Smorgasbord Blogger Daily – Tuesday 19th October 2021 – #StudentAchievements Robbie Cheadle, #RoundUp Carol Taylor, #Editing Paula Readman, #Vancouver #Art Rebecca Budd

A small selection of posts I have enjoyed in the last few days and I hope you will head over to read them in full.. thanks Sally.

The first post is part of the series by Robbie Cheadle, hosted by Kaye Lynne Booth, which shares methods that encourage children to read more. In this post a recognition of her own son Gregory’s achievements as he leaves school and the important role teachers played in his success.

Growing Bookworms – The importance of teachers

The schools in South Africa are racing towards the end of a year fraught with lockdowns, illness and death. My sons have been on-line for long periods twice this year and many of the students have suffered the losses of friends, parents, grandparents, and other important people in their lives. Seeing how happy my sons are to be back at school and watching them forge ahead with their school work as their teachers valiantly try to reteach material and principles that were taught on-line and which the boys have failed to grasp properly, makes me feel more appreciative of their teachers than ever.

Gregory finishes school today. It is his last day of a 14-year journey and it is all rather emotional for the boys and teachers. His preliminary examinations went very well and he achieved an average of 92% for all 7 of this subjects including AP maths. This is partly due to hard work on Gregory’s part, but a lot of credit must go to his excellent teachers who really went all out to help the boys achieve the best they could. Greg attended on-line and in personal tutorials and extra sessions to prepare for his exams and some of them were over weekends during his teachers personal time.

Head over to read the rest of this excellent post on both students and teachers who have supported them particularly in the last 18 months: Growing Bookworms – The importance of teachers

If you missed Carol Taylor​’s posts last week, here is her round up which includes her informative environmental posts.. vegan BBQ , Jackfruit and Pulled Pork, The Earthshot Prize.. Smog and World Food Day.. head over to enjoy.

My Environmental A-Z, Music …in the US it’s National Pumpkin and Apple month…Pulled Pork, Vegan BBQ Jackfruit, Chilli Con Carne, The Earthshot Prize and World Food Day…

Time is marching on and I am hearing little murmurings about Christmas…sigh…we are only just in October and we haven’t had Halloween yet…I mean Santa says it’s 69 sleeps…It is though nearly time to make those cakes and puddings if they are to be matured, marzipanned and iced by Christmas…

Did you know that in October…?

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere then you should have or should be planting those Spring Bulbs…I absolutely adore seeing the spring flowers… the first snowdrops, the beautiful narcissi and my favourite the bluebells which come a tad later than the daffodils…but first we have to enjoy the beautiful colour changes of the Fall in the Northern Hemisphere…Those colours are glorious…the beautiful Marigold which is Octobers flowers compliments the autumn colour 

Head over to explore all the posts including music from Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett: CarolCooks2 weekly roundup…October 10th-October 16th 2021…Environmental A-Z, Vegan BBQ Jackfruit, Pulled Pork, The Earthshot Prize,Smog and World Food Day…

Now Paula Readman shares her editing process to ensure a publish ready manuscript, including a very neat feature on Microsoft Word that enables you to hear your manuscript for that final polish.

The Magic of Editing

I love editing. For me as a writer, it’s where the magic of writing happens. It’s when your first rough draft becomes the story you really want to share with the world. We’re all under pressure to get the job done and move onto our next project, but taking some time out to focus on editing your book [short story, poem, play, etc,] will save you from a lot of heartache, if your work is rejected because it needs more editing.

Patience is the key to good editing. Taking your time to think about what you want your story to say to the reader. What’s at the heart of the piece. Are you showing enough, rather than telling. Are you immersing your reader into your plot. What will they remember most? Are your characters developed enough? Is the setting well-drawn? Will the story make them feel happy, sad, scared etc. Is there enough action to keep them turning the pages. These are some of the things you need to think about while editing. Make sure there isn’t any unnecessary description or long-winded dialogue which might kill the flow of the story.

Head over to read this very helpful post: The Magic of Editing with Paula Readman

The final post today Rebecca Budd​ takes us on a wonderful visual and audio tour of the Walking Figures cast iron sculptures in Vancouver by Magdalena Abakanowicz from Poland.

Walking Figures by Magdalena Abakanowicz

“Art does not solve problems but makes us aware of their existence. It opens our eyes to see and our brain to imagine.” Magdalena Abakanowicz.

Over the years, I have walked with the Walking Figures and felt the presence of the sculptor who created them – Magdalena Abakanowicz. Situated near the busy Vancouver street corner of Broadway and Cambie, surrounded by the noise of construction and progress, these 9-foot tall, monumental, headless cast iron figures challenge me to consider my place within a complex society.

Head over to listen to Rebecca’s guided tour and read the rest of the post: Walking Figures by Magdalena Abakanowicz with Rebecca Budd

 

Thank you for dropping in today and I hope you will head over to read the posts in full.. thanks Sally