Creative writing with constraints

Fancy yourself as a poet? It's actually quite easy if you practice the arcane literary art of constraint-based writing. Leave out a letter. Use only certain letters. Use only some words.

Imagine the havoc that missing "a"s or "e"s would have on Shakespeare's Macbeth, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales or Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities. Gibberish perhaps.

But not when you deliberately write that way.

Christian Bok, author of Eunioa, which literally means beautiful thinking, is a master of the art. Eunoia has five chapters - A, E, I, O and U. The words in Chapter A contains only "a"s such as all, ball, bat, chat and abracadabra. Each chapter follows the same rule.

Australian teen author John Marsden teaches young people to write great stories using sets of rules, which implement some of these constraints. Rules such as "Don't let language bully you", "Capture the voice of the character" and "Show, don't tell a story."

When he asks you to "Write a story about the ocean without using the letter "e", all that rolls of your ball-point sounds like poetry. It's a form of constraint-based writing.

Some of the people in our network use these kinds of fun activities to warm up the conference crowd before we get down to the strategizing and decision making. Here are some examples of what some people collectively contribute. My favorite is the pirate talk, achieved by breaking the lipogram rules and using words containing "e", but simply omitting the letter:

• Crabs fly through big salty H2O. Happily nibbling on all and sundry. 
• Swimming cold. Trusting cool liquid to quickly coat my throat. I spang to my fins, arms thrashing in windy rolling mountains of foam.
• Da c is big and runs from wall to wall. Its long and high and if you fall in you will want to dry off. My mum says that it was not so high as it is now, that it is low at night.  I think gravity has a tug and that this is why it slops about.
• In aqua crystals. Starfish, sand, and a pail of clams. I go for it, baby!
• Oshorn ar to b sailin d ruddy o's'n aaaaarrrrrgh @ d nd to b shor ma 'arty splis d bldin main bras i'll b skutlin yr buttlin on d mount of yi (splash splash splash) undr d oishin hoit da joli rogr o giv mi a 'ome v'r d mrmaids doz roam aayh.
• An old man took a boat out far into a vast and wild mass. His craft was still and placid. It could not align with fish nor fowl.
• Foam. Flotsam. Rolling loud crashing fluid. A shark fish swam in coral again.
• An old man's rod knocks against boat in a tidal pool whilst fish, stingrays and crabs swam in salt flats.

So here's a workshop to practice your skills using various kinds of constraints:

1. Write a story about the ocean without using the letter "e"

2. Write a story about your life using ONLY the letters a,e,t,h,m,n,r,s,w.

3. Write an anthem for Africa, America, Australia or Asia using ONLY words that begin with the letter "a". e.g. Artists and artisans are attracted as Africa arises. Ascendant.

4. Write a story on any subject using ONLY or ALL the first 100 most frequently used words in English.

5. Write a story using words with no vowels using this list. You might have to use a dictionary to see what the words mean:

6. Write some snazzy words for a song to celebrate what your class, school, team, group or organization is going to do next year. Use alliteration, so most/all of the words start with the same letter. Choose any letter you like. e.g. Smart Students Sing Scintillating Songs.
7. EUNOIA means beautiful thinking and contains all the vowels - a, e, i, o and u.  Make a list of words containing ONLY the vowel “e” for example, men get.

8. Brainstorm words with ONLY the vowel "a". 1 vowel = 1 point, 2 vowels = 2, 3 vowels = 5, 4 vowels = 10, 5 vowels = 50, e.g. abracadabra = 50 points

9. Write a story using words that only contain the vowel "a", such as lava, cat.

10. Brainstorm words with ONLY the vowel "e”. . 1 vowel = 1 point, 2 vowels = 2, 3 vowels = 5, 4 vowels = 10, 5 vowels = 50, e.g. abracadabra = 50 points

