Classroom Evolution: Seating arrangements

Over the weekend I had a chance to interact with wonderful people, one of whom feels this great need to open her own school – a school that is focussed on a system of learning that is deeply entrenched in certain core values, and one that creates an environment for natural and holistic learning. These are ideas that excite me, but they are by no means unique to her. Many people have this vision of imparting knowledge through true learning experiences (and not what is present in our current SA education system).

My challenge, however, is to understand if, and how, we can actually reach the masses with this type of model. There are a few examples of private schools who approach education in this manner (e.g. Waldorf, Montessori) but they are designed for the rich. They are designed for people who have the insight to know that their child should be learning in an environment that stimulates their physical, mental and emotional aspects (and then who also have the money to pay for it).

While independent schools will have an important place in the world, my particular challenge will be to look at how we can evolve the current education system so that the majority of learners can benefit.

Many of the schools and classrooms I have visited in the last few years are greatly lacking in resources (of all kinds). One particular resource is the availability of desks and chairs. At one school in Orange Farm (in the south of Johannesburg) learners would sit in class during break time to make sure that other learners from other classes don’t steal the desks and chairs from their class. While these classes are all overcrowded, there wouldn’t even be enough desks for a normal sized classroom.

Regardless of number of desks, it is important for us to consider the actual setup of the classroom – what is it about the current setup that works? Learners sit at desks, in rows or clusters, with a chalkboard at the front of the classroom. Learners sit in this manner for every class that they have. Learners have to learn about Economics, Health, Maths, Chemistry, English, all while sitting in this same manner. Learners sit at their desks, for 5 – 8 hours per day, while a teacher teaches. Learners are not only expected to sit at their desks, but they need to sit straight up, facing forward, shoulders up, for 5 – 8 hours. These seating arrangements, as with the uniforms, are greatly unconducive to learning. This was the system of the past, where the west needed to produce uniform individuals, with uniform thinking and uniform outcomes. It was a system that was easily replicable, and it was effective, because they needed people to be the same, to do the same job every day for 40 years. We are not living in that time anymore. We do not need to produce uniform individuals (oxymoron?), but we need to produce independent thinkers, and the system of uniform seats is not helping us do this.

Learners need to be able to sit where, and how, they feel like sitting. I remember that I had a whole year at high school, where all I wanted to was to sit on the floor. I was still planning to do the work that was asked of me, I was still going to listen, I was not going to be disruptive, but I just wanted to sit on the floor – but obviously I was not allowed to. Learners need alternative spaces, that shouldn’t necessarily cost a fortune. Learners need flexibility in their learning environments so that they can be continually stimulated, so that they can be motivated and excited to learn. If this happens, then learning will happen. Learning will come. It may not be the rigid strict learning that we want to impose on them, but no doubt, they will learn. And even when it comes to the strict learning, it will still be conducive.

This type of learning environment, as with the uniform concept, is not something that can just be implemented on mass scale though. It is something that requires a concurrent shift in mindset, and a shift in the constructs of learning. However, this is not something that will take a very long time to implement. It just requires an understanding of learners’ psyche, how they learn, and how they can be grown. And it requires strong leadership and courage to challenge the current status quo. I hope to be one of the people to institute changes that can have a true impact on how learners will be educated in future.

Classroom evolution on the Uniform

I’ve been thinking about classrooms in their current state, and wondering where we can tolerate, and should encourage, adjustments. I’ve been thinking about how we can, practically, move forward from where we are now. I’ve been thinking about the small changes we can make that will allow education to be more easily received. In the next few posts, I will share my thoughts on a few different aspects.

One of the aspects I have considered is the Uniform:

I am not sure why school uniforms exist, and I am not sure if those who enforce it know why they exist, but there are some theories and thoughts on it.

Those who agree with having school uniforms want it for the following reasons:

– Learners are protected from bullying and stereotyping as they cannot be judged on the clothes they wear.

– Uniforms create a sense of pride and community, as there is a sense of belonging when all are dressed the same.

– Uniforms prepare learners for the workplace, where they will be expected to dress a certain way.

– Learners are able to focus on their school work, rather than on what the other person is wearing.

Those who disagree with uniforms do so for the following reasons:

– Uniforms stifle creativity, self-expression and independent thinking.

– Uniforms create followers, not leaders.

