Teachers Matter Issue 38

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

TeachersMatter The Magazine of Spectrum Education

Smartphones in Schools Building a Metacognitive Classroom Working Together as a Team Teacher Compassion

NZ$19 / AU$19

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 38

EDITOR’S NOTE

Teachers who grow themselves grow students. This is paramount for educational leaders to understand as we move throughout this school year. The sooner we understand that depth of growing ourselves, the sooner we begin to grow our students. Teachers must be willing to put in effort and remember that they get out of professional development what they put into it. Likewise, principals and those senior leaders planning and leading professional development sessions need to listen to their staff, and combine their wants with the building needs to meet the overall goals of the school, district and community.

David Franklin’s article on "Fostering Teacher Leadership” provides incredible tips on building up leaders around you as a building leader. From making sure to lead teachers in professional development to creating a leadership teams where teachers are able to have a voice in building decisions, you will find practical advice for developing teacher leaders in your buildings.

Claire Orange, from “Teacher Compassion,” gives educators much needed advice on how to avoid burnout from being over compassionate all the time. We all know how much of ourselves we give to our students, their families and even to our colleagues throughout a school day. We are the worst at telling others ‘no’ and taking time for ourselves. But, we must in order to be the best we can be for those who need us most.

There is much research to show us the processes of the brain and how we all learn. Donna Wilson, in her article entitled, “Building a Metacognitive Classroom,” leads us through these processes and offers ways to share this information with our students to build a metacognitive classroom. These ideas will surely grow our students. As always, our own Karen Tui Boyes presents similar ideas in her article on The Power of Language.

We must all be mindful of the language we are using with our students and the powerful impact it possesses.

Lastly, make sure to read Zareen Byrne’s article concerning smartphones, students and the place, or lack thereof, smartphones have in school. The Internet can be an amazing resource, but at the turn of a dime, it can be an extremely dangerous zone for adults and students alike. This article provides a multitude of common sense points that even as sensible adults, we need to remind ourselves to think over continually.

Yours in Education,

Jessica Youmans

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CONTENTS

In this issue COVER ARTWORK BY ARTQU

p12 - Strong Questioning is Elementary to Great Teaching 3 6

Editor's Note

JESSICA YOUMANS

5 Ways to Foster Teacher Leadership

p21 -Smartphones in Schools

16

CAROLYN STUART

18

The Power of Language

21

Smartphones in Schools

DAVID FRANKLIN

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The Changing Roles of Teachers and Learners MICHELLE KORENFELD

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Uniquely Human is a Strength CHERYL DOIG

12

Strong Questioning is Elementary to Great Teaching

23 24

Teachers Matter 4

Building a Metacognitive Classroom DONNA WILSON AND MARCUS CONYERS

32

Andragogy Vs. Pedagogy

34

Working Together as a Team

KAREN TUI BOYES ZAREEN BYRNE

VoCAPulary

GLENN CAPELLI

Developing Smart Risk Takers

26 30

Engaging Lesson Planning ERIC FRANGEHEIM

Training Your Brain for Gratitude TERRY SMALL

ANDREW MURRAY

DR. KATHY MURRAY

36

The L3 Roadway to Success

38

Garden Club

40

Pushing Our Children to "Learn"

MADELEINE TAYLOR

ALAN COOPER

14

Co-Designing Solutions with Students

p30 - Training Your Brain for Gratitude

KAREN TUI BOYES JAN BIBBY

LEANNE SENINOLI

42

Sixteen Stress Busters

46

What is Resilience

LAUREN PARSONS LINDA GUIREY

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Teachers Matter Magazine Team Publisher, Sales and Advertising Karen Tui Boyes Editor Jessica Youmans Art Director Brenda Mihalko Printer Spectrum Print, Christchurch

Subscriptions Toll free (NZ) 0800 373 377 Toll free (Australia) 1800 249 727 Thanks to the educators, speakers and authors who contributed interviews, articles, photographs and letters.

Teachers Matter magazine is registered with the National Library: ISSN 1178-6825 © Spectrum Education 2018 All rights reserved.

p46 - What is Resilience?

p48 - Addicted to Worrying?

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Addicted to Worrying?

64

Picture Book Study

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Championing Student Leadership

66

Four Tips on How to Complete Large Projects

JOHN SHACKLETON

Recovering from a Toxic Incident with a Parent MICHAEL GROSE

54

Behavioural First Aid 101

56

An Attitude of Gratitude

58

Kai and Who Am I?

62

KATE SOUTHCOMBE RYAN MARTIN

The opinions expressed in Teachers Matter are those of the contributors and we love them!

ROBYN PEARCE

All Enquiries

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Last Word

Street Address: 19 Rondane Place, Lower Hutt, New Zealand

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Useful Products & Services

REBECCA GILMAN

52

LESLEY JOHNSON

Parts of this publication may be reproduced for use within a school environment. To reproduce any part within another publication (or in any other format) permission from the publisher must be obtained.

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KAREN TUI BOYES

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Postal Address: PO Box 30818, Lower Hutt, New Zealand Phone: (NZ) +64 4 528 9969 magazine@spectrumeducation.com www.spectrumeducation.com

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Teacher Compassion

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DAVID FRANKLIN

5 Ways to Foster Teacher Leadership Practical ways to Build Up Leaders

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he bedrock of a great school is shared leadership. All stakeholders must have a seat at the decision-making table. This ensures that the vision and direction of the school is decided upon collectively and in the best interest of all parties. Teachers are key players in this process and need to be encouraged to step into leadership roles. After all, great leaders don’t create followers; they create more leaders.

1. Have Teachers Lead Professional Development Trainings Professional development for teachers should be designed, implemented, and vetted by teachers. Training days need to be planned by the individuals who will be tasked with implementing the new program or idea. Furthermore, teachers should be in charge of running the training. Teachers should be modelling and providing information to their colleagues. Teachers will respond better to a training designed and implemented by their colleagues than one created by their leadership team.

Great leaders don’t create followers; they create more leaders.

2. Have A Leader Designee There are times when a school is left without a senior leader on campus due to meetings, illness, or travel. A teacher should be chosen as the senior leader designee and be able to make decisions for the school as needed throughout the day. This is a great model to use for teachers who want to become senior leaders. Rotating this position throughout the year will give multiple teachers exposures to the work that happens up in the office and give them the opportunity to lead.

3. Inclusive Leadership Teams A school’s leadership team should comprise of a mix of senior leaders, teachers, and support staff. Teachers need to have a seat at this table in order to ensure that their voices are heard.

Decisions about curriculum, programs, innovations, and school procedures should involve the largest non-student group on site: teachers. Without a voice at the leadership table, teachers will be less likely to support new initiatives. Having these new ideas explored and discussed by teacher leaders will give the initiative stronger legs to stand on and provide a path for success.

4. Walk-throughs There is great importance on having teachers participate in the walk-through process in order to see first-hand the various instructional practices happening around campus. It is also an opportunity for teacher leaders to see what their colleagues need assistance on in the classroom. These walk-throughs could lead to teachers designing PD based on the data that they collect.

5. New Teacher Mentorship Program New teachers need a vast amount of support during the first two years of their career.

While senior leaders are there to help guide them, providing new teachers with a teacher mentor can help create an inclusive school culture as well as provide veteran teachers with leadership opportunities. The bonds that form will also help to keep these new teachers at their school as they will feel supported.

Dr. David Franklin, CEO of The Principal’s Desk, is an experienced school administrator, education professor, curriculum designer, and presenter. He is the co-author of Can All Schools Succeed.

Dr. Franklin has presented at national and international education conferences and is available for school and district professional development sessions. He can be reached at david@theprincipalsdesk.org or at www.principalsdesk.org.

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MICHELLE KORENFELD

The Changing Roles of Teachers and Learners in Creative Learning Environments Utilising Feedback to Grow Creative Thinking

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here is a gap between society and schools. Society is entrepreneurial.

Maybe we as educators should adapt such an approach. What is it that entrepreneurs do? They are professional problem solvers. Approaching change from a creative problem-solving approach means accepting that mistakes are made along the way at all the levels.

In the classroom, students are welcome to make mistakes and learn from them.

Te a c h e r s c a n a l s o m a k e a m i s t a k e .

Accepting that lets them be human and grow professionally according to feedback from colleagues and students.

A mistake simply means a mis-take: a misunderstanding or a detour taken leading back toward the path to excellence. This kind of attitude means that school leaders, teachers, parents and students grow based on empathetic feedback.

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This kind of approach gives space to creative learning tasks. What could such tasks be? If a student is better at researching, let them research part of the learning material. If a student is a good speaker, let them do the presentation of the material. If a student is good with technology, let them prepare the slides in the presentation. If a student has an interest that helps them find certain learning material relevant, let them write about it or present it to the class. Personalised learning is blended with collaborative learning, leading toward meaningful learning.

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School leaders, teachers, parents and students grow based on empathetic feedback.

The whole class is a learning group. This is a great way to make learning relevant.

What students need is guidance on how to approach the tasks and how to solve problems. In relation to solving problems, just remember to let go of the rope. It’s a great way to fill up with hope. Sometimes when we just let go a bit, things settle down.

This tip, an attitude of seeing where the other person is coming from and reacting empathetically are your greatest tools. The flexibility of mind gives space for growing toward excellent achievements.

What should we consider when creating creative learning environments?

In creative environments it is vital to accept that learning is connected to emotions.

Focusing on acquiring knowledge is technical. To make learning meaningful, we need to see the whole child, and that includes emotions.

Here are five aspects for interaction supporting creativity from the perspective of taking emotions into account:

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Shared learning: This should be formed in such a way that in a pair or a group, each student contributes aspects of the learning material. The good thing about such learning is that it enables children to make friends. Friends are more than peers.

Friends are there for intimacy, kindness and warmth. To make learning creative, just take the tasks a step further and invite students to incorporate expression of their feelings based on life experiences into the products.

