Christmas Concerts

This last weekend is traditionally the start of Christmas for us.  Friday night was the annual CLIC - Sargent carol Concert at the Glasgow royal concert Hall.  This event is organised by a voluntary committee of which Beth is a member and she allows me to tag along and help.

The concert raises funds for CLIC - Sargent which some of you know were a great support to us in the past and getting involved allows us to put something back into a great organisation.  The carol concert is a great way to kick of the Christmas season and if you like a good sing then I would recommend it for next year.

Checking your sources

Wandering the internet requires a certain degree of cynicism and there are a few places I trust more than others. Usually these are reputable newspapers or well respected news sources.

When I do get a questionable story or email I often head for http://www.snopes.com/ where there is a usually a reference to some of the crazier stories that circulate. This week for example I received the following from one of my regulars who has a habit of forwarding without checking.

“ From a friend in Houston.

Today I went to the Harwin Central Mall to pick up some crystals.. The very first store that you come to when you walk from the lobby of the building into the shopping area had this sign posted on their door. The shop is run by Muslims. I couldn't stay in the building, it made me so sick.

Feel free to share this with others. There then follows a picture of a sign followed by this text “Imam Ali flew one of the planes into the twin towers. Nice huh? Religion of peace my #!#.....

I WOULD NEVER SET FOOT IN THAT MALL !!!!!!"

Ever sceptical I headed for snopes.com and read their article. What do you think?

SNPICL AGM & Annual Lecture

Last Thursday I attended the SNPICL AGM and inaugural Annual Lecture held at Stirling management centre. The management Centre is a fine place to have an event such as this with well proportioned rooms and good support staff, not sure how expensive it is but well worth a look if you are looking for a Central Scotland venue.
The AGM itself was businesslike and we had just enough time to complete a very full agenda before the lecture. I for my sins managed to give up the membership Secretary's post only to become the Vice-convener.
The lecture by professor Charles DesForges was very interesting, he talked about the research he had undertaken on behalf of England's Department for Education and Skills. (report here)  and its implications for those interested in parental Involvement in their children's education.
A very entertaining presenter he had some challenging ideas for those attending and certainly sparked some debate on the evening and in the car on the way home. If you have the opportunity to hear him on another occasion I would recommend attending.

16 days of Action for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

The 25 November saw the launch of the Campaign to eliminate violence against women and the start of the 16 Days of Action. The East Dunbartonshire launch included a presentation from Michael Kaufman from the White Ribbon Campaign
I have worn my white ribbon for several years now after having obtained at a violence reduction conference the ribbon symbolises my pledge to never commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women.
Michaels talk was very powerful and highlighted a very positive message about how we as men can contribute to the sterling work women have undertaken already on this problem and ensure that our sons and daughters will not have to face the scourge of violence against women so prevalent in Scotland today.
If you are interested in discovering more about how you can contribute to the campaign visit the White Ribbon Scotland site.
Michael Kaufman's own site at http://www.michaelkaufman.com/ also gives some interesting support materials for work with men and boys.

Spirit of Thanksgiving

I was privileged a few years back to attend an Tony Robbins event in London and that was the most inspiring event I think I ever attended. The enthusiasm and the energy of the event lasted well into the following year and I still draw on some of the techniques he offered that weekend today.


I sometimes get emails from Tony Robbins and there was one recently that I would like to share with you. As someone with strong connections to America I have always been aware of their Thanksgiving Holiday and I really admire what the Anthony Robbins Foundation does at this time of year and I would recommend that you listen to the video at Tony Robbins Blog.

And a Happy Thanksgiving to all when it comes

Understandable Statistics

Finding usable statistics for a particular area can be very difficult but the Scottish Government web site has two very good sources of information which I use a lot especially at work.

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation site http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/SIMD/ has great interactive maps that you can query for an area.

The Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics page http://www.sns.gov.uk/ has a great set of tools to provide data to your desktop. In these days where producing evidence for all that you do both are well worth bookmarking.

Working the web

At the recent Scottish learning Festival I had the pleasure of listening to David Noble from Hillside School in Fife who gave us a flavour of some of the ways he is using web technologies with fellow teachers to meet and explore views.

I found his talk very stimulating and therefore think that you might find some of his bloggs and links work looking at view David's blog at http://edonis.ning.com/profile/DavidNoble

Blogging on the Move

Blogging on the move is a feature I haven't yet tried so this will be the first posting using the email process, hopefully it will work.

have been trying to use GLOW to access the SNPICL group but no success so far. Not sure what the problem is but will keep trying and let you know how it works when I finally get access.
--
Robert Kelso
for fans of chess visit www.cumbernauldchess.co.uk

Parental Involvement

Those who know me will know that I am involved in the Scottish network for Parental Involvement In Childrens Learning SNPICL.  This is a voluntary grouping of staff who work mainly with parents around Scotland.  We have developed a web site at http://www.snpicl.org.uk/ which has a fair amount of information about us and is well worth a look.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog page, I previously operated one while I was running for the local Council and it seemed a shame to waste the account so I have started to use it now to log items of interest from my travels across the web.

I am not sure how frequent the comments will be but lets see how things develop.