Dear all,
Sorry I have been away for so long, but it's been a very busy week.
Below are some links to some websites that will be very useful for your discursive essay writing.
International Debate Education Association (IDEA) - By far the best site. Found thanks to Mrs O'Donnell. Brilliant. Type in your topic and it gives you background on it, then the positive (Pros) arguments and the hostile (Cons). In other words, your essay in a nutshell. Genius. There's even stuff on the UN, on Scottish Independence, Prostitution and Animal Rights, amongst many others. I would suggest that if you are having any problems with finding information on your subject, then go to the IDEA website and find a new one. So much nicer; so much easier.
BBC Ethics Site - extremely good stuff on female circumcision and torture, as well as other topics.
BBC Open University Ethics Site - a good site for a more in-depth look at some issues. Obviously, quite complicated.
I also know that those of you looking at graffiti have been having some issues with your research. The links below might help.
Graffiti: Art or Vandalism?
Yahoo Answers on the subject
Newsround on Graffiti
Why Whitewashing Graffiti is the real Vandalism
Hope these help. Happy researching.
Mr K.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
3rd Year English - In Joke Alert Amendment
Just for the record:
"What we know we don't, or what we think we knew, but we could if we knew."
That's that clear then!
Mr K.
"What we know we don't, or what we think we knew, but we could if we knew."
That's that clear then!
Mr K.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
3rd Year English - In Joke Alert
Dear Enlightenment Seekers
Just a short post to help bring light into your dark souls. Below is piece of philosophy by third years for third years:
If you know something that you know you may not know what you knew you know; that knowing it, you may no longer know what you know.
Hope that clears things up!
Mr K.
P.S. Anyone who can provide me with the actual quotation from the presentation on the trustworthiness of our senses will win a prize. I say a prize - I actually mean my eternal gratitude and respect.
Just a short post to help bring light into your dark souls. Below is piece of philosophy by third years for third years:
If you know something that you know you may not know what you knew you know; that knowing it, you may no longer know what you know.
Hope that clears things up!
Mr K.
P.S. Anyone who can provide me with the actual quotation from the presentation on the trustworthiness of our senses will win a prize. I say a prize - I actually mean my eternal gratitude and respect.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Higher English - The Textual Analysis NAB Has Moved
Good News Hunter,
You may be delighted to hear that your Textual Analysis NAB has been put back a week. You will now be taking the NAB on Friday 27th February. Does that make you feel a little better? A little bit of breathing space for you. It's a department decision, so all Year 5 & 6 pupils will be doing it that week.
Hoorah!
Mr K.
You may be delighted to hear that your Textual Analysis NAB has been put back a week. You will now be taking the NAB on Friday 27th February. Does that make you feel a little better? A little bit of breathing space for you. It's a department decision, so all Year 5 & 6 pupils will be doing it that week.
Hoorah!
Mr K.
Higher English - Stephen Fry Stuff
Oh committed academic,
As you may have been aware, I am planning to get you to study a Stephen Fry podcast for your Higher English Paper 2 once we have finished Ethan Frome. So if you want to get ahead of the game, here's some stuff to help you do that.
I have included a link to the Stephen Fry podcast on language below, as well as the text version of the podcast, in case you wish to read it/listen to it in advance of studying it. How exciting is this? You now realise that by stealthily sneaking to this blog, you will get advance warning of work. Does that make me really sad that I find this exciting? Either way, here are the links:
Don't Mind Your Language Podcast - You can either get it via i-Tunes or click on the Subscribe via direct RSS link button and it will take you to a new page. There you can right-click the file you want and Save Location/Link As. This should allow you to download it. It is up to you whether you get the Audio Only version or the one with pictures too. However, the Audio Visual one is rubbish. It just means you get a still picture of Stephen Fry smirking at you for the entire episode. Unless that floats you boat, I would just plump for the Audio version and plonk it on your mp3 player of choice.
Don't Mind Your Language Text Version - This is the text of the podcast. It is this you will be studying. This is an early version of the resource, as it contains no notes yet. It will in due course, in the white space on the right-hand side of each page.
