Podcasting: Blog Posts

Source: Podcasts for Educators - Weblog

Where's that podcast channel?

• the podcaster has ceased to provide/update the podcast channel
• there may be technical problems associated with the RSS feed
• the content of the podcasts no longer meets our criteria
• the podcast channel was never listed in the directory
• the podcast channel has been removed for another reason

Validating RSS Feeds

School podcasts in 2008

Channels featured in this podcast are:

• Hartbeat Radio
• What's New?
• Portable Radio
• Aquicast
• Sandia Prep Radio International Podcast
• Proctor HS Orchestra's Podcasts

Source: Hillside FLaT Project

Final post - Sustainability

As the formal part of Hillside's Future Learning and Teaching project draws to a close (January 2005 - January 2007), this post will outline the plans for 2007, ensuring that ICT (including social software) and Multiple Intelligences developments continue, allowing teachers and pupils opportunities to access information and learn in new ways, and for pupils to show that they meet assessment criteria for National Units in meaningful settings (ie relevant, contextualised, audience).

Key commitments for 2007 include:

• Video blogging (intranet only) - this will allow pupils to generate evidence for a range of Access PSE units. This will be done via laptop with built-in camera, and on-screen prompts/questions. Pupils will have the opportunity to give opinions on their care package via this method, prior to a Looked After Review meeting
• After-school Computer Animation club based around creating an animation using Mediastage
• Creating a bank of mp3 files for Access German, using some of Accelerated Learning theory
• Offering pupils Video Conferencing facilities, based on learning opportunities via the Global Leap database, and possible eTwinning link-ups
• Pupils leaving at the end of Fourth Year will continue to have the opportunity to 'burn' work onto CD-ROM, to take with them
• Fourth Year pupils who participate in our Parenting programme (based around our Real Care Baby II), will be encouraged to blog their experiences
• Some homework will be provided on mp3 files, with pupils allowed to take an mp3 player overnight with them to their unit
• Continue to work with Fionna Balfour (CALL) and hopefully other agencies and 'edubloggers' to develop an online resource which supports those interested in Learning 2.0 and Assessment 2.0 (for want of a MUCH better phrase). This includes providing advice on the amending of National Assessments (NABs)
• If possible within pupil internet access constraints, provide a class with the opportunity to build up an RSS-feed home page eg Netvibes
• Collaborate online with educators, via Skype, Google Documents etc to create content useful in the delivery of Personal and Social education
• Provide school staff with twilight CPD opportunities eg RSS, Social Bookmarking
• Encourage classes to create audio and visual content via podcasting, and contributing audio to the freesound project and images to Flickr (under Creative Commons license)
• Work with care staff in the school to develop DJ/mixing facilities, for pupils to utilise as part of their 24-hour curriculum.

This is the final post on this blog. For reference, however, it will not be deleted. From January, all updates, experiences, opinions, links etc will be through my fortnightly podcast, Booruch, available via iTunes or at http://booruch.libsyn.com/.

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Project update - October 2006

As we approach the last term before the end of the formal period of the FLaT project, I thought that a brief review and next steps would be useful.

The Craft teacher has finished working of his amended assessment (NAB) and this will be used with my class in the new term.

I had a further meeting with Fionna at the CALL Centre. We looked at each other's ideas of resources for amending materials and assessments, and how our ideas for sharing what can be done, or is happening in centres throughout the country rough outline, could compliment each other.

By January, an interactive website will be up and running, which will contain resources, links, case studies (audio/video), opportunities for educators to add their experiences, and support for those interested in amending materials. Further details will follow after the October break.

Class 3 took part in a Victorian Child Criminal Video Conference with The National Archives in Kew. Pupils examined documents and photos from 19th Century London, and then constructed some metaphors which they then incorporated into a poem. Each pupil produced a poem, which was emailed to Eukaria, in Kew.

Global Leap and JVCS continue to provide excellent Video Conference support, therefore we have booked a further session where we delve back to the First World War and converse with someone on 'the front'.

Based on podcasts that I have reviewed for my Booruch podcast and that pupils have listened to in their studies, I and primary teacher John Johnston have constructed (and continue to update) an education podcast directory, giving educators and students access to useful audio and content.

I am very interested in Joe Dale's PowerPoint advice. He fights the 'death by Power Point' groan by taking visitors to his site through tutorials on how to add 'drag and drop' and 'triggers' to slide shows; transforming the software. I am particularly interested as I have experimented with assessing via Power Point. The advanced techniques (with Joe's 'hand-holding') will be part of what I produce at the end of the project.

