Out of the Habit

Been spending this year doing creative work in schools and so this blog has kinda got left behind since then. Been very busy though and learning lots as have been working with year 10's. They are amazing to work with and once motivated are very creative, I only wish I had had these opportunities whilst I was at school.
WE (me and their teacher) started out getting them to set up blogs to write up their results and then got them going on a debate, something that I've only ever heard of in posh schools,( I never did it at school) and you've never heard such great arguments for and against the idea of 'Victimless crime'. I'm guessing that a few of them must have been watching the Parliament channel to brush up in their 'interjections'!! Anyways, after that they were building websites and again I was amazed at the enthusiasm. After initial 'boring's....' and 'pointless......' in a stroppy teenager way a few of the most vocal came back the next week with almost completed sites that they had done in their own time!!! They never stop amazing me!!
This project lasted me until the end of the school year and we finished by making animations. Again where do I start on explaining the work that these kids put into this. I cant, so I shan't! I shall have to see if I can get hold f some of the finished work and post it up here.
As lucky as it sounds, I got on pretty well with the teacher, I've been invited to come back this year and do something different with a few more of the younger years to see if I can inspire them to work hard and maybe get some of them out of their cycles of essentially laziness but most of it is lack of confidence, something which I don't seem to be lacking at the moment as I've started a game making project with them! I think I'm mad!!! And I get the feeling so do a few of the teachers but I don't care. If I can get the kids to just do the very basic of games it will change their outlook on themselves I hope! Lots more planning and hair pulling to go!!!!