The Brave one

Being a whistleblower is, on a personal level, very damaging. Telling a group of people more powerful than you to go fuck themselves while you tell everyone else about the secrets they don't want you to isn't something that you are going to get away with.

And yet whistleblowers are critical for good democracy, sometimes they're the only way we will find out what is truly going on. I can't say I'm surprised to find that governments are tracking pretty much everything online, I guess I always assumed they were, irrespective of their denials, but it's nice to get some confirmation of this.

The courage of Edward Snowden is impressive. Here's a man with a great income, a comfortable life, and he chooses to throw that away so that we can find out that our private information is indeed being tracked. No doubt, every little thing he has done in his life will soon be blown up into huge crimes to help divert attention from the information he has provided. Such is the lot of the whistleblower. 

Full credit to http://www.guardian.co.uk/ for having the nerve to push this so hard. It is with some disappointment, though little surprise,  that I see the Australian press very much underplaying the story. They give more emphasis to when Facebook change their website or Google posts an unusual doodle than they have to this. Their big emphasis the last few days has been the on again off again leadership machinations of the Australian Labor Party!

Well, it is news as entertainment and that's just not entertaining enough. I've barely seen a peep bout the topic on my social networking feeds. Nor have any of my friends or family contacted me seeking my views. All signs of a general lack of interest.

We humans aren't always very good at discussing issues that matter.

Book of the Week: Touchback

Touchback is the story of Scott Murphy, a bitter, frustrated, depressed former high school American football star. Crippled in his last game before embarking on a college and professional career, Murphy has struggled in life since, unable to properly provide for his wife and daughters subsequently, haunted by the memories of what his life could have been. Pushed beyond his endurance by his latest failings, he attempts suicide and finds himself back in time, a week before the pivotal game, in full possession of his memories. He must choose whether to change his life at this time, or to accept it.

As a middle aged man with a family, his battles to provide for his family rang very true for me, and I loved the willingness of Don Handfield to write a novel that is willing to go into the heart of  a man's emotions. His presentation of American small town life conveyed humour, pathos and empathy in equal measures. While his final decision was fairly predictable, the journey he took to get there wasn't and the characters we spend time with along the way were consistently engaging. The re-telling of the game was captivating and the ending left me with the tears that I'm sure Don Handfield was hoping would appear.

Shoeless Joe covered some of the same ground and Handfield was equally wise in not attempting to explain how the time travel occurred, as such explanations inevitably tug at one's suspension of disbelief. All the American football knowledge required to read this book is that quarterbacks are the key to the game.

I picked this up for free on Kindle based upon some solid reviews. Recommended.
http://www.amazon.com/Touchback-ebook/dp/B007TXT9XA

Books

Reading has always been a giant passion of mine. It wouldn't be inappropriate to call them the greatest passion of my life (until I met Kristy). Books have provided me with many of the great moments of my life. We have 9 full bookcases in our house and number 10 is on the drawing board.

I was asked once about the last time that I had gone a day without reading a book of any sort. I wasn't able to give a definitive answer, but my guess is that it hasn't happened in my adult life. So it's inevitable that books are going to find their way into this blog.

I'm going to write some posts about my favourite books and books I am reading. I will label the posts Book of the Week. I'm going to start with a book I've only recently read, but that won't always be the case.

Best Australian Test cricket side since 1985

The current Australian side doesn't quite bring the same joy and satisfaction to the spectator as some of its predecessors did, so it seems as good a time as any to take a look back at the great era and pick out the best combined side I can think of.

The entry date is 1985, several of the top players were in by then. More to the point, Lillee, Chappell and Marsh were retired by this point and that marked the change of eras. The team is being chosen for a series against the West Indies best team from the 80s and 90s


Openers: There are so many strong candidates here, David Boon, Mark Taylor, Michael Slater, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer. Matthew Hayden was clearly the strongest candidate statistically and I chose to go with him, despite some concerns about how he would go against top notch pace bowling, which he didn't have to face that much of during his peak years in the team. Similar concerns exist for Justin Langer, I can't help but feel he wouldn't see out a series v the West Indies because he would take too many shots to the head, that hit in his debut test proved to be prophetic. Mark Taylor was a good opener and played very well against some quality Pakistani attacks but often struggled a little against the West Indies pace bowlers. Michael Slater may have struggled a little to maintain the discipline required against the skills of the West Indies pace quarter. Consequently I settled on David Boon. Boon was a very disciplined, controlled player who was a very capable handler of fast bowling. He didn't have the range of shots that Langer and Slater demonstrated but he played quite well against the West Indies and that tips the balance in his favour.

Number 3: David Boon and Ricky Ponting are the candidates but Ponting is so far ahead of Boon as a batsman that it isn't much of a contest. Ponting walks in. Like Richards, Ponting's attacking game faded a bit towards the end but he was clearly the outstanding Australian batsman of the era. Ponting was a good player of pace too. Consequently Boonie was pushed back up with the openers for consideration.