Media Studies at Access 3 has been introduced into Class 3's curriculum, as we strive to be in a position to potentially offer each of the Access clusters. Learning will form the basis of a media production in terms 2 and 3.

I am regularly meeting with care staff at the school as we integrate music into the 24-hour curriculum. We have identified staff with DJing/production experience and are currently considering which additional resources (compatible with the iMac/Garageband) are needed. It is expected that initially, pupils will have an after-school opportunity to work with staff who are trained in using the equipment based in the Multimedia room.

Next month, a company (working with the Partners in Learning fund) are sending their 'Diary Room in a Box' for staff and pupils to record their experiences of the Podcasting project. This resource, or a similar use of the iMac (and iSight camera) appears to me to be a way of recording pupils 'Leisure Time Activities' out-with the formal curriculum, thus illustrating objectives and outcomes from the residential units' numerous positive, educational evening activities. Further details to follow.

July 2006 - update

I continue to work with the Craft instructor to amend NAB materials. We are working on an assessment item within the Working with Craft Tools unit (Access 3). We are focusing on using ICT to enable 'drag and drop' matching tasks, which are more easy to access and respond to (while ensuring that Performance Criterion remains unchanged). These assessment tasks will be up-to-date and should promote pupil independence. Time constraints are worked around by meeting during time set aside for the monthly ICT drop-in session in my classroom.

We plan to make use of of time during the cross-curricular Activity Week to provide an option which utilises Garageband, iRiver, Logo, Comic Life, Audacity, Digital Camera etc. The pupil group will be challenged along the lines of:
""Your group are going to produce a 30 minute Radio show. In it will be your top 5 songs at the moment; your news, views and interviews; and a song or track that your group have produced. You can use the digital camera to shoot some video that will go along with the audio. You can keep a photo-diary of the day, which will be turned into a humourous comic strip."

We have used the Simply VR software to attempt to produce 360 degree Art and Craft images in order to allow pupils to showcase their efforts and to build up examples of work for their personalised S4 leavers CD-ROM. Unfortunately, the images taken by the digital camera are too large and I can't seem to reduce it. Therefore we will try to apply our animation skills (using StopMotionPro) to achieve a 360 image.

Our Radiowaves station (Hillside Beatbox) has a couple of new stories on it. Pupils worked in English to write a match report on our recent cup final. Our Green Team (Eco Schools) recently visited Craigencalt Ecology Centre. Upon return to the school, Class 3 decided that some follow-up questions were necessary in order to inspire the group for next sessions environmental activities. Therefore we set up a Skype call to Ronnie at Craigencalt. All questions were planned and sent to Ronnie in advance. The Skype call was recorded using Hot Recorder. After the call, pupils were then able to use Audacity to carefully select the key parts of the conversation, which was then uploaded to our Radiowaves station, where it remains one of the 'Featured Stories'.

Pupils in Class 3 continue to be encouraged to search for appropriate educational podcasts during their studies. Recently, during some Social Subjects research (Marine conservation) and pupil went into iTunes and searched for this term. They then selected two shows from the ten listed (DiveFilm podcast) for listening to in the coming weeks. As usual, they will be encouraged to give feedback to the producers in terms of production values, and any follow-up questions.

One of the static class teachers spoke to me about the challenge of teaching Long Division. We searched on the Web for examples of good practice. One of the strategies that we agreed to try out was to use the enhanced podcasts produced by Millthorpe School. These podcasts have audio and video, and are humorous and in a context. In August we will allow the class to access the Long Division show, evaluate its impact, and feed-back to the producers along with some follow-up questions from the pupils.

During a separate Social Subjects project, myself and a pupil visited the Royal Museum in Edinburgh. We took photos of relevant Ancient Egypt artefacts, which the pupil then tagged, commented on, and added notes to using the class Flickr account, when back in the classroom. The pupil was 100% on task, and became aware that using social software (where anyone on the Web can see the photos and his comments/interpretations etc) means taking care over content. The Flickr task helped to reinforce his learning (in a sense helping anonymous, future learners searching Flickr using Ancient Egypt related tags). I plan to explore the potential for using Flickr tasks like these as assessment tools. I discussed assessement options with the pupil and he agreed that I would contact a History teacher, who will be asked to visit the class Flickr page and 'mark' (comment) on the pupil's work ie accuracy of notes, appropriateness of tags.