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Care ethics environment: Nel Nodding’s ethics of care is the basis for a creative learning environment. It means that relationships from student to student and from student to teacher are reciprocal.

Teachers that care are interested to learn from the students what their needs are and then set to fulfill those needs. In times of conflict or tiredness, when the teachers can’t care naturally, they reinforce ethical caring inspired by a model of caring in their mind. The creative environment in class is such that students can choose learning tasks. They draw their learning objectives together with the teachers.

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The class as a group: The class is a working group which has mutual interdependencies. Yet, it is important to remember that participation in such a group is mandatory. To work together toward the goal of successful learning, it’s best to let all children, no matter what gender or ethnicity, give something of themselves to learning. To make the tasks creative, invite students to produce compositions or presentations weaved with expressions of their feelings, insights and ideas. Just make sure to set a respectful climate so the feedback they receive from their peers grows their self-confidence.

MICHELLE KORENFELD

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MICHELLE KORENFELD

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Self image: There are ideal images of the teacher and of the students.

Trying to act upon them takes a lot of effort. We as teachers need to be authentic to ourselves to model authenticity for the students. Both we and the students have roles to play. But if acting according to roles makes us feel bad about ourselves, we’re in trouble. Being true to ourselves is important for creativity since original ideas are intuitive. They come when we act naturally. A good way to connect to ourselves is by connecting with nature.

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The physical environment: When we move the furniture for shared learning or creative tasks, we create flexibility of the mind as well. Those instances may cause some noise and children moving around. However, this is good for creativity because thinking goes together with movement and sound.

Here’s another thought: How about hanging students’ creative products on the walls? That will make them feel proud and inspired. This is also a good idea, even for high school students. You can hang finished products, but also ones that are in the process of making. Students will glance at them occasionally, and ideas will pop up as to how to develop the products further.

What are the roles of teachers and learners in creative environments?

Students: Explore: Their own abilities, interests and needs to communicate them to teachers.

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Experience: The fruits of this communication are creative learning tasks with which students are welcome to experience.

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Examine and Elevate: The students need to examine their skills while meeting the new challenging learning tasks and elevate them.

Express: Learners communicate this process to the teachers, being given advice on how to elevate the learning skills toward elevating their tasks. They present their products to the class to elevate the learning of all the class.

Teachers: Explore: We need to talk with the students individually or to attain written information from the students to learn what their interests and needs are.

Experience: The fruits of this communication are learning tasks relevant to the specific student or group of students.

Examine and elevate: We need to be attentive as to the progress of students and think of the best advice on how to get better.

Express: The teachers need to communicate this feedback to the students empathetically, helping them grow as learners. Another important aspect is to build a creative climate with our colleagues that will enable us to talk about the new learning tasks in our classrooms and learn from each other’s experience.

All in all, nobody wants change. But humans adapt to change so quickly.

Children adapt the best. Maybe we should learn from them about learning and changing while in motion, communicating about needs and sharing tips for better meeting the challenges. This, again, is an

entrepreneurial approach. While in motion, we explore the virtues of our students to accommodate creative learning tasks for them, and we learn from our colleagues’ experiences. We examine what each student contributes to the learning of all the class and elevate the experience. We express empathetically first what we are fascinated with, and then what could be elevated. In summary, this is the creative, problemsolving changing roles of teachers and learners in creative learning environments.

Embracing it as an approach to life that is a creative task of its own. It is well worth the efforts toward flourishing success.

Michelle Korenfeld provides teachers with class materials for interdisciplinary teaching and creativity facilitation. Her new Raising Creative Thinkers Guidebook helps with the challenges of educating in the 21st century. Learn more about how to establish creative learning environments on her blog: Raising Creative Thinkers.

CHERYL DOIG

Uniquely Human is a Strength

Creating Environments for Enhancing Humanity in the Workplace

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echnological change continues to accelerate. Automation is an increasing threat to employment. In times of such exponential acceleration, it is important for us to consider and amplify what makes us uniquely human. Rather than trying to compete with technology, let’s explore ways in which technology can enhance humanity. What does it mean to be human? What are the implications for organisations trying to understand these complex times?

Here are a few of my suggestions for leaders and organisations that want to enhance humanity:

• Spend more time creating and less time doing. Allow time to play and develop new ideas. Going straight to action means your head is down.

• Ditch the term ‘human capital’ (many organisations have already done so) and talk about people as warm-blooded, real and uniquely human. Be empathetic and listen more.

• Empathy is the key 21st Century capability needs to balance the artificiality of the robot world.

• Look deep into the bowels of organisational change. Change is complex and we all add to this complexity! There is no simple solution or list to follow. It is cognitively demanding, interconnected and not always successful.

• Practice adaptive thinking. Learn fast and be prepared to pivot. We cannot know our route before we set out. We cannot predict or control it. We can only discover it along the way. Working in this way can be both exciting and unnerving.

Practice adaptive thinking. Learn fast and be prepared to pivot.

• Explore the learning sciences.

Understanding these ideas is fundamental for ensuring that organisational talent is intentionally and consistently grown.

• Don’t presume you can just hire some younger folks into the mix of your organisation and all will be well. Create the culture that honours their talents and makes them excited to be part of the team. Explore reciprocal or group mentoring.

• Consider your strategic vision and direction rather than creating a plan too far into the future. There are many possible futures and it is your vision and values that will help you keep aligned.

• Scan the environment continuously rather than having one person or an ‘innovation department’ doing this thinking. Having an outwards mind frame is everyone’s job.

• Realise that learning is immersed in everything, not undertaken in a special place or time of our life. This focus on life long learning is the key to success.

The future of learning is not in the classroom…it’s in the field.

Dr Cheryl Doig is director of Think Beyond. As an educator, her aim is to challenge organisations to think for tomorrow. She can be contacted through www.thinkbeyond.co.nz

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ALAN COOPER

Strong Questioning is Elementary to Great Teaching The Three Second Rule All Teachers Need to Know

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lthough it is not new information, it is important to state: Questioning is elementary to great teaching, but quality questioning strategies are rare.

Following the success of Sputnik in October 1967, the United States of America moved to improve the teaching of science in its schools. As the head of the science education research division of the National Science Foundation, Mary Budd Rowe, from the University of Florida, lead the research on questioning. She found that teachers that not only tended to ask two or three questions per minute and expected a student to respond in .09 seconds, but also that the teacher often answered their own questions.

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Mary Budd Rowe went on to experiment with questioning skills and found that a wait time of three seconds increased the calibre of the answers and therefore the understanding and the learning both collectively and individually among students. When done systematically in a sequence, the result was even better: Ask the question, wait three seconds, call on a student to answer it, wait three seconds, call on a second student to paraphrase the previous answer, and then to agree or disagree.

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In following this type of questioning pattern, the impulsivity of the teacher to answer the questions is reduced. Just as importantly, students required to paraphrase answers of another student required them to actively listen to the answers instead of working on what they are going to say when their turn arrives. This builds the lifelong skill of listening.

This style of questioning takes much more time than the normal questioning process, but for a teacher working to complete the syllabus, it takes less time overall to master the content. Less haste, more speed!

Later research, following Mary Budd Rowe, highlighted the advantages of random

This style of questioning takes much more time than the normal questioning process, but for a teacher working to complete the syllabus, it takes less time overall to master the content. questioning. After asking the question, one researcher used a hand held digital device to randomly select the next name.

This ensured every student was included in the process and required to think about whatever was being said. They could not assume that if they didn’t put up their hand they wouldn’t be asked to answer. Thus, there was a major incentive for each student to be on task and engaged. In my own case I stopped hands being raised at all within my classes. This took a little getting used to, and even some reluctance from students, especially the alpha students, who had to unlearn a well-established practice, and relearn the new one.

If a hand-held device is not available, a data area in your computer, or even an old-fashioned sheet of paper will do. A tick beside each name as they are called upon to answer, will enable the teacher to ensure that questions are asked of everybody. Using ice cream sticks or something similar, put

the students’ names on them, and place them in a jar. That has now become a simple, ready-made tool for the teacher to randomly pick out a stick for the next person to provide an answer.

I went to visit one of those primary schools in Auckland that parents want to get their children into. It’s a good school.

The principal knows I am interested in questioning and wants me to see a teacher in action, so we visit her room. The answers being given to the questions the teacher asks are superb, but I’m suspicious as they seem to be coming from only one area of the room. I ask if I can ask a question, which I do, and then turn and ask a child, in a part of the room that had been silent. Not only could she not answer the question, but she didn’t know what the question was either!

She had been lulled into a dreaming state.

Wait time and random questioning would have had the group engaged and thinking.

I estimated that at least two-thirds of the room were in the disengaged group.

Teachers are conservative and often want to keep to the tried and true practices. After taking a session in a school on the above, a teacher challenged me by saying that she was not going to try this because teaching was all about promoting success. Therefore, as her alpha pupils were the first with their hands up, they need to be rewarded for that success. Her argument was more complex than that, but she had completely missed the point. What she was really arguing was that she did not want to change because she was a good teacher, and she was getting good results. Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great, had the answer to this when he stated that, “Good is the enemy of great.”

Teachers need to be willing to try new ideas in order to become great - simply changing small things we are already good at can make us great!

ALAN COOPER

Alan Cooper is an educational consultant based in New Zealand.

As a principal, he was known for his leadership role in thinking skills, including Habits of Mind, learning styles and multiple intelligences, information technology, and the development of the school as a learning community.

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DONNA WILSON AND MARCUS CONYERS

Building a Metacognitive Classroom Engaging Students to Understand Brain Function

Examples from Primary Classrooms Diane Dahl enjoys teaching her primary students about the brain and strategies for learning. Students learn what neurons, dendrites and axons are and how connections between neu-rons created by axons and dendrites create learning. Diane emphasises that each child has an amazing, unique brain and that through their practice and effort, all students will learn and remember a lot during the year.