When I think about learning (in its most natural form) school uniform has little place to truly encourage this. When learners are required to wear uniforms, they are expected to keep these uniforms neat and clean. Keeping uniforms clean and neat do not encouraged learners to grow and prosper, as they’re so focussed on being uniform. Learners are expected to not deviate from the standard look, they have to look the same, act the same, think the same and be the same. And then we expect this system to produce leaders and independent thinkers. The uniform doesn’t allow learners to express themselves, to explore their personalities, and to find what matters to them. Uniforms leave learners vulnerable, as it tells learners that they have to all be the same, which does much more damage than good.

People use excuses of “bullying” and “classroom focus” as reasons for having uniforms, but these reasons are not good enough as it’s side effects are to take away a child’s individuality, creativity and inspiration. Who has ever felt inspired when wearing a school uniform!

I am not sure where my life will lead me, but I know that it’s important for me to fix things, to create solutions that can have an impact on the masses. In my quest, I hope to have an impact on the broken education system. It will not be my aim to just throw away uniforms, but rather to create a system that recognizes that uniforms are obsolete, and that the harm far outweighs the good. However, I do like the idea of having some recognition to a society/organisation/school, so I think I would like there to maybe be a color scheme, or a badge/logo of sorts. And obviously, there will be those who do actually want to wear a uniform, and they would be welcome to do so, but we’ll see what comes up. I am excited at this challenge.

Classroom evolutions TBC..

Tragedy in a classroom

I had an incident in a classroom yesterday. It took a night of reflection for me to have some confusing realisations.

My “new” job requires me to manage a cluster of programmes, to ensure that they are run effectively and that we are working toward our goals. The programmes are education related, and hence takes place in classrooms, with groups of learners (grade 6 – 8). One of my duties is to observe the classroom programme, without interruption/input – just to see what a “normal” class is like on a normal day.

I did one of these observations with a particular class yesterday. I was horrified. I was so upset at the way the learners behaved. These were my issues:

– Noise: The classroom was extremely noisy. There was never a moment of silence, where you could tell that learners were actually able to listen, pay attention and learn.

– Listening: Learners paid very little attention to what the teacher was doing/saying, but were rather more interested in what they, themselves, had to say. Learners were not willing to listen to the teacher, or each other. Each learner was only interested in having their time to shine in the class.

I was really disturbed at these learners’ behaviour, but since I was doing a formal observation, I couldn’t interfere to “fix it”. It bothered me so much that I couldn’t wait for the lesson to end so that I could have a few words with these learners about their unruly behaviour. The class ended, and it was time for me to have my few minutes to shine. I shone by telling them how bad their behaviour was. I shone by telling them how bad they were for always talking, and not listening. And I shone by telling them to be quiet and to learn.

But I didn’t feel satisfied. I still felt upset that learners, children, could behave so badly. But then I realised I was feeling bad not for what they had done, but for my failure to have more of an open mind.

As a child, I hated being put into these boxes, being forced to sit in a certain way, being forced to learn in certain ways, being constricted by start and end times of my day, I hated these expectations of these adults. And as an adult, I still didn’t agree with the systematic killing of creativity and spirit, by forcing learners into the same boxes that I hated. And yet, I am doing the same right now.

I’ve been so well-moulded and sculpted to be a soldier for the system that I disagree with, but my subconscious so powerfully just overrides it. I don’t agree with the way things have been done, but I don’t  know how to change my thinking (and implementation). I don’t know what the alternative is.

Learners are energetic, unfocussed and alive, and they need to be this way. Can you imagine what would happen if we channeled that energy, rather than suppressing it. Can learning take place in this way? Or rather, what type of learning can take place in this way? It seems impossible on a large scale. People are doing it on a small scale (re “Unschooling”) but in an after-school programme that is relatively small scale, can it be done? Can it be done even though these learners are used to the “traditional” ways of being taught.

I feel that I have to try to channel, rather than suppress, but it takes me so far away from what I know. I am just not able to even imagine what the alternative is, and maybe that is the true tragedy of this situation.

My continuing changing world

I need a moment of silent celebration.

My year on the Vodacom Change the World programme has come to an end, and at the same time, my time at Vodacom has come to an end too. After spending a year away from the corporate world (something I’ve been waiting for for about 3 years) I was able to find my next phase of life, and I am finally able to map out a path for myself that I am truly happy and excited for.

I am so blissfully content, silently happy and immensely grateful for the path that lies ahead.

