1. On Life and Death in Gaza: a doctor shares his story by Abdelkareem Alsalqawi https://www.persuasion.community/p/on-life-and-death-in-gaza

More than once I have chopped a leg or a forearm or a hand without anaesthesia. I remember one case very well: it was at Al-Aqsa Hospital, about a year ago. It was a little child—a male patient, two years old—and I took his left leg out below the knee. We had to move quickly to stop the bleeding. I don’t exaggerate when I say there simply was no analgesic at the ER back then. Now the situation is a little bit better, but still we struggle. To save resources, we give diclofenac or paracetamol for pain relief. For a patient with an open fracture, with a leg about to be amputated, how can a paracetamol ease the pain? But what else can we do?

2. Here’s a recent blog post by Simon Borg, Increasing Teacher Engagement in Online Professional Development Groups, reporting on a recent piece of work of his evaluating a Facebook group for English language teachers. https://simon-borg.co.uk/increasing-teacher-engagement-in-online-professional-development-groups/

Simon notes, A relatively small number of members (whose identities change over time) contribute actively (by commenting on posts) while a larger sub-group read posts without commenting.

How do we find out what that larger sub-group are thinking and doing, I wonder? The fact that they keep coming back (silently) for more is itself evidence that they perceive their membership of the group to have value.

3. Oxfam has some good ‘home learning activities’. Here’s their set of materials on the topic of water https://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/home-learning-activities/water/ PDF below as well. And you’ll find their materials on a range of other topics here https://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/home-learning-activities/

4. We could discuss forever plastics forever. Here’s Wicked Leeks take on the subject https://wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk/news/global-plastics-treaty-hopes-to-tackle-worsening-problem/

In the next few days, expect to be hit with a plethora of statistics and studies, soundbites and social media posts about plastic – because talks to finalise and agree on a Global Plastics Treaty are underway in Geneva, Switzerland. “Plastics are a grave, growing, and under-recognised danger to human and planetary health,” noted experts writing for The Lancet journal on Monday August 4th. “Plastics cause disease and death from infancy to old age and are responsible for health-related economic losses exceeding $1·5 trillion annually.” The review also noted that plastic pollution has in fact worsened – 8,000Mt of the materials now pollute the planet. In the UK alone, the largest plastic waste survey by Greenpeace found that 1.7bn pieces of plastic packaging are thrown away by households every single week.

5. And some nonsense – literally and highly successfully for the singer – to end with, Prisencolinensinainciusol by Adriano Celentano https://youtu.be/fU-wH8SrFro? Treat it as a dictation!