I am writing this on a bleak Sunday night in the ‘Tron and posting via a dodgy internet connection that only works when I nudge up against the hotel room window.
And yet the circumstances cannot dampen the raw excitement I feel about George.
Firstly because I am at last smart enough to spell his name correctly. When I was about seven or eight – attending a little oil company primary school in the Middle East – we had to write down the lyrics to our favourite song. My favourite song at the time was about a “Blacksmith” – a highly relevant context for a student living in a Caltex Oil camp in the middle of the desert where camels and cars were how people got around – but that’s just how it was.
I had fallen like a stone for George on our first introduction, and sang with great fervour (and at every opportunity) about his big hammer …. and all his clang and clamour … so with much love and little foresight I wrote out the following and handed it in.
GORGE THE BLACKSMITH
That’s Gorge that I hear
He swings his big hammer
The clang and the clamour
Keep time with his swinging
As bells were a-ringing
Through alley and square.
The other kids were merciless – for some it was the choice of song – they were undoubtedly more alert than I to other interpretations of what George was swinging – for the rest it was the spelling – my efforts kept them helpless with laughter all interval and were mimicked for much of the rest of the week.
Finally [insert large number] years later – Essential Resources NZ have offered me a chance for redemption. They have illustrated and then published some writing featuring George– offering a simple explanation of SOLO Taxonomy – in a children’s picture book.
On Friday afternoon, at the finish of my keynote on “SOLO Taxonomy and student achievement” – given at the dead ‘brill Waimairi School hosted ThinkForward Conference in Christchurch – the publisher pulled some books out of her bag and I got to see George in the real rather than the proofs.
WOW and WOW and WOW and WOW.
It turns out I am still in love with George – even though he has swapped his big hammer for a cheese scone.
So the second reason I am so excited about George is the starring role he takes in explaining SOLO Taxonomy to children in the Essential Resources children’s picture book. George does a great job – it is a lovely book .
The picture book got great feedback from teachers in the trade hall of the ThinkForward Conference –
It is brilliantly illustrated and published by Essential Resources NZ – who are I might add the best ever source of teaching and learning materials on class-room based approaches to SOLO Taxonomy.
A Children’s Guide to SOLO Taxonomy: Five easy steps to deep learning. By Pam Hook
You should get your copy now.