Thinking back to a year ago, where I was preparing for the start of my CTW year, I was so nervously excited, and already dreading the end of it. But now that it’s here, I feel at peace and ready for the next step. For the next week, I will be finishing off some final project closures, doing last-minute admin and saying my goodbyes. I will be starting a new job next month with another NGO who runs mathematics proficiency programmes in Soweto. I am not sure where this will take me, but I am so eager to learn from this experience, as it will definitely force me to tackle some of my personal growth points that have been hibernating for a while. I have many more plans that I hope to fulfil in my life, and I know this experience will only add to my ability to achieve them. I am thankful for everyone who has contributed to my life.

Why do people stay neutral?

I’ve been thinking about goodness, and what it means to be a good person. In the past few years, I’ve also been thinking about what makes people want to “do good”.

I remember a time when I didn’t really do any good. While I wasn’t necessarily encouraged just to think about myself, I was never really encouraged to think about others, and so I didn’t. But when I stumbled upon my “social conscience”, it wasn’t something that I wanted to just engage with once in a while. Once I stumbled upon it, it was something that changed my life. So with this perspective, I have been trying to find out what it will take to get others to have, and act on, their “social conscience”. This is important for a one main reason:

There are many many bad people in the world. There are also many many good people in the world. But there are greatly much more “neutral” people who couldn’t really care much for either.

Let me take a few moments to elaborate on what it means to be neutral – if you are a person who goes about your business, who doesn’t break the law or harm people, but who also doesn’t actively contribute to making anyone’s life/some aspect of the world a better place (excluding your actual obligations) then you are not a good person. You are a neutral person. You are a fence-sitter, a passer-by, a non-contributor. You neither make things better, nor worse. It is important for this statement to be made, so that we can have an honest conversation and an honest understanding of what our places are in the world. Please take a second to honestly think about this.

The reason it is so important to understand this concept of being neutral is because there is great potential in the possibility of mobilising the neutral forces of the world to be a positive contributor, as opposed to just a passer-by. In thinking about this, I have been trying to understand two things. Firstly, what it is about the human condition that keeps us in a neutral position, and secondly, what can we do to catalyse a change for the positive. This is what I came up with:

1. Why do we stay neutral:

– We are too busy at our jobs, trying to make a life for ourselves and our families to think about anything/anyone else.

– Our struggles and obstacles in life seem to consume us, and so we focus on fixing ourselves with little room to contribute to anything/anyone else.

– We’ve had a tough life, and worked hard for what we earned, and others must just do the same.

– We are just too busy enjoying all the good things and don’t want the worlds problems to dampen our happiness.

– We just didn’t know any better (my excuse before my life-changing event).

– We just don’t care.

2. What can we do to catalyse a permanent change, from neutral to positive:

– I have absolutely no idea…

And this is where my thoughts end. I am intrigued to understand how the human condition is swayed in different directions, and how internal and external factors can be used to catalyse shifts in mind and action, but I have no idea where to start to get this understanding. People are so powerful, and numbers can greatly count in anyone’s favour, but knowing how to interrogate thoughts, and action patterns is key to getting a dent in this.

Farewell tears

I’ve had to say goodbye this week. My year on the Change the World programme is coming to an end within the next month, and while my project at the schools will continue without me, I have had to wrap up and close things off as the term comes to an end. We have been working with an average of 150 learners across 3 schools, and so I have not had the opportunity to get to know all learners. However, I have had some golden moments in these classes, which has really excited me about their futures. [One of the facilitator asked his class “Who knows what a ‘degree’ is”, and the one kid replied “It’s a piece of paper that helps you be successful in life” – I laughed so hard at how accurate that was, that the grandeur of these institutions has not fooled him into thinking otherwise].

There are a few shining stars who stand out in class, so obviously, and they really get me so excited. But once in a while the introverts, the quiet ones, the ones with low confidence, start giving us a little bit of who they are. And this is when I feel hopeful, truly hopeful, that we are doing things right. I feel truly hopeful that this programme, once we’ve rigorously completed the pilot, will be able to have a great positive impact on SA’s school-going learners.

These learners have grown so much in these past few months, and I am hopeful that I will be back here in a few months to see their further changes.

Saying goodbye to the teachers, who have supported us in the past few months, may have been an emotional trigger for me though. They seem a little “bummed” at my leaving, but I had to reassure them that the team taking over will not leave them in the lurch. I believe that they would, yet the goodbyes have left me a little…bummed.

