Bill Wilkinson

@drwilkinsonsci

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Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· 28d

Bring on the Human Shield.

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· 28d

#engarg

You know what happens when you call me tetchy.

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· 28d

Thursday's TGT is the inspiring news story of the first person to pass Grade 8 piano playing one handed, 17-year-old Freya Terris. Discuss adaptations for disability and resilience with your tutees tomorrow. bit.ly/TutorGroupThink

Thursday 16th July
Freya Terris, a 17-year-old student from Lisburn in Northern Ireland has become the first person ever to pass grade 8 piano playing with just one hand (BBC News Video). Freya had already been a finalist in Young Musician playing piano with two hands when an injury and subsequent surgery left her unable to play the piano with her right hand two years ago.
Thinking that the pain and immobility would be temporary Freya began exploring pieces of music specifically written for one-handed playing with her music teacher, such as those played by Nicholas McCarthy and Victoria Canal. She contacted the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) who oversee instrument grade exams and asked if she could pass her Grade 8 one-handed.
The ABRSM had been exploring one-handed playing for Grades 1-5, but thanks to Freya now offer pieces for one-handed playing all the way to Grade 8. Freya is planning on going to University to study Music when she finishes school next year and has been a Young Musician finalist again, playing only left-handed.
Why do you think Freya adapted to one-handed playing instead of waiting for her right hand to recover?
Can you think of other places where rules and exams could be altered to make them more accessible?

Thursday 16th July
17-year-old Freya Terris, from Northern Ireland has become the first person to pass grade 8 piano playing with one hand (BBC News Video) after an injury and subsequent surgery left her unable to play the piano with her right hand two years ago.
Thinking it would be temporary Freya and her teacher explored one-handed pieces, such as those played by Nicholas McCarthy and Victoria Canal.
She contacted the ABRSM who oversee instrument grade exams to see if she could pass her Grade 8 one-handed and they agreed. Freya is planning to study music at University next year.
Why do you think Freya adapted to one-handed playing instead of waiting for recovery?
Can you think of other places where rules and exams could be altered for greater accessibility?

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· 29d

TGT on Wednesday marks the passing on Sam Neill. Discuss the skill in making someone believe you've seen something utterly unbelievable. Neill was late to acting, but he was damn good at it. bit.ly/TutorGroupThink

Wednesday 15th July
Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor famous for his portrayal of Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park has died this week at the age of 78. In that film Neill made the audience believe that his character, a sceptical scientist, was seeing the impossible. Preparing the audience to do the same on their first viewing. Neill played the role not as an action-hero, but as a reluctant protector of those placed in his care.
Neill was born Nigel Neill in Northern Ireland, but was taken to New Zealand aged 7. He called himself ‘Sam’ upon finding several other Nigel’s at his school. As a child he was shy and had a stammer which was still slightly recognisable as an adult actor. He didn’t take up acting until University, switching from Law to an Arts degree after having ‘the time of his life’ in a University production.
Starring in 150 films over 50 years, Neill was known as one of Hollywood’s most versatile actors playing heroes, villains, comedic turns and serious drama. He was also known as one of the kindest actors in the business. Happy to play supporting roles in important feminist films such as The Piano or subtly asking for costume changes that supported Aboriginal rights in Event Horizon.
Could you make an audience believe you’ve seen a real dinosaur?
Do you know anyone with a stammer?

Wednesday 15th July
Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor famous for his portrayal of Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park died this week at the age of 78. In that film Neill made the audience believe that his character, a sceptical scientist, was seeing the impossible.
Neill was born in Northern Ireland, but was taken to New Zealand aged 7. As a child he was shy and had a stammer and didn’t take up acting until University. He starred in 150 films over 50 years and was known as one of Hollywood’s most versatile actors playing heroes, villains, comedic turns and serious drama.
Could you make an audience believe you’ve seen a real dinosaur?