After our recent success in Video Conferencing with The National Archives in Kew, we have used the booking system at Global Leap to once again engage with their staff (in September), this time as we learn about Victorian Child Criminals' Poetry. Having an event like this in the diary helps to sustain a positive, focused ethos in the class. It reinforces that staff are committed to creating enhanced learning opportunities, and builds upon previous success (both academically and socially ie being able to interact purposefully with a 'new face'. I'm aware of new technology (particulary associated with the new Macs) which means that soon the bulky equipment needed for good quality Video Conferencing may no longer be necessary. With the support available, I'm confident that at least one other teacher will make use of the booking opportunities available at Global-Leap.

The last Access Network meeting (held at the end of June) continued to provide support to those who are considering amending NABs. One influence on future direction (of amending NABs) is that a number of SQA subject reviews are taking place, therefore I will focus on those units which we currently deliver that are not currently subject to review. For example, Social Subjects NABs have been rewritten and show a great improvement; although I'll still be giving advice on alternatives as Social Subjects assessments, in particular, can be made more accessible and meaningful through, for example, blogging or the creation of a podcast. By the start of September, those pupils who are working on an Independent Study Contract will be discussing with me how they will show that they have met the evidence requirements of an Access 2 or 3 Social Subjects unit. This approach remains intensive. For example, I've noted that pupils need to set themselves a couple of targets towards the end of the previous lesson (in the day). Often this means that they have break time to consider their work so that a productive 45 session follows. The class is typified by movement, discussion and drafting, and although often appearing like a booruch; pupils remain 'on task' for the lesson, have clear ownership of resources and learning, and appear to learn more (with some freedom to move there learning in different directions).

During Independent Living (PSE) we continue to use a Rogerian, person-centred approach. The current unit is entitled 'My Home'. Pupils worked together to choose the order in which the 7 sections would be tackled, and then chose 2 learnings styles/modes for each section eg 'Moving On' was selected first, to be studied primarily via discussion and a visitor to the school. This continues to be very labour-intensive, though you learn to make the most of resources and external links. I believe that this element to Class 2's ethos is only sustainable with classroom support, good health, and receiving all 'Preparation and Correction' periods. Over the summer, I will consider one more subject that this approach could be realistically used with (eg Media Studies). The Rogerian approach was 'done to me' during a Masters unit at Moray House; delivered by tutor Richard Hendry. I decided to try it out with PSE, as pupils require a degree of ownership of a life skills programme and due to the existing programme being well structured, though 'dry'. Class 5 have started work on a whole-class animation in French which will allow them to script the language that they have learnt during Unit 1. Set in Paris, the characters are ... snowmen.

For the 'Where I Live' section, pupils were to dream of their ideal living environment (lead-up work had been done by immersing ourselves in the excellent The Real Game). The chose to each produce an animation. Therefore, I gave them the following task: Produce >30 second animation (with £0 budget) entitled, "Welcome! Let me show you around my new home." This block of animation (where the classroom assistant and myself are now comfortable with this media) was noticeable by pupils improving their planning (storyboarding), selection of resources, and control/manipulation of filming.

My weekly podcast has just reached it's summer holidays (21 episodes in 6 months). Show 21 gives an overview of what's best in the Web 2.0/new media world at present and also sees me reflect on podcasting within Hillside. Of note, my colleagues now have access to the database of educational podcasts that I've built up during this year. This will go live on the Web at the end of the summer (as a result of collaboration with a fellow Scottish 'edublogger'). The second batch of Independent Living podcasts are booked in for recording during August and September, for release at http://independentlivingpodcasts.blogspot.com during October. ETwinning, RSS, and the edublogger community help me to keep an international focus. Relating this to my conviction that genuine collegiality and collaboration is central to 21st Century teacher professionalism, I will continue to host a fortnightly Skypecast over the summer ('Podcasting in the Classroom'). So far, the 3 conversations have covered resources, benefits/constraints, project ideas, and sharing of best practice.

One focus for the FLaT project has been to offer pupils and class teachers the entire range of Access 3 clusters. Media Studies (Analysis and Production units) has been introduced to Class 3 during the last term. The key textbook is GCSE Media Studies (OCR) by Longman; ironically a bit out-of-date as it has nothing on social/new media, although any text over 6 months old would probably suffer in this respect.

Recently, I met with an Enterprise in Education representative. We sketched some plans for the year ahead and discussed appropriate Enterprise packages and contacts. It is expected that myself and our Craft teacher will develop a couple of links from next session. Two classes have worked on Enterprise activities this term, without any FLaT support, so I'm considering how we can collaborate with external organisations to enhance the experience for pupils and build on the toehold within our curriculum. The Food and Drink Challenge would enable us again to work with local business and possibly Further Education.