20 years in the exact same job? You must be crazy..

There’s been a thought that I have had for a very long time, and I have not been able to put this into practice yet, so if anyone wants to pick up on the idea and make it work, I’d be glad if you did. If not, I will try it one day IA.

An article making the rounds on social media spoke about the state of South African labour, and how we are at peace with paying our working force with unliveable wages, with the excuse of ensuring profitability. A point that was made was that we can’t be ok with it, because it’s unfair, and if our businesses can’t succeed if we have to pay our employees more money, then we need a better business model..

That being said, I want you to ponder on this (if you haven’t already) – think about the first job you ever had. Imagine what your life would have been like if you had to stay in that exact same job for 5 years, with the exact same responsibilities. Imagine what your life would have been like if you had to stay in that job for the rest of your life. Imagine what it would have felt like if you never grew, and became better, and weren’t given more opportunities and more responsibilities. Imagine what you would have felt like if you didn’t get an annual increase in line with the current markets. Imagine what you would have felt like if you didn’t get annual leave, or if your employer wasn’t sympathetic to family losses and hadn’t given you paid time off in emergency situations. Can you even imagine? If that had happened to me, if I was never allowed to grow, to be better, to improve, to be paid for my services as if I mattered, I would have no want to get up and go to such a job. I would be so demotivated, so dissatisfied and feel so worthless and useless, and utterly unappreciated. I’d probably hate my life.

So how is it that we still expect our domestic workers, cleaners, security guards and petrol attendants to do this? I’m sure there are many many more “professions” that also fall into this category, but these are the ones I engage with, and that I feel that there is a definite way that we can change this status quo, if only we wanted to..

Let me use the security guard industry as an example. The security guards I’ve been in contact with are typically not educated, but reliable, capable and trustworthy individuals. They have “potential”. Yet, while in the security guard business, there is little growth opportunities, little education opportunities, and little opportunity to be anything else besides what they are. Why is it that the bosses of this area are not invested in their people, to motivate them to be better, and do better. The ability to offer their employees the chance to study something else, a skill, a trade, explore entrepreneurship opportunities, anything. Why is it that they just don’t consider that growing their people is important enough a thing to do? The same goes for petrol attendants. They work long hours, often just doing nothing when the petrol stations aren’t busy – do they get the chance to get more responsibilities, more learning about the business, time to do part time studies? I can’t imagine employing someone for 20 years and all they do is the same thing that they’ve always done – clean my house, wash the dishes, do the ironing.

If there is anyone so dedicated that they are willing to do well for us, that they’re willing to serve us and be good employees, do we not owe them the chance for them to grow? A friend told me that she’d just gotten an opportunity to do something amazing, because the people recognised her “potential” to do this great thing – it was not about what she had done (i.e. her CV, education or qualifications) but rather about her POTENTIAL to do other things. This statement made so much sense to me, but how (and why) don’t we take up this philosophy. Sure, it will take time for the corporates to get onboard with this type of thinking, but we as individuals can do it.. Can’t we?

Will be good to hear your thoughts, maybe some companies do give their employees these opportunities.. Hopefully there are..

We can’t change the world

Some friends and I were talking about the xenophobia situation. One friend in particular crowd sourced some money to assist the mothers and babies who were victims of the attacks. This left others wondering “what can we do to really change what is happening”. In my exhaustion, I felt the inability to bull$#!* anyone, and just realised that there isn’t anything that any of us (as regular working-folk people) can really do to change the situation. And this is the crux of what we all need to understand.

Please don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that we mustn’t do anything, but rather, there isn’t anything that we can do to really change the situation as it stands. The xenophobia attacks are a result of many many factors, most of which we have little impact on (service delivery, large scale employment, illegal immigrants, poor education, etc.). It is a result of 20 years of democracy, but a continued 20 years of people living in conditions of oppression. Nothing has changed during the last 20 years for huge groups of people, and they are tired. And there is nothing that I can do to change the situations of huge masses of people, do you really think there is anything you can do about it?

Government has HUGE budgets, they spend a lot, they waste a lot, they corrupt a lot.. But there will never be any organisation, company or individual who will ever be able to spend as much as the government has the capacity to spend on these issues.