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jul 13

Mariner 4's flyby of Mars gave the first close up images of another planet exactly 50 years before New Horizons' images of Pluto. A nice illustration of the advances of technology & ambition in less than a lifetime. Ask you students to imagine what we'll know in 50 more years. bit.ly/TutorGroupThink

Tuesday 14th July
On 14 July 1965, Mariner 4 flew past Mars and captured the first close up photographs of another planet (top). 50 years later, on 14 July 2015, New Horizons flew past Pluto after a journey of roughly three billion miles to take pictures of the dwarf planet orbiting beyond Neptune (bottom). The two encounters showed how far technology and our ambition had moved on in less than a lifetime.
Mariner 4 passed within 6,200 miles of Mars after an 8-month journey and on board carried a television camera that produced just 22 grainy pictures. Each image took hours to reach Earth, and impatient scientists printed the numerical data onto strips of paper. Colour had to be added by hand like a ‘colour by numbers’. The photographs revealed a dry, cratered Mars, dashing hopes that it might have evidence of a civilization that had built canals to carry water from the poles.
Exactly 50 years later, New Horizons passed Pluto at about 7,750 miles carrying out 236 observations of Pluto and its moons. Instead of a fuzzy dot, it revealed icy mountains and a vast heart-shaped region later named ‘Tombaugh Regio’. In 50 years, humanity had moved from hand-colouring a few lines of Martian data to mapping the surface and atmosphere of a world near the edge of the solar system. However both missions began with the same ambition, to send a machine to give us more information about the unknown.
What do you hope we’ll know about in space in 50 years time?

Tuesday 14th July
On 14 July 1965, Mariner 4 flew past Mars and captured the first close up photographs of another planet (top). Exactly 50 years later, on 14 July 2015, New Horizons probe flew past Pluto to take pictures of the dwarf planet orbiting beyond Neptune (bottom). The two encounters showed how far technology and our ambition had moved on in less than a lifetime.
The 22 pictures taken by Mariner 4 had to be coloured by hand like a ‘colour by numbers’, whilst New Horizons carried out 236 observations of Pluto and its moons. Instead of a fuzzy dot, it revealed icy mountains and a vast heart- shaped region later named ‘Tombaugh Regio’.
What do you hope we’ll know about in space in 50 years time?

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jul 12

Monday's TGT is the 41st Anniversary of Live Aid, we've discussed the fundraising before, so now just bask in the magnificence of Freddie Mercury's iconic performance. bit.ly/TutorGroupThink

Monday 13th July
Live Aid was an event organised by musicians Midge Ure and Bob Geldolf to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia on this day in 1985. The two 10-hour multi-band concerts held in London and Philadelphia. During the overlap TV audiences jumped back and forth between venues. It was broadcast in 150 countries and an estimated 1.9bn people (40% of the Earth’s population) watched on TV. Around £150 million was raised.
Many of the biggest pop and rock stars on the planet performed, more than 50 artists overall across the two venues. But the early evening performance by Queen at Wembley Stadium is widely considered one of the greatest live performances of all time.
Queen were certainly over the peak of their career in 1985, but over just 6 songs in 21 minutes, Freddie Mercury, Queen’s charismatic frontman gave a masterclass in stagecraft as he had the crowd eating from the palm of his hand. The infamous “Ay-oh” call-and-response between Radio Ga Ga and Hammer to Fall might have looked rehearsed by all 72,000 in the audience.
Two years later Freddie was diagnosed with AIDS and died in 1991. This hindsight makes Freddie’s performance even more iconic, a master of his craft using his talent to raise millions while he still could. Demonstrating that Live music could create a shared global purpose.
Does music still have power to bring this many people together in these numbers?
What makes someone a good frontman, not just a good singer?
Which artists today can command a crowd?
What do you think of this performance?

Monday 13th July
Live Aid was a multi-artist music event organised to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia on this day in 1985. It was broadcast in 150 countries and an estimated 1.9bn people (40% of the Earth’s population) watched on TV. £150m was raised.
More than 50 artists performed across venues in London and Philadelphia, but the performance by Queen at Wembley Stadium is considered one of the best live performances ever.
Freddie Mercury, Queen’s charismatic frontman gave a masterclass in stagecraft including his infamous “Ay-oh” call-and-response with 72,000 members of the audience.
What makes someone a good frontman not just a good singer?
Which artists today can command a crowd?
What do you think of this performance?

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jul 12

Meme: man points into mirror. “get in there and make it about you”

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jul 11

I can't take this any more - I'm off for a twix

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jul 10

British Museum 2027: Tapestry you say… delivered in a crate… well I’ll see if I can find it… one minute.