Learnng via interactive 'off-timetable' events will continue into session 2006/7. The Teenage Health Promotion morning is booked to take place at the school in September, and The RealCare Baby and parenting programme looks likely to be funded, and find its way into our PSE/after-school curriculum from October. This report (and a previous introductory programme run at Hillside) has convinced me that pupils will benefit from this kinesthetic approach.

Class 5's Maths class in the school benefits from a high level of team-teaching. One period a week is given to 'ICT Maths'. As the term drew to a close, I decided that a way to 'cement' the pupils' learing of multiplication by 2 digits would be for them to collaborate to produce a 2-page comic, using Comic Life (bundled with new Macs) which in a fun way would teach the reader how to tackle such a calculation. The pupils were given a 10 minute tour of Comic Life, and as 'digital natives' (well, 2/3rds were) spent the next 30 minutes genuinely collaborating on a meaningful task. Two of the boys were particularly encouraging of the classmate who wasn't too confident with the technology. The task was fun (making me do silly poses and making daft statements) and it brought the step-by-step process alive. The end result was produced within a period; though as all of this should be about the 'teach' and not the 'tech', it is important to consider, in advance, WHY the technology is being used and if it an efficient use of time and resource. I regard Comic Life as another tool in the toolkit. It is not 'the answer', but there will be a time-and-a-place (particularly in Modern Foreign Languages).

Source: Storynory - Stories For Kids

The Fire-Fly Princess

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The Fire-Fly Princess is a glittering beauty, and numerous insects want to be her husband. She has little interest in any of them, and declares that she will only marry the one who brings her a flame. This glittering story is full of the beauty of old Japan.

And we are delighted to introduce the very talented Elizabeth Donnelly, who joins Natasha and Richard as a narrator for Storynory. And for all those who have been asking us for news of Natasha, she will be very soon reading more chapters of Alice Through the Looking Glass.

Read by Elizabeth. Duration 12.32.

IN JAPAN the night-flies emit so brilliant a light and are so beautiful that ladies go out in the evenings and catch the insects for amusement. They imprison them in tiny cages made of bamboo threads, and hang them up in their rooms or suspend them from the eaves of their houses. At their picnic parties, the people love to sit on August evenings, fan in hand, looking over the lovely landscape, spangled by ten thousand brilliant spots of golden light. Each flash seems like a tiny blaze of harmless lightning.

One of the species of night-flies, the most beautiful of all, is a source of much amusement to the ladies. Hanging the cage of glittering insects on their verandahs, they sit and watch the crowd of winged visitors attracted by the fire-fly’s light. What brings them there, let this love story tell.

On the southern and sunny side of the castle, the water in the moat had long ago become shallow so that lotus lilies grew there luxuriantly. Deep in the heart of one of the great flowers whose petals were as pink as the lining of a sea-shell, lived the King of the Fire-flies, Hi-?, whose only daughter was the lovely princess Hotaru-himé. While still a child the princess was carefully kept at home within the pink petals of the lily, never going even to the edges except to see her father fly off on his journey. Dutifully she waited until of age, when the fire glowed in her own body, and shone, beautifully illuminating the lotus, and its light at night was like a lamp within a globe of coral.

Every night her light grew brighter and brighter, until at last it was as mellow as gold. Then her father said:

“My daughter is now of age to marry, she may fly abroad with me sometimes, and when the proper suitor comes she may wed whom she will.”

So Hotaru-himé flew in and out among the lotus lilies of the moat, then into rich rice fields, and at last far off to the indigo meadows.

Whenever she went a crowd of admirers followed her, for she had the singular power of attracting all the night-flying insects to herself. But she cared for none of them, and though she spoke politely to all she gave encouragement to none.

One night she said to her mother, the queen:

“I have met many admirers, but I don’t wish a single one to be my husband. Tonight I shall stay at home, and if any of them love me truly they will come and pay me court here. Then I shall give them an impossible task. . If they are wise they will not try to perform it; and if they love their lives more than they love me, I do not want any of them. Whoever succeeds may have me for his bride.”

“As you wish, my child,” said the queen mother, who dressed her daughter in her most resplendent robes, and set her on her throne in the heart of the lotus.

Then she gave orders to her body-guard to keep all suitors at a respectful distance lest some stupid bug, dazzled by the light should approach too near and hurt the princess or shake her throne.