Knock yourself out.
Mr K
As you may have been aware, I am planning to get you to study a Stephen Fry podcast for your Higher English Paper 2 once we have finished Ethan Frome. So if you want to get ahead of the game, here's some stuff to help you do that.
I have included a link to the Stephen Fry podcast on language below, as well as the text version of the podcast, in case you wish to read it/listen to it in advance of studying it. How exciting is this? You now realise that by stealthily sneaking to this blog, you will get advance warning of work. Does that make me really sad that I find this exciting? Either way, here are the links:
Don't Mind Your Language Podcast - You can either get it via i-Tunes or click on the Subscribe via direct RSS link button and it will take you to a new page. There you can right-click the file you want and Save Location/Link As. This should allow you to download it. It is up to you whether you get the Audio Only version or the one with pictures too. However, the Audio Visual one is rubbish. It just means you get a still picture of Stephen Fry smirking at you for the entire episode. Unless that floats you boat, I would just plump for the Audio version and plonk it on your mp3 player of choice.
Don't Mind Your Language Text Version - This is the text of the podcast. It is this you will be studying. This is an early version of the resource, as it contains no notes yet. It will in due course, in the white space on the right-hand side of each page.
Knock yourself out.
Mr K
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A Matter of Record - New Words
Simply as a matter of record I plan to make a note of the new words that are randomly invented in my lessons. Of late, my third years have created two new additions to the English language; one as a result of a ridiculous slip of the tongue on my part and the other as a purposeful attempt to introduce a verb to describe an action we couldn't think of another word to describe. They are:
Shife (noun and adj) - rubbish / worthless
Struckle (verb) - to walk at a pace; slightly slower than running, a bit faster than striding.
Feel free to let these two words loose on the English language. You never know. However, it might all be a load of shife!
Happy talking.
Mr K
Shife (noun and adj) - rubbish / worthless
Struckle (verb) - to walk at a pace; slightly slower than running, a bit faster than striding.
Feel free to let these two words loose on the English language. You never know. However, it might all be a load of shife!
Happy talking.
Mr K
Monday, February 9, 2009
3rd Year English - Some Philosphy Links
Dear Eager Third Year Academic,
You may already be feeling pangs of loss, having completed your Philosophical Projects. Well, if you are; I have a cure. You could simply find a small, dark room and contemplate. I find the downstairs toilet excellent for this. Or you could increase your knowledge and understanding of the horrifically big world of philosophy by exploring the links I have judiciously selected below. I have to tell you that they are, on the whole, not very teenage-friendly. People seem to think that philosophy is only the preserve of adults. Nonetheless, I can recommend that they are worth a gander. If they look too scary, just return to Bebo and everything will be alright. Really, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Social networking sites are fun.
Alternatively, read Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder. It's a brilliant starting point for philosophy and contains the idea of the "Rabbit's Fur", which I made reference to in (blatantly nicked for) your lessons. Order it now! I have included a link to Amazon to buy it just here. The "Customers Who Bought This Item..." section contains a lot of good stuff too - both fiction and non fiction. You may be able to find some of them in your local library. There can be no doubt that, whatever your standpoint on Ethics, libraries are good things. They stand as testament to all the good we can do as a species. I'm not wrong on this, trust me.
Anyway, those links in no particular order:
BBC Ethics - a really good introduction to the complicated and contradictory views on various thorny moral issues, such as Capital Punishment, Abortion etc. Brilliant.
Philosophy Basics - A website with loads of stuff about philosophy and philosophers. Just click on a name or area which remotely interests you and begin reading. At the very least it is interesting. At best it serves as a superb introduction to many philosophical subjects.
Philosophy for Dummies - An Internet offshoot of the ...For Dummies series of books. Some good basic stuff here, which may prompt you to ask for the Philosophy For Dummies book for Christmas/Birthday/Nagging Your Folks Constantly About It. Don't even consider buying the book, unless you like the site.
