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Ian Ford

@bluesquarething.bsky.social
27 followers 76 following 156 posts

Doing things in classrooms with computers a few days a week. Old fashioned, but in a good way. Digging, walking, cooking, cricket, coding, geographising, not necessarily in that order www.bluesquarething.co.uk

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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Or have never taught anything practical I can tell you all about while loops all you want, but the only way you’ll ever understand them is by using them and getting stuck in an infinite loop. And if you don’t understand them you’re no good as a programmer
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
You think there’ll be any meaningful punishment? That’s only for little people
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The Wild, the Innocent and the Eel Street Shuffle?
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Oh aye, the royal family were famously marrying Gaelic speaking crofters from Lewis
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
And Papua New Guinea seems to have disappeared
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Not listened to this for a while so I’d forgotten how darned good it is
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Album of the day: 1001albumsgenerator.com/albums/4NGWe...
1001albumsgenerator.com
Album Of The Day
Psychocandy by The Jesus And Mary Chain
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I think you should be able to make Brussels (or maybe Cologne) or Paris on day 1. That maximises your travel days. The ÖBB app reckons you can make Amsterdam in time for the sleeper…
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
We did Berlin to Diss easily in a day with long enough breaks in Cologne and Brussels to do some shopping (and build in time for any delays). It was quite an early departure but worked fine and everything was on time
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Ag, is someone pivoting to a different money making opportunity now that skills are making a (slight) comeback?
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
And they seem to be turning up more frequently. As do the non-first class regular units. Not that I regularly go first class, but sometimes you get a decent deal
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Chiltern Seeds will often have interesting varieties that are worth a look
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
The first day of the last year I shall be a teacher. 0.5FTE so 98 days to go…
A computing classroom empty of anything other than computers. And a messy desk
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I was the quiet kid at the back of the classroom praying the teacher never asked me to speak or, even worse, read aloud Now I'm the apparently confident teacher at the back of the staff meeting praying no one singles me out for comment or, even worse, praise It's excruciating; I can't cope with it
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Here’s the route: bahn.expert/details/EN%2... Takes as long from Sapjane as the regular train and that’s not racing anyway
bahn.expert
Bahn Experte
Dein Begleiter um Stressfrei Bahn zu fahren. Sucht die besten Informationen aus allen Quellen um dich ans Ziel zu bringen.
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Perhaps a carriage gets detached at Ljubljana and sent to Koper? Certainly the train that sits at Rijeka station doesn’t seem overly long
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Also “raced through Croatia”? on the line to Rijeka from Ljubljana? There are slower lines I imagine, but not many
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Sure it is I love bagpipe music. Let me know which train you’re on and you can experience some
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
No worries. Occupational hazard: I used to teach geography!
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
For comparison, Thorpeness, Dunwich, Hemsby, Happisburgh etc clearly more at risk from erosion. Even the likes of Hopton and California Coastal poverty is another issue of course
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
There seems to have been relatively little erosion over the last 120 years. The Naze has shifted a little, but other than that I'd say flood risk was more of an issue Thanks for making me take a look btw
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Looks like the new GBR livery? Do SR have any of those in use yet?
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Obviously not. I tutted a bit and cleared my throat…
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Do we know whether she plays videos with the volume up on her phone whilst travelling? I mean, she doesn’t look like she does, but I’ve just been on a 3 hour train from Luxembourg to Brussels where an older lady did that…
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
I see plenty of teachers who have been persuaded that if they can measure a short term gain in knowledge that means they’re doing a good job In my view that’s due directly to Gove’s changes. And it’s unforgivable
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
I’m not one of the ones who think they were good. Indeed, I’d say they were the single worst thing to happen to education in my 35 year career. The way they’ve skewed the system to a fairly extreme right wing view of knowledge is unforgivable
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Quite. The problem is that at 11-16 level the way to teach is increasingly mandated. I’ll be glad to finish next year
