Talented Young Writers' Workshop

What a privilege it is to be part of the Canterbury Literacy Association and the amazing opportunities they provide for education in Canterbury.

As a committee member, I got to spend the day at the Talented Young Illustrators' Workshop at Ferrymead. This day is designed as an opportunity for schools to put forward students with special skills and a special interest in illustrating. The two students that attended from my school were very excited about the day - and it exceeded their expectations.

I felt the same way!

The day started with Gavin Bishop who taught us all about understanding just what goes into a picture book. It's like an iceburg - most of the work is behind the scenes. Picture books have restrictions that novels don't and it takes a lot of thought to overcome those.

It turns out that a picture book has 32 pages all because of money! 32 pages fit on piece of paper. End papers do not count as the 32 pages but are part of the binding of a hard cover book. Page 1 and 32 are the only 'single' pages in a book, and the rest are 'double-page spreads'.

Illustrations begin with a story board, where double pages are designed together to compliment each other. The storyboard plans everything - including covers and titles. Consideration has to be given most importantly to the words - you don't want them crowded out by the illustrations. The illustrations for Gavin's Book 'Rat's' took six months. A book can take over a year from go to whoa - sometimes several years.

Pictures are so important to these stories. They fill out the story and sometimes introduce a new sub-story that you may not even notice the first time you read it. Take for example the page of rats that reads, "They invaded her bath." How many words would you need to describe that picture? 

Not only do you need to read the words - but also read the pictures. 

The students finished this workshop with the challenge to create an opening image for the nursery rhyme 'Sing a Song of Sixpence.'


I also really enjoyed listening to David Elliot - especially about his time working as a Zoo gatekeeper and living at the zoo - using that as inspiration for his art. He started making plasticine animals and began drawing them the way he made them - start with blobs then pinch, squeeze, pinch - add bits on and take bits off until you have a finished product.

David talked about using quiet lines to start the basic shape of your drawing and getting louder as you add the detail on each layer.

Most importantly her talked about not being afraid to make mistakes. Just make mistakes and think 'how can I make my mistake better?' A drawing is about half what you want it to be and half what it tells you it wants to be.

He also talked that he also uses this technique for writing. Start with an outline and re-write and mould it.



Our last workshop was with Stuart Hale, who talked us through taking amazing photos with an iPad. Rule one - turn your grid-lines on. Rule two - follow the rule of thirds rule. We had great fun taking photos and hunting for the Alphabet in nature!

Modern Learning Spaces v Flexible Learning Spaces

I love that moment when you realise your thinking has been challenged and, at the time - you didn't even recognise it. All of a sudden the penny drops and the fog clears.

A new colleague and leader said to me "So you have an interest in Modern Learning Environments." "Yeeeeeeah............ yip...........yip," I nodded and the conversation continued forming many question marks on my own philosophy. As I reflect on that now, I realise that my interest is not necessarily just on MLE but more about Flexible Learning Space.

I should note, that I tend to have the impression that the current view of a MLE to be an Open Learning Space. Whereas, a FLS is more about using or adapting a space you have to suit different situations.


Chris Bradbeer: Learning spaces from EDtalks on Vimeo.


I currently work in an 'old fashioned' single cell classroom with poor ventilation, poor acoustics and it's not all that attractive. I'm not complaining - it's workable, and we can't all have bright, shiny and new. I have some experience working in very collaborative and a not-so-collaborative school environment, and at my first school we used to do a class interchange for maths.

Within my single cell classroom, I use some Modern Learning strategies. E.g. Must-dos, Can-dos; no named desks; a variety of work surfaces such as standing desks, collaborative tables, cushions, partitioned areas etc.; opt-in workshops and many others. Some have worked better than others depending on the students in the class.

I actually really like working in my own class. I like that I know all my children personally and academically in all areas. I like that my timetable can be flexible enough to take advantage of teachable moments, without having to worry about any other teachers timetable. I like that the design accommodates a smaller number of people so it feels homely and the children have some ownership. I like that I know all of my students can achieve using the strategies WE (it's not all about me!) have put into place.

Aside from thinking noise and distraction would become a big factor not only for me personally, but also for the students, what would concern me in a shared teaching space is that when one teacher is ready to move from reading to writing, then that is when a lesson has to stop. It would concern me that although a student may be in my 'home-group' I may only see them during writing on a particular day. It would concern me that a student may get lost in a space and not feel that they have any one place that they feel truly comfortable in. It would concern me that some students would not handle the transitions and the lack of structure and possibly accountability.

I say that because of a student I know who demonstrates strong traits of autism. They came to my single-cell classroom (where at the beginning of the year, I was running a more rigid structure and slowly broke it down) from a MLE. This student was expected to cause some disruption within the classroom, which they did for a little while. With some support, high expectation and encouragement this student soon settled and I believe it largely had something to do with a tighter community-feel within the smaller space. In this case, ML Strategies within a single-cell classroom was the best learning experience for this student.

In a large, shared MLE I can see huge learning and development potential for myself, as all teachers that you work with have strengths and strategies. But, on the other hand, if you didn't share a philosophy it's going to make things difficult. It would work in the favour of the children, because as long as the school was big enough, and the children continued to move through, then they would have more exposure to a wider range of skills and strengths. There are also say 2-3 teachers who are putting their heads together for planning, delivery and assessment (In particular OTJs) of curriculum.

As happy as I am in my current classroom, I would like my students to have more opportunity to engage in more interactive learning activities with others. I would like our single-cell classrooms to have a joined breakout space/s and bi-fold doors so that the two classrooms can come together as one.


Anne Kenneally: Creating learning spaces from EDtalks on Vimeo.

A successful classroom is one where ALL students are engaged and ALL students are learning.

What experience do you have? I'd love to hear your thoughts.