Why I wasn't at School Today - I Went to Utah

Seen TES Scotland this Week? See Mrs Jelland's work on P9?
Follow the Leader by clicking this Link to see
Oh The Places You'll Go... and where we went on Friday

My Dad was told by DWP (Don't know who that is... But he doesn't like them very much!)

"That a blog post is not a job search" 

On Thursday night I was called upon for a Spy Quest mission and went on a Pirate Adventure with my dad.

This is my first Dog post? Oh blog post... But my Dad is helping with it (Like a lot of parents do with their kids homework... He's helping A LOT! You should see some of the homework that people bring in!). 

As you will see I'm a Spy Guy Pirate Pig now (It's like The Simpson's Spidey Pig except better!) and I wonder if a blog post is the same as a school note to say... 

Why I wasn't at school today.

If it isn't good enough for a note then maybe I can use it for my reading passport instead... I got to meet my favourite author and my role model... in a way that REALLY brought the book to life! 

Wonder if my Dad will get a good write up too...
Your Why I Wasn't at School Today note "Could do better" (*Sigh*) 

Thursday 
19:30 - Skype Message from Agent Jones
Isaac I may need you're help with a mission. Stand by for further instructions.

Friday 
08:00 - Do we get ready for school? Do we stay off? Should we phone? If we phone what do we say? Do we tell the truth... we're waiting to go on a Spy Quest mission? Or do we tell a lie? Agent Jones says that we need to be kind... Maybe best to say nothing.  We'll send a note on Monday... 

"Today we'll turn Pirate"  

"COOL"

10:30 - Message from Agent Jones
It's a #Skypeathon Sprint to the Train to make our International Connection
Your mission should you choose to accept it... meet me at Westquarter Primary School at 13:30.

Dad looks at his watch and sees that it's 11:30 and says

"Do we accept? If we do we need to go now!"

11:35 We're Off and Away
(Agents: Note the Time Here. This is WHY we synchronize watches. My Dad's a Dumb Nugget!)
I'm quite nervous and say no to start with but then

"I Think I Can! I Think I Can! I Think I Can!" 

He grabs a bag that he packed, writes down the instructions and we go. On the bus we talk about Sams adventure and try to think like a Spy Kid

11:50 Should We Turn Left or Right?
We need to go to the library to print a map and some other things. But the library is closed. Must be Oblivion says my Dad. 

"Let's just get on the train so we can get to Agent Jones... We're vulnerable until we get there"

11:55 Look Up and Down Streets
The first entrance to the train station is closed. So is the second. 

"Oblivion must know that there is a mission on today, so is closing the city's stations. Let's get on the train before they close all the stations in the city!"  

I spot the destination on the board quickly and we jump on the train.

Once aboard he wonders how many other agents will make it to see Ron Day Vue? Another agent, maybe? 

11:58 You'll Meet Many Strange Birds (A Tweeting ;))
My Dad takes things out of his bag and does something he never normally does... he tells me about his world of work. 

He tells me about some guy that makes EdShelfs (@MikeLeeOrg) and another who build an #EdTechBridge (@Mr_Isaacs) and Stand Bridges (@Stanbridge...Dad says he made ALL the difference for him and helped top up his "Think I Can" powers) 

He tells me about about some #DigCitSummit Pirates and a box that's been on the shelf for a while but hasn't been taken out the box. 

It's a sextrument (Sextant) and it helps pirates and adventurer's like Shackleton to help them if they ever get lost or a bit stuck... and to help them stay the course "By Endurance we Conquer" he says was Shackleton's family motto... and Shackleton liked to play games like I do.

“Some people say it is wrong to regard life as a (SpyQuest) game; I don't think so, life to me means the greatest of all (SpyQuest) games. The danger lies in treating it as a trivial (SpyQuest) game, a (SpyQuest) game to be taken lightly, and a (SpyQuest) game in which the rules don't matter much.