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Next, Diane tells her students that when we learn, it’s important to connect new information with something we already know. She gives a couple of examples and then tells students they’ll be using pipe cleaners and sticky notes to make a model of a brain and what they are thinking and learning.

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Students each get three pipe cleaners to twist together in the middle to represent the axon, leaving both ends untwisted to represent dendrites. They then work together to build the repre-sentational brain structure, connecting all the axons by twisting a dendrite from one neuron around the axon of another, with guidance from the teacher. The structure represents the class’s brain at the beginning of the school year.

Throughout the school year, students create and add new axons to the brain, labeled with sticky notes describing new concepts they have learned.

In her own words, here are Diane’s tips for success:

Some primary teachers have students create their own individual models of a neuron that they can keep at their desk or take home as a reminder of their vast learning potential.

A class brain built by students reminds them of all that they’re learning.

DONNA WILSON AND MARCUS CONYERS

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eaching students basic knowledge about the brain’s potential can have a positive impact on their motivation, g r i t a n d a c h i e v e m e n t . I n p a r t i c u l a r, explicitly teaching them that learning changes the structure and function of their brains can be transformational in building a stronger belief in the value of working hard to master new material. Teachers who explain these findings report that the knowledge has a positive effect on students’ perceptions of their abilities as well as on their expectations for success.

Teachers who explain these findings report that the knowledge has a positive effect on students’ perceptions of their abilities as well as on their expectations for success.

• As the year progresses, the brain model gets more complicated, and it’s harder for year two to add new axons (this might not be an issue for older students). At some point, I take over connecting the new axons.

• I write the labels myself so we can all keep track of the new learning that is added to the brain.

• We suspend the brain from the ceiling, but low enough that students can interact with it and read the labels. We choose a location away from busy traffic areas.

• Whenever possible, we discuss how new learning relates to other content.

Examples from Secondary Classrooms We know from discussions with secondary teachers that their students are motivated to learn when they are taught that their brains change as they learn and that they can get functionally smarter. To teach this concept, teachers can draw a diagram of a neuron on the whiteboard to illustrate how synapses fire and form connections to other neurons in response to new experi-ences and learning.

Teacher Jeremy Green frames the need to be metacognitive about one’s learning by launching his classes with a presentation on neuroplasticity, emphasising that our brains can change and that we’re always getting smarter as long as we are learning.

The teacher explains that he and his students talk about neuroplasticity early in the school year, discussing the idea that they’re not just what they are at present—that hard work plus the use of proven learning strategies will affect their academic success.

Another high school teacher, Michael Fitzgerald, says, “There are things in life you’re not in charge of, but you are in charge of you. When you accept that, your brain changes. And every time your brain changes, you grow.” He adds that this can be very empowering to students, ex-plaining, “It also challenges them to take charge of their learning.”

He incorporates into his teaching the ideas that learning changes the brain and that students can progressively become functionally smarter by thinking about their thinking with the goal of improving how they learn. These concepts are new to many of his students and pave the way for cognitive and metacognitive strategies that Fitzgerald explicitly introduces and models as a way for them to succeed at school.

Donna and Marcus are the authors of several books, such as: Authors of Teaching Students to Drive Their Brains, Positively Smarter, Smarter Teacher Leadership, Professional Develop-ers, Co-Developers of Graduate Programs Applying Mind, Brain, and Education Science. Donna and Marcus can be contacted at www.brainsmart.org.

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CAROLYN STUART

Co-Designing Solutions with Students What are you Willing to do to Help your Students Succeed?

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had always wanted to cage-dive with sharks. The thought of getting up close and personal with these magnificent, yet dangerous creatures of the sea appealed to me. I would watch cage-diving on television and I’d think to myself, “I want to do that.” Then, as often happens in life, the opportunity to hop in a cage and face the sharks came my way. Suddenly I was challenged with a decision. On the one hand, I really wanted to dive with the sharks, but I also had to decide if I was actually willing to get in the cage and do it!

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There are lots of things we want in life, but unfortunately, wanting something is only the first step to achieving those wants. The second and more important step is deciding what you are willing to do in order to get

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what you want. Take a diet for example.

Plenty of us want to eat healthier, but how many of us are willing to order salad in a restaurant rather than burgers and fries? Or what about exercise? We want to be more fit, but are we willing to make the lifestyle changes required to fit a workout into our day? Our problem is less about discovering what we want, and more about deciding what we are willing to do to get the outcome we desire.

So here is the question: What do you want for your learners or for your school?

And here is the even bigger question: What are you willing to do (or not do?) to ensure that you get what you want?

I ask the second question because I know that often, the biggest thing that gets in the way of change is success from the past. As teachers, the approaches we take

are generally based on what has worked well before. As our society changes, as technology begins to change not only the way we do things, but our expectations about how things happen, we have to be willing to put aside our successful practices of the past and be willing to co-design new strategies with our learners.

We co-design because the model requires us to truly understand the needs of our learners, and then continue to involve them throughout the solution process. My observation is that too often teachers talk to students about what is happening or they look at assessment results, and then come up with the ‘right’ solution simply because it has worked for them before that time. I am not suggesting that we shouldn’t bring our professional knowledge and experience to finding solutions, but I am suggesting that we will be more successful if we continue to engage learners throughout the solution process.

CAROLYN STUART

I learned just because something works with one group of learners, it is not guaranteed it will work with the next.

Think of that student in your class who, despite having years of help and support, is still not a fluent reader. What do you do?

Try to find time each day to hear them read one-on-one? Convince your SENCO to put them onto a special programme? Set up a peer tutoring programme for them? All of these things are good to do, but they may not be what this student needs. Here is a different approach: 1. Sit down with the student and ask them to tell you about what it is like for them at school. Ask them about times when a teacher has really helped them. Ask them what they don’t like about school.

Ask them if they could design the perfect school day, what would it look like? This is not a prescriptive set of questions. You can make them up as you go, but what you are trying to uncover is this student’s real needs.

2. On your own, make a list of all the needs you heard your student tell you. Then, using your knowledge and experience, come up with a solution that you think might meet their needs.

3. Create a prototype of your solution that you can share with the student.

It might be a flow chart, a story board or an action plan. It needs to be a tangible solution that the student can understand.

4. Go back to the student and share your solution prototype with them, inviting them to give you feedback. Build their feedback into your solution (This is where the ‘what are you willing to do or not do’ comes into play!) Then, go back to the student again to check that your redesign is actually what they were suggesting. Keep doing this until you are both satisfied with the solution 5. Deploy the solution, continuing to seek feedback along the way.

I remember years ago that I stumbled across a great strategy to teach Year 5-6 students how to punctuate direct speech. It involved collaborative story-writing in different coloured crayons. For some reason, with that group of learners, it worked and they all left my classroom with great punctuation skills! I tried it the next year, and the next,

but I never experienced the same impact as I had the first time I did it. Looking back, I realise I hung onto that strategy way longer than I should have simply because it had been so successful the first time. I learned just because something works with one group of learners, it is not guaranteed it will work with the next. This is where co-design becomes a powerful tool.

Getting back to my great whites, I realised that I wasn’t getting any younger and that if I really did want to dive with the great whites, I had to make a plan. I had to be willing to book my place on a trip, be willing to hop on the boat, be willing to put on my wetsuit and mask and be willing to be lowered into the cage. I did end up diving with them and it was awesome. Knowing what you’re willing to do with your students to help them reach their goals will be just as awesome.

Carolyn Stuart is a passionate educator who has held many different positions within New Zealand's education sector, from student to teacher to principal and now the Deputy Chief Executive, Education at N4L. Carolyn holds a Master of Education specialising in leadership, and regularly commentates her views on education via her blog (www.mindspinnz.blogspot.com), Facebook and Twitter (@carolynstuart).

She is frequently asked to speak at events across New Zealand.

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KAREN TUI BOYES

The Power of Language

Encouraging Student Success by the Words We Use

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he words we use have a subtle, yet powerful ability to shape thinking, a sense of self and group affinity, according to Ron Ritchhart, in his book, Creating Cultures of Thinking. He outlines seven ways in which language shapes the culture of a classroom and school, and directs attention and action.

1. The Language of Thinking What is thinking? How would you define thinking? When you ask your students to, "Think about it,” “Put their thinking caps on,” or “Share their thoughts,” what do you hope they will do inside their heads Reflect, connect, analyse, create or associate...? If you want students to be great thinkers, it is important to notice and name the thinking they are doing. Processes that have a label are much easier to repeat. In fact, language and thought are totally intertwined. You cannot have one without the other. The richer the language base, the higher the quality of the thought.

Teachers Matter

Thinking Verbs Found in Curriculum Documents

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analyse apply classify compare connect contrast describe discuss elaborate explore diagram identify interpret judge

observe organise paraphrase predict respond support represent visualise reason verify solve summarise simplify

On the right of the chart is a list of many thinking verbs found in your curriculum documents. This would suggest these are the thinking processes that your learners should be able to use at a conscious level. However, there is a big difference between asking students to: "Look at these two pictures." and "Compare these two pictures." The latter suggests a clear thinking strategy. Of course, these thinking processes require explicit teaching with thinking maps and tools.

Ensure you label the thinking, rather than the name of the map or tool. For example, when teaching students how to compare and contrast, you may use a Double Bubble Map. Rather than calling the map by name, work toward calling it by the thinking the map promotes, such as a compare and contrast map.

Challenge yourself in the next few weeks to notice every time you say the word ‘think,' and pause to replace it with the kind of thinking you would like students to engage in instead.

2. The Language of Identity One of the dynamic parts of language is how our words can bond and cause connection between humans. Who do your students see themselves as, as a learner? Do they perceive that education is being 'done' to them, or that they are part of the process?

