Pure magnetism...

   So I nonchalantly glanced over at my fridge this morning and realised even that isn't immune to the teacher touch! I'd like to point out that I have a very busy fridge exterior; drawings, photos, memos and...teacher-ish magnets.

   I bought the Shakespeare quote magnets years ago from the Globe Theatre. For those of you that don't know, the Globe was part owned by Shakespeare himself and is situated in Southwark, London. The magnet fashioned in the image of Fagin from ‘Oliver Twist' is a memento of a school trip. It harks back to a time when I was crazy enough to take 100 students (you heard right) to watch a performance in London. Apart from the timeless story, the big draw was that Rowan Atkinson was playing the villain of the piece. The students' rapturous delight when he walked on for the first time was unforgettable. 

   It's not so much the magnets, but the memories and feelings they invoke that make them a permanent feature on my fridge.

    

Chain reaction...

‘I wear the chain I forged in life'

So uttered the ghost of Jacob Marley. The links in his ponderous chain represented his preoccupations, wrongdoings and sins. To put this idea to my learners in a thought-provoking way, we ‘forged' a class chain. Each student was given a strip of paper and on this they wrote their regrets and wrongdoings. I promised anonymity and received some downright hilarious (and slightly worrying) confessions. The links were put together and stuck up in my classroom.

I can't take credit for this lovely idea; it comes from an equally chic friend and colleague of mine.