Final scene of infinite crates in an infinite warehouse from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jul 9

Friday's TGT is the phenomenal Kelsey Pfendler - who rowed the mid Pacific, solo and unaided in the fastest time ever. Beating previous female record by 6 weeks and previous male record by a week. This girl can! And she wants to inspire others to hard things - Be the conduit. bit.ly/TutorGroupThink

Friday 10th July
Last Friday 32-year-old Kelsey Pfendler from New York became the fastest person to row solo and unaided from California to Hawaii. She completed the 3900 km in just under 44 days. She had set out to be the fastest woman to complete the feat, and she smashed the previous female record of 86 days, but she also beat the previous male record of 52 days, by over a week!
As well as the physical endurance, Kelsey has had to cope with navigation, ocean currents, weather-forecasting, making fresh water, cooking and ensuring she didn’t get sunburned, all on around 4 hours of broken sleep a night.
Kelsey has won many admirers and followers on her journey as she has video-blogged her journey posting almost daily on Instagram and TikTok (@yourowkelsey) about her challenges including doing laundry and running out of coffee. But always finding the joy in her situation. As she neared the finish line she reflected what her achievement means saying:
“If any part of this made at least one person feel a little bit more powerful [...] I’m happy,” Think about trying to find your own big, hard, scary thing. You might not think that you are strong enough to finish it right now, but you’re definitely strong enough to start it, and you’ll find everything else along the way.”
Why do you think so many people have enjoyed following her story online?
What would scare you the most about being alone at sea for 44 days?
What’s your big, hard scary thing you think you can’t finish? Are you ready to start it anyway?

Friday 10th July
Last Friday 32-year-old Kelsey Pfendler from New York completed her solo, unaided 3900 km row from California to Hawaii in 44 days. She smashed the previous female record of 86 days and the male record of 52 days, by over a week!
As well as the physical endurance, Kelsey had to navigate, weather-forecast, make fresh water and cook all on around 4 hours of broken sleep a night.
Kelsey posted video diary entries daily on Instagram and TikTok (@yourowkelsey) about her challenges such as doing laundry and running out of coffee. But she found the joy in every situation and hoped others will be inspired by her to do big, hard, scary things.
Why do you think so many people have enjoyed following her story online?
What would scare you the most about being alone at sea for 44 days?

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jul 8

Hamad Butt’s Familiars. What sums up the fragility of life more than a playful set of suspended flasks of chlorine. Except if you play with them, you die.

18 Suspended glass flasks of yellow chlorine gas, arranged in three rows of 6, like 3 deadly executive Newton’s Cradle toys.

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jul 8

Another round-number Birthday as one of the most recognisable people on the planet turns 70. Discuss your tutees favourite Tom Hanks role (Turner & Hooch, obviously) his childhood, living in ten houses by the age of ten and why he's the most trusted man in America. bit.ly/TutorGroupThink

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jul 7

Wednesday's TGT wishes Ellen MacArthur a Happy 50th Birthday. She was once the fastest person to sail around the earth single-handedly, now she campaigns for a zero-waste circular economy. bit.ly/TutorGroupThink

Wednesday 8th July
Happy 50th Birthday to Dame Ellen MacArthur. Ellen grew up in the village of Whatstandwell in Derbyshire a long way from the coast, however she had a dream of becoming a sailor and as a teen saved part of her daily dinner money to pay for her first small boat, crossing off the days required to save enough money.
That daily habit ritual helped her become the fastest person to sail solo, non-stop around the world in 2005. She circumnavigated the planet in 71 days and 14 hours. During which time she has to navigate, sail, cook food and repair her own ship alone, whilst grabbing short burst of sleep where she could. She returned to a hero’s welcome, fame and acclaim.
Sailing with limited resources and seeing the fragility of the Earth made Ellen think carefully about our economy and in retirement she has set up The Ellen MacArthur Foundation which campaigns for a circular economy where all materials are recycled and kept in use rather than being thrown away or burnt as waste. Her foundation has campaigned against fast fashion, plastic packaging and a throw-away culture that would rather replace goods rather than repair them.
She has also set up The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust to help young people recovering from cancer treatment regain their confidence through siling activities.
What skills, other than being able to sail do you think would be required for 71 days at sea, alone?
If you became famous how would you improve the world?

Wednesday 8th July
Happy 50th Birthday to Dame Ellen MacArthur. Ellen grew up in a small Derbyshire village a long way from the coast, however she saved up a little each day for her first boat.
Daily rituals helped her become the fastest person to sail solo, non-stop around the world in 2005. She circumnavigated the planet in 71 days. During which time she has to navigate, sail, cook food and repair her own ship alone, whilst grabbing short burst of sleep where she could.
Sailing with limited resources helped Ellen see the fragility of the Earth and since retiring she has set up The Ellen MacArthur Foundation which campaigns for a circular economy where all materials are recycled and kept in use rather than being thrown away.
What skills, other than being able to sail do you think would be required for 71 days at sea, alone?

