Things that have made me smile this week

A few things over the last week or so have contrived to make me smile.

1: I saw this on Dave's Cartoon Church website: He was deciding whether he should confuse Pentecostal Christians by leaving these messages written on leaves at a conference centre type place. The whole thing made me chuckle out loud for minutes. Do take some time to look at his website, it's very funny. Particularly his reasonably affectionate battle with Times Religion columnist Ruth Gledhill.

"These are some leaves I wrote on and left on a bench for the Pentecostals to discover. I enjoy leaving messages for Pentecostals. You should try it."

2: I just finished reading a book by Tom Holt who is an author I like very much. The book is 'You Don't Have to be Evil to Work Here, But it Helps'. It made me smile a great deal. I like Tom Holt because he takes familiar myths and legends like Faust, Beowulf and King Arthur
(in the spectacularly named Grailblazers) and twists them in a very humorously English way.

3: I passed my PGCE and I'm now a proper teacher and everything, which has made me very happy indeed! I think this course has been the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, which only increases my satisfaction at passing. Last week we had our end of year get-together at our course tutor's house. It was a very enjoyable evening but it was a little bit sad to reflect on some of the people who hadn't made it to the end of the course. There was an alternative awards ceremony as part of the evening, which was rather fun. We had voted in advance in a variety of categories and I was most gratified to be awarded Most Ethical Trainee and Most Creative Trainee.

Better than an Oscar!

Amusingly, I received a few other nominations, the most inexplicable being Most Handsome Trainee. Luckily, justice prevailed and I didn't win that one, I think there are clearly some Newly Qualified Teachers who need a trip to the opticians...

Just need to sort myself a job now...

Movies
Children of Men *****

The Red Violin ****

Education, Education, Education

Now I am two weeks into my R.E teacher training, I have been pondering the purpose of Religious Education (R.E) in schools. I was reminded of this quote by Peter Drucker:

"When a subject becomes totally obsolete we make it a required course."

There is definitely some grains of truth in this statement I think. One of the questions I have been asking myself is whether R.E is an obsolete subject that has been made into a required course. Its a curious thing, but when people find out you are training to be an R.E teacher, they suddenly find within themselves the desire to engage you in deep and meaningful conversations. I certainly found this to be the case when I was a youth worker for the Church of England. But anyway, I have had many conversations over the last few weeks with people who are more than willing to tell me their opinions on R.E. These range from vehement, hate filled diatribes on the evils of R.E, through positive and openminded thoughts to vehement, hate filled diatribes on the evils of not exclusively teaching a particular religion

Some of the people I have spoken to have said that R.E has no place in today's schools because it is not relevant and raises too many difficult questions and issue. Well, I'm not sure I agree with that, (**caution - pretentious quote alert**) Aristotle once said "The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet." I think I can apply that to R.E, it may be hard or bitter but the fruit is sweet and more than worthwhile. As I've been pondering this question of whether R.E is worth teaching, I have come to realise that R.E is possibly more important than ever.

In today's overly secular society, giving young people the opportunity to look at things from an 'eternal' perspective is vital. The chance to see how people of different faiths live their lives is an amazing privilege both for teacher and pupil. We had a course trip out to the Jewish Museum at Cheetham Hill. It was absolutely fascinating to see this place which is still laid out like a synagogue and to talk to the Jewish gentleman about his faith. It brought it alive in a way that just reading about Judaism could never do.

Anway, enough seriousness, I think I will return to this topic when I have thought about it a bit more. Here are some movies

Kung Fu Hustle ****

The Mummy Returns **

(Watched with my Dad and 3 bottles of wine at some silly time in the morning! Interesting)

Inside Man ****

Wal Mart: The High Cost of Low Price ****

Children of Men ****

A terrifying freight train

I have just completed my first week as a trainee RE teacher. I'm not too sure how I feel about it just yet...

I think I would describe it as similar to being hit by a runaway freight train travelling at high speed and then being dragged along by said train screaming for it to slow down. I'm finding out early next week which school I will be doing my induction days in. I think I may blog more fully about my experiences then.

In the meantime, here is a marvellous penguin related thing:

OK - I've sorted my gifts for everyone I know this Christmas. Click on the picture for more crazy things. Just a little warning - there are some rude things, so if you are easily offended click this link instead

Due to aforementioned freight train-like experiences I haven't watched as many movies this week as I normally do, still here are a few:

Napoleon Dynamite ****
Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels ****
Hunt for Red October ****
Spellbound *****