No sooner had twilight faded away, than forth came the golden beetle, who stood on a flower and bowing said:?
“I am Lord Green-Gold, I offer my house, my fortune and my love to Princess Hotaru.”

“Go and bring me fire and I will be your bride” said Hotaru-himé.

With a bow of the head the beetle opened his wings and departed with a stately whirr.

Next came a shining bug with wings and body as black as lamp-smoke, who solemnly professed his passion.
“Bring me fire and you may have me for your wife.”

Off flew the bug with a buzz.

Pretty soon came the scarlet dragon-fly, expecting so to dazzle the princess by his gorgeous colors that she would accept him at once.

“I decline your offer” said the princess, “but if you bring me a flash of fire, I’ll become your bride.”

Swift was the flight of the dragon-fly on his errand, and in came the Beetle with a tremendous buzz, and ardently plead his suit.
“I’ll say ‘yes’ if you bring me fire” said the glittering princess.

Suitor after suitor appeared to woo the daughter of the King of the Fire-flies until every petal was dotted with them. To every one of her lovers the princess in modest voice returned the same answer:

“Bring me fire and I’ll be your bride.”

So without telling his rivals, each one thinking he had the secret alone sped away after fire.

But none ever came back to wed the princess. Alas for the poor suitors! The beetle whizzed off to a light that glimmered through the paper walls of a house.

The black bug flew into a room where a poor student was reading. His lamp was only a dish of earthenware full of rape seed oil with wick made of pith.

The dragon-fly flew to the light of a housewife who was working late at night,

Mad with love the brilliant hawk-moth, afraid of the flame yet determined to win the fire for the princess, hovered round and round a candle flame, coming nearer and nearer each time. “Now or never, the princess or death,” he buzzed, as he darted forward to snatch a flash of flame.

But none of the the lovers of Hi-?’s daughter succeeded in their quests. All met their ends in the flames or the lamp-oil.

As the priests trimmed the lamps in the shrines, and the serving maids cleaned the lanterns in the homes, each said alike:
“The Princess Hotaru must have had many suitors last night.”

The next day was one of great mourning and there were so many insect funerals going on, that Hi-mar? the Prince of the Fire-flies on the north side of the castle moat, asked after the cause .

Then he learned for the first time of the glittering princess. He fell in love with her and resolved to marry her. The princesse?s father agreed to his proposal of marriage, on condition that the Prince should obey her wish in one thing, which was to come in person bringing her fire.

Then the Prince at the head of his glittering battalions came in person and filled the lotus palace with a flood of golden light. But Hotaru-himé was so beautiful that her charms paled not, even in the blaze of the Prince’s glory. The visit ended in wooing, and the wooing in wedding. On the night appointed, in a carriage made of the white lotus-petals, amid the blazing torches of the prince’s battalions of warriors, Hotaru-himé was borne to the prince’s palace and there, prince and princess were joined in wedlock.

Many generations have passed since Hi-mar? and Hotaru-himé were married, and still it is the whim of all Fire-fly princesses that their low born admirers must bring fire as their love-offering or lose their prize. It is for this cause that each night insects hover around the lamp flame, and every morning a crowd of victims must be cleaned from the lamp. This is the reason why young ladies catch and imprison the fire-flies to watch the war of insect-love, in the hope that they may have human lovers who will dare as much, through fire and flood, as they.

Noah

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When God sent a great flood to destroy almost all his own creation, he chose Noah to save the animals and preserve life on Earth beyond the great disaster. The story of how humans, through their own folly, bring catastrophe upon the world has always struck a deep cord. And the theme of saving of animals from mankind’s mistakes appeals greatly to children, and to everyone who cares for the natural world. Noah appears in both the Bible’s Book of Genesis and in the Quran.

This reading by Natasha is a “vintage” recording from our most secret treasure trove. We made it in 2007 and have not previously released it on Storynory. We also have another version of the story read by John Le Mesurier

Read by Natasha. Version by Bertie. Duration 6.32.

When the world was still very young, it began to fill up with people and all sorts of creatures including fury four-legged ones, birds, fish, fluttering butterflies, slithering snakes, creepy-crawly spiders, and insects.

In those days there was a man, called Noah, He was 600 years old. Noah was hard-working, honest and loved God with all his heart. However, the whole world had become very mean and evil. Everyone was lying, cheating, and stealing. People often got into fights, and sometimes they even killed each other.

