Transcript Teachers’ Homework! - Forest Hill School

Staff Homework!
This all began when Mr. Baker
challenged Ms Webb the librarian to
read Little Brother by Cory
Doctorow, then Ms Arthur said
read…
So Ms Webb issued all staff with a
challenge, a writing task and here is
the result…
not everyone has quite finished yet,
so watch this space.
Post Card
I read Stoner
By John Williams
This moving book had a profound effect
on me.( It is not about taking drugs, by
the way!).
The book’s narrative follows the ordinary
life of an English professor(William
Stoner) teaching at a Mid-Western
University, during the first half of the
twentieth century. A man of quiet
determination, he navigates the problems
life throws at him with grace and dignity.
This includes ,the painful breakdown of a
doomed marriage and the resultant
estrangement of his only daughter, his
passion for his subject ,despite his
personal battles with some of his
departmental colleagues at the
university and the final realisation that
his life has been unremarkable.This is a
beautifully written book. I will miss
My name is Mr Jackson
and I teach English
Post Card
I read A Wild Sheep Chase
By Haruki Murakami
It was brilliant…. It is brilliant.
Everything I want and need from a novel.
A desire to visit the location helps –in this
case Japan, particularly Tokyo in all its
ordered craziness.
A mystery involving a hunt for a sheep
with attractive characters and a
sheep-man ……c’mon what more do you
want? It’s like Sherlock Holmes but not
him! And it is set in a very socially
disciplined world.
There’s a kind of sequel called
’Dance, Dance, Dance’ –which is brilliant!
My name is Mr Salmon
and I teach Mathematics and some Politics
Post Card
I read Life after Life
By Kate Atkinson
This is an unusual read and very thought
provoking! Imagine living your life over
and over again; experiencing being born
and dying in different ways a multitude
of times while correcting the mistakes
you made and with the possibility of
choosing a different path along the way.
That’s the essence of this book- if you
feel you’ve read a passage before then
you probably have as it retells events but
with different outcomes.
If you want to read a novel which
constantly reminds you that you are
reading a story while at the same time
seems unbelievably real then this is one
for you!
My name is Ms Konec
and I teach children.
Post Card
I read The Hosts Of Rebecca
By Alexander Cordell
It was one of the first novels I ever read
as a teenager long long ago.
It is about West Wales and the struggle
of the people against the masters and
their unfair taxes and tolls.
It felt very much a part of my history; a
story that many of my school friends were
living at the time –they were from coal
mining families who were out of work and
really struggling.
The black gold that was coal was very
much a part of the landscape of my
growing up.
My name is Mr Salmon
and I teach Mathematics and some Politics.
Post Card
I read Selected Poems
By E.E. Cummings
Woody Allen’s film Hannah and Her Sisters contains a
number of great cultural references. The ones that
stand out for me are the stunningly beautiful piece of
music by Bach – his F minor harpsichord concerto and
a poem by E.E. Cummings. As a result of this film I
bought a copy of the selected works of E.E Cummings. I
return to this selection of poems occasionally and
enjoy its simplicity and directness.
The main character is a well read, sophisticated
intellectual. Despite all of his achievements and
appreciation of culture and great literature he cannot
make sense of his own feelings of love. The recital of
the poem in the film is skilfully placed to highlight the
overwhelming power of feelings and the limits of
reason in making sense of our lives.
your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose
My name is Mr. Kubilius
and I teach Music
Post Card
I read A Star Called Henry
By Roddy Doyle
It is brilliant; a fictional account around
the time of the Easter Rising in Dublin
1916. It makes me live the story –the
agony, the dirt, the noise of a nation
being born.
Doyle writes in a way that makes me
sound Irish in ‘me head’ –an accent, a
language that makes English beautiful –a
country that is green in its poverty and
filth.
It is such a fascinating record of a time
when the world was going crazy with
war and one man’s journey/struggle to
cope, to survive and make something of
himself….a star.
My name is Mr Salmon
and I teach Mathematics and some Politics.
I read A Monster Calls
By Patrick Ness
Post Card
I have never actually cried at the end of a
novel before; felt sadness, loss,
satisfaction and disappointment yes, but
never cried, until this novel. It was
recommended to me by a year 8 student
who told me it was an emotive novel and
that it was ‘difficult ’in places.
This is the story of Conor, who has a
reoccurring nightmare about his mother,
who is suffering from cancer. One day,
however, he has a nightmare that seems
too real. It is! A real monster visits Conor
to tell him three stories or ‘truths.’ Conor
in turn has to tell the monster his ‘truth.’