The rules matter a great deal. The game has to be played fairly, or it is no game at all. And even to win the (SpyQuest) game is not the chief end. The chief end is to win it honourably and splendidly. To this chief end several things are necessary. Loyalty is one. Discipline is another. Unselfishness is another. Courage is another. Optimism is another. And chivalry is another.” Earnest Shackleton... But with some (SpyQuest) subliminal messages in there. Did you spot them? Lol ;)

He also tells me about a boy I'm going to meet. His name is Curran and his mum has been training him to be a SpyQuest Agent too.

It was him that wrote to Santa to tell him we didn't have much money but knew I wanted a tablet even though my mum said no, so didn't put it on the list. THANK YOU Curran!

I hope I will be a kind kid

If you Skype 5,000 Miles... You never know who will end up at your door!Like the video?
You might like it EVEN MORE on Twitter

Agent Curran is going to ask the class if their teddy Ellie can go on a SpyQuest Digital Citizenship Mission and I've to get her and take her back with me and Agent Jones.

Then for the rest of the journey Dad does what he was asked for the mission, writes a note for Mrs Jelland...while I use my observation skills to look out for the right stop, we're going to Poland!... Or was it Polmont?

12:20 The Waiting Place (Did I Tell you my Dad's a Dumb Nugget?)
We arrive at the school and go to reception. A friendly boy says hello and asks what we are doing there I look at my Dad and say 

"Can I show him?" 

He nods. I unzip my coat and say 

"I'm a Secret Agent on a SpyQuest Mission" 

...Because that's How it Works, Curran. When you have a Diamond Network

The boy is friendly. My dad takes two Spy Quest books out his bag and says would you like to borrow these. He looks at them and says 

"Yes please!" 

I hope he becomes an agent too.

Dad's a Dumb Nugget... Epic Fail! The lady at the schools says 

"Do you know your an hour early?" 

My Dad looks at hid watch and says 

"Oh I forgot to turn my watch back...last week. I just looked at my watch and we rushed out" 

He says that's just like the film I was in with Obi Wan (for a second or two)... But I've not seen the film yet yet. 

"We'll come back in 30 mins, but could we use a computer when we get back" 

We were told ONLY to use Mrs Jelland's computer because it had been checked for Oblivion's spy gadgets.

12:30 It's Better Out there in the Wide Open Air
We have the best play in the grass kicking leaves about and having sword fights. No one would ever know that we were SpyQuest Agents on a mission to recruit more agents!

"See kids really DO make the best Spy Guys, who'd have thought we were on a mission at this very second? We're just having a laugh in the leaves" 

Says Dad 

"We're taking a leave of absence" 

He says with a laugh.I don't get what's funny. My Dad's a Dumb Nugget!

13:00 In a Slump... By the Computer. Working. Again!
We go back to the school and my Dad types something on the friendly teachers computer. He takes the sextrument out of his bag and says 

"Why don't you try to figure this out while I write this note"

Dad prints the story off and gives it to Mrs Jelland and say's this is what I'm going to say, Mrs Jelland must have liked it because after she read it she said she was going to get an iPad to record it... Or maybe it was so lame that she thought it would go viral (That's more like it! Did I mention my Dad's a Dumb Nugget?)

13:30 Oh The Places You'll Go!
Dad goes out because the class is going to say hello and sing a song then surprise her. I stay with Mrs Jelland's class.We sing I would Skype 500 Miles. Then my Dad comes in.

The people on Skype get a big surprise when she sees it's my Dad, but he looks quite nervous. He tells a story that we hear a lot of nights at bed time (But not all because sometimes he forgets because he's working... Maybe that's Oblivion again though using Lycortas or something?), he tells us

That words are the most powerful things in the world,
Books are the most powerful weapons
That we can do anything we set our mind to
... But only if we prepare and always do our best

He talks about "Oh the Places You'll Go" and "The Little Engine that Could" and how Agent Jones thinks kids make the best Spy Guys (And Girls!)

When he asked 

"Have you heard of a book called "Oh The Place's You'll Go" 

Some children said they had not but Mrs Jelland said that the read it in the morning. Oblivion was definitely in the room... Maybe that's why Ellie wasn't... maybe they got there just before us?!

