It is sort of Easter, officially known as the end of term two holidays, so sundry Lawrences have headed off on holiday, this time to Taman Negara otherwise known as the national forest of Malaysia. More of that anon, but because it is the holiday season for my school that means that plenty of teachers are on holiday including Trixie's class teacher, who along with three other colleagues walked past us near to the ferry / river area yesterday. After exchanging pleasantries with the party, that also included Edwin's physics teacher and his history teacher, we went on our way only for Trixie to shout out at the top of her voice "That was weird." Her class teacher called her over, much more quietly, and did that quick change of role from tourist to teacher and replied "Too loud, Trixie." No teacher ever wants their cover blown, least of all by their students.
Today we followed well laid out paths and walkways around the jungle that led us along the river, up hills and up to a canopy walk that was much enjoyed by the kids. Despite slightly aching knees I agreed to Trixie and Rupert's request to clamber up the canopy walk for a second turn, crossing seven walkways high up in the trees. The adventurousness of the ten year old girl and eleven year old boy is quite a spur. Edwin and Lexi led an advanced party on to a riverside restaurant to buy cold drinks. The mango lassis they tracked down were marvellous.
Taman Negara is a 200km plus drive from KL but it was also a culinary journey as well as a bit of a trek. A good way into our drive and well off the motorway we drove past a rotisserie chicken seller closely followed by a smoked fish stall. Soon after that we found a town and bought rice and noodles to go with an excellent lunch. Trying out my almost non existent Bahasa I confidently ordered two
smoked fish, combining my knowledge of satu, duo, tiga, umpat and lima, and my ability to read a sign. All of this was watched by Lawrence children who have had countless Bahasa lessons. Do I sound like an old git if I start gabbling on about "What do they teach them in language lessons?" Fortunately Trixie's Bahasa teacher was not part of the gang that we passed yesterday.
The jungle area here is battling against the progress of time in the form of oil palm, and thanks to various measures it is succeeding. A different organisation that is resisting the progress of time are the various exam boards. Last week in school marked the annual daftest week of the year in that it was the week when my department colleagues and I had to finish and then submit the IGCSE Drama coursework. We had already completed the marking and moderating of all 20 plus monologues, devised and scripted plays and then had to fill various forms and make a DVD of the students' work.
It was the DVD that caused the most hassle and really didn't need to be that way. Quite why exam boards insist on schools spending ages making DVDs and then posting them along with paper copies of mark sheets is beyond me. The exam board that my school uses is regarded as the elite, but I reckon is around 14 years behind the time. The board have not yet agreed to accept video of students' work on memory sticks (something that would at least cut out one part of the DVD making process). I first discovered memory sticks in 2003. Coupled with the still as yet unchallenged way of handwriting for several hours as a form of assessment the DVD is a ball and chain around our collective Drama teaching necks. Video file sharing is so easy and can be made secure very easily that renders making DVDs obsolete. When I asked my class of year eleven students about how they would share video material with each other they suggested all the many ways that it could be done easily and helpfully roared with laughter when I told them about making DVDs. Come on exam boards. Get with the times.