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jul 6

I sleep. You watch. There’s a 136min film of Rocky sleeping on Prime. 😍

Screen grab.
Project Hail Mary | Watch Rocky Sleep

2hr 16 min left.

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jul 6

At 17 Mabel Lethbridge volunteered as a munitionette, filling shells with explosives for the war effort. She lost a leg, ear and lung when the machine she used exploded. But because she lied about her age she received no war pension. Discuss her story using TGT tomorrow. bit.ly/TutorGroupThink

Tuesday 7th July
Mabel Lethbridge was born in Somerset this day 1900. She was was born into a relatively wealthy family and was taken all over the Empire as a child. However, her father lost all his money and abandoned her family leaving the family with little. During WWI, Mabel worked as a nurse and then as a munitionette in a munitions Factory in Middlesex; one of many women who switched to traditional male jobs during the war.
On 23rd October 1917 a condemned machine she was using to fill shells with explosive blew up, killing several nearby and removing her left leg. She also lost an ear and the use of a lung. However, she managed to apply a tourniquet to her thigh that saved her own life.
She was awarded the Order of the British Empire, for Services to the war; one of the youngest ever recipients. However, because she had lied about being 18 to work in the factory, she was not awarded a war pension. She lived much of the interwar years in relative poverty; selling matches, renting chairs for patrons queuing for the theatre. Her story came to prominence when a publisher asked her to write an autobiography.
She volunteered again in WWII, this time for the Ambulance Service, working alongside her daughter. After the war she moved to Cornwall and wrote another volume of her biography. She died in 1968.
Imagine you were 17, and your country was at war. Would you volunteer for such a dangerous job
What do you think of how Mabel was treated after the accident. Was she a hero, a rule-breaker or both?

Tuesday 17th July
Mabel Lethbridge was born this day 1900. During WWI, Mabel worked as a nurse and then as a munitionette in a munitions Factory in Middlesex.
On 23rd October 1917 a machine she was using to fill shells with blew up, killing several nearby and removing her left leg. She managed to apply a tourniquet to her thigh to save her own life.
She was awarded an OBE for service to the war. However, because she had lied about being 18 to work in the factory, she was not awarded a war pension and lived much of the interwar years in relative poverty.
She volunteered again in WWII, this time for the Ambulance Service, working alongside her daughter and died in 1968.
What do you think of how Mabel was treated? Was she a hero, a rule-breaker or both?

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jul 5

Monday's TGT is a timely visit to Mexico to look at the work of artist Frida Kahlo. She was going to medical school when aged 18 she was in a bus accident which changed her life, left her in constant pain and led her to paint how she was feeling in self-portraits. bit.ly/TutorGroupThink

Monday 6th July
Frida Kahlo was born this day 1907 in Coyoacan, Mexico. Despite having Polio aged 8, she enjoyed art as a child and was a good student. She had a place at medical school when aged 18 she was involved in a bus accident which left her in a hospital for 3 months and a with a life of operations and continual pain.
Her mother brought paints to her hospital bed and she began to paint self-portraits. Long before selfie culture, Kahlo used self-portraits to record how she looked and felt. She painted her pain, pride and fears. Of her 143 paintings, 55 were self-portraits. Not though vanity, but control.
In The Dream (The Bed), painted in 1940 (pictured), Kahlo painted herself under a yellow blanket, with vines wrapping a skeleton wired with dynamite above. In 2025 The Dream sold for $54.7 million at auction setting a record for an artwork by a female artist.
By the 1940s her art was beginning to gain wide acclaim, but her health was deteriorating further. She had several operations on her spine and suffered infections. In the 1950s she used a wheelchair and had a leg amputated. She died in July 1954, aged 47, whilst it was officially a natural death, those closest to her thought she’d taken her own life and her last sketch was of a black angel.
How does this painting make you feel?
Do you take selfies? Do they represent how you feel at that time?

Monday 6th July
Artist Frida Kahlo was born this day 1907 in Mexico. She had Polio as a child and was in a bus accident at 18 which left her in a hospital for 3 months and a life of continual pain.
Her mother brought paints to her hospital bed and she began to paint self-portraits. Long before selfies Kahlo used self-portraits to record how she felt. Of her 143 paintings, 55 were self-portraits.
The Dream (The Bed), showed Kahlo under a blanket, with a skeleton wrapped in vines and dynamite above. It sold for $54.7 million in 2025, 71 years after her death, a record for an artwork by a female artist.
Do you take selfies? Do they represent how you feel at that time?