Philosophy Timeline - An interesting site where you can obviously see a timeline showing when the philosophers lived. You can also click on their names and find out more about them.
Philosophy Encyclopedia - A more advanced site with loads of stuff for university academics on philosophy. Possibly a little ambitious, but what the hell!
Philosophy Topics - A link to the epistemelinks.com site where various philosophical subjects are listed and you can click on them to find resources all about them. Pretty high level stuff again, but I will never underestimate your intelligence.
So there you are. All sorts of gubbins to start you out on your philosophical career. Or just to get you thinking. Thinking is very important. In fact, vital. Look up the word "vital" while you're at it. Interesting, huh?
Eat your fill at the nourishing table of philosophy.
Mr K
You may already be feeling pangs of loss, having completed your Philosophical Projects. Well, if you are; I have a cure. You could simply find a small, dark room and contemplate. I find the downstairs toilet excellent for this. Or you could increase your knowledge and understanding of the horrifically big world of philosophy by exploring the links I have judiciously selected below. I have to tell you that they are, on the whole, not very teenage-friendly. People seem to think that philosophy is only the preserve of adults. Nonetheless, I can recommend that they are worth a gander. If they look too scary, just return to Bebo and everything will be alright. Really, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Social networking sites are fun.
Alternatively, read Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder. It's a brilliant starting point for philosophy and contains the idea of the "Rabbit's Fur", which I made reference to in (blatantly nicked for) your lessons. Order it now! I have included a link to Amazon to buy it just here. The "Customers Who Bought This Item..." section contains a lot of good stuff too - both fiction and non fiction. You may be able to find some of them in your local library. There can be no doubt that, whatever your standpoint on Ethics, libraries are good things. They stand as testament to all the good we can do as a species. I'm not wrong on this, trust me.
Anyway, those links in no particular order:
BBC Ethics - a really good introduction to the complicated and contradictory views on various thorny moral issues, such as Capital Punishment, Abortion etc. Brilliant.
Philosophy Basics - A website with loads of stuff about philosophy and philosophers. Just click on a name or area which remotely interests you and begin reading. At the very least it is interesting. At best it serves as a superb introduction to many philosophical subjects.
Philosophy for Dummies - An Internet offshoot of the ...For Dummies series of books. Some good basic stuff here, which may prompt you to ask for the Philosophy For Dummies book for Christmas/Birthday/Nagging Your Folks Constantly About It. Don't even consider buying the book, unless you like the site.
Philosophy Timeline - An interesting site where you can obviously see a timeline showing when the philosophers lived. You can also click on their names and find out more about them.
Philosophy Encyclopedia - A more advanced site with loads of stuff for university academics on philosophy. Possibly a little ambitious, but what the hell!
Philosophy Topics - A link to the epistemelinks.com site where various philosophical subjects are listed and you can click on them to find resources all about them. Pretty high level stuff again, but I will never underestimate your intelligence.
So there you are. All sorts of gubbins to start you out on your philosophical career. Or just to get you thinking. Thinking is very important. In fact, vital. Look up the word "vital" while you're at it. Interesting, huh?
Eat your fill at the nourishing table of philosophy.
Mr K
Higher Media - Columbine High School Massacre
Dear Newly Initiated
Here are some useful links to look further into the subject of the shootings and the background to American gun laws before you embark on studying Bowling for Columbine. It is best if you don't just think that this kind of thing is a result of Americans being loopy. Michael Moore makes that quite clear in his film. Anyway - here goes:
Wikipedia - Some good background and information about the tragedy. As always there are some solid (if disturbing links) at the bottom of the page.
BBC News Website- Various archive reports on the massacre. Obviously, be careful with all this stuff - I don't want you to become too morbidly obsessed with it.
Dunblane Shootings - Just to prove these terrible things don't just happen in the US.
Interview with Michael Moore - A script of an interview with the man himself, done at the time the film was released. Part 2 of the interview is here.
