Monday 28 October 2013

"Shooting Stars"

Growing up in the middle of a polluted, developing city, it needs some luck to get a glimpse of a clear starry night sky. The moon and a couple of bright stars are the only celestial beauties I get to see from my home. It is only when I am somewhere in a country-side or near a huge lake, do I realize what the night skies actually hold. It is magnificent. It is truly beautiful. Dotted with a million dazzling stars, the sky on a clear cloudless night looks like a piece of heaven looking down on earth.

So, whenever I get the opportunity, I love to gaze at the night sky and admire its beauty and mystery, with awe. It is not just peaceful, but also inspiring. Last December, on a class trip to a beautiful place nestled among pine trees, on the banks of a huge lake, I did not let the chance to enjoy the clear open night sky go in vain. Three of my friends were as interested as me and so, despite the cold weather, we decided to spend at least half the night on the wide open terrace before our room so that we can just look at the big starry sky spreading all across the lake. The trees were spraying a cool wintry breeze on us. But that didn’t stop us. We got our blankets out, switched off the terrace lights, lay down together, and just gazed up at the beauty of the night. And then, it started. Shooting stars!! And not just one or two or three! We saw some more than fifteen of those, not all together though. The others found it hard to believe. But they were not to blame, because without a clear sky and some patient focus, shooting stars may be hard to find. But it is worth it. So, when you get some time, take the chance to look at the stars up there. They will surprise you, heal you, inspire you and remind you how small we are compared to the vast universe. And not just that, you might even be able to make a wish upon a shooting star! 

Friday 4 October 2013

Exciting times!

Two exciting developments have happened today! One is that our website is ready enough for people to look at it. Check it out at explorablestory.org! There's still lots more content to be added, of course, but hopefully what's there will give everyone a clearer picture of what we're hoping to achieve with the resource. If after seeing the website you fancy writing or translating a page, please get in touch at contact@explorablestory.org!

Secondly, a lady named Joanna Grace has produced a sensory story version of our story. Someone on Twitter linked me to an article about her stories thinking I might be interested - I was! Joanna says:
 "I'm very pleased with how it's worked out in the sensory translation. I've tried creating more abstract sensory stories before and you always end up compromising on the stimuli, but for this one I've begun and ended the story with the students being asked to quite literally explore, and having various items to find at the end will provide a child with profound disabilities a way of expressing what motivates them, in a way that is meaningful to them: if they pick up a sound making toy, and a furry toy and drop the first in order to explore the second more carefully with their fingers they're clearly saying "I'm motivated to find interesting things to touch", where as if they push the smell away from them and vocalise as the sound is made they're saying "I want to find ways of making noise." I was surprised and delighted at how well it worked at this level and I can see many teachers of students with profound disabilities having adventures in their classrooms using this as a basis."
 I really hope that children with PMLD enjoy their experiences and their teachers find a way of sharing this with others via our gallery. 

On Sunday, we'll be heading to Germany to share the project with people at the UNAWE workshop 2013. I'm looking forward to getting some feedback (and trying to recruit a few more content writers,) from the astronomical educators who'll be there!