Over the last few days we kept discovering links to these two videos. We've now watched them multiple times - enjoying the talent of this 'spoken-word artist', contemplating the content from different perspectives and debating how difficult it is to change any large-scale system - especially when power and differing values are involved.

Take a look - we'd love to hear your thoughts.  

This week has been a mixture of reading, research, meetings and school visits. After ruminating on the various documents available for the new LNF in Wales (National Literacy and Numeracy Framework - statutory from September 2013), we turned to our most recent book purchase…for some light reading!

Are you smart enough to work at Google? (William Poundstone)
The interview experiences and questions were immediately engaging and provocative. It challenged our thinking. It made us reflect on how we would act in such interview situations. And, ultimately, we needed to put the book down for a while as our brains began to hurt!

As we continued to work our way through some of the puzzles described, we began to wonder how learners of different ages would react. As adults, we tend to immediately self-check our responses and suggestions - often choosing to remain quiet if we perceive that an idea may be met with negative reactions from peers. How does this affect our ability to think creatively and explore multiple options. Do we limit ourselves?

We shall leave you to ponder two of the interview questions included in the book. (The second of the questions reminded us (slightly!) of one of our problem-based tasks for 3-5 year olds regarding Humpty Dumpty - how can we prevent him from 'cracking' every time he falls off the wall?)

Interview Question:
"You are shrunk to the height of a penny and thrown into a blender. Your mass is reduced so that your density is the same as usual. The blades start moving in sixty seconds. What do you do?"

Interview Question:
"You work in a 100-storey building and are given two identical eggs. You have to determine the highest floor from which an egg can be dropped without breaking. You are allowed to break both eggs in the process. How many drops would it take you to do it?

It is always great to have the opportunity to spend time in a school... and even better when you are met with smiles from everyone and genuinely welcomed into the environment.

Thank you to Mark Carrington for the invitation and hosting the afternoon. A tour of the school, a brief 'hello' with every member of staff and all classes...followed by discussions about 'visions and values' - an afternoon well spent. Loved the community feeling as we walked around...children eager to engage in conversation (and loving the one who has chosen to create a PowerPoint all about chocolate!).

Really looking forward to facilitating Twynyrodyn Community School INSET day in September - we are anticipating more smiles along with a shared community focus as everyone engages in discussions about vision and values.

After months…even a year... of debating how we were going to proceed with our website, we finally decided on using weebly. 

After settling on weebly, we have to say the process was easy, the support features were incredibly useful and we are really happy with the result. Although there is a 'free' version of weebly, we opted to go 'pro' - which, in terms of what is on offer, is pretty reasonable in its pricing. 

Today we have published the newest addition to the website - the 'snippets' section. Many of the people we work with tell us they are not comfortable signing up to our Facebook book page or Twitter account - this may be due to personal reasons or the result of professional 'workplace' regulations and policies. Our wordpress blog is a forum for longer blogs and articles. We needed something that bridged the gap - a place to publish quick updates and links that could be accessible to anyone. So, welcome to our new space - 'Snippets'. 

We have activated the 'comments' feature and would love you to use this facility…or 'share' any posts if you are a social media site user. 

Finally, if you are looking for a way to build a website, we would highly recommend 'weebly'. If you want to ask us anything specific about our experience whilst designing and publishing our new website, leave a comment and we will get back to you… 

An unexpected 'meet-up' with Karen Workman led to much laughter and learning today. Karen had recently attended an 'Apple Teacher Institute' and was keen to share her experience. We ended up in 'app' heaven! Anyone with access to an iPad who wants a great way to create and publish comic strips…try out 'Strip Design' from the app store. 

Simple to use, lots of templates to choose from…great for all ages.