Language Arts Canberra - workshops for home school students

30/08/2024

Dear homeschool parents,

I'm excited about having ordered a Lightphone 3, and wanted to share a bit about my experience with this life-changing technology.

I've had a Lightphone 2 for four years, and it simply transformed my life. It has freed me from the addictive, soul-deadening, doom-scrolling, gratification-promising power of the smartphone. For all the miraculous powers and seemingly essential use cases of a smartphone, it turned out that, for me, the hidden downsides were overwhelming.

To quote theologian Akosh Balogh: "Technology wears its benefits on its sleeves, but its drawbacks are buried deep within.”

The Light Phone seemed like a hard change at first, but in the end it was easy and immensely rewarding. Sadly, the battery life and stability of my current 2 has dwindled; I'm grateful for the new model having a replaceable battery, plus some other big improvements.

Having found smartphones to be a cancer in schools, and a troubling 'double-edged sword' for many parents of teens, I'd encourage any parent to consider the Light Phone for their family. I know homeschool parents make huge sacrifices to help their children navigate a different way through the pitfalls of the C21st. I can't help thinking that non-smartphones might be part of doing so more successfully.

[Other good options with detailed reviews can be found via Jose Briones on dumbphonefinder.com.]

28/08/2024

Just announcing a short, focused workshop series for late Term 3 2024:
Paragraphing Skills - building an essential skill for adult written communication$180 for 3 x two hour workshops - 10am-12 noon, Tues 10th, 17th, 24th September @ the Arboretum Cafe
First session free for new students to 'test the waters' (then full fee if continuing)
Session 1: Understanding paragraph purpose, audience and structure
Session 2: Developing coherence and flow
Session 3: Incorporating evidence and varying the basic structure
Maximum 8 participants, with some content differentially pitched for 12-14 yrs and 14-17 yrs​
Optional homework exercises available for practice and extension - brief individual feedback available 9:40-10am before Sessions 2 & 3
More info on the Language Arts Canberra website.

27/08/2024

Is this the most lovely classroom in the world?
Just snapping the scene while my wonderful poetry students were taking a quick break, during today's final workshop session at the Arboretum Cafe.
In place of pics of the students themselves, our table covered with their written work attests to their diligent, thoughtful and creative efforts!

04/07/2024

Further info on my 'Breaking Into Poetry' senior workshop series:
In these workshops, each participant will:

*join a welcoming, supportive and inclusive group of peers, beginning with a bit of social connection and fun

*try achievable, short tasks—to build confidence, vocabulary awareness, word play and poetic techniques

*respond to intriguing, age-appropriate stimuli, that provoke students' original writing

*explore diverse poetic techniques and forms

*give and receive constructive peer feedback—building collaboration and social learning

*edit and polish their work— experiencing the satisfaction of “quality, not quantity”

*encounter and discuss great, accessible poems from different eras and cultures

*extend their creativity through poetry performances or illustrations


As an English teacher, I heartily recommend an immersive and sustained approach to poetry. In my experience, the **unique pleasure and freedom of writing poetry rubs off on all areas of the English curriculum**, as students realise the power of carefully crafting language for different effects and purposes.

04/07/2024

Hello Homeschoolers,

I'm delighted to offer another senior English poetry workshop series for Term 3.

I've loved running these workshops, and hope to continue this format of convivial yet rigorous learning encounters, for Canberra's diverse and talented underground of homeschool adolescents!

More details on my website (www.languagearts.com.au).
In brief, 6 x 2 hr sessions in Weston Creek, Tuesdays 10-12am.
I need a minimum of 8 participants, so if you've enjoyed or been curious about my previous workshop series, please enroll early, or just come along - the first session is free!

Building on a core of creative poetic writing, I'll include some tasks to target additional skills (e.g. analytical writing, sentence and paragraph structure) that will extend different participants.
For enquiries, get in touch via FB or email [email protected]

18/06/2024

Hello homeschoolers,

I’m planning to offer a poetry workshop series for next term, as this worked wonderfully in Term 1.

In Term 3, I’ll run the workshops with a ‘core’ of creative writing; and with various options for different students, based on age, interests and skills - e.g. reading, performing, discussing and responding to poetry; perhaps some skills and vocab exercises if warranted.

Exact format and details TBC. Linked below is a sample of some of the kinds of exercises I've used in the past. (This isn't the whole workshop, by any means, but some sample content.)

Feel free to get in touch early ([email protected]) if you’d like to chat about possible enrolment, and any queries or ideas you have. This is an evolving experiment, and while I can't necessarily accommodate everyone’s preferences, I really value the input of homeschooling parents!

Breaking Into Poetry - Term 1 2024 - Activities Attempt these exercises in your English/poetry notebook; don’t spend time writing out the whole question. Leave plenty of room to add ideas later - your own, or others’. Warm-ups Make a list of “sound” words (or word pairs), arranged in order o...

18/06/2024

Hello homeschoolers,

I’ve been thrilled with the success of my recent workshop series, ‘Provocative Documentaries’ — congrats and thanks to the participants for your fine work, and to the families for your support.

I’d like to share a bit about how these workshops went, for those parents perhaps interested but hesitant.

From about seven initial enrolments, I had four continuing participants, who met in a cosy community room for six very productive and enjoyable 2-hour sessions. There was a range of ages, abilities and ‘neurotypes’, and it was lovely to see how the group clicked in an accepting, supportive atmosphere.

I’ve linked below to a fairly typical resource I created for one session. Different students tackled different questions, discussing answers and building on each other’s ideas

As the group evolved, I experimented with a range of activities, and learned a lot from the students’ responses — e.g.:
* the importance of starting with fun/social/brain-teaser time;
* different goals for different students — some achieved valuable success just by coming along, writing some words on a page and working alongside peers — so I was often differentiating the activities on the fly;
* older students really valued some of the more rigorous ‘academic’ activities, such as work on complex sentence structure and vocabulary
* participants were very enthusiastic about a creative task: envisioning and writing scenes for a documentary about homeschooling. I only wish we’d had more time to pursue this!

I hope this conveys something of the warm, positive and educational atmosphere we enjoyed this term!