Number 4: Mark Waugh came up against Allan Border here, and as good as Mark was, Border's technique was better, he was as good a player of spin as Waugh was and he was a superb fielder. Additionally, I needed a captain and chose Border because he would be heavily respected by all the other players, being the most senior and they might not feel totally comfortable if he wasn't the captain. And I think Border, Ponting and Waugh are fairly similar when it comes to conservative captaincy so not much difference there. Had Clarke or Taylor made the team, I think I would have made them deal with being uncomfortable :)

Number 5: Steve Waugh: It's fair to say that I am largely in agreement with Ian Chappell re Steve Waugh. I think the argument that he was a selfish batsman has merit, and it's reflected by the low number of run outs he suffered despite being involved with plenty and it's also reflected in his not outs where he played very conservatively at the end of an innings, even if quick runs were needed Unless, of course, he was within range of a hundred, in which case all sorts of risky and unconventional slogs were pulled out for display. I think his captaincy skills were overrated and that he struggled on those rare days when the team was getting beat up.

BUT, he was a fabulous batsman even so. He had to change his batting approach because his more aggressive, devil may care attitude had led him out of the side. He was a good player of pace bowling despite not always looking comfortable against it, admittedly one wonders what might have happened had the bowlers pitched it up a bit more but they didn't so ... And he once he got on top he put teams away, Mark didn't, Mark got his good 70 or 80 and sometimes a ton and then he departed, content with a job well done.

Number 6: Michael Hussey: Ultimately, Hussey is the man who removed Mark Waugh from this team, if Hussey wasn't so good, I'd have picked Mark at 4 and moved the next 2 men down a slot. Hussey had fabulous technique, superb powers of concentration, he was an agile, reliable fielder, a superb runner between wickets. He seemed equally at home against pace or spin and was very good at pacing his innings. He batted well with the tail and could accelerate an innings when needed. One of the most complete cricketers I have seen.

Number 7: Adam Gilchrist: Very much a philosophical choice here. I consider Ian Healy to be the better keeper and Adam Gilchrist to be the better batsman. I think Gilchrist can make up for the likelihood he might drop more than Healy with his ability to hit hundreds that turn a game around. I wonder if I'm picking him partly because I loved watching him bat, being the purest striker of a cricket ball I have ever seen. Or do I just have it in for Ian Healy because he dropped Brian Lara in Barbados in 99 and missed that stumping off Warne against Pakistan?!!

Number 8: Shane Warne: An obvious choice. As good a spinner as any we've ever had, tremendous competitor, reliable slips catcher, handy lower order batsman. I think I enjoyed watching Warne bowl more than any other Australian I have seen bowl.

Number 9: Jason Gillespie: A very good bowler at his peak, he was quick and accurate. Injury problems were reasonably common but that can't be helped. When available, he was very good. He was also a top notch tailender. His disciplined approach to batting really stood out, he was very willing to keep blocking as long as it was needed. The double century against Bangladesh probably showed him he had a little bit more than good defence to offer as a batsman, as he produced some fine 1st class scores subsequently.

Number 10: Craig McDermott: This was a tough one! Craig also had some injury problems and he was up against Brett Lee for a place in this team. I think Craig was a little more accurate than Brett at his peak and consequently, a little more likely to get wickets. Both were useful lower order players although I would rate Lee higher in this category and I'd give Brett the points for fielding too.

Number 11: Glenn McGrath. Well, who else is going to be picked here?! Like Warne, a very straightforward choice. Incredibly accurate, very fit, rarely injured, very competitive, and became a handy #11 through sheer stubborness. Strong throwing arm and safe hands in the outfield.

What are your thoughts?

I am a writer

A year ago, I claimed that I was organising this blog. It did not happen, I was claiming that I would use it for my teacher librarian course, but that didn't happen either.

What brings me back here then? A desire to spend my time doing more things that are fulfilling, as opposed to things that are fun, but ultimately don't contribute to living a richer, active life. A wish to live up to, even in just a small way, the sentiments expressed so movingly by Neil Gaiman in his New Years Day posts. http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2011/12/my-new-year-wish.html

This is my little attempt to make something that didn't exist before, to help it find an audience, to share some of who I am. To write more and dream of writing less. Sharon Astyk wrote that " The personal is the political" so I would like to look at my beliefs and ideas and experiences through that personal prism.

Initially I used blogging to upload the many travelogues I wrote on past trips. I wanted those pieces to have a wider audience but I never went out and found them one. I intend to re-visit those pieces and add images to them from my own photos where possible and from other sources where it isn't. 
I propose to finally write some pieces about my honeymoon with the wonderful Kristy. My dear friend Michael is becoming an old man waiting for my take on the great city of London, I intend to show him that it was merely a long delayed piece, rather than a hypothetical.