God saw all this, and was sad that men and women had become so evil. God decided to send a great flood and drown all of his creation under the waters. That way, He wouldn?t have to look down on all the wickedness that upset him so very much.

He told Noah of his plan. God told Noah, ?You must build a huge boat out of gopher wood.? It was to be called an ?ark?, which means a place of safety. It was to have a great door, just one window, and three floors inside, filled with clean straw and plenty of food. He was to make it water-proof by putting black tar between the planks of wood. The boat was as big as a cruise ship (but not that nice of course). Next Noah was to tell his family to come and live in the ark, and they must also bring one male and one female of every type of creature. Noah understood his job of building the ark and saving the animals, two of every kind.

And so Noah and his three sons, who were called Shem, Ham, and Japheth, set about building the Ark. Other people saw them working hard in the hot sun, and thought that they were wasting their time. They laughed at Noah and his sons and teased them. But still Noah kept believing and building,? believing and building..everyday. Till one day, the ark was completed. Noah and his sons collected the animals, two of every kind and gathered them in the ark.

They did not need to keep them apart, because the Lions understood that they must not eat the deer or the sheep on board the ark. The foxes didn?t eat the hens, and wolves left the sheep alone. They all lived on grass and leaves, and although the larger animals became a little thin, they were content to lie down and leave the other creatures unharmed. Only the insects had to look out, incase an elephant or a horse trod on them by accident, but fortunately, that didn?t happen.

Then just as God had promised Noah, it began to rain. The rain began to fall by the bucketful and the skies emptied out all their water. It rained and it rained. In fact, it never stopped raining for one second. It rained for forty days and nights. The whole world was covered in water, and everybody drowned, except for the fish and Noah?s family and the animals who were safe in the Ark.

Everyone on the Ark was dry and safe, , but the food was running out, and the people and animals began to look at each other hungrily. The wolves began to howl, and the lions prowled up and down. Noah was worried in case one of the wolves decided to have lamb for dinner, and then there would be no more lambs, ever again. But he need not have worried, because the wolves remained well behaved.

Only after 150 days did the water start to do down, and the bottom of the Ark came to rest on the top of a mountain called Ararat. Noah looked out of his window but all he could see was water.

He wondered if there was any dry land anywhere in the world, and so he released a black bird called a raven into the air. But raven could not find any land or trees, and it flew back to the ark. A week later, he sent out a white dove, but it came back with an empty beak as well. A week after that, he sent the dove again, and she flew around until she found a tree to rest on. She returned to the ark with an olive leaf in her beak, and Noah knew that there was a tree above the water. After another week, he sent the dove out yet again, and she did not return, so he knew that she had found a dry place to live. Everyone on board the ark celebrated, because they were all longing to leave the ark, which to tell you the truth, was becoming rather smelly.

And it happened that after an a year, a month and a day, Noah opened up the ark and he, his family, and all the creatures stepped out onto dry land. What a day that was ! How the animals bounded around full of joy. It was the springiest spring in the history of the world.
Stretching above the sky was a beautiful rainbow. And God said to Noah, I have placed a rainbow in the sky as a sign of a promise that I will never destroy the earth and its creatures by a flood again. So go forth, have children and fill up the earth again, and enjoy the world in all its beauty.
And that?s exactly what Noah and his family did.

Now every time a rainbow appears in the sky, it is a reminder to all of us of the promises God made and the great faith Noah had to believe.

Astropup and the Ship of Birds

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When we last left Astropup, he was flying into the mouth of a giant space ship shaped like a bird (see Astropup for Freedom). At the centre of the space ship is a giant tree holding up the nests and families of thousands upon thousands of highly intelligent birds. Astropup’s commanding officer, the major (who is a parrot) wants to stay. So will our Space Dog hero be stranded on the Ship of Birds?

Read by Richard Scott. Story by Bertie. Duration 16.59.

Astropup here again. Last time I left the story at an exciting moment, and I could hear some of you howling at the moon saying : Tell me, do please tell me, Astropup, What happened next? Well here we go again, back to the weird and wonderful ship of birds.

I?ve given you some idea of how many different types of birds there were inside that space ship. What I haven?t described yet is the noise they made. As we opened the hatch of our craft, the sound of all that twittering and tweeting, not to mention squawking, was as deafening as it was confusing. It was like you could hear every creature who had ever lived or died all talking at once. I wanted to howl, only I knew that nobody would hear me over all that din. But it was surprising how soon I got used to it. My brain just stopped listening.