This is a beautiful novel, it will tear your
heart apart at the end, when we finally
share with Conor what his ‘truth’ is. The
illustrations by Jim Kay only add to the
harrowing and mystery of this novel.
My name is Miss Simmons
and I teach English
Post Card
I read Pigeon English
By Stephen Kelman
It was… one of the funniest books I have
ever read! The story is told by the main
character Harrison Okupu (Harri). The book
covers some very serious topics; gang
violence and murder are just two of them!
But through the innocent eyes of Harri, it
doesn’t seem so real and dangerous- he
plays a detective trying to work out who is
behind a murder on his estate. He gets in
to all sorts of trouble with his older sister
and her friends as well as other residents
on the Dell Farm estate and is constantly
ducking and diving to stay out of trouble.
The book also deals with the harsh truth of
gang violence and really hits hard. A book I
wont forget and a character that still makes
me smile
My name is Miss Sparkes
and I teach BTEC, Maths & RE
Post Card
I read The Quiet American
By Graham Greene
It was about a British journalist and an
American soldier in the special forces
who are both sent to Vietnam and fall
in love with the same girl.
It helped me to imagine what life might
have been like for Westerners who
were sent to Vietnam during the war
and the sort of things they might worry
about apart from the war.
My name is Ms Davey and I teach History.
Post Card
I read One Child
By Torey Hayden
It was emotional!!! The book is a true
story, the challenges that face the
teacher and the child are huge. It is
sad to read about the reasons behind
the difficulties faced by the child. It
was inspiring to read about the
successes they made together.
I don’t read a lot but this series of
books by Torey from her educational
psychology career are really
interesting. They are hard to read for
the emotional context as there are
many true/adapted true stories.
My name is Mr Davey
and I teach P.E.
Post Card
I read The Ballad of Peckham Rye
By Muriel Spark
It was really fun to read. The book tells
the story of a Scottish man who arrives
in Peckham and causes problems for
some of the people living there.
It was really interesting to find out
what Peckham was like in the 1950s
and thinking about how it has changed
since then and how it has stayed the
same too.
My name is Ms Davey and I teach History.
Post Card
I read This Thing of Darkness
By Harry Thompson
It was about Charles Darwin and his now
famous voyage around the world on a
ship named the Beagle where he gathered
crucial evidence and observations that led
to his theory of natural selection. A
historical fiction, it focused on the touching
relationship between Darwin and the ship’s
captain Robert Fitzroy and their increasingly
opposing viewpoints on God and Creation
among other things.
Darwin went on to publish his theories and
became famous, Fitzroy pioneered the Met
Report and descended into madness….
A brilliant, gripping and thought-provoking
novel – the pages just turned themselves!
My name is Winston Lo
and I teach Science.
Post Card
I read The Day of the Triffids
By John Wyndham
It was probably my favourite book that I
read this summer. It is a science-fiction
book which is not a genre I usually read. I
liked it because it was set in London and
the South East of England.
It made me think about how people
behave in a crisis, the sort of world we
live in now and the sort of world I would
like to live in.
My name is Ms Davey and I teach History.
Post Card
I read Storm Front (Book 1 of The Dresden
Files)
By Jim Butcher
Harry is the only real wizard in the
yellow pages.
HARRY DRESDEN — WIZARD
Lost Items Found.
Paranormal Investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses,
Parties or Other Entertainment
The first in a series of fast paced books
full of action, comedy, strong characters
and magic as this private eye battles
Vampires, faeries, demons and evil
wizards.
Please don’t blame me if your grades start
to suffer if you read all 14 books.
My name is Mr Evans
and I teach Science.
Post Card
I read The Submission
By Amy Waldman
Written by a New York Times journalist,
the Submission of the title is a sealed bid
to design the memorial to be built on the
site of the World Trade Centre post 9/11.
The winner turns out to be an American
Muslim, Mohammad Khan.
The families of those who died in the
attack do not want the memorial built by
him, and public opinion is mixed. And
what is his motivation for designing this?
An intelligent and thought-provoking look
at some of the debates which arose in
America after 9/11.
My name is Mr Pinfold
and I teach English and Film Studies.
Post Card
I read The Museum of Innocence
By Orhan Pamuk
It was the longest book I read this
summer! Sometimes I found it really
easy to read and sometimes I felt like it
was just too long!
It was set in Istanbul, the capital of
Turkey, and tells the story of a man who
becomes obsessed with a woman.
It was really interesting to learn about
Turkish culture and there really is a
Museum of Innocence in Istanbul now – I
hope I get to visit it one day!
My name is Ms Davey and I teach History.
Post Card
I read A Game of Thrones
By George R.R. Martin
It was excellent!