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
The problem is that Gove’s reforms and the “evidence based” teaching changes that happened as a result push pure knowledge to the fore in subjects like history. So rather than the source analysis stuff I taught 35 years ago, it’s learning dates and fact more than it should be rather than thinking
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Naturally I’ll take a Peters projection… xkcd.com/977
xkcd.com
Map Projections
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Spotted in John Lewis in Norwich. Love the colour but: * Mercator projection? Really? * Japan? * Indonesia?? * Madagascar??! * Caspian Sea??!!!! #maps #BadMaps #mercator
A colourful map of the world with a number of issues, including a missing Japan, shrunken Indonesia, Madagascar far in to the Indian Ocean, and the Caspian Sea relocated to somewhere on the borders of India, Pakistani and Afghanistan. And it’s a Mercator projection.
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Yes, this. Every child I teach learns this They also learn that the magic word is abracadabra. I teach secondary level…
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Ours pulled them off with their mouths as well and then chewed them to death Wait till mittens are required…
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Socks. Mainly they like socks if I remember correctly
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Tulips are quite heavy bulbs, so would you like to know about crocuses?
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Yeah, sure. And the referee allowed it so they kept at it. Some of Galaza’s work was outstanding and the team in general disrupted brilliantly, which had to be their game. But some of it was too much. Two yellow cards, both of them French? Ref seemed too have lost control a bit to be honest
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
It was like watching Italian club sides from the 80s. The attempt was to destroy the opposition. And those sides were some of the most successful in European competitions. There are referees who might have taken a different line with some of the defending mind. Which might have made a better game
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Rest of the resources were also pretty weak imo, certainly not allowing for kids to work at different speeds or have difficulty with spreadsheets. Which they always do. We’re losing both the ability to create resources and the understanding that it’s necessary to. Let alone the desire to.
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
One of the centrally planned resources I’ve been given is a spreadsheet of medals from the 2012 Olympics. This is a national resource. The kids I was told to use this with (yr 7) weren’t born in 2012. No child in school would remember 2013. Took me 10 minutes to extract data for the Paris games…
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Good luck finding shade! I shall be at Canterbury watching Kent fail to nail down their slight advantage. Not a day for bowling a fear
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Although... It would fit nicely in a year 9 unit on networks and the internet. “There is something called a VPN children. You must not use it, but this is what it does and this is why some people use them”
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
The school I work in has a policy of allowing just enough access to fun stuff that the children don’t need to try doing anything that could put the network at risk Seems to work well enough
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
I watched a child do their maths homework the other day - year nine using an online maths website Took a screenshot of each question, dragged it into co-pilot, it have the right answer. Each time Seems like a waste of everyone’s time
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
We‘re told parents want homework so we have to set it. And “it”’ is often an exercise in creating work for the sake of it. Or is done on an app Apparently we’re all going to use AI to mark it soon. Which will render it even more pointless.
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Well, as a teacher… But, yes, I’m most cases I agree. Some reading. Maybe some times tables and then like in primary school, sure. Beyond that, not a fan
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
As far as I can see they being actively encouraged to use AI. That certainly seems to be the trend. Certainly I’m being told that I need to teach them how to use it in my computing lessons. I’m resisting, but…
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
I didn’t realise that. How cool
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Hasn’t Downham Market also been done up in NSE livery?
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Album of the day: 1001albumsgenerator.com/albums/5cboZ... Haven’t listened to this properly for years. Fabulous album, and The Queen and the Soldier is a masterpiece. Obvious 5/5 but I’m surprised Solitude Standing isn’t on the list
1001albumsgenerator.com
Album Of The Day
Suzanne Vega by Suzanne Vega
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Exactly the example I was thinking of. The high school next door also has pane on its roof (although no battery storage). My youngest did an essay on the potential for this as part of his degree this year, so maybe it’s an idea that’ll arrive
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Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Computer science teachers roll eyes: three major updates in that timeframe to our GCSEs
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