We had landed somewhere near the foot of the great tree. It was at the centre of the ship of birds. Its branches supported their nests and families. I began to sniff its roots, and the parrot said:

?Whatever you do, don?t lift your leg at that trunk.?

?I wouldn?t dream of such a thing,? I protested.

A flock of doves came to great us, carrying worms and nuts in their beaks as offerings to make us welcome. The parrot politely took a nut. I hoped nobody would be offended if I didn?t eat the wiggling worm that was dropped at my feet.

Unfortunately, I wasn?t able to follow the feathery ones to wherever it was that they wanted to take us, because that would involve flying. The Major went off with them. I was content to dip my tongue into a cool stream that was flowing not far away, to sniff the scent of ducks on the water, to chase a pretty butterfly, and then to fall asleep in the long grass that covered the floor of the giant space bird. This was the way to travel, I thought, once you get used to the noise. The problem with our own space craft was that it was designed by humans. They would never think of including anything so pleasant as a blade of grass let alone a single duck in one of their vehicles.

I learned what the Major had been up to when he fluttered back and hour or two later. He had been granted an audience with a most remarkable bird. He was an ancient owl – at least 250 years old – and his brain served as the ship?s computer. That?s right, they just plugged him in, and he controlled the whole caboodle. Now that?s what I call smart. He lived right at the top of the tree – as you would expect – and he was surrounded by exotic birds who tended to his every need.

?They?re the most gorgeous creatures you ever did see!? Squawked the parrot, and I could see that their plumage had impressed him. Fortunately, he had picked up a bit of interesting info too. The birds came from a planet that had been invaded by the cat people. At the time of this calamity, the owl had been leading a project to build the giant bird ship. As the computer was not yet complete, he simply plugged his brain in to the control panel, and took off with as many of his feathered friends, friends of feathered friends, and friends of friends of feathered friends, as he could gather. There were about a 1000 of them to begin with, but since then they had multiplied many times over. I asked the parrot:

?How many birds are there now??

?I would say that there?s at least a myriad,? he replied.

I didn?t know how many a myriad was, but I had never learned to count anyhow.

Next I asked if these clever feather brains could fix our space craft.

?They already have,? he replied. And I thumped my tale on the ground with glee.

?We?ll be on our way back home then,? I said hopefully, But something told me that salvation was not going to be as simple as that. And I was right. The Major shook his head.

?Nawww,? he said, ?I like it here. And besides, If I go back to Earth, the humans will court marshal me for disobeying orders. But you go back if you like. I?m not stopping you.?

That remark made me growl. He knew perfectly well that I didn?t know how to fly the ship. That was his job. Without the Major, I was going nowhere. It was all very well for him to hang out here. There were enough nuts and fancy-feathered friends to set up a parrot for life. But it?s beneath the dignity of a dog to eat worms – unless he?s really hungry that is. I could have murdered a pheasant or a wood pigeon, but even my dodgy doggy brain realised that such a diet might be bad form in a place like this.

And so I chewed on a few sticks, because there wasn?t anything better to do. I was impressed that our parrot had picked up the language of these alien birds so soon, but then he let slip that he hadn?t. They had deciphered his Earthly squawks in a matter of minutes. He was only just beginning to puzzle out their lingo. I began to realise that there is smart, and there is smarter still.

Now, I?m not normally one to be envious of cats who, as you know, are the most despicable creatures in the universe. But I began to wish that I knew how to climb trees, because I was longing to see more of this incredible bird world. I don?t know if those birds were so clever that they could read my thoughts, but they soon sent a giant swan who offered to pick me up on his back and take me for a site seeing flight around the ship.

It was quite scary up there, clinging onto the swan?s neck with my front legs but it was a flight that I shall never forget. We swooped in and out of the branches of that giant tree and saw every coloured feather from gray sparrows to electric blue kingfishers, and many others besides. I saw flocks of quick thinking birds, all plugged into the ship?s power system, and the Wise Old Owl himself, thinking deep thoughts while birds of paradise groomed his feathers. But just as I was getting used to this form of transport, the swan swooped sharply around the top of the tree and turned upside down. And then, oh dear, I was falling to the ground, and it was a long long way: …OWWWWWWWWW! MURDERRRRRRR!

As you can imagine, I thought that my number was up, but that sneaky swan assassin had miscalculated. I ended up in a huge nest of feathers that had been collected from all over the ground by worker sparrows. It was the softest landing I could have hoped for, but one that made me sneeze. Now I was under no illusions. These birds might look pretty and harmless, but they were deadly when they wanted to be. The major recked that perhaps they were frightened of me – thought I might be tempted to eat a duck or something.