Kids Beware: Oblivion is Everywhere!
Tech Can be Hacked... So Can Your Classroom!
Agents Trust No One: Find SQA's Cphers & Crack the Code

The rest of what he says can be seen here: A Nervous Call with a Connected Educator

Then he calls me over to say hello and I show Curran the Sextrument (Sextant) and what I have learnt about it so far... But here's the thing, my Dad was so relieved to be finished his talk that he didn't realise I was talking until he saw Mrs Jelland's Sweets? Oh, not sweets... tweets.

My Dad would have missed this if it wasn't for Twitter, Skype an ipad... and

"A Teacher That Can!" 

AND he was in the room!

How much is he missing from my day when he's not?
How much of a connection was made with Mrs Jelland's class and with Utah on this one day, than all the others at my own school?

Mrs Jelland and Ellie... World Class Agents of Change

Then Curran and I asked if we could take Ellie on a DigCit SpyQuest Mission, then Agent Jones took over telling the boys and girls in Westquarter and Utah about his books and how he brings them to life.

He did when I first read the books, he did when Curran read them and he did with Mrs Jelland's class who have not read them yet.

NB Mrs Jelland did video the Skype call but, I don't know if it was because

• Agent Jones jammed all transmissions so Oblivion couldn't hear, or 
• My Dad was so nervous that she didn't want other teachers to be put off skyping people or 
• Oblivion hacked her ipad and deleted it. 

But the video is gone. But it's OK because Agent Jones ALWAY, ALWAYS plans for the best but prepares for the worse... and has a Mission for SQAs newest Agent Teacher (with the help of an Agent Fox? I've not met him yet... But I hears he's very cunning, but extremely kind!) to retrieve the information and pass it on to others... and, do you know what? I think she can! And I think she will!

14:00 
Mission complete! Westquarter P1 Kid's We Moved Mountains Today!
We have our manners and thank everyone for allowing us to be creative and disrupt their class and Agent Jones says that he'll visit again. I hope he takes me... and I hope Agent Ellie comes to my School too.

Primary 1 Adventures the class will never forget... I bet

Agent Jones takes us home and he tells me how important the work my Dad does is for SpyQuest.

The message that we gave to the people at the DigCitSummit and our newest recruit, Agent Ellie, is below and because I had good fun I think that other classes should try it. Does your school agree?

Dear Mr Swinney, 

We need, as educators and parents, to model
Digital Leaders for kids everywhere
To connect classrooms on Twitter and Skype
with educators and policy makers with
schools locally but we need to learn
and globally kids at Westquarter and at Utah today
Help Ellie

Be a kind kid, be the change you want to see... For the sake of the Kids we are Better Together (#BetterTogether in the New Teachers to Twitter #NT2T kind of way, not the other one).

Mr Swinney, if you mean it when you say that you want to empower educators... I think my Dad can help.

Agent Jones needed me for a SpyQuest Mission. We acted locally and travelled 25 miles... to connect globally 5,000 more. People at the DigCitSummit needed us and I wanted to be a kind kid... and that is why I was not at school today. 

Pst Kids, I have included a secret message for you in the message to the grown ups. If you want Ellie to come to your school and Skype with my new friends at Westquarter, Curran and Agent Jones.

 Tell you're teacher or your parents to Tweet 

"@SpyQuest I want to help @ElliePrimary1"

A be a kind kid agent will hear you. Maybe it will be a Pigeon, or a Fox, or a Mole... It might even be a Lion Hearted Griffin that ends up at your door

...Griffin Door?
Where have I heard that before?
Must be SQA mind tricks playing with my head!

Anyway we will hear your Tweet and someone will take it from there and give you your @SpyQuest Mission. 

It might be a little kid with a big heart or a grown up with a child-like mind

...You never can tell who is, and who is not, an Agent of SQA.

I think that Agent Jones must have an SQA Agent at TES Scotland too because my Dad's name was in that on Friday... so was Mrs Jelland... and so was the Bloodhound Car that @Stanbridge works on. 

I wonder where my Dad will take me next time I turn Pirate and go with him to his "work"

I hope it's another awfully big adventure... I wonder what I missed in my class today? I hope we can compare notes with Westquarter Primary soon

(Pst To my fellow Agents in the field (Oink Oink...Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink): I have the cipher... The code phrase is "I want to Help Ellie" if you want to join the SQA)