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| Allotment Grid 1, 2013 |
I have very few memories of my
school days, and of those memories only a very few remain about the lessons or
the homework that was set. My first English teacher, and my form tutor in the
first year of Woodcote Secondary School was a gentle and kindly man by the name
of Mr Lees-Jeffries. If memory serves me right he was a Kiwi, had a bush of
wavy ginger hair, an even more unkempt orange beard and thick, heavy framed
glasses. English lessons were I guess pleasant and agreeable, but I can’t
really remember that level of detail. What I do remember is that he set us the
most unimaginably horrid, tortuous, unreasonable homework that any teacher had
ever set for poor overworked 12 year olds. He set us five minute writing.
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| Allotment Grid 2, 2013 |
He asked us to write something, anything, each night, that we wanted to write about. It could be an observation of the weather, about something we did at the weekend, about something we had read or seen. It could be a poem; you could even add a drawing. The only stipulation was that it was meant to take five minutes, and definitely not more than ten. My efforts at five minute writing were risible and shameful, usually a dire serialisation of a very dull story. I was amazed, late in the year, when my best friend showed me something he had written recently. He had completed the task each day, and his book was full of interesting and varied subjects. He had done things, he had something to say. I felt rather foolish on account of my laziness and lack of imagination.
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| Allotment Grid 3, 2013 |
Of course, at that time I didn’t
see that it was a wonderful invitation to creative writing and diary keeping.
Maybe there are teachers with the same insight today encouraging their charges
to take up mini-blogs; I hope so. Each time I write a post for this blog I
think about five minute writing, and the mantra is always the same; make it
interesting, to the point and keep it succinct. But only rarely does it take
five minutes to write.
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| Allotment Grid 4, 2013 |
Today is the first birthday of Joined Up Pictures, and this the 85th
post that I’ve published. It’s been a lot of fun and I’ve met quite a few
people along the way. Thank you for reading and please feel free to leave
comments or to contact me. Graham
5 comments:
Happy Birthday, JUP!
The 5 minute thing is interesting -- as I say to my staff, "little and often" is always more productive than Big Binges...
Keep on blogging!
Mike
Thanks Mike. Even if I had kept up the 5 minute writing I would still be a very long way from the 10000 hours goal for mastery!
Graham
Now that term has over I have been catching up on your blog, and it is as beautifully written and thoughtful as ever.
Congratulations on your year 1 anniversary, I look forward to seeing the blogs that are to come!
I like the idea of this 5 minute writing, maybe something I will have to take up...
Sarah xx
Thanks Sarah. I can't wait to see you soon! xx
I remember the lovely Mr Lees-Jeffries when I was at Woodcote (1968-1971). He taught English and was in charge of the library that use to be above the main entrance. (The library linked the staff rooms to the upper floor corridor where the changing rooms where.) He was also involved in the school plays. Remember helping with the stage make-up and him saying I was being to light handed and to slap it on!
Sadly found out that Peter Dominic Lees-Jeffries died in New Zealand in 1992 aged only 51. There is a Peter Lees-Jeffries Memorial Scholarship "An occasional scholarship of up to $2,500 is awarded to young New Zealand designers and directors to visit opera theatres and workshops overseas."
Hazel Ballan
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