Happy Fathers' Day Just a quick note today - Fathers' Day here in Oz. The four of us shared a home made pancake breakfast, and Beth now understands the attractions of bacon and maple syrup together! We had a gathering of the Bezzina clan here so it was all hands on deck for a meal of gourmet sausages, salad and Granny's timpana. As the father of fathers, Nannu got to wear the funny hat! QF007 here I come!

The first six weeks of my study leave have gone by in a blur. Visions of serene days spent in highbrow writing never came true, but I have been very busy! I've drafted parts of articles, delivered papers, planned the trip, facilitated processes, planned the trip, worked on an evaluation, planned ... (you get the idea!). I marked my last batch of assignments today - small one, which, if not perfectly formed, at least showed promise. There are still a few loose...

Friday evening passed in the hotel room as I spent the time doing some analysis of the EREA review data. I figured I might as well do it when there were no alternatives! Saturday dawned - the last day of the course. It was an easier day for me on two scores. First of all, it would finish a bit early in order to accommodate another class at 2pm. Secondly, I didn't have to "perform" - simply keep three parallel groups of presentations on time and keep an eye ...

I am sitting down to write this as my class of 66 (or 65 or 62 or ...) - but big - puts the finishing touches to its group projects. We have a shortish day tomorrow because the room is needed by someone else at 2.00. I think we'll have sucked the juice out of this particular orange by then! Five days down, one to go!The students here continue to surprise me with their notion of what might constitute a reasonable attendance. I had a student turn up today who...

I did make a separate entry for Tuesday but the IT gremlins meant it didn't upload, so here is a double header.Tuesday was a challenge. In a group of this size, making genuine contact with the students is a bit difficult, and the size of the room, along with cultural reticence to speak our in public makes genuine dialogue a challenge. However, by close of play yesterday I had the sense I was beginning to break through - which is just as well, as the energy o...