Seven months of daily photos

Posted on 2nd August 2025 by NomadWarMachine

Seven months of daily photos, one for each day of the year.

Photo of the Day 2025

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Silent Sunday

Posted on 27th July 2025 by NomadWarMachine

205/365 Apples
205/365 Apples flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

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Listening AND doing

Posted on 23rd July 2025 by NomadWarMachine


Image from Wikimedia
Recently I’ve been over-exposed to the picture above. I’ve been to a slew of talks and presentations where well-meaning people have used this picture on  slide and told me that lectures are outdated and all the best teachers nowadays engage their students in active learning. But, of course, it’s not as clear cut as that. In a paper that, in my opinion, is one of the most important pieces of writing about teaching and learning, Anna Sfard highlights the importance of not rejecting acquisition as a useful form of learning: On Two Metaphors for Learning and the Dangers of Choosing Just One. Recently there has been a tendency for educators to opt for participatory models of learning – often called ‘active learning’ . However, as Sfard says, it’s not the only way that people can learn and we should be careful of black and white dichotomies. A couple of months ago I participated in an #LTHEChat on Bluesky on the topic of Team Based Learning, and wrote a blog post as a result of a conversation I had during that chat – basically arguing against the idea that being a ‘guide on the side’ was better than being a ‘sage on the stage’.  You can read the whole blog post for yourself and admire the artwork that goes along with it 🙂

Posted in Critical pedagogy, Learning, Online learning, Peer interaction, Teaching, University | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

How to tell a story

Posted on 21st July 2025 by NomadWarMachine

How to tell a story
How to tell a story flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

How to tell a story

Who am I to tell you how to tell your story?

You might start at the beginning
Or in the middle, or at the end

If the story wants to be told, it will leap from your mind onto the page

And then, from those pages, it will jump into mine.

 

A poem for today’s Daily Create.

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Silent Sunday

Posted on 20th July 2025 by NomadWarMachine

197/365 Barclay Curle Crane
197/365 Barclay Curle Crane flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

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Walking around Glasgow

Posted on 16th July 2025 by NomadWarMachine

I know that people have strong opinions about all of the building that is happening at UofG, but personally I love the juxtaposition of old and new buildings, and views like this one, with the tower behind the crane for the Keystone building:

The old and the new
The old and the new flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

I had a meeting with a friend this morning, and after that I decided to walk down to Partick, do a bit of grocery shopping, and grab a sandwich for lunch.  I almost decided to walk down to the Riverside Museum and see the tall ship:

Tall Ship
Tall Ship flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

But instead of turning left I decided to turn right and sit down by the flats on the Clyde. Many gulls shouted overhead, and I was careful not to wave my food around:

Gull
Gull flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

To the west the day looked sunny, and the Barclay Curle Crane was looking good:

197/365 Barclay Curle Crane
197/365 Barclay Curle Crane flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

Over the water on the South Side, though, there were dark clouds looming:

Govan Old Church
Govan Old Church flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

I checked my weather app, and it said there was no chance of rain, but I wanted to get home in time to catch the monthly Blogging Community of Practice, so I packed up my sandwich wrapper and headed back up to Partick to find a bus stop.

And waved goodbye to the Uni tower again.

Partick
Partick flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

Posted in Photos, Scotland, University | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Dear Green Shawl

Posted on 13th July 2025 by NomadWarMachine

194/365 Dear Green Shawl
194/365 Dear Green Shawl flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

I’ve been meaning to knit this shawl for many years now – it’s been sitting in my Ravelry queue awaiting the right yarn. Luckily I’d downloaded the pattern, as it’s no longer available. ‘Dear Green Place’ is Glasgow’s nickname – a translation of the Scots Gaelic Glas Chu, and the pattern is a play on that, with motifs from the Glasgow coat of arms.

Glasgow Coat of Arms 1996

TilmannR, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Glasgow’s coat of arms is composed of symbols representing the life and legends of Saint Mungo, the patron saint of Glasgow, and are often remembered by the following poem:

Here is the tree that never grew
Here is the bird that never flew
Here is the fish that never swam
Here is the bell that never rang

The shawl itself has these in a different order, as the designer says:

The shawl uses lace motifs representing a bird in flight, a tree, and a bell, ending with the traditional ‘Shetland’ fishtail lace pattern.

Dear Green Shawl
Dear Green Shawl flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license
It was a lovely shawl to make – really quick and easy. It’s currently drying out in the garden, next I need to decide who to give it to.

 

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Silent Sunday

Posted on 13th July 2025 by NomadWarMachine

Ardgartan Forest
Ardgartan Forest flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

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Thoreau

Posted on 12th July 2025 by NomadWarMachine

Thoreau
Thoreau flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

Today was a very hot day, so we decided to head out to the woods with a packed lunch. Despite the inevitable traffic jams around Balloch it was a lovely drive in an air conditioned car up to Ardgartan. We arrived shortly after 1pm and had an hour’s walk through the woods along Croe Water.

Today’s Daily Create asks us to make a motivational poster based on one of Thoreau’s quotes, so here’s mine above. It did, indeed, make me well going out there today. Happy Birthday, Henry.

Ardgartan Woods
Ardgartan Woods flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

Ardgartan Woods
Ardgartan Woods flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

Ardgartan Woods
Ardgartan Woods flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

Ardgartan Woods
Ardgartan Woods flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

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Blogging as an academic practice

Posted on 11th July 2025 by NomadWarMachine

Percolating ideas
Percolating ideas flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

I’ve been enjoying dipping in and out of the “On Writing” series that Jim Groom’s been hosting on Reclaim TV, although I’ve not been able to watch them live as they usually stream at 5pm on a Friday, by which time I am off line and off to the pub to meet friends. However, luckily they are also recorded, so I can catch up at my leisure, and this week I finally got around to watching the episode with Lee Skallerup Bessette, or ReadyWriting, as she’s known on ALL the socials.

Lee and Jim talk about many of the facets of Lee’s life – such as her growing up in Quebec but not being a francophone (watch the episode to hear why she asserts this), but – of course – it’s what Lee says about blogging that really resonates with me. Like Lee I’ve always been a voracious reader and a prolific writer, though I don’t write nearly as much as Lee, I don’t think. And, also like Lee, I do find it pretty easy nowadays. So when I heard Lee saying (at about 53 mins into the video) that her habit of blogging has helped her to be able to consistently push out a lot of decent quality words quickly, as long as the subject is one that’s familiar to her, I was nodding vigorously at the screen. And then she connects this type of writing to learning a musical instrument:

you don’t have to be great at it right but you just keep practicing it because it makes sense and it brings you joy and it helps you make sense of your life and it connects you to other people (at about 54:44 mins in)

Yes, absolutely yes. I’ve had a pretty shit week this week, for one reason and another, but I’ve still managed to churn out lots of words – because I can.  Well, when Lacey lets me!  Thanks Lee, and thanks Jim, for a great episode.

Posted in DS106, HE, Writing | Tagged , , | 3 Comments