Your language can raise the identity of your students. A simple idea is to name your class. Instead of calling them “Room 4,” you might call them a 'Room 4 Thinking Family' or 'Room 4, the place to stretch and grow.' At Wynnum State Primary School, students are known as 'Wynnum Warriors,’ alongside their school motto: "We BELIEVE, we ACHIEVE and SUCCEED.” To create the identity of the roles students play in their learning, use phrases such as, "Today you are going to be web designers,” “An influential journalist,” or "You will be required to look with the eyes of a scientist."

This signals to the learners that they are required to think in relevant ways.

3. The Language of Community Dove tailing the idea of identity is the capacity of language to create community.

Do you say, "I want you to,” or "We are going to?” The use of the pronouns our, we and us create the idea that everyone is 'in this together,’ and that we are a team, rather than learning being an individual pursuit or even a competition between class members.

4. The Language of Mindfulness Language can assist your learners to be more aware, mindful and flexible. Using conditional language such as “might,” will most likely open up possibility thinking.

This means students do not feel the same pressure to be correct, rather that their responses can be more varied. It is the difference between saying, "What might be some of the materials boats are constructed from?" versus "What are boats made from?"

The language of the second question portrays a correct answer is required (the word 'are' is absolute language), while the first question opens up the possibility for a variety of ideas to be shared and the word 'might' suggests the answer does not have to be correct (conditional language).

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Source: Creating Cultures of Thinking - Ron Ritchhart Infographic © SpectrumEducation 2018

8 Cultural Forces that Define our Classrooms

1st step: Become aware of language + strive to align with intentions.

Give specific feedback /praise

Appreciating its subtle yet profound power

Language

Listening starts with genuine interest.

"Before you give your idea, paraphrase what you heard xyz say."

Language of Listening

Possibility thinking: "might", "could", "may".

Use condi�onal language.

Language of Mindfulness

Words. So powerful. They can crush a heart, or heal it. They can shame a soul, or liberate it. They can shatter dreams, or energise them. They can obstruct connection, or invite it.

They can create defenses, or melt them. We have to use words wisely.

- Jeff Brown

Vocabulary of thinking words.

Replace “Think “ with words such as describe, analyse, compare.

Teacher using rich language.

No�cing and naming.

Language of Thinking

“The language we use influences the way we think.”

- Steven Pinker

Use inclusive words such as "our", "us", "we".

Language of Community

Students see themselves in the learning not outside as observers.

They become scien�sts, literacy cri�cs…

Framing: Today we are going to be web designers...

Language of Identity

- RUMI

RAISE YOUR WORDS, NOT YOUR VOICE. IT IS RAIN THAT GROWS FLOWERS, NOT THUNDER.

Praise is not feedback.

Use specific, descrip�ve and informa�ve language.

Language of Praise and Feedback

Student Agency - make choices.

Slow release of responsibility from Teacher.

"Tell me what you did" "What’s your plan for tackling this? " "Where will you go next? "

Language of Initiative

KAREN TUI BOYES

5. The Language of Listening Listening starts with a genuine interest in what another person is expressing. It is one of the most powerful ways to show respect.

Stephen Covey, author of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, made famous the expression, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” To be a great listener requires being able to put your own thoughts aside to truly understand the other person. Good listeners pause to hear, paraphrase in an attempt to understand another point of view, ask authentic questions to clarify points and inquire for further depth and understanding.

Phrases you could use in the classroom include, "Before you give us your idea, please, can you paraphrase what Duncan said,” or teach students to use structures such as, "Shelley’s idea is…but Cathryn believes…and I conclude that…”

Becoming an empowering questioner to assist learners to take the initiative and become more independent and self-directed is a key task of a great teacher.

The language you use is just as important to enable student agency. A slow release of responsibility from the teacher comes with skilful questioning. Rather than having learners show you the final product, ask "Tell me what you did,” or "Where will you take this next?" When students have a challenge or are faced with uncertainty, empower them with a question such as, "What's your plan for tackling this?" Encourage your learners to be the thinkers in the classroom, rather than the teacher taking the thinking role. Becoming an empowering questioner to assist learners to take the initiative and become more independent and self-directed is a key task of a great teacher.

Actions for you...

6. The Language of Praise and Feedback To raise the quality of your learners’ work, high quality feedback and praise is required. A major key to quality feedback is ensuring the praise and feedback is specific, descriptive and informative. Telling your learners they are a "good boy,” or that they done an "awesome job,” “well done,” or that their work is "exactly right,” has little impact, other than letting students know they have been compliant and correct.

Carol Dweck suggests that, "Praise is intricately connected to how students view their intelligence." She goes on to say that, “Simply praising a learner's ability may produce a burst of pride but ultimately be detrimental to learning.”

Praise and feedback of specific, repeatable behaviours or information which is actionable and directly related to the task at hand is recommended. To encourage ongoing learning and improvement phrases such as, "Your persistence of the challenging task has paid off,” “Your attention to detail and risk taking of trying a new idea has resulted in a quality piece of work,” or “You used all the facts and came up with a clever new idea.”

A u s t i n ' s B u t t e r f l y v i d e o o n Yo u Tu b e showcases a wonderful example of how specific and descriptive feedback results in a higher quality of work.

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7. The Language of Initiative

• Become more aware of the language you are using each day. You might either video yourself teaching in your classroom or have a colleague observe you and then analyse your use of language.

• Listen to the language of your students.

Are they using absolute language or conditional/possibility thinking language?

• Practice giving specific, informative praise and feedback to your learners.

• Model active listening.

• Empower your learners to solve their own challenges and problems, rather than doing the thinking for them.

Karen is an expert in effective teaching and learning, study skills, motivation a n d p o s i t i v e t h i n k i n g. S h e wa s recognised with the NSANZ Educator of the Year award in 2014 and 2017, and works in schools throughout Australasia teaching students how to Study Smart and teachers how to raise achievement. www.karentuiboyes.com

ZAREEN BYRNE

Smartphones in Schools

Are We Doing Enough to Keep Our Students Safe?

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he Internet: For me, it was a positive thing. Nowadays, as a mum and stepmum, I feel passion and burden in equal measure to educate myself. The more I do, the more worried I become. However, I do advocate supervised use of Internet in schools. It’s fascinating how much our kids can learn about the world and beyond because of time spent researching online.

Technology, a tool which helps teachers educate students, has consistently been introduced in classrooms since the 1800’s.

Chalkboards were once considered revolutionary and the introduction of ball point pens once described as, “the ruin of education…” by Federal Teachers 1950!

What concerns me are the growing numbers of children I observe in school playgrounds attached to smartphones. Why? Canstar Blue refers to a study which shows 84% of children in New Zealand have phones.

There are several negative impacts of smartphones and all people, especially children and teens.

The urge to check a phone is uncontrollable.

Studies have shown dopamine hits are experienced upon receiving a message or alert. The same hit we receive when we drink, smoke and gamble; all things with age restrictions. There’s no such age restriction on smartphones and they’re causing compulsion disorders in our children. Try asking a teenager to give up their phone for 24 hours.

Within seconds we can access whatever we want on a smartphone. From horrifying images and videos to the cutest. On platforms like Facebook, these vastly different images can be seen one immediately after the other. Dissonance, rewiring of the brain leads to desensitization. If it affects fully formed adult brains, what is it doing to the developing brains of children?

How are empathy levels going to change globally over the next couple of generations? This is growing concern because our children are so busy with their faces in their phones, they’re not present in where they’re at. They’re not learning to read body language, make eye contact or form deep meaningful connections with others and the world around them.

Instant gratification is King, but life is a journey which includes long, hard lessons that teach us coping skills. How will our children cope in the real world if they expect things to happen on demand?

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ZAREEN BYRNE

We need to be fully informed to give our children freedom to learn and grow in cyberspace, within boundaries set to keep them safe.

Philip Zimbardo talks about teenage boys experiencing arousal addiction, a need for variety, from watching free, inappropriate images and videos, up to 50 clips a week.

There is plenty of variety: they can swipe the screen to find a plethora of different images.

They don’t depict romance, love or even kissing. What they are learning, instead, is at the opposite end of the scale. I worry for my daughter and step-children and their future relationships.

What about self-esteem in our girls? How many are taking self-worth from the amount of likes and shares they get on a photo? Photos they spend ample amounts of time, only to keep one out of fifty photos, only happy with the best angle, a duck face or a provocative look. They only use a photo that’s been filtered to look better than they do in real life. What if that photo falls short of the expected adoration? How do they deal with that? Try googling hashtags on social media such as #thinspiration, #dropdeadgorgeous or #fitspiration. This is what our girls are trying to live up to.

Instagram is said to be amongst the leading cause of depression in teenagers. It’s not hard to see why.

Teachers Matter

Kids dating status online is the new norm among tweens and teens. I learned firsthand that kids can consider their status “in a relationship” after a few texts with someone, despite having never met face to face. I have watched videos of girls sneak off to isolated places to meet boys they had never even seen in real life, only to discover the boy was in fact an undercover adult trying to highlight this problem.

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If Steve Jobs himself would not allow his children to have iPads or iPhones because he knew the negative effects, particularly regarding compulsion disorder, you have to wonder why so many of our young children are permitted to have them. Justification by parents and guardians seems to be the “in the event of an emergency” scenario. Given that schools have been around for centuries with adequate emergency protocols, I can’t help but wonder if it’s something to do with our generation of mollycoddling parents.

I googled “how to bypass school's internet security” and was met with an abundance of articles and videos showing me how.

If I know this, surely our students do as well. Can we minimise kids accessing social media and harmful sites during school hours? All schools have different policies. Some encourage an outright ban on smartphones and some allow them as part of the ‘bring your own device’ to school policy. Could that device instead be a laptop? Laptop screens are far easier for an adult to see and less likely to be used sneakily by a student. The more we allow kids to have unsupervised time on the Internet, the more likely they will encounter negative effects by using it.

