I live in Knebworth, Hertfordshire, and I’ve taught for 20 years. For a while I made it my new year’s resolution to learn a new skill each year as I thought it would be good to show students that learning never stops, even as you get older. Over the years, I learned how to play the bass, sew, knit, write poetry, and tap dance – and this picture of me is a self-portrait.
Whatever my new experience was, it always made for a good assembly about what I had learned. Now I’ve stopped that but I’m still passionate about learning and spend much of my time experimenting with techniques in the classroom. I’ve also continued with some of the skills – I am currently the bass player in the staff band (we’re called The Lines and I’ve started writing poetry again after reading Glyn Maxwell’s excellent book Drinks With Dead Poets, which I purchased because the Guardian’s review of it was so positive and his last book, On Poetry, was fantastic.
I’ve read the Guardian for more than two decades, particularly on Saturdays, when I enjoy the magazine (especially the crossword, which we do as a family over lunch) and Bim Adewunmi’s celebrity crush, the Review section, the sport and the wonderful Guide. I then spend most of the week reading the main paper over breakfast. I follow the Guardian online and will often retweet (especially Aditya Chakrabortty @chakrabortty). I’ll sometimes use George Monbiot articles to start debates in my economics class. He is a joy to read but my students think he’s incredibly biased. The Captive State was my favourite book for a long while. I am a big fan of Martin Rowson and Tom Gauld and, again, often use Guardian cartoons as a starter in my classroom. I have recently read Tom’s MoonCop, which was a beautiful, bleak read. The beauty of the Guardian is the wide variety of commentators in the Opinion section.
I do sometimes get slightly dismayed when the Guardian enters the fray into frivolous celebrity culture or has a fashion spread that no average punter can afford. But generally, it’s a fantastic newspaper and I will keep on supporting it as long as I can. Oh, and I’m also quite proud that one of my old students Jack Shenker wrote and still writes occasionally for the Guardian. His book, The Egyptians: A Radical Story, is brilliant!
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