“Hey Mum! I’m just going to Granny’s to see how she is going”

“Ok but be back at 6.00 for tea. Send her my love.”

“Sure Mum, will do.”

My Granny lives six houses down and I love visiting her. She is 70 and I’m 10 but we get on the best, and she does spoil me a little - but only a little. When I’m a Grandpa I’m definitely going to spoil my grandkids. I guess it can be good spoiling - I enjoy spending time with her because she is interested in me and I guess I’m interested in her - what she knows, what her journey through life has been like, what she is really interested in, why she has so many fascinating pictures and ornaments on display in her house. I can ask her about anyone of them and she will thoughtfully reply and then lead into a wonderful story.

She spent her working life as a “chalkie,” funny name for a schoolteacher. She told me that she spent many years teaching before whiteboards came in and she used blackboards and chalk. She explained how she could draw great pictures on the blackboard as long as she had a box of coloured chalk. She also noted how they eventually invented dustless chalk. She sure knows how to tell a good story but also how to make a story appealing and then by looking at my eyes she can tell when I’ve taken in all I can - which is when it’s time to wind it up. The story is not for her but for me and she never wants me to lose interest. I learn heaps from her stories.

I leap onto my blue skateboard and confidently speed the short distance to her house. She has a tall fence which gives her privacy but I love her gates which have two dogs made of rusted steel welded to them and they look really cool. She loves dogs and these are surely a fun welcome to a very doggy house. There is a snuffle under the gate and I know I’m about to be welcomed by her lively Kelpie . He always gives me a giant hello and that’s another reason why I love going to Granny’s. I open the gate and make a real fuss of him. He is such a likeable hound and we always hit it off. I trot up the path to the front door next to which is a rustic sign saying, “Granny’s Place”.

Enthusiastically I rap the horseshoe knocker, which has been set by Granny at a height well within my reach. She is always thinking of me and my brother and sisters - she wants her house to be special for us and welcoming. Granny’s beaming face meets me at the door. She gives me a granny kiss as Kelpie roars inside and welcomes me with “Tell me about your day - has it been a good one?”

As it happened it was a good one. Heaps of interesting things happened, and I am keen to share these. My Granny is a champion listener and never seems to get tired of listening to what I have to say. I love this! I sit down at her table, she gets me a drink and some of my favourite shortbread and then parks herself at the table opposite me, leaning on her elbows with her chin on her hands looking at me and never taking her eyes from mine. At that moment, as I tell her the day’s stories, nothing, but nothing is going to distract her. I feel very special, and I know my stories are being appreciated so I talk with enthusiasm only to be interrupted by Granny asking a question or two.

My eyes drift to the Toby Jug grinning cheekily from the chiffonier. Clearly it is a pirate with a parrot perched solidly on his shoulder.

“Granny, where did pirates, who look like that, come from?” I am really keen to know.

She launched into an interesting story about the pirates who sailed out of Devon in England to plunder ships on the high seas. Some became very wealthy, some were hanged but I am surprised to know that some ended up as convicts in Australia. She spins the story in an exciting way but allowing it to run no longer than my obvious interest which she can sense from my eyes and body language. Granny specializes in avoiding being anyway near the terror of “boring”.

What I really like is when Granny and I have a free-flowing discussion. We hit on a topic which is of interest to both of us. Rather than Granny simple telling me we discuss the topic or issue together. It is fun but requires thinking, talking and listening.

It’s like playing talking tennis-my turn, her turn, mine again and so on. I really like the way Granny encourages me to look things up, read and find out stuff in any way possible.

I’m impressed by the way she seems interested in anything, even particular things that I as a ten year old boy in 2023 am keen about.

Suddenly Granny says: “My fine young grandson, I thought we could tackle some cooking this afternoon. What do you think of that as an idea?”

“Great Granny – let’s do it”.

And what a terrific session it is. We make scones. Granny says, “I’ll show you first how to mix the dough and I’ll explain as we go along. I’ll then give you the ingredients and you’ll have a go yourself, but you can ask me anything as you do it. All will be OK if we go steadily and not too fast. Let’s put the oven on and get it ready for action. I’m going to show you how to turn it on, three times and then you are going to do it yourself. I’ll help only if you are desperate.”

The dough is made, then rolled out and then the scones are cut out with one of her drinking glasses. Following her instructions I place them on a baking tray and put it into the oven which is set at 220 degrees centigrade, heeding her warning about burning myself and cook them for 12 minutes. It is so exciting. Granny is there to guide me, but not to do it. How excited I am when the tray of risen scones is carefully taken out by me, under Granny’s supervision, so I avoid burning myself. Then, the easy part - jam and cream and eating them while they are warm. Granny explained what a “Devonshire Tea” is with its origins in Devon. I immediately wonder if pirates were fond of eating scones with cream and jam!

My time with Granny that afternoon was terrific. I felt a warm glow as I said “see ya” to Granny and her Kelpie. Tonight I am really helpful at home and later go to bed without a fuss and then to sleep knowing I have a smile on my face. I feel I have achieved heaps.

The Following Are My Comments About Some Teaching Strategies That Can Be Drawn From The Story. There Are Also Others To Be Found.

Ultimately, producing a positive, constructive environment is worthwhile, however you do it.

Don’t tell a story beyond the time when students cease to be engaged. Shorten it or come back to it next day. Don’t plough on regardless. Be flexible enough to “change tack” if you have to.

Students really pick up on a teacher being interested in them.

Don’t give directions once and hope they will be followed. Explain, show, do it with them, get them to do it by themselves but be Available to help.

Always point out dangers.

There is great power in being welcoming and showing you are ready to teach.

Make sure the classroom is a place of interest not “four grey walls that surround you”.

Never underestimate the value of being a good listener, it is one of a teacher’s most powerful tools.

Make your school is special for the students. This is of utmost importance.

SOME QUOTES WHICH MAY BE USEFUL

“Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier.”

- Mother Theresa

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”

- Confucius

“Remember this; Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”

- Paul the Apostle

“Sometimes it’s not enough to know what things mean, sometimes you have to know what things don’t mean.”

- Bob Dylan

“Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers but for powers equal to your task."

- Rev, John Flynn

“The very first requirement in a hospital is that it should do the sick no harm”. (application to schools)

- Florence Nightingale

“A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.” “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up.”

- Nelson Mandela

“Our hope is dependent upon education. Our hope depends on how serious we become about the education of our people”

- Noel Pearson

 “If I meet other people and criticise their weaknesses, I rob myself of higher cognitive power. But if I try to enter deeply and lovingly into another person’s good qualities, I gather in that force.”

- Rudolf Steiner

“Wise people speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.” “A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.”

- Plato

Written by Chris Tudor