who'd been on a course. I found it fascinating, because it linked in with what I already knew about VAK learning and Brain Gym.

VAK stands for Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic. Kids predominantly learn in one or tow of these three ways. As teachers, if we want to help our kids, we need to be teaching in such a way as to allow kinesthetic and visual learners to access the curriculum, because most teachers teach in a predominantly auditory way.

Brain Gym are little exercises that help both hemispheres in the brain to be working simultaneously (rather than alternately in isolation).

So - neuroeducation.... The basic idea behind it started with a desire to use modern MRI scans to try and identify whether there really is a biological difference in the way that boys' and girls' brains develop, and if so, whether there is a biological difference in the way they learn. Once established, implications for pedagogy have been explored and discussed. The answer is that yes, there are biological differences, and that (as a gross generalisation) most teaching methods are aimed at girls.

Here are some stats I found fascinating (as I'm doing this purely from memory, I hope I get them right!):

> girls hear 17% louder than boys
> girls have 15% more bloodflow to the brain than boys
> as a result, boys struggle to concentrate and are distracted more easily
> age = length of time during which knowledge can be embedded, i.e. 13 years old = 13 minutes (after which concentration is lost)
> boys cannot process auditory information as well as girls can, so in a long sentence, the boys will only 'get' the first part - the rest is simply a cacophony of noise (and if you speak softly as well, they lose even more)
> boys have bigger eyes than girls, so are more visual than girls
> as a result, boys will not focus on your face, but will rather focus on your hands that are waving around (or fiddling with a pen)
> boys needs a high level of dopamine in their brains to embed knowledge (girls don't) - dopamine levels are increased by physical activity

I can't remember the rest. Sorry. What I found fascinating though is that some schools in Cape Town have already cottoned on to this to the extent that their timetable is structured around exercise. One school has 45 mins of compulsory exercise for all learners timetabled in every morning before lessons start. Another has built a walking track around the entire school and lessons are structured so as to make use of the track, with learners stopping at various points around the track to take part in an activity. The first example I can see working. I just don't have the creativity to see how I could structure my lessons around a walking track.... not on a regular basis.

At the conclusion of the session, we were encouraged, as staff, to get our kids dancing every 20 minutes. A selection of songs was made available to us, and some Brain Gym type of movements were demonstrated. In those classes where this is already being done, the teachers commented that the impact on learning is immediate - the kids still more quietly, the focus is increased, and the learning is increased. I really love the idea, but I'm a bit nervous about doing it. Given that I'm a visual learner, maybe I need to see it in action first?!?!

Dancing

This morning she was in such a mood for dancing. By the time we got the camera out to record her little wiggles, she was nearly bored by the activity, so she doesn't do it for long, but at least you get the general idea.