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jul 3

“Can I get a cleaner to Aisle 6. A cleaner to aisle 6” #totp

Brit presses her call button and gets out the wet floor sign.

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jul 2

Friday's TGT, on the eve of America's 250th anniversary of Independence looks at the gift given by the citizens of France to the USA as a 100th birthday present - The Statue of Liberty. Gustave Eiffel, of course, designed the internal ironwork that holds up the copper shell. bit.ly/TutorGroupThink

Friday 3rd July
In 1865 a French historian and abolitionist named Édouard de Laboulaye proposed a statue to commemorate the upcoming centenary of American Independence in 1876. He wanted to celebrate that America had achieved his dream of freedom from an oppressive monarchy and hoped the statue would inspire his fellow French citizens to achieve the same.
Laboulaye approached French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi to design a memorial to freedom and liberty that would honour American achievements and he chose a goddess holding a torch and a tablet inscribed with the date of the American Declaration of Independence; 4th July 1776. Though it is hard to see from the ground, her left foot is slightly raised and stands on a chain and shackles representing the abolition of slavery.
The French paid for the copper statue, which was built in France, with the supporting ironwork designed by Gustave Eiffel, whilst Americans paid for the plinth to be built on Bedloe’s island (now called Liberty Island) in New York Harbour. The red-brown copper discoloured to green over the next 20 years as the copper oxidised and a protective layer of verdigris formed.
The statue was dedicated on 28th October 1886 and has been a symbol of liberty to Americans, and particularly immigrants arriving by boat into New York for 140 years.
Would you like to visit the Statue of Liberty in New York one day?
Did you know that you can climb the inside of the statue to a viewing platform in the crown of Liberty?
What motivated Laboulaye and other French citizens to pay for Liberty?

Friday 3rd July
In 1865 a French abolitionist named Édouard de Laboulaye proposed a statue to commemorate 100 years of American Independence in 1876.
Laboulaye approached sculptor Bartholdi to design a memorial to freedom and liberty. Bartholdi chose a goddess holding a torch and a tablet inscribed with 4th July 1776. Her left foot is stands on a chain and shackles representing the abolition of slavery.
French citiznes paid for the copper statue, built on Bedloe’s island (now called Liberty Island) in New York Harbour. Americans paid for the plinth. It was dedicated on 28th October 1886 and has been a symbol of liberty to Americans, and particularly immigrants arriving by boat into New York for 140 years.
Would you like to visit the Statue of Liberty?
What motivated Laboulaye and other French citizens to pay for Liberty?

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jul 1

Thursday's TGT celebrates the life of Thurgood Marshall who was born into a segregated America and helped begin to dismantle that segregation law by law. First as a lawyer, then as the first black Supreme Court Justice. Nominative Determinism at its best. bit.ly/TutorGroupThink

Thursday 2nd July
Thurgood Marshall was born in Baltimore on 2nd July 1908 at a time when segregation was treated as the norm in most of America. His father worked as a railroad porter and later as a steward at a whites-only country club his mother was a teacher at a black school.
Whilst his father never explicitly told Thurgood to become a lawyer he clearly trained him in making good arguments. His father took Thurlgood and his brother to watch court proceedings and made them back everything they argued at home with evidence.
Marshall wanted to study law at the University of Maryland, but its law school did not admit Black students. So he went to Howard University in Washington, D.C. where he was captain of the debate team. He became a prominent civil rights lawyer and returned to Maryland in 1935 as a litigator, helping black students attend the University he was not allowed to attend. He won 29 of 32 cases he took to the US Supreme Court, including the infamous Brown v Board of Education in 1954 which found segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.
In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court itself. The first black Justice on the Court, a position he held until 1991. Thurgood showed that you can protest an unfair system or you can work to dismantle it from the inside.
Does your school have a debating club? Do you attend? What is the point of debating competitions?
Which would you do in the face of unfairness? Protest it or dismantle it? Which is more effective in the long run?

Thursday 2nd July
Thurgood Marshall was born this day 1908 at a time when segregation was treated as the norm in most of America. His father worked as a steward at a whites-only country club his mother was a teacher at a black school.
Marshall wanted to study law at the University of Maryland, but its law school did not admit Black students. So he went to Howard (a black University) where he was a top student and captain of the debate team.
He won 29 of 32 cases he took to the US Supreme Court, including the infamous Brown v Board of Education in 1954 which found segregation in schools was unconstitutional. In 1967, President Johnson appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court itself. The first black Justice on the Court.
Does your school have a debating club? Do you attend? What is the point of debating competitions?