Can more be done to monitor Internet security? Parents and schools have to work together. The Internet can be a wonderful educational tool, but it comes with real dangers. We need to be fully informed to give our children freedom to learn and grow in cyberspace, within boundaries set to keep them safe.

Zareen is a life coach, women’s mentor and author. She runs workshops and groups to help increase emotional awareness. An advocate for promoting awareness of SM, she is running seminars in 2018.

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MADELEINE TAYLOR

Developing Smart Risk Takers

Being Aware of How You Support this Development in Students

I

was recently asked if I would run a workshop for supporting parents to encourage their children in becoming more courageous. It had me thinking about how we can do that in the classroom to build children’s smart risk taking thinking.

Firstly, why do we need risk takers?

In a new, as yet, unpublished book by author Iain Fraser, an expert in programme and project management from different sectors such as finance, defence and engineering, he states,“In the 21st century, a new type of leadership skill is required.

One that is flexible, that puts collaboration at the forefront, and yet one that requires individual courage to move at pace whilst embracing high levels of ambiguity.” We know that growing courage and skills in managing ambiguity does not develop over night as an adult. Supporting children’s development of courage, managing through uncertainty and thriving in uncertain times needs to start as soon as we can.

So, teachers what can you do to support the development of risk taking in children?

Teachers are the leaders in the classroom so it is your behaviour they are watching.

1. Recognise that risk taking is a core developmental skill.

To become healthy individualised adults, children and adolescents need to find a way to begin to separate from their family of origin. As adults in children’s worlds, we need to encourage the building of their capacity to manage risk. In our modern world children are having less and less opportunity to practise their own decision making and the real world consequences of those decisions.

Teachers Matter

Courage is:

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Believing in yourself and building your potential Doing what you want and trusting yourself to make the right decision Sitting in the driver’s seat and taking control of your life Making your own decisions and being honest with yourself and others Accepting changes and flowing with them Dealing with your problems and asking others Offering your opinions and communicating your fears and doubts Accepting abundance and allowing your-self to succeed Trying again and doing new things Loving yourself and others unconditionally Author unknown

2. Model risk taking behaviour.

Children learn from watching the adults around them. They want to mimic and follow their lead. Teachers are the leaders in the class room so it is your behaviour they are watching.

Overtly demonstrate how you analyse situations, assess risk, create options, problem solve and make decisions before acting. Especially how you behave under stressful situations.

3. Talk about smart risks. Set and enforce limits in the classroom.

Where students have the opportunity to encounter uncertainty and unpredictability they can practise their skills. Push your own thinking and develop activities that take children beyond the usual creating opportunities for challenge emotionally, physically, socially and ethically. Sarah Johns described this when she talked about her winning the 2017 Prime Minster’s Science Teacher’s prize. I, “support them to be a little bit cheeky and grab opportunities that come their way.”

Sarah says she, “empowers her students by encouraging them to share her own philosophy of life—to be curious, open to possibilities and willing to take a risk.” It is also essential that you ensure you follow through on enforcing the limits which will create safety for learning.

4. Encourage the best risk takers in your classroom.

Notice what your best risk takers do and acknowledge their ability to cope in these situations. Name these behaviours and encourage the observation of their peers. Have someone observe your practise to help you be aware of the recognition that you provide to encourage or discourage risk. Notice the words you use and the facial expression you show along with the tone of your voice when you are encouraging or discouraging.

5. Create a safe environment and reward smart failures.

Think about how you support failures and efforts to take risks in a way that is not seen as punishing mistakes. What are your general feelings about failure?

How do you view this in your life?

Your attitudes will be apparent to your students, so think carefully about what you demonstrate when you fail in the classroom.

6. Support identification of hazards.

Build student’s capacity to recognise danger as well as recognise their level of skill. Discuss with them how to see the gap and to judge when they are vulnerable and therefore, when to ask for help. Support their help seeking behaviour.

Madeleine Taylor is a parent of three grown sons and works as a People Skills Consultant. Madeleine is an accomplished workshop facilitator and long-time trainer of negotiation, influencing skills and managing difficult conversations. Madeleine is a parent educator exploring how to grow resilient children in this complex world.

More information can be found at www.peopleskillsconsulting.co.nz

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ERIC FRANGENHEIM

Engaging Lesson Planning Can You Survive the Island?

T

his Island Survival lesson plan is an excerpt from Eric Frangenheim’s best-selling teacher resource, Reflections on Classroom Thinking Strategies.

This fun and engaging lesson plan was designed to demonstrate the use of specific cognitive thinking skills (task verbs such as ‘decide’, design, ‘compose’, ‘assess’ and more) and thinking tools (graphic or-ganisers such as Tournament Prioritiser; Y Chart; SWOT Analysis; Pros, Cons, Improve; and the Decision Making Matrix. The lesson plan also encourages the use of co-operative thinking tools such as the Silent Round Robin, Think: Pair:Share, and 14PCR. When teachers use these skills and tools successfully, they are delighted to find that they are teaching less while their students are learning more. Students also become more engaged as they enjoy ‘owning the learning’. Teachers, as you explore this lesson plan, why not reflect upon how you might use it as a model or template for teaching your other curriculum materials?

This is the plan for an all-day lesson (in fact, it takes longer than that!), which I designed for the final two years of primary school to demonstrate the use of a variety of the thinking tools referred to in this book for both students and a large group of teachers.

Outcomes •Imagination and creative writing •Teamwork and problem solving •Use of specific cognitive and cooperative thinking tools •Chronicling of ideas and progress •Self and peer-assessment and refinement

Organisation 1. Eight (8) tables of four (4) students. (Groups to be organised by teacher) 1. Each team will produce a ‘Survival Journal’ of all deliberations, plans, decision making and creative writing.

Activity 1: Setting the Scene for the Island Survival

HOW? Ask the students (in pairs) to locate Venezuela, Cuba and Florida on a map or atlas.

Create a sense of urgency.

Activity 2: Survival Gear – Setting more of the scene

HOW? Refugee ship of 13-year-olds being sent to Florida during WW2. A German torpedo attacks their ship. The captain, who is dying, tells children to abandon ship and enter lifeboats! They will have five minutes to collect anything that will help with survival. The Captain explains that there are many islands in the area and that there is a good chance of arriving on an island within one to two days of being in a life boat.

“List everything you can collect from the ship and put in the life boat.” You may not say ‘food’ or ‘medicines’ as this is too general. Be specific. You must be able to carry these items into the lifeboats which are waiting in the water next to the sinking ship. Water may not be on your list either.

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ERIC FRANGENHEIM

HOW? a. Silent Round Robin on A4 sheets within each group. Complete four or five rotations. List all the items. b. Now choose only 16 items to take on your life boat. Negotiate in your teams for the final 16 items. c. Now decide on your most valuable, survival resource and plan how you will protect it.

HOW? In pairs, use the Tournament Prioritiser. Report back to the whole class while the teacher records results on white board.

Extra Consideration There are four lifeboats with basic equipment. Use this information when planning other activities once on the island. Some teams may forget about these resources.

Bonus: Once on your life boat, each team discovers that they have other resources which can help them on their quest for survival. Teacher hands a card to each team showing their resources. Other teams do not know what others have. Note that there are two groups of four students for each life boat.

Life Boat 1

Life Boat 2

Life Boat 3

Life Boat 4

• 2 oars

• 2 oars

• 2 oars

• 1 oar

• 1 sail

• 1 bucket

• 4 flares

• 1 used parachute

• 1 small mast

• 1 box with 400 malaria pills

• 1 small packet of matches

• 20 litre water container (empty)

• 1 spade

• 1 large hook with 20 metres of rope

• 1 golf bag with full set of clubs

• 1 axe

• 27 wire coat hangers

• 1 machete

• 20 litre water container with water • 1 machete

Activity 3: Creative Writing – The Journey Compose a half page account of: a. what happened from the time of abandoning ship, b. the 36-hour journey in the life boat, and c. your arrival on the island.

HOW?

Y Chart

Teacher to lead students through a visualisation process starting with ‘Abandon Ship,’ ‘Journey in the Life Boats’ and ‘The Landing.’ Each group is to have 3 x A3 Y Charts, one for each phase of ‘The Journey.’ Teacher starts each phase with comments from the whole class, then allows 3–4 minutes for students to develop their Y Charts, before moving on to the next phase. At end of the three Y Charts, give students 5–8 minutes to describe their voyage.

Encourage use of powerful adverbs and adjectives to encourage dramatic writing. Play music whilst students are writing. After this, ask students to swap their stories and encourage students to read out whenever they see an example of powerful writing, even if it is only a phrase or a sentence. This is genuine praise and affirmation.

ERIC FRANGENHEIM

Year 6 Student Sample Short Story from Y Chart – Abandon Ship!!!

It’s been four days now, the blaring sun beating down on us, the powerful rough seas slamming against the side. Unable to do anything but sit there in the small forsaken wreck I now call home. The sea salt in the air has cracked my lips so severely, I can’t talk. I am that weak.

The sound is of heavy breathing. If we are on the life boats for more than two more days, I think the 24 of us are gone. I lifted my head desperately to look around but saw nothing, just a vast desert of ocean in all directions. Every night all I see in my dreams is the Captain’s severed arm sliding down the cold wooden deck.

Is there any hope? So thirsty, so hungry, but too weak? Please, someone help!

Jeremy

Activity 4: Taking Stock on the Island Teacher sets the scene. Lush tropical island, well wooded with streams. Coral reef full of fish, BUT, there is smoke coming from the hills, there are sounds of growling and soon, the survivors find foot-marks nearby. After some exhausted sleep, the 24 survivors look around and then decide to take stock of their situation.

HOW?

SWOT Analysis (A3 sheets)

Activity 5: Develop the Map

HOW? Each team is given an A3 sized map of the island (map at end of lesson plan). Teacher to explain the features. Each team is to decide where to establish their camp/fort in the most strategic position from a defensive point of view. Each team can add four features to the island, such as a fresh water lake. These four features must be added to the map and labelled. Ask each team to report back, explaining why they have positioned their camp/fort in a particular position.