The book is described as an epic fantasy.
I like how each chapter is told from a
different character’s point of view and
how that leads to many plot twists and
intrigues. I like how as a reader that
you know different pieces of information
that all start to piece together at the end.
Plus the battles and dragons make it an
exciting read!
My name is Miss Lewis
and I teach Science.
Post Card
I read Animal Farm
By George Orwell
It was a great short novel with
straightforward language, memorable
characters and an incredible ending.
It’s about a gang of animals who take
over a farm and run it themselves.
Their motto is ‘four legs (animals) good,
two legs (humans) bad’. But are all the
animals really good?
I recommend it to anyone of any age. It
is an ageless, timeless book that you’ll
return to again and again, discovering
new things every time.
My name is Lewis Dawber
and I teach people.
Post Card
I read India
By Patrick French
It was a non-fiction book all about how
India has changed since they became
an independent country in 1947.
I read it because I am going to go to
India for Christmas and I wanted to
know what it might be like.
I have read another book by Patrick
French about the Indian independence
movement and I really like the way he
writes. He talks about big themes but
also tells really interesting stories
about individual people that are funny
or sad or just very unusual!
My name is Ms Davey and I teach History.
Post Card
I read Pig Iron
By Benjamin Myers
It was gritty, honest and brutal yet
poetic and beautiful.
It tells the tale of John-John Wisdom,
recently released from a youngoffenders institute, a young man with
a dream; a dream to escape from the
shadow of his violent father Mac –
infamous bare-knuckle fighter.
Told in multiple narrative voice and
with a shocking and tragic conclusion,
Pig Iron has me gripped.
My name is Miss Evans
and I teach English.
Post Card
I read Shelter
By Harlan Coben
Mickey Bolitar is having a troubled time:
his dad has just died; his mum is in rehab
and he is forced to go and live with his
uncle. The one bright spot is
meeting his girlfriend, Ashley. Life is
starting to get better for Mickey until one
day, Ashley vanishes. Soon Mickey gets
caught up in a mystery. What has
happened to Ashley? Is his father really
dead? Why is the paramedic who took his
father's body away in a picture from the
1940s on his crazy neighbour's
mantelpiece?
My name is Miss Blunden
and I teach History.
Post Card
I read Candide
By Voltaire
It was something I read as a philosophy
student and then I heard a writer on
the radio, say that he read it every ten
years, as it has different meaning for each
stage of your life.
I was shocked to find how violent,
sexist and racist it was and that I must have
either blocked that out of my mind or it has
fundamentally developed my humanitarian
outlook.
It’s a pacy adventure story of an innocent/
naïve young man, his choices to be
or not to be, affected directly by those
people he meets along the way.
I love a good classic.
My name is Ms Porthouse
and I teach Explorers.
Post Card
I am still reading Atlas Shrugged
By Ayn Rand
This is the last book I started this
summer and so far I really like it. It is
very long so I don’t think I’ll finish it
until half term!
It is a really fascinating story about all
the men of talent disappearing for
apparently no reason and how things
stop working without them. My
favourite thing about the book is that
the lead character is a really strong
female who is very clever and
successful. I don’t know how it finishes
yet but I can’t wait to find out!
My name is Ms Davey and I teach History.
Post Card
I read Percy Jackson and the Lightning
Thief
By Rick Riordan
It was a really good read, I preferred it to
the film, it was amazing to see the
difference between the book and the film,
the book had me using my imagination
more.
A very good read.
My name is Miss Davies
and I teach Design and Technology.
Post Card
I read The Invisible Man
By H.G.Wells.
It was a real page turner.
The story was first published in 1897 and
so is set at the end of the Victorian Era,
but the story is thrilling and as it is a
science fiction story the plot seems very
modern for its time.
A stranger arrives at an inn on a snowy
winter’s day. He keeps his hat and gloves
on and his scarf wrapped over his face.
No one can see what he looks like. No one
could guess that he had found a way of
turning himself invisible. What would you
do if you could be invisible? This man
turns to crime. He steals and hurts other
people for his own gain, but he is alone.
How can he be stopped?
My name is Ms. Kenton
and I teach Languages.
Post Card
I read Persepolis
By Marjane Sartrapi
It was a really powerful account of a
young girl growing up in war torn Iran.
It was an unusual choice for me because
it is a graphic novel and I’ve never
thought that I would enjoy stopping, to
make sense of the pictures, as well as the
words. However having read this book, I’m
a graphic novel convert. The pictures add so
much in terms of the places, people and
experiences in the book, that I found
myself scanning them for every little detail.
My name is Roisin McEvoy
and I teach English.