I want to talk about my goals and what I am doing to achieve them, I want to hear what your goals are, and how you are trying to live out your ideals in the real world.

I want to share with you some of my favourite corners of the Internet and what makes them work for me, and I want to hear what sites have helped shape and guide you.

I want to become a small part of the blogging community here and have an online presence where we can share a little of who we are, I spent many years as a passionate member of the Internet Chess Club, and I truly miss that online community that once existed there.

What sort of topics can I envision being discussed here? I am a husband, a father, a teacher, a secular humanist, a reader, a lover of learning, a hypocritical environmentalist, so I expect many of my posts will revolve around those themes.

At this stage though, I don't want to limit myself , I would rather let some of the themes of the blog develop over time. I'm not writing this blog to make my fortune or to become famous. I'm writing it because I want to share my thoughts and experiences with others. I want to be an active writer, not an imaginary one. I want to write with energy and passion and focus, and I want to write regularly instead of sporadically. To realise that I set up this blog over 5 years ago and that I have simply let it drift is to be reminded of how much time I have frittered away in my life. I am 42 now and past the halfway stage of my life. I wish to do more fulfilling things with the time that remains for me, for I have realised that it isn't the experiences we have that we ultimately regret. Rather, we regret the things we do not do.

So, here I am, making a step forward in my life, along a path that has called to me for so long. I took the road more travelled by, and only now have I made my way to another crossroad. From this day forth, when people ask me what I do, I will add one phrase.

I am a writer.

Another year over

Last February, I had signed up to attempt a teacher librarian course. That did not last, and it didn't last because I had no passion for it. This year, I am trying to start my own tutoring business. I believe I have a greater passion for that, which wouldn't be too difficult I grant you!

So, another attempt to turn wentreport.com into a regular blog that garners some occassional readers.

I make no promises to regularly update at this stage. I do promise to write about things I have a passion for. I promise to write with as much energy and vigour as I can. This is a blog where I would like to share my views and opinions about many topics. I would like those views to prompt reasoned, critical, thoughtful, respectful discussion. The discussion area is not run democratically. Trolls will be head butted off the bridge and sent down the river, never to be seen again.

What is the role of a teacher librarian?

This is definitely a compulsory post for my course :)

But I do not consider that this means that the question is not of relevance. If one does not bring a guiding philosophy to one's job, how is it possible to do it well? Other than browsing through the textbooks for this semester, I haven't initiated any specific readings for this question. This is stream of consciousness type stuff and is completely subject to revision in the light of subsequent study, discussions and readings. Consistency is the mark of a closed mind.

It's clearly the role of the teacher librarian to run the library. Books need to be accessioned quickly, they need to be shelved properly, teacher resources need to be well organised and accessible. The best collection of books in the world is of no use if it's just piled in a heap. Scholarship is not feasible without well organised resources. Teacher librarians need to be skilled at teaching students and teachers how to access information in its myriad of forms. So it is part of their role to educate people about information access, and the pitfalls involved within.

I believe that teacher librarians are advocates for information. It isn't enough to have a well stocked and organised library if the children are not patronising it or using it enthusiastically and knowledgeably. It isn't enough to have a well organised set of teachers resources about a unit if the teachers don't know it's there. It isn't enough to know where the best internet sites are for a particular topic if no one knows where to find the links when they access the network.

The ability to communicate with a wide range of people, then, becomes a critical part of the teacher librarian's role. It isn't possible to sell the importance of reading unless you are communicating effectively. If people are unaware of what it is in the library, the quality of said collection becomes irrelevant. The teacher librarian is the focal point for the school's information resources.

Teacher librarians need to advocate the importance of silent reading within the school, the importance of telling stories within the school, the vital place of literature within learning.
This has become an important part of my conception of the role because it is not happening in a majority of the schools that I work in. And as a casual teacher, I have worked in a lot of schools in recent years. The idea that uninterrupted, sustained, silent reading is a valuable,indeed critical,  part of the school curriculum might be getting some lip service here and there but I am not aware of any primary schools that I have worked in recently where there is a schoolwide program for it.The quality of the classroom libraries that I visit is certainly a silent witness to the fact that silent reading isn't happening. What self respecting student would want to read the dreary rubbish that purports to be a classroom library in numerous schools where I work? Some individual teachers have provided, out of their own pockets, some excellent classroom libraries but this is definitely not the norm.

Similarly, the amount of stories being read to kids seems to be dropping significantly in the schools that I work in, even, dare I say it, in the libraries themselves. As the evidence that these are 2 things that contribute significantly to high academic outcomes is overwhelming, I feel it is a vital part of the teacher librarian's role to advocate for them.

There is much more to be said about the role of a teacher librarian, and it is a topic that I anticipate re-visiting. For now though, this will suffice.