Sheila D Hill MBE 1928-2022

News has just reached me of the death of Sheila Hill. A tweet from the Marylebone Cricket Club announced that:

"MCC is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Sheila Hill, MBE. 

Sheila helped shape the Laws of Cricket and was instrumental in the training of umpires around the world.

Her contribution to cricket cannot be overestimated, and our condolences go to her family and friends."

In the world beyond cricket, for me and countless others, Miss Hill was our teacher at SPGS. I was in her Maths division for 5 years. 

I am grateful to her for two things in particular.  Firstly, that although I did not feel I was good enough to be in Div 1, she never doubted that it was where I belonged. Secondly, and I'm not sure how to explain this, Miss Hill had a certain aura. My form in particular had a bit of a rep for being naughty. However, in Miss Hill's presence you behaved. It never even crossed your mind to do otherwise. She never raised her voice, she never expressed frustration or any negative emotion. She was calm and correct, and we did maths. And once in a while there was even a twinkle in her eye. But we knew nothing about her life outside the classroom, not even the cricket. 

Throughout my years of being a teacher, Miss Hill has been a model for me. How a teacher can hold the attention of a class like a swan, serene on the surface, doing all the work out of sight. She clearly loved her subject, and wanted us to find it enjoyable rather than onerous (I still remember how to make a hexiflexagon!). May she rest in peace.

NB  Some of her cricket statistics may be found here. And a tribute from Middlesex Cricket may be found here.

What a Wonderful Gift!

Wednesday afternoons I teach an English conversation class to a group of 20 11-year-olds as part of an after-school programme. It is tough for them - under Covid conditions, and all day in the same spot in the classroom for lesson after lesson - and then when everyone else gets to go home, they have to stay for two more hours, in the same place, and study English! 

Today was a particularly difficult day for several students, and I struggled to remain patient. Then one of the students, one who always has a tough day, usually shredding reams of paper over and around his desk, or making complex origami stars with glue and scissors, or just physically bouncing up and down in his defined space, handed me the drawing he had been doing. You can see it above - his view of me during class (he said doing the trousers was really difficult).

What a fantastic drawing - I love it! And what a way to melt my heart and diffuse the frustration that had built up during the class. What a wonderful gift!

Teaching English: A Difficult Question

Probably the most difficult thing and also the easiest to do as a teacher when faced with a difficult question is to answer simply, "I don't know." Followed, of course, by "but I will find out and get back to you!"

Sometimes, however, I think well maybe I can figure it out as we go along. Probably not the wisest move. However, last week, that is what I did when a student asked me to explain the difference between 'almost never' and 'hardly ever'.

I had made the claim that the two phrases meant exactly the same thing. Ploni asked me why. I started futzing around with something to do with combining positives and negatives, and really should've just stopped and said that I didn't know. Or that this is how it is and we just have to accept it and move on. And then, suddenly, a diagram came to mind, and I drew it on the board. I drew the spectrum from Never to Ever (Always). The diagram is reproduced above. It seemed to work. Ploni went home happy. What do you think?

the ravaj is teaching maths!

i do not recall if i have mentioned this previously, but in my current incarnation as a student teacher, i had to pass a maths exam in the summer. not having studied mathematics seriously (except for a couple of weeks before the gre's, and that is another story) for approximately 27 years, i was terribly intimidated by our first lesson back in june. i could not understand a word the teacher was saying, and after 3 hours i was in tears. our amazing teacher managed to turn this all around, however, and i ended up passing the summer exam with a score of 93. now, i am teaching some 3rd grade maths. it is a miracle! and here is a pic to prove it!!

teacher in spaaaaace!

the space shuttle endeavour (hey, note the spelling. they did it the english way!)took off today for the international space station, and a teacher is finally in space. hurrah!

barbara morgan was the back-up for the late christa mcauliffe on the doomed challenger expedition.

"More than half of NASA's 114 Teacher-in-Space nominees in 1985 gathered at the launch site, along with hundreds of other educators.

Also on hand was the widow of Challenger commander Dick Scobee. She said earlier in the day that she would be praying and pacing at liftoff and would not relax until Morgan was safely back on Earth in two weeks.

The Challenger crew "would be so happy with Barbara Morgan," June Scobee Rodgers said. "It's important that the lessons will be taught because there's a nation of people waiting, still, who remember where they were when we lost the Challenger and they remember a teacher was aboard."

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin met Tuesday night with several members of the Challenger astronaut families who were in town for the launch — although not with the McAuliffe family.

After liftoff, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings sent congratulations from Washington and called Morgan "an inspiring example for our next generation of teachers, scientists, engineers, innovators and entrepreneurs."

Midway through the flight, Morgan will speak with students in Idaho, where she taught elementary classes before moving to Houston in 1998 to train as a full-fledged astronaut, the first teacher to do so. If the mission is extended from 11 days to 14 days as planned, she will have a chance to answer questions from students in two other states."

one of my dreams as a child, and maybe even still a little bit, was to go to the moon. however, my ears hurt when the l.i.r.r. train goes into the tunnel just before penn station so i don't think i'd ever make it into a rocket. on the other hand, i may not become an astronaut, but i am a teacher :-)


the full story is here.