Activity 6: Design Your Community with Fortification Students must show all details, including position, size in metres, height, and clear area in front of fort, housing, water collection and storage.

Also, design some defensive apparatus from local and personal resources. All features must be labelled.

HOW? Use Mind Maps as well as all the materials brought from the ship, the materials in the life boats and the natural resources of the island.

Each team is supplied with A3 paper or larger and pens. Label the plan.

Self-assess each team’s plan by use of Pros:Cons:Improve.

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ERIC FRANGENHEIM

Activity 7: Peer Assessment Each team swaps their plans with another team, also supplying one team member to act as an explainer. The job of each team is to assess the work of the other team and offer feedback.

HOW?

Pros: Cons: Improve

Return assessment and materials to home teams. Home teams decide whether or not to revise and improve their plans.

Each team then reports back to whole group.

Activity 8: Designing a Set of Community Rules

Teachers, as you explore this lesson plan, why not reflect upon how you might use it as a model or template for teaching your other curriculum materials?

Each team is to design a set of community rules for daily living and peaceful co-existence with the aim of avoiding turmoil.

HOW? Students are asked to list all the problems associated with society today in their community and elsewhere. They use a Noisy Round Robin between the four groups. They then categorise and classify the ideas. Categories are listed on the whiteboard for all to see. Students, in their teams, discuss the various problems and develop a set of 10 rules for community living on the island.

HOW?

1:4:P:C:R

Activity 9: Assessing the Sets of Rules for Community Living Note that the teacher needs to select two or three sets of rules (it would be tedious to assess all eight sets of rules).

HOW?

Decision-Making Matrix (DMM)

Teacher explains the DMM and starts to assess the four sets of rules using the DMM at the whiteboard. Each group then completes the DMM and reports back.

Note that the four sets need to be photocopied so that each team has a full set of the rules.

Activity 10: Creating a Story About Survival on the Island

HOW?

Word Association and Launch Pad

Teacher models this first at the board and each individual student (or pairs of students) completes their own Word Association and uses this as well as all other materials produced to write their story of survival on the island.

Note that the teacher can add other complications such as planes flying past, human skeleton being found, man traps being discovered, etc., to offer students greater opportunities for creative story telling.

Topographical Map of the Island

Eric has been in education for 48 years. His passion is the promotion of critical, creative and co-operative thinking skills and thinking tools in the classroom.

Eric shares these skills via school workshops, lesson and unit planning and classroom demonstrations of those lesson plans. He lives on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland with his wife Terri and enjoys table tennis, swimming, walking and gardening.

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TERRY SMALL

Training Your Brain for Gratitude

A Simple Rewiring That Reaps a Multitude of Benefits

“W

hat one thing am I grateful for today?”

This question can change your brain and your life. Science has a lot to say about this. It turns out that gratitude is good for your brain. Not only does this resonate with me, but also with others.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”

Have you ever heard the old story of the house with the golden windows? It tells of a little boy who would look across the sprawling meadows outside his house every morning and see in the distance a house with golden windows. He would stare and revel in the radiant beams streaming his way from far away. He asked his father one day if they could visit the house with the golden windows. The father obliged, and they started to walk. They walked and walked until they approached the house.

The young lad stood, perplexed. He saw no windows of gold.

A little girl inside saw them staring at her home and came out to ask if they were looking for something. “Yes,” replied the boy. “I wanted to see the house with the golden windows that I see every morning.

This stor y contains a power ful truth: Developing an attitude of gratitude starts with simple awareness. Sometimes the things that are the hardest to see are the things right in front us.

Gratitude, like most things, is a habit. First we form habits and in turn, they form us.

What would happen if you got a small notebook, and once a day, you wrote down one or two things that you were grateful for?

What if you kept it simple?

• I’m grateful to the stranger in the white truck who let me merge into traffic today.

• I’m grateful for the big smile that the person at the check-out gave me today.

• Yes, my back hurts today, but I’m so grateful that it isn’t broken.

• I am grateful for the food on my plate this morning.

Every now and then you could go back and read a few pages from previous months.

Remember, your brain gets good at what it does. Neurons that fire together, wire together. You are literally wiring your brain for gratitude. And your brain will start to see things everywhere to be grateful for.

Eventually, gratitude will be as effortless for you as breathing. You will have literally s cu l p t e d y o ur b ra i n t o h a v e b i a s f o r gratitude. Neuroplasticity is amazing.

Here’s what science reports to happen when you start and maintain a gratitude log: 1. Your long term well-being increases 10%.

That’s the same impact as doubling your income!

2. 16% fewer negative physical symptoms.

3. 19% more time spent exercising.

4. 10% less physical pain.

5. 8% more sleep. Who couldn’t use more of that?

6. 25% increased sleep quality. Even better than gaining 8% more time asleep!

7. 30% less depression symptoms.

8. Increased vitality and energy.

9. Significant decrease in systolic blood pressure.

10. Overall, an attitude of gratitude lets you live longer.

“Oh, you’ve come to the wrong place,” she said quickly. “If you wait here a little until sunset, I will show you the house with the golden windows that I see every evening.”

She then pointed to the house in the distance. She was pointing at the home of the little boy.

Developing an attitude of gratitude starts with simple awareness.

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TERRY SMALL

And one more thought to ponder: Gratitude makes you look good to others. So why not get a notebook and get started? Watch your brain change. Then watch the people around you change. Even the youngest of characters recognise the difference it makes: “Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.” – A.A. Milne, Winniethe-Pooh As for me, I’m writing in my log that I am grateful you took the time to read this.

Terry is a master teacher and learning skills specialist. He has presented on the brain for over 30 years and has a wealth of teaching experience and extensive involvement in applied neuroscience. www.terrysmall.com

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ANDREW MURRAY

Andragogy Vs. Pedagogy Approaching the Adult Learner

When teaching your adult learners, do not patronise them with childlike learning strategies. For if you do, it will be so at your peril.

D

uring my own inquir y, I found more than ever that things are changing in our classroom. Central to this change is the way learning takes place. Due to this, I am doing a great deal of reading about andragogy. Andragogy refers to the methods and approaches used in adult education and is directed towards self-actualisation, gaining experience, and problem solving. In contrast, pedagogy is an education method in which the learner is dependent on the teacher for guidance, evaluation, and acquisition of knowledge.

We are at a crucial moment in education both nationally and globally. It is somewhat ironic because words like gaining experience and problem solving are what our students are encouraged to do our curriculum document. That is why we need to adopt an anthropological approach to our teaching.

How often are we teaching in this way?

One of the most obvious differences between pedagogy and andragogy is the motivation of the learner. Our children previously required extrinsic motivation. They learn because an authority figure tells them to, or because they will be penalised in the classroom otherwise. Adults, for the most part, come to the table self-motivated and interested in understanding new topics and ideas because they know that doing so can positively affect their earning potential, community standing, or personal development. To motivate adult learners, you need to highlight how learning benefits them personally and directly, rather than a “because I said so” mentality.

There was a time when our students approached learning as blank slates. They did not have much experience with many topics, and even when they have had experience, it has been on a superficial level. Things have changed though. Our students now bring so much more to the table. We must acknowledge they have had the benefit of learning and experience.

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They know what has worked for them in the past or have habits that affect the way they learn and act. Because of this, approaching new topics with a traditionally pedagogical strategy could leave them disengaged and uninterested. Instead, andragogy inspires teachers to do a better job connecting learning experiences to what students already know. Allowing for opinion, better pacing and knowledge checks and re-checks helps use their life experience as valuable information. Our students are no longer spending time memorising facts given to them. They are spending more time asking the question “why?”

Those who teach according to traditional theory might not realise the importance behind relevancy as part of the strategy.

Our students want to understand why they are learning a new topic. It needs to be applicable to either their current environment but be something they would like to achieve.

I observe my students perceiving irrelevancy as a waste of their time, so whether they’re already familiar with a topic or they simply don’t see how it applies to them, you could lose learners if you don’t take the time to highlight the “What’s in it for me right now?” behind any topic.

It is a common mistake and one that might seem like no big deal, but mixing up pedagogy and andragogy makes your teaching less effective. When teaching your adult learners, do not patronise them with childlike learning strategies. For if you do, it will be so at your peril.

Andrew Murray is Deputy Principal at Sacred Heart Girls College. His team is currently working on a curriculum inquiry looking at the changing face of schools.

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BETTE DR KATHY BLANCE MURRAY

Working Together as a Team: Easier Said Than Done!

6 Communication Tips for Connecting With Others

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wise person once said, “There is no ‘I’ in team.” The way to ensure that is to use positive communication strategies to build resonance and connection to other humans.

Have you been involved in a short term or long term work project such as a school fete, working bee, money raiser, construction project, financial plan, or school year budgetary plan and have needed to clearly communicate your thoughts?

Have you had to share a common team philosophy, ideals and values, and a commitment to work through issues to complete a task? Teamwork requires clear communication so that trust and honesty can be nurtured. It is important that each team member feels a sense of belonging and safety to suggest new ideas and feel respected to undertake specific roles that will contribute to the achievement of the goal.

M i x e d m e s s a g e s , l a c k o f c l a r i t y, misunderstandings and eventual conflict are the result of communication gone wrong

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or lack of communication. How do we say what we mean and mean what we say in a respectful manner to build relationships with children, parents and colleagues?

What creative communication connections can we put in place?

The basics of Emotional Intelligence can be used to develop resonance and connections with people when speaking face to face. Being aware of your stance, facial expression, tone of voice, eye contact or gaze, and utilising humour are all important elements of good communication. But this is just the beginning: what about the words we say or want to say?

Let’s take a look at six tips to communicate for clarity using resonance and connection.