A Brief History of American Gun Laws - a short timeline showing how the laws came about, from the National Public Radio site. Useful, if a little dry. However, it is worth noting that the right to bear arms has been in the American Constitution since 1791. Just imagine how different things might have been then and how much more necessary guns might have been. Also, America was formed from lots of different states, each one of them new and naturally distrusting central government from Washington. They had no armies of their own and so needed the ability to raise an militia very quickly, if they needed to defend themselves. Therefore, it was pretty important that people had guns to hand.
More stuff will follow, when I have time. It is also worth mentioning that watching a film called Manufacturing Dissent is well worth watching. It follows Michael Moore around while he films another documentary and calls into question his methods.
Drink full from the cup of Michael Moore related gumph.
Mr K.
Here are some useful links to look further into the subject of the shootings and the background to American gun laws before you embark on studying Bowling for Columbine. It is best if you don't just think that this kind of thing is a result of Americans being loopy. Michael Moore makes that quite clear in his film. Anyway - here goes:
Wikipedia - Some good background and information about the tragedy. As always there are some solid (if disturbing links) at the bottom of the page.
BBC News Website- Various archive reports on the massacre. Obviously, be careful with all this stuff - I don't want you to become too morbidly obsessed with it.
Dunblane Shootings - Just to prove these terrible things don't just happen in the US.
Interview with Michael Moore - A script of an interview with the man himself, done at the time the film was released. Part 2 of the interview is here.
A Brief History of American Gun Laws - a short timeline showing how the laws came about, from the National Public Radio site. Useful, if a little dry. However, it is worth noting that the right to bear arms has been in the American Constitution since 1791. Just imagine how different things might have been then and how much more necessary guns might have been. Also, America was formed from lots of different states, each one of them new and naturally distrusting central government from Washington. They had no armies of their own and so needed the ability to raise an militia very quickly, if they needed to defend themselves. Therefore, it was pretty important that people had guns to hand.
More stuff will follow, when I have time. It is also worth mentioning that watching a film called Manufacturing Dissent is well worth watching. It follows Michael Moore around while he films another documentary and calls into question his methods.
Drink full from the cup of Michael Moore related gumph.
Mr K.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Higher English - Ethan Frome Stuff
Just a reminder, dear pupils, that the first set of notes on Chapters 1-3 of Ethan Frome are due in on Monday 9th February. They are to be visual and colourful and to be presented as a Mindmap or a Noticeboard. Nonetheless, here are some links that may be of use:
Sparknotes: very useful FREE set of notes on the novella
Pink Monkey Notes: free as well - a bit weird, but interesting
Bookrags: contains some very good bits on tracking themes/topics in the novel
Ethan Frome Mini Study Guide: really useful PDF document. Originally for teachers, but some good stuff in here. Mercifully short, too!
Ethan Frome Study Guide: developed for reading groups, but really good for giving you activities to do for revision in the Active Reading sections.
There's loads more out there (just try Google), but these are amongst the most helpful.
Happy studying!
Mr K.
Sparknotes: very useful FREE set of notes on the novella
Pink Monkey Notes: free as well - a bit weird, but interesting
Bookrags: contains some very good bits on tracking themes/topics in the novel
Ethan Frome Mini Study Guide: really useful PDF document. Originally for teachers, but some good stuff in here. Mercifully short, too!
Ethan Frome Study Guide: developed for reading groups, but really good for giving you activities to do for revision in the Active Reading sections.
There's loads more out there (just try Google), but these are amongst the most helpful.
Happy studying!
Mr K.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Welcome to Kirkucopia!
Weary Balwearie Pupil - Welcome!
Over the coming weeks I will be adding homework information, links and points of interest to this page. If you are confused about your homework, or would like to discover more about a subject, then this blog may well have some information you would find helpful.
Or it might not!
Good luck anyway.
Mr K.
Over the coming weeks I will be adding homework information, links and points of interest to this page. If you are confused about your homework, or would like to discover more about a subject, then this blog may well have some information you would find helpful.
Or it might not!
Good luck anyway.
Mr K.
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