11. Write a story using words that only contain the vowel "e", such as better, lever, me.

12. Brainstorm words with ONLY the vowel "i”. . 1 vowel = 1 point, 2 vowels = 2, 3 vowels = 5, 4 vowels = 10, 5 vowels = 50, e.g. abracadabra = 50 points

13. Write a story using words that only contain the vowel "i", such as sit, bit, wilt.

14. Brainstorm words with ONLY the vowel "o”. . 1 vowel = 1 point, 2 vowels = 2, 3 vowels = 5, 4 vowels = 10, 5 vowels = 50, e.g. abracadabra = 50 points

15. Write a story using words that only contain the vowel "o", such as moon, pot, soon.

16. Brainstorm words with ONLY the vowel "u”. . 1 vowel = 1 point, 2 vowels = 2, 3 vowels = 5, 4 vowels = 10, 5 vowels = 50, e.g. abracadabra = 50 points

17. Write a story using words that only contain the vowel "u", such as cut, mutt, bus.

Preparing for the school inspection

A sudden visit from the school inspection service (OFSTED in the UK) can bring terror to the heart of even the best and most experienced Head Teacher.

These days, not only do teachers have to demonstrate their pedagogical competence but they also have to show how well they work alongside parents, carers and other agencies such as the police and health services in the interests of the children.

OFSTED is the acronym for the Office for Standards in Children's Education and Skills which one Catholic School wag once described as standing for "Our Father Send Thee Eternal Damnation" which somewhat summarizes the general feeling of many head teachers.

The inspection process is a combination of self-evaluation, visitation/observation and a review of the records of your students' performances.

Prevention is better than cure. If you take positive steps to make improvements to your school ahead of inspection, the chances are you will be judged well, despite the difficulties you may encounter such as chronic absenteeism, bullying, racism, mass disengagement - 60 per cent of students in OECD countries are bored by school - or the 1-in-6 who leave school unable to read, write or count properly.

UK schools are judged on:

* Student performance (attainment, progress, dealing with disabilities/learning difficulties, whether they feel safe, adopt healthy lifestyles, contribute to the school or wider community. develop workplace skills that help them be successful in life ad whether how well they are catered for morally, socially, culturally and spiritually)

* Teacher performance (quality of teaching, assessment to help learning, whether the curriculum meets student's needs, and the care guidance and support that teachers give students).

* Leadership effectiveness (how well the leadership team drives improvement of teaching and learning, the role of the govering body in tackling issues, engagement with parents and carers, partnerships with others, promoting community cohesion and spending the budget well).

Parents also get to have a say about your performance and so do the students.

If you are taking positive steps towards improvements in all critical areas you will earn brownie points. If the parents think you are performing wonders, even though the changes are snail's pace incremental, then that will help your case. If you address individual learning styles, student safety and enjoyment and the special needs of students you will be rewarded.

The four ratings you can be given are Outstanding, Good, Satisfactory and Inadequate.

There are 25,000 schools in the United Kingdom and at any one time 40% of those schools are judged Satisfactory. That's 10,000 Head Teachers who live in constant fear of a downgrade to Inadequate or in the earnest hope their efforts will be judged Good.

Here's a check list of what schools can do to make life easier for themselves:

* Self-evaluation: Regularly and collectively complete the school self-evaluation against the "schedule of judgments". Develop develop strategies and action plans to deal promptly with every issue where the school has shortcomings. Expand the programs that work well. Involve the board of governors in planning for the future.

* Parent and carer engagement: Regularly conduct workshops with parents to get on top of their concerns about student progress, safety and wellbeing. Set up mini task forces so parents/carers can take some responsibility for resolving generic issues.

* Other agencies: Conduct regular meetings with other agencies to deal strategically with issues that cross agency boundaries e.g. crime, truancy or violence.

* Student voice: Conduct workshops with a large sample of students to learn how to better meet their specific learning needs, what captures their attention, what they like and don't like about their lessons and which kinds of pedagogical approaches work best.

* Professional and leadership development: Use the student voice outcomes as a basis for individual professional development.