Before jumping into the six tips, make that instant connection by finding common ground using comments or open ended questions: “Did you see the footy on Saturday night?” “It was so windy today.

How did it affect your children?” “I see you drive a Nissan. What do you think about

it?” We resonate with the other person’s thoughts and ideas and build connections.

Once you’ve done that, you will be on the right path to successful use of the six communication tips: 1. Stance: Mirror neurons in the brain kick in without us realising it once resonance has been established. We find ourselves standing or leaning in the same way as the person we are speaking with, mirroring their expressions and movements. This is connecting.

2. Facial expressions: Open expressions with a smile indicate that we are friendly, and open to what the other person has to say. If we have had a busy or stressful day, these expressions do not happen easily. Often, we ‘think’ that we are being inviting and friendly when in fact we have not smiled at all whilst trying to connect with someone through conversation.

DR KATHY MURRAY

3. Tone or Timbre of Voice: Keeping our voice in the lower register and of moderate volume puts people at ease and helps them not to feel threatened.

4. E y e C o n t a c t : W h e n d e v e l o p i n g resonance making eye contact is important when connecting with the other person. This is only appropriate if this is the accepted cultural method of showing respect and connection.

Holding the other person’s gaze for a couple of seconds longer than you normally would also helps to form that creative connection and shows interest in what the person is saying.

5. Humour: No, you don’t have to be a stand-up comedian to communicate with others. Being receptive to humour, smiling, nodding and being ‘light’ when chatting conveys an openness to a more meaningful conversation that may occur.

6. Words: Using words in the right context is important to share understanding and clearly communicate. As an example, if a tough, brawny looking person went into a bar full of bikers and politely asked for a small glass of lemonade the context for those words would be all wrong. The words might be clear but not appropriate. So our words must match the audience and situation to have congruent, clear communication.

Simply, our discourse must be congruent with the context.

Teamwork requires clear communication so that trust and honesty can be nurtured.

Once common team goals and a philosophy have been established, methods to maintain open and clear communication should be included on a regular basis. These are some ideas: • Regular Meetings: Supplement the staff meetings by providing a little bit extra surprise as a reward. Provide muffins or some other snack for morning tea every couple of weeks to build that sense of belonging and being valued.

• Common Goal: The common ground for the staff may be that everyone has a focus on providing a worthwhile, quality education opportunity for every child.

• Philosophy: Remind each other to keep and remember the idea that everyone has contributed to building.

• Keep Everyone Informed: Emailing or handing people printed newsletters helps to make sure that all stakeholders are aware of events and the ongoing vision and goals are clearly communicated.

• Build Morale: Hold a team dinner, BBQ in the park, car rally to add to that feeling of collegiality and sharing of experiences.

As a leader of a team, it’s important to make sure that people are comfortable when there is a staff meeting. Instead of having a staff or team meeting in one of the classrooms where adults are sitting on the children's chairs and are relatively uncomfortable, go into the staff room where the chairs are bigger and softer. Make it inviting and comfortable, put some nice smelling oils around, maybe have some flowers on the table, perhaps have some snacks and drinks available.

At the end of a work day people like those little touches and it draws everyone together, so that there is a feeling of being valued, honoured and respected. This is part of getting together as a team with common bonds rather than a group of individuals.

Teamwork is more fulfilling and is better for our mental wellbeing to live a richer personal and professional life.

Dr Kathy Murray has a 34-year background in education and is the founder of Training and Education S e r vi c e s. K a thy a l so wo r ks w it h b u s i n e s s ow n e r s a n d l e a d e r s t o support the development of skills in emotional intelligence, leadership, communication and team building.

S h e s p e a k s l o c a l l y, n a t i o n a l l y and internationally on a range of topics including brain science and behaviours. Dr Kathy Murray can be contacted by email: kathy@ trainingandedservices.com.au

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KAREN TUI BOYES

The L3 Roadway to Success “R’s” to Remember

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hether you are studying for exams, wanting to get your driver’s license or just keen to expand your skills and knowledge in an area of interest, the L3 Map of SuccessTM shows the crucial steps along the journey to success. You are in the driver’s seat and following these 6R's can ensure the journey is as smooth as possible.

R #1: Have a REASON to learn.

The why is the most important part of your learning success. What will you gain, or avoid, by learning? It is well known that the two biggest human motivators are to either avoid pain or gain pleasure. Why are you learning the information? To pass your exams in order to get ahead in life? To avoid looking stupid in front of your family and friends? To have your driver’s license to gain independence or avoid the embarrassment of your parents? Your why must be yours.

Goal setting is important here. The more specific you can be with your goals and the why behind wanting to achieve them, the easier it is to focus and actually achieve.

Teachers Matter

REASON

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R #2: Know the RULES of learning to learn.

Along your journey to success, it is useful to pack a bag of learning strategies. Here, it is beneficial to understand your best learning styles, or how your memor y works. As exams are firstly memory tests, know how best to take effective notes, read and comprehend quickly. Set up a study environment to maximise your learning.

R #3: Ensure you have the correct RESOURCES that you require.

Once you know why you want to learn something and how to learn it, you now require the resources to take on the learning. These may be provided by a teacher, something you search on the Internet, books you purchase, such as the road

RULES

code, or old exam papers to help orientate yourself in the subject. Resources also include the people who can assist you on your journey. Just like all top athletes have a coach, successful students see the support of their teacher, parents, peers or a tutor as essential for success. Who might be a member on your support team, who will help you achieve your goals?

R #4: The REPETITION of practice.

This is where the real work starts. It requires effort and focus to actually learn the information. Study tips such as, "Learn the information you DON'T know,” are critical here. Practicing and rehearsing what you

RESOURCES

KAREN TUI BOYES

Remember, you are in the driver’s seat and in control of your learning and success. already know is a total waste of time: You already know it! Yes, it makes you feel good to go over what you know, however it is not learning. Learning what you don't know is hard and here the study tip, "Everything is hard before it is easy,” comes into play. To get to easy, you have to go through hard. At this stage of the learning journey, it is important to understand it will take repetition, effort and practice. You might get someone to test you to see if you know the information.

Remember that exams are testing your m e m o r y, a n d y o u w i l l n o t h a v e t h e information in front of you to trigger your memory. Cover your work and check what you are able to recall. Then continue those checks to see if you can recall it a day later, a week later and a month later? Throughout your practice, you may have to develop strategies such as persistence, or sticking to the task; managing your impulsivity, such as avoiding distractions; thinking

flexibly, or learning it another way; and resilience, the bounce back factor when learning gets hard and challenging. An important part to understand with repetition is that learning takes time, but little by little, you will be making progress.

R #5: REFLECTION and feedback.

At all stages of your learning journey, take time to stop and reflect on where you are at and your next steps. Ask yourself some questions about your progress: Are you heading towards your goal or away? Where do you need to place more time and effort?

If you are not sure, your midterm exams can help with this. Your marks will be an indication if you are on track or not, highlighting which subjects you need to spend more time on, where you need to ask more questions, and where you might request further resources or tutoring. They will also show you which subjects you may relax a little in.

Give extra attention to the feedback teachers are giving you on your work. Ask yourself which study tips are working and what is distracting you from your learning?

Be mindful of your own actions and

REFLECTION REPETITION

how they are helping or hindering you. You may need to go back to learn more of the rules of learning, gain more support from teachers and tutors, or simply keep putting in the effort, practice and rehearsal so that you might move yourself forward.

R #6: Celebrate your RESULTS. At this sixth step, it is meaningful to celebrate your results of success. Share your success with people who understand and have perhaps helped throughout the process. Take time to acknowledge the journey and the effort, and even the sacrifice and challenges you overcame to get to this point. Naturally, what follows great results is a new goal to strive after.

As Life Long Learners, there will be always more to learn, new heights to scale and new challenges to take on.

Remember, you are in the driver’s seat and in control of your learning and success.

RESULTS

Karen is an expert in effective teaching and learning, study skills, motivation a n d p o s i t i v e t h i n k i n g. S h e wa s recognised with the NSANZ Educator of the Year award in 2014 and 2017, and works in schools throughout Australasia teaching students how to Study Smart and teachers how to raise achievement. www.karentuiboyes.com

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JAN BIBBY

Garden Club

Local Organisations Help Support School

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t all started with Liz Woods, a teacher at Katikati Primary School. Liz is a dynamo, working on the KKPS environment, getting help in the form of manpower and money wherever she can recruit it. For instance, our local Katikati Rotary have been amazing. Liz had even negotiated a bit of land behind the swimming pool at KKPS to create a garden patch. She had it fenced and ready to go! Thanks to people like Joe Briffa, for building the gardens and Katikati Building Supplies for a good deal on the timber.

Then all we needed was time and a gardener.

Enter SuperGrans Western Bay of Plenty, established in Katikati early in 2017.

SuperGrans recruits mainly retired folk to pass on knowledge and skills to enhance community health and well being. SuperGrans approached KKPS to see if they wanted any volunteers for an existing reading support programme in the school (Nga Kaihapai). Jan Bibby (KKPS) suggested Anne Billing (SuperGrans) and

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Chris’ dream is to pass on gardening skills so folk know how to eat healthily and support their families with ‘slow’ food! she get together to see if there might be other possibilities to collaborate on since the reading was well supported.

This resulted in CLUBS being run, once a week at lunchtime – primarily for Year 6 students. SuperGrans facilitated Baking, Knitting, Sewing, Woodwork, Craft, Science Experiments and GARDENING Clubs since 2017. Once again, supported by the local Rotary organisation.

So what does this have to do with Liz Woods’ dream? It just so happens that one of the SuperGrans (Chris) is a retired nurseryman!

Now Chris’ dreams are coming true too. He has brought Liz’s garden patch dreams to

life. Thanks to Kings Seeds and Daltons for donations to grow our dreams!