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jun 30

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jun 30

Wednesday's TGT, looks the launch of Sony's first Walkman in 1979. A day which put society on a path towards a personal soundtrack for all. It had a hotline button to lower the sound as Sony worried headphone wearers would appear rude and cut off! Perish the thought! bit.ly/TutorGroupThink

Wednesday 1st July
On this day 1979 Japanese company Sony released the first Walkman, the blue and silver TPS-L2. For the first time, you could walk through a city, sit on a train or lie in a park with your own private soundtrack playing through lightweight headphones. Before the release of the Walkman, music was mostly public, played in rooms, cars, radios, parties and record players shared with others. The Walkman made listening portable, personal and private.
The first model played cassette tapes, cost 33,000 yen (£230 today) and featured two headphone sockets so two people could listen at once. It also had an orange ‘hotline’ button that lowered the music volume as Sony worried people might seem rude or cut off from the world if listening to music privately.
In the UK it was first sold as the Sony Stowaway, but ‘Walkman’ soon became the name people remembered and the word was added to the English Dictionary in 1986. The Walkman changed music consumption forever; tape sales soared, and personal music listening became the norm. Even as tapes were replaced by CDs and then MP3s and streaming, it has now become the norm for people to be able to choose the soundtrack for their own lives.
If you no longer had personal music what would you miss most?
Were Sony right to worry that the Walkman would make people rude or cut off while listening to music?
Have you ever listened to music on tape? How did you find it?

Wednesday 1st July
On this day 1979 Sony released the first Walkman. For the first time, you could walk through a city with your own private soundtrack playing through lightweight headphones.
The first model played cassettes, cost 33,000 yen (~£230 today) and had an orange ‘hotline’ button that lowered the music volume as Sony worried people might seem rude if listening to music privately.
In the UK ‘Walkman’ soon became so common the word was added to the Dictionary in 1986. The Walkman changed music consumption forever as it became the norm for people to be able to choose the soundtrack for their own lives.
If you no longer had personal music what would you miss most?
Were Sony right to worry that the Walkman would make people rude or cut off while listening to music?

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jun 29

Tuesday's TGT wishes Michael Phelps, the Greatest Olympian of all time, a Happy Birthday. Discuss being bullied at school, ADHD and physiology with your tutees tomorrow. bit.ly/TutorGroupThink

Tuesday 30th June
Happy Birthday to the greatest Olympian of all time, swimmer Michael Phelps, born in Baltimore on this day 1985. Michael struggled at school, he was bullied for his sticking-out ears and he could not sit still in class. He was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 9 years old, the same year his parents divorced. Phelps later admitted that the divorce hit him and his sisters hard and he was distant from his father for many years.
Phelps' mother wanted all her children to be able to swim as a life-saver, but his older sisters were making good progress in swimming competitions and they encouraged young Michael to do the same. The structure of swimming coaching; constant repetitions and goal-setting gave him a place to channel his restless energy. Plus he was good at it; he gained his first age-group national record at the age of 10.
His physiology helped; he is tall, has a wingspan 7 cm longer than his height and size 14 feet with unusually flexible ankles. Biology, opportunity and coaching all helped. But they didn’t swim lengths for him. Phelps went to his first Olympics aged 15 and came 5th. He was determined to better himself next time. He won 23 gold medals across the next 4 Olympic Games. If Michael Phelps was a country he would rank higher than 160 countries on the all-time medal list.
How do you think Michael felt being bullied for something he had no control over?
Why do you think competitive swimming suited someone with ADHD?

Tuesday 30th June
Happy 41st Birthday to swimmer Michael Phelps. Michael struggled at school, he was bullied for his sticking-out ears and could not sit still in class. He was diagnosed with ADHD aged 9.
Competitive swimming gave him a place to channel his restless energy. Plus he was good at it; he gained his first age-group national record at the age of 10! His physiology helped too; He’s tall, has a huge wingspan and size 14 feet.
Phelps went to his first Olympics aged 15 and came 5th. He won 23 gold medals across the next 4 Olympic Games. If Michael Phelps was a country he’d rank higher than 160 countries on the all-time medal list.
How do you think Michael felt being bullied for something he had no control over?
Why do you think competitive swimming suited someone with ADHD?

Bill Wilkinson@drwilkinsonsci· Jun 28

Monday's TGT wishes Happy Birthday to Eberechi Eze. A rags to riches story arc which includes being knocked back and rejected no less than four times as a teen. Not only did he return to the club that was his identity in his formative years, but helped them win the title. bit.ly/TutorGroupThink