THE NORTH SEA

What does the North Sea have to do with Sand and Water Tables?

This blog, Sand and Water Tables, has brought me to the North Sea.  I am in Aberdeen Scotland for a talk and a workshop on sand and water play to early childhood practitioners on Saturday, June 14th.  From there, I head to Edinburgh, Newcastle, Birmingham, Derby, Bournemouth, Odstock, Andover, Cwmbran, and Newport before catching a ferry to the Netherlands to do a workshop in Rotterdam.

How does a journey like this come together?  It does not happen alone.  For well over two years I watched to see where people were coming from when they visited the blog.  I especially remember mapping all the places in the UK.  I also remember thinking that it would be quite exciting to try to do a tour of the UK.

About a year and a half ago, I did a silly thing.  I mentioned the idea via email to three people I knew who followed my blog.  Julia Robertson of Creative Star Learning, Peter Ellse of Cosy and Nancy Adamson of Odstock Day Nursery all said yes, come to the UK and we will help.  I must say that Juliet was especially encouraging.  That was enough for me to put out the word that I would come, so here I am.

(By the way, Juliet's book Dirty Teaching has just been published and is available on Amazon in the UK.  The book is written for practitioners who want to teach outside.  It is aimed at the primary grades, but has plenty of insight for all teachers at all levels.  You really should check it out and have it in your library.)

I was talking to my colleague and mentor, Lani Shapiro, before the trip.  I expressed a lot of apprehension and excitement about this endeavor.  She uses the analogy which I quite like.  I am like a child going to a new playground.  Like that child, I am not sure of the rules and conventions of the new playground and hope the new players are willing to accept me and to play along.

I have 13 presentations is 18 days.  I hope to reflect on the trip, but it may be hit and miss until I get back to the States.

The journey to the new playground begins.

P.S.  I wrote this a couple of days ago.  I now have a presentation and a workshop under my belt. I can tell you that there was no need to worry about the players in this new playground.  They were welcoming and kind and gracious beyond description.  Thank you players from Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.  If the rest of the new playgrounds are anything like this one, I am in for a treat.  I need to give a special thank you to Heather Smith who arranged the first gig in Aberdeen at King's College and took the time to ferry me around and show me some of the sights.  I need a to give an extra special thanks to Juliet who has taken an inordinate amount of time out of her busy schedule to talk for hours and exchange thoughts, ideas and experiences both on a professional and personal level.