Here's some workshops from the School Futures and Children Matter software applications from the Zing range of education titles that can help schools prepare for inspection and elevate their performance:

* A self-evaluation workshop to report on the effectiveness of the provision. There are six workshops which help staff collectively prepare for inspection:

1. Quality of teaching: How does teaching promote learning, progress and enjoyment for all pupils? e.g. range of teaching styles/activities, use of time, appropriate use of technology, builds on what students know, lesson planning etc.
2. Quality of teaching: How is assessment used to meet the needs of all pupils? e.g. the pupils know how they are doing, personalised learning, effective questioning, alert to errors/misconceptions.
3. Curriculum: How is the curriculum relevant to the needs of individual and groups of pupils and its impact on outcomes? e.g. memorable experience, rich opportunities, designed/modified to meet individual/group needs, extended/improved, etc.
4. Care, guidance and support: How is care and support provided to promote learning, personal development and well being? e.g. making use of parent and pupil views, welcoming environment, transition from nursery, between years and to secondary. vulnerable groups. challemging behaviour and to promote attenance.
5. Care, guidance and support: Write a story/case study about a potentially vulnerable child and show how you school provides effective, care guidance and support.

* Student voice workshops. See the blog: What young people want from school.

* School development: A professional development planning workshop to follow on from a student voice review of what students enjoy/dont enjoy about their school experience:

1. In 20 years time, what skills, capabilities and knowledge will our current students need to be successful in the world?
2. Describe the current problems that teachers experience in the classroom and how this affects teaching and learning. Respond like this (problem: impact).
3. Describe the current successes that we have in the classroom and how this benefits our students or society. Respond like this (successful activity: benefit)
4. If you had the task of remodelling/creating the ideal school, how would it be structured differently/the same? (classrooms, facilities, furniture, equipment, play areas, style).
5. What approaches to teaching and learning should we ideally retain or further develop to help equip our students for the future?
6. What aspects of our current approaches to teaching and learning will be need to eliminate if we are to be more successful in the future?
7. If we were to create a model of the ideal teacher, what would he/she be?
8. If we were to create a model of the ideal principal and senior staff, what role and management style should they have?
9. What should we do to cater for different learning styles?
10. What should we do to deal with current learner dissatisfiers with school, especially boredom and anxiety?
11. What should we do to deal with learners with disabilities?
12. What should we do to deal with learners who learn at differential rates.
13. What models of teaching and learning should we apply and in what contexts?
14. What should we do better manage the transition from primary to secondary schools?
15. What should we do to ensure that students at risk of non-completion are identified early and assisted?
16. What new/emerging pedagogical methods should we be aware of and be experimenting with in our school?
17. What should we do to deal with/capitalise on the differences between teacher and learner technological competence?
18. What should we be doing to satisfy or manage the expectations of parents, employers etc.
19. What models of teaching and learning around the world are we aware of that we could either emulate or surpass?
20. What should we be doing to cater for differing career paths, especially the vocational and academic divide?

* Engaging with parents: Here's the Staying safe workshop from the Children Matter workshop series. The six workshops are designed to achieve desirable health, enjoyment, achievement, positive contribution and economic well-being goals for young people.

1. How can we ensure children & young people and their carers are informed about key risks and how to deal with them?
2. What steps should be taken to provide children and young people with a safe environment?
3. What steps should be taken to minimise the incidence of child abuse and neglect?
4. What child protection arrangements should be put in place to meet the requirements of "Working Together to Safeguard Children"?
5. What should we do to ensure children and young people who are looked after are helped to stay safe?
6. What should we do to ensure children and young people with learning difficulties and disabilities are helped to stay safe?
7. How can we ensure that children affected by repeat domestic violence are identified, protected and supported?
8. What guidance and training should we provide to staff, carers and the public on how to recognise and raise child protection concerns?
9. How should we ensure there are secure arrangements for the recording and sharing of information on children and young people at risk, especially those crossing council boundaries and countries?