My point is this: No, we don’t have the capacity to change the whole situation, but we still have to try to change at least one small situation. Each one of us has to put in the effort, every day, to try to make a difference in our own little sphere of influence. Because if we don’t, it means that we are agreeing with everything that is being done. Like it or not, in this day and age of constant opinions and ideas on social media, if we don’t say “I’m against xenophobia” or “I’m against ISIS” or “I’m against the poor education system” then it means that we are for it (in the eyes of the judgemental).

Further, my point is this: What we, as regular working-class people, have to do is to help to fix the symptoms. It may seem futile, and it may seem like this isn’t really helping, but it is what we need to do. There are people who have the power to change policies, to reach the entire nation, and then there are people who can reach those around them. There are people who can influence their immediate surroundings, who can assist their immediate community, and that is you and I.

The problem, I think, is that there will be a time of crisis, and people will not know how to react, or what to do.. And to me, the solution to this will be to not just react during times of crises, but rather to be involved, on a regular basis in “stuff”. Get involved in the soup kitchens, in the community projects, in the clothing drives, in the orphanages, or something more sustainable like helping out at your local school, giving extra lessons to learners, organising excursions to universities – people need to be more regularly involved. We need to create a culture of social awareness, we need to have people regularly involved in their community. And then when it comes to crises like the xenophobia attacks, we will know what to do, we will know how to react, and we will have the resources, the networks and the power to provide relief, even if it is just a bandaid solution.

People can’t be idle in this life, we aren’t living in times where its ok for you to just worry about your own skin, your own child, your own financial security. Our communities need us to give back, regularly.

And if you aren’t the type of person who believes in handouts (which I am too), then there are many other initiatives you can get involved in. There are projects of empowerment, where we can mentor and grow learners to be responsible citizens, there are projects that grow entrepreneurs that require guidance from professionals, there are many things you can do. Just don’t do nothing. Even if you start small, you will see that your appetite for “giving more” will grow.

From a religious perspective, something I came across which I really love is this: the acts that God loves the most, are the acts of consistency, no matter how small, consistent acts are regarded higher than big acts that are once off.

Take care, be active.

Two poems about A Little Boy

Be sure to read them both, right to the end..

The Little Boy
by Helen Buckley

Once a little boy went to school.
He was quite a little boy
And it was quite a big school.
But when the little boy
Found that he could go to his room
By walking right in from the door outside
He was happy;
And the school did not seem
Quite so big anymore.

One morning
When the little boy had been in school awhile,
The teacher said:
“Today we are going to make a picture.”
“Good!” thought the little boy.
He liked to make all kinds;
Lions and tigers,
Chickens and cows,
Trains and boats;
And he took out his box of crayons
And began to draw.

But the teacher said, “Wait!”
“It is not time to begin!”
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
“Now,” said the teacher,
“We are going to make flowers.”
“Good!” thought the little boy,
He liked to make beautiful ones
With his pink and orange and blue crayons.
But the teacher said “Wait!”
“And I will show you how.”
And it was red, with a green stem.
“There,” said the teacher,
“Now you may begin.”

The little boy looked at his teacher’s flower
Then he looked at his own flower.
He liked his flower better than the teacher’s
But he did not say this.
He just turned his paper over,
And made a flower like the teacher’s.
It was red, with a green stem.

On another day
When the little boy had opened
The door from the outside all by himself,
The teacher said:
“Today we are going to make something with clay.”
“Good!” thought the little boy;
He liked clay.
He could make all kinds of things with clay:
Snakes and snowmen,
Elephants and mice,
Cars and trucks
And he began to pull and pinch
His ball of clay.

But the teacher said, “Wait!”
“It is not time to begin!”
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
“Now,” said the teacher,
“We are going to make a dish.”
“Good!” thought the little boy,
He liked to make dishes.
And he began to make some
That were all shapes and sizes.

But the teacher said “Wait!”
“And I will show you how.”
And she showed everyone how to make
One deep dish.
“There,” said the teacher,
“Now you may begin.”

The little boy looked at the teacher’s dish;
Then he looked at his own.
He liked his better than the teacher’s
But he did not say this.
He just rolled his clay into a big ball again
And made a dish like the teacher’s.
It was a deep dish.

And pretty soon
The little boy learned to wait,
And to watch
And to make things just like the teacher.
And pretty soon
He didn’t make things of his own anymore.

Then it happened
That the little boy and his family
Moved to another house,
In another city,
And the little boy
Had to go to another school.
This school was even bigger
Than the other one.
And there was no door from the outside
Into his room.
He had to go up some big steps
And walk down a long hall
To get to his room.
And the very first day
He was there,
The teacher said:
“Today we are going to make a picture.”
“Good!” thought the little boy.
And he waited for the teacher
To tell what to do.
But the teacher didn’t say anything.
She just walked around the room.

