What can I do in my school?

 A new project that needs some brainstorming. 

... That's as far as I got. I started this post in 2021. Now it's 25 Feb 2025. I've been experimenting with Memory Crafts for 5 years! I read The Memory Code even before that, so it's longer. 

I have created a bunch of things in my school, my home and for myself, and now I want to make the project bigger and broader. I am looking for structures through which to share these ideas with other teachers and, if you will, be a doula in the process. Dramaturge is also a term that comes to mind. Someone who partners you in planning, research and design, so the teacher's focus can be on their own students and curriculum and the project doesn't become a drain or a misuse of time. 

I need somewhere to blog as a record but no one is actually reading it, so I don't self censor, so blogger, you are back! 

I have signed up for co spaces edu as a management and communication tool for my spaces. 

I am also frustrated about finding a good name for what I do. Personally, talking to myself, I call it a songlines project. There are two problems with that. One, is the cultural appropriation and my attendant lack of knowledge about Songlines proper. It is, however, the direction I am aiming in. Multi-dimensional education system using all the arty arts for 'hard' subject living knowledge systems. The other is that I live outside Australia and when people hear 'Songlines' they think I mean a musical. 

I don't like Method of Loci, though I do like Method of Loki. MoL and mind palace sounds dry and unfeminine and like it's for memorising a deck of cards or something else I don't care about. Yes I'm avoiding the Major system and Domenic etc. it makes me angry and I don't knwo why. 

Part of this process is noticing where the very idea of it makes people feel tired and angry. Or in other teachers, get the 'eyes glazing' effect. I pissed off both my kids on the weekend, making them try things out. Luckily they are emotionally articulate and could try to tell me about it, although not really clear why. I think it really just does take a lot of mental energy and if you are mentally tired after a bunch of homework, it's annoying. 

It's really important to notice and me present to the resistance and repulsion, because it's part of the process of making it work. Obviously I spend my time working on the places that attract me so I can avoid confronting the negativity. But when I listen to Dr A Metevier on youtube, I get so so annoyed. I think I need a special post about emotions. 

I'm also thinking about developing a series of posts to put somewhere like linkedin. This blog is a draft for  something better crafted to communicate vs brain dump.  

I have 3 memory places at school and one dead one. 

1) Tuckshop - 20 locations - chemistry and chinese history

2) Assembly playground - 12 locations - chinese zodiac - 12 earthly branches - 12 axioms of math - plan to use for junior form math concepts and also temporary vocab building. 

3) School Hall - 26 locations or 33 with the foyer. English Alphabet and Russian Alphabet. 

4) 7/f activity space had 20-26 locations but no one is allowed up there now so not worth developing. 

5) general classrooms. This is an ongoing project that didn't quite work. 20 is a lot for one boring room. I'm thinking the 12 format might work well because everyone likes a 12 and it can do 3s and 4s. 

This morning I pretty much learnt the 12 earthly branches during morning assembly. They were an interesting challenge because they are components of chinese characters but they don't quite mean anything. Then I thought 'oh, there's 12, I could put them in my 12 space' then I looked it up and that's ALREADY how they work. The animals, of course, are a mnemonic device for compass directions, times of day, months and the characters. They also combine with the 10 heavenly stems to make a 60 year calendar. The 10 heavenlies are next. Everyone knows up to 4 or 5 because they're the equivalent of A-E when you name classes. 

Yesterday I talked to the Chinese History teacher about the system and he wants to use it next year with S1. So cool. 

Ok, more tomorrow.