ETL402 Sally RIppin presentation Monday

Went to hear Sally RIppin speak about her experiences as an illustrator and author and found her fascinating. I noted the following points: She writes for herself that is she does not compose her thoughts by thinking that she is writing for children. She puts herself into the writing using her imagination combined with her experiences in life. Her stories are based on her own memory of her childhood from her early years. She is running out of "B" ideas for Billie B as she thought there would only be 8 or so books and she is now up to 20. She was a tomboy herself so she wrote the character of Billie as something other than a fairy or princesses. Hey Jack! Was written in response to her own son being a reluctant ready unlike her daughter. She felt boys needed to be encouraged to read - the font is large to help the with the skill of recognising the words easily and with themes related to everyday issues boys would face. The sentences are short which she said is a challenge to ensure that the intention of the meaning is maintained. While she is an illustrator she did not want to draw for Billie B And so the illustrator is a Japanese Kiwi! whose drawings look remarkably similar to the lady herself but who has matched the image of what Sally wanted for Billie. Sally's background is so much part of her purpose as an author and illustrator. She talked of being in awe and wonder at the world around her. She lived in various parts of Asia as a child and subsequently went to China (Shanghai) to study art for three years. She spoke Hokkien as a child and learned Mandarin in China. She witnessed political history and started to write about the events. She then returned to Australia and became an English tutor for a Chinese girl whose parents wanted her to continue to speak Chinese while still becoming proficient in English. So she writes Speak Cinese Fang Fang hoping to be able to help children solve their own problems in a constructive way and to provide guidance for those found in sometimes complicated circumstances. Her desire to write for children comes from believing that she will not just entertain them but that she can make a difference to them to encourage them to grow in character and help them to realise that they have the strength to grow wisely.

ETL402 professional development opportunities

Saturday 8th September. Local Geography and History Teachers Association of the NT provided a great opportunity for teachers of history (or interested parties including me) to gather to explore the skill of analysing sources of historical information. Points of interest: While sources can be written or nonwritten (coins, photographs, letters, gravestones, architecture) no mention was made of literary sources as evidence of information. Discussed with some teachers the possibility of using literary sources of information as being of value in exploring historical events. Emphasis in pd was on prescribed texts. Oral histories are valuable. There was considerable discussion about this area of evidence as many students are community indigenous and much culture is passed down through very prescribed oral accounts of events of the past and why nature/seasons/environment are the way they are today as well as the reason for familial relationships being structured in a particular way - those of us from primary schools thought this was important for examining who we are today being influenced by the past. Discussion about being careful to ensure evidence is not of a single source - that analysing multiple sources is critical to the outcome of determining the value of the evidence. History is revised over and over according to interpretations of different parties uncovering further information. My view would be that literary sources of historical material would be of interest to children and teachers to encourage exploring the evidence.