?I?d lie low for a while, if I were you,? he said.

?Well thanks very much,? I woofed, and crawled off into some bushes to sleep. The food had run out, and I was pretty hungry by now. In fact I was quite tempted to try my luck at a duck.

Meanwhile, the Major applied to the senior birds for a job as a space engineer, but they wouldn?t have him. Apparently they weren?t too impressed with his efforts with soldering iron on board our own ship. They said a dog could have fixed wires together better. Now I?m the first to admit that that?s not strictly true, but the drift was that if a the Major is a brainy bird in our world, among this flock of fellows, he was just averagely smart, if not a downright a dunderhead. And when I turned this over in my canine brain, I had one of my occasional but big thoughts.

Everything is relative, you see.

Ok, now I have travelled around the universe, I admit that there are things that are absolutely true always and everywhere. Like, where ever you go, cats are mad and can?t be trusted. The only other universal I know of is that Might is Right – like whoever is in charge, they make up the rules and say what?s ok and what?s not, according to what suits them. All the rest – well it?s just different where ever you go. When you are in another world, you can?t be sure what?s wrong and what?s right. Sometimes I ask, is it always wrong to bite a postman? Probably, but GRRRR I just can?t help myself!

I don?t mean to get too deep. The fact is, our parrot was out classed by these bird brains, but he wasn?t so dim that he didn?t know it.

Both he and I were unemployed. He hopped over to my hideout in the bushes. I could see his head was hanging low. I asked him what most of the birds did for a living in this ship, and he said.

?Transcendental mathematics,?

Apparently these birds plugged their brains together and thought about circles. They had calculated the ratio of a circumference to a diameter to fifteen billion decimal points.

I haven?t a clue what that means by the way, and if you do, well you?re smarter than this old space dog, and you?re not the only one. But to put it simply: the ship of birds was powered by thoughts. All that fiendishly clever feathered thinking generated enough renewable energy to take them where ever they wanted to go, which by and large was nowhere in particular. The only job our friend the parrot could get on board this ship was as a common thinker. He would have to sit plugged into the the ship?s power system contemplating circles all day. It was what thousands of birds did around this place. And do you know what the major said when they offered him the job.

Well perhaps you can guess.

?No thank you.?

He was used to being someone rather more special you see.

And that?s why, after two week?s on board the Ship of Birds, our friend the Parrot, a Major in the Space force, finally decided to fly us back home to earth, even though he knew he would have to face a court marshal for disobeying orders.

I can?t say the birds on board were too sorry to see us go. Some kind blue tits brought us a big supply of nuts and berries to see us home. By the time we reached earth I was a much slimmed down space dog.

As the Parrot had predicted, the humans put him in a cage soon after we touched down. He was charged with disobeying orders on a critical mission, and ordered to stand trial before a court marshal of the Space Force. One day I?ll tell you what happened to him.
But I?m glad to say that the Major told the humans that I was innocent.

?Don?t bother to arrest him,? he squawked. ?He?s too stupid to disobey orders.?

Well not the most flattering remark, but I wasn?t complaining, because I was off home to see my jenny.

That that was the story of Astropup and the Ship of Birds.

I do hope that you?ve enjoyed Astropup?s recently adventures – and are glad that he?s come back to us after a gap of some years. Bertie says it?s one of the biggest comebacks in the history of Storynory. Talking of which, we are still looking forward to Natasha?s return, but unfortunately can?t quite say when that will be.

Bye the way, if you are listening on our iPhone app, look out for the bonus audio that Bertie?s going to be publishing there. He?ll be bringing you a quick guide to the planets.

Source: The Kedou News Quicky

New Happenings at The Kedou Kids 15 April 2009

Kedou has been working hard to show his Golden Retriever buddy, Kiyo, how to be a good-mannered doggie. Join them in the "Adventures of Kedou and Kiyo"!

World Animal Day Tribute at The Kedou Kids 4 Oct 2008

Too many pets are abandoned each day, so our little bear would like to help in his tiny way, by sharing how to look after his Golden Retriever buddy, Kiyo. Join them in the on-going "Adventures of Kedou and Kiyo"!

New Adventures at The Kedou Kids 27 Sep 2008

Our little bear's been really busy settling in his new buddy, Kiyo. Read all about their new adventures! Of course, it's not all work and no play for our little bear and his friends. Kedou wishes his friends from around the world, "Happy Children's Day" and "Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri"!

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