First Session

Hello. I think everything is nearly ready for tomorrow.
For the office:

• business cards
• what kind of sceptic?
• what is a black swan?
• crop circles newspaper report
• and an incident report (see the mindmap)

I need to work on:

• Quotes
• Horatio quote
• Big Logo
• Job enquiry letter
• photos with post-its
  
• testimonial letter

I'll see if I have enough time today. If not, then will have to do without.

The note pads are not the ones we wanted. They don't have a blank cover like the other ones and are so are not any where as near as good. Hadn't anticipated that. So, will have to either get some more from town or make do.

Gemma and James have been working hard on the reports for the missing investigator's office.
so far we have reports for:

• Area 51
• Cottingly Fairies
• King Tut curse
• Ancient monoliths and geoglyphs
• Missing explorer Dorothy Norrell

If I have time I'll also do one for Van Daniken.

For the office I'll also get:

• A desk, telpehone, computer and folders.

I've asked Dicky if he'll make a wordpress website for Black Swan which we can use in a number of ways.

I think the sequence is still a good one, despite the notebooks.

1. Set up office using resources
2. students look - what are they noticing?
3. Make a list of thoughts - What I know... what I wonder...
4. What kind of people work in a place like this? What are their interests? What's important to them?
5. Possibly talk to someone who is new to the agency - a new employee... better someone who delivers parcels...
6. (Reflection) Look at the skills and qualities grid - What kind of skills did you use?

7. If you worked in this office, doing the kind of jobs these people do, then you would need a notebook... don't you think. Do you think these will do? How would you know which was yours if they all look the same?

8. Students design own notebook cover.
9. Business cards... are given out to go with notebooks.

10. Contact from caretaker of an office block due for demolition. How would someone contact us? What are the different ways?
11. Talk to caretaker... "My job to try and locate everyone who has a room in this office before it is destroyed. I've more or less finished except for this one case. We know very little about him, except he hasn't been seen for months, by anyone, the rent is still being paid and there is no contact details. I've more or less given up but I thiought you might be interested in some of the things he left behind... I've read about your work in the papers and know you're interested in such things... perhaps you would like to take a look. You're welcome to take away anything you like and if you do make contact with the man, perhaps you'll pass on his possessions..."

12. Agents, look at the objects in the man's office and take away files
13. They examine the files contents and make an apprasial using the incidents report sheets.

Something that does occur to me is the main line of inquiry for the students might be what happened to the man. We can of course explore this through the dramatic conventions... perhaps talk to the police, do they know his name, is he a missing person, perhaps talk to other people who had offices at the same time, did they see him? What did he look like? Did he have any visitors?

This might be very interesting for the students and a good strand for various tensions.

I'll write up a report after tomorrow.
Mike - let me know how it goes Weds - Fri.

Tim