When she came to the little boy
She asked, “Don’t you want to make a picture?”
“Yes,” said the lttle boy.
“What are we going to make?”
“I don’t know until you make it,” said the teacher.
“How shall I make it?” asked the little boy.
“Why, anyway you like,” said the teacher.
“And any color?” asked the little boy.
“Any color,” said the teacher.
“If everyone made the same picture,
And used the same colors,
How would I know who made what,
And which was which?”
“I don’t know,” said the little boy.
And he began to make a red flower with a green stem.

The Little Boy

by Helen Buckley

Once a little boy went to school.
He was quite a little boy
And it was quite a big school.
But when the little boy
Found that he could go to his room
By walking right in from the door outside
He was happy;
And the school did not seem
Quite so big anymore.

One morning
When the little boy had been in school awhile,
The teacher said:
“Today we are going to make a picture.”
“Good!” thought the little boy.
He liked to make all kinds;
Lions and tigers,
Chickens and cows,
Trains and boats;
And he took out his box of crayons
And began to draw.

But the teacher said, “Wait!”
“It is not time to begin!”
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
“Now,” said the teacher,
“We are going to make flowers.”
“Good!” thought the little boy,
He liked to make beautiful ones
With his pink and orange and blue crayons.
But the teacher said “Wait!”
“And I will show you how.”
And it was red, with a green stem.
“There,” said the teacher,
“Now you may begin.”

The little boy looked at his teacher’s flower
Then he looked at his own flower.
He liked his flower better than the teacher’s
But he did not say this.
He just turned his paper over,
And made a flower like the teacher’s.
It was red, with a green stem.

On another day
When the little boy had opened
The door from the outside all by himself,
The teacher said:
“Today we are going to make something with clay.”
“Good!” thought the little boy;
He liked clay.
He could make all kinds of things with clay:
Snakes and snowmen,
Elephants and mice,
Cars and trucks
And he began to pull and pinch
His ball of clay.

But the teacher said, “Wait!”
“It is not time to begin!”
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
“Now,” said the teacher,
“We are going to make a dish.”
“Good!” thought the little boy,
He liked to make dishes.
And he began to make some
That were all shapes and sizes.

But the teacher said “Wait!”
“And I will show you how.”
And she showed everyone how to make
One deep dish.
“There,” said the teacher,
“Now you may begin.”

The little boy looked at the teacher’s dish;
Then he looked at his own.
He liked his better than the teacher’s
But he did not say this.
He just rolled his clay into a big ball again
And made a dish like the teacher’s.
It was a deep dish.

And pretty soon
The little boy learned to wait,
And to watch
And to make things just like the teacher.
And pretty soon
He didn’t make things of his own anymore.

Then it happened
That the little boy and his family
Moved to another house,
In another city,
And the little boy
Had to go to another school.
This school was even bigger
Than the other one.
And there was no door from the outside
Into his room.
He had to go up some big steps
And walk down a long hall
To get to his room.
And the very first day
He was there,
The teacher said:
“Today we are going to make a picture.”
“Good!” thought the little boy.
And he waited for the teacher
To tell what to do.
But the teacher didn’t say anything.
She just walked around the room.

When she came to the little boy
She asked, “Don’t you want to make a picture?”
“Yes,” said the lttle boy.
“What are we going to make?”
“I don’t know until you make it,” said the teacher.
“How shall I make it?” asked the little boy.
“Why, anyway you like,” said the teacher.
“And any color?” asked the little boy.
“Any color,” said the teacher.
“If everyone made the same picture,
And used the same colors,
How would I know who made what,
And which was which?”
“I don’t know,” said the little boy.
.And he began to make pink and orange and blue flowers.

He liked his new school,
Even if it didn’t have a door
Right in from the outside!

Challenge accepted?

I may have started something here.. I may have started something that seems to be getting big, and it scares me a little because I don’t know where we’d get the funding or where we’d get the time to satisfy these big requests. I am still a bit stuck in our current smallscale project, and the world seems to be ready (and wanting) big-scale already..

I guess I just need to wrap my head around these demands, and brace myself for some big things. I realise I am speaking in code right now, will update you on “the big things” once I know what we are getting ourselves into.

Wish me luck!