Chris’ dream is to pass on gardening skills so folk know how to eat healthily and support their families with ‘slow’ food! He’s training 4 students at a time (that’s 32 a year, as we run the Clubs twice a term) to understand and experience the elements of Life in the Garden Patch.

At KKPS we are making dreams come true for SuperGrans, for teachers, for students and ultimately for the future!

JAN BIBBY

Jan is a learning support teacher, runs her own tuition business, specialising in supporting dyslexic learners and is piano teacher. With her university lecturer husband, she is proud of her three grown children whom contribute to real estate, ďŹ lm and advertising industries.

They adore her six grandchildren and can’t believe how blessed she is to live in the Bay of Plenty!

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LEANNE SENINOLI

Pushing Our Children to “Learn” Assessing Neuro Motor Readiness for Learning

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he joys and excitement of a child turning five is celebrated as a rite of passage. The child growing up, going to ‘big school’ and putting on their new uniform brings delight to parents and teachers alike. But when is a child really ready for school? How can we tell if they are going to succeed or not? Are there markers that ensure that the child is developmentally ready? Or, do they turn five and magically, they’re able to adjust?

We know that child development is fluid.

Children develop faster or slower than others, but generally all children follow the same milestones of development despite country, culture and race. This development is physical, mental and emotional and these factors are interrelated in a wholistic way, meaning they are all interdependent on each other. For example, the maturity of the emotions is largely dependent on maturity of the mind, just as maturity of the mind is impacted by maturity of the emotions.

However there has been little discussion as to how the maturity of the physical body also impacts mental maturity and agility and visa-versa. Can we know if a child is ready for school by reading their physical capabilities?

The truth is we can! We can see if a child will start school on the upper hand or not if we look past the A, B, C’s and 1, 2, 3’s. As teachers we have tended to do away with assessing children too young, and for good reason. However, we have also done away with observing and ensuring children reach their developmental milestones physically.

The assumption is that, “all children will get there eventually” and while this may be true in part, it does help the child and adults working with children to provide for their physical development alongside their mental and emotional development. In fact, if children do not meet their physical milestones, it can hinder their progress in other areas. And don’t we all want to give our children the best possible start? Why allow delay if it is not necessary?

Let me explain. Primitive reflexes are a part of our central nervous system and are

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They aren’t ‘naughty kids.’ Their bodies and brains just aren’t communicating well yet. meant to be there until around one year of age. It is at this time that they begin to transition into postural reflexes. We need these postural reflexes to help defy gravity, give us good posture and fluid movement all through life. But most importantly these postural reflexes allow us to continually operate in our mature brain, that is the part at the front of the head which problem solves, evaluates and does other executive functions. Without getting too technical, primitive reflexes come from the brain stem and spinal cord. Postural reflexes release these so that we are free to operate in our mid-brain and cortex, known as the thinking brain.

It is for this reason that assessment of the primitive and postural reflexes at age 5 will determine the physical maturity of the child and subsequently the ability to operate in their cortex long-term. Primitive reflexes are like a ‘trigger’ to a child’s brain. Any movement of the head or limbs causes different reflexes to operate to distract and interrupt the child’s processes. Some reflexes such as the ATNR will even cause involuntary movement of the arms upon head rotation. I’m sure you know this child. The one with the messy sloping handwriting, or the one who children always say, “he hit me,” only to have the child emphatically deny it. Or the one who is constantly ‘clumsy.’ This is because reflexes are not conscious. They are rooted in our subconscious primitive minds. It’s cause and effect. Turn head, arm goes out.

H o w e v e r, w i t h a s p e c i f i c m o v e m e n t programme tailored to release these reflexes, the child can be free of the annoying and

damaging effects of them. This programme can be undertaken at home one-on-one with a parent, or in preschools and schools by trained teachers. Age is no barrier for the programme. It can work at any age, yet at age 5, we can see how the child will transition into primary school and support this process. The assessment tool also helps us recognise the signs and symptoms of neuro motor immaturity in the classroom.

No longer do children need to live with the emotional insecurity and fight or flight reactions of the Moro reflex. No longer do children need to live with the inability to ride a bike, or handwriting issues, mid-line crossing and co-ordination difficulties of the ATNR. No longer do they need to live with the postural distractions, inability to swim, and constant wriggle of the STNR. Even issues with speech and language can be helped and healed through remediating the TLR. When we understand what is causing the behaviours, we can then set about freeing the child from them.

These are all constant issues for children every day of their life that the adults around them and they themselves are largely unaware of. They live with them continuously and when it is time for big school, the adults wonder why they cannot hold a pencil, draw a circle or sit still on the mat. They aren’t ‘naughty kids.’ Their bodies and brains just aren’t communicating well yet. But they can. Both teachers and parents can access this support for their child at school or at home. We can see if a child is ready for formal learning at 5, and the good news is we can help them if they aren’t.

Leanne Seniloli is a neuro-developmental therapist and early childhood educator.

For more information and other ways to help children learn, check out www.withoutlimitslearning.com.

LEANNE LEANNE SENINOLI SENINOLI

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LAUREN PARSONS

Sixteen Stress Busters Positive Changes to Take Stress Away

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tress affects us all and can be both good and bad. As a busy teacher, the key is in mastering how to manage stress well. Here are sixteen practical strategies to deal with daily stress. While they are all important, numbers 1, 3, 10 and 16 are the most vital for the majority of people.

1

Breathing

Deep breathing is the most simple and effective way to instantly relieve the effects of stress. It has numerous benefits for the body, including oxygenating the blood, which 'wakes up' the brain by relaxing muscles and quieting the mind. Breathing exercises are especially helpful because you can do them anywhere, and they work quickly so you can de-stress in a flash. Breathing is the only part of your Autonomic Nervous System that you can control, which signals to your entire system that you are calm and relaxed. This really is the number one strategy for evoking your body's relaxation response and shifting your bio-chemistry to a state of well-being.

2

Eating Real Food

Teachers Matter

We are what we eat. In our high-pressured world with highly processed foods in abundance, choose to eat as much fresh 'real food' as possible. Aim to eat the rainbow every day, a full range of colours to ensure that you get a good dose of all of the essential minerals and vitamins you need to have good health. Aim to reduce the consumption of harmful substances such as alcohol and high amounts of saturated fats. Drink herbal teas which are rich in anti-oxidants. Find certain foods that are especially good for your brain and which boost your mood.

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As a busy teacher, the key is in mastering how to manage stress well.

3

Exercise

You are only ever one workout away from a great mood!

Exercise is without a doubt one of the most beneficial things you can do for your health & to reduce stress. It provides a distraction from stressful situations, and also serves as an outlet for frustrations. It burns off excess cortisol and gives you a lift via endorphins. If you are short on time, try ‘snacking' on exercise in one-minute bursts throughout your day. This is a great way to relieve stress and improve your mood and it makes it much more achievable to stay active every day. A balance of both strength training and cardio and slow and fast movement patterns are important. Everyone can fit in four minutes a day! The key is to find the mode of exercise that you enjoy. Try lots of different options; even ones you may not have thought of before now. Most people prefer working out in a group environment. Experiment and do what works best for you. Then make it a priority!

4

Laughter

We have all heard the saying, "Laughter is the best medicine,� and it really does have huge physical, mental and emotional benefits.

Research has shown that even a fake smile or fake laugh have benefits and often lead to real laughter, which lifts our mood and releases chemicals in the body that make us feel great, all while combating stress. Try watching funny videos on YouTube, playing games, pulling funny faces in the mirror or anything else that you know will get you laughing. You will surprise yourself at how easy and effective this is, especially if you are feeling down. All you need to do is choose to get started!

LAUREN PARSONS

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LAUREN PARSONS

5

De-cluttering

Our environment has a profound effect on how we feel. Picture your office, your kitchen, lounge or bedroom when they are clean and clear of clutter. Walking into a room that is tidy and organised will transform how you feel about being in that space compared to walking into the same room with clutter and mess everywhere. Focus on the environments where you spend the most time and keep those clutter free, even if other rooms in the house or other work areas aren't as tidy.

To stay on top of clutter, it is worthwhile taking the time to set up systems that make it easy to keep things in their place. Little and often works wonders. You can put on some upbeat music and spring clean your office or house for just 10 focused minutes every day and live in uncluttered paradise forever!

6

Time Management

Great time management can allow you to be more productive, getting more done in less time. Imagine being able to leave work fully satisfied with all that you've done for that day having been as productive as possible. Remember that you can feel you are putting in 100% but not actually be 100% effective. Effectiveness is all about working smarter, not harder.

Following simple time management disciplines can save you minutes and even hours a day!

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Understanding Ultradian Rhythms

As well as having a circadian rhythm, which affects us over a 24 hour period, we also have several shorter ultradian rhythms. Lesley Gillett, in her book, "Sleep Your Way to Success,” introduced me to these Ultradian rhythms we all experience. 'Ultra' means 'many' and 'dian' means 'day'. She explains that it's important to recognise these cycles which have a 90-120 minute up cycle and a 15-20 minute down cycle and respond to them appropriately.

Teachers Matter

Our body is designed to perform well for a period after which we need to take a break to reset. This allows our immune system to function and set us up to have clarity of thought, creativity high energy levels to be able to perform well in our next 'up cycle.’ If we ignore the body's signals (fatigue, clumsiness, feeling fidgety, distracted, thirsty or hungry) and we try to push through the natural 'down cycle,’ too often we end up pushing our bodies to a point where they can't function optimally.

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This all ties in with my philosophy of snacking on exercise and breaking your sitting time during the day up with movement.

Research has shown that sitting down for long periods has many negative consequences for your health, even if you exercise. So if you have a sedentary job, it is especially important to focus on adding movement back into your day. Sometimes fast to get your heart rate up, sometimes relaxing to allow your body to process information and self regulate, making you more productive in the long run!

8

Learning Assertive Communication Skills

Assertiveness is the ability to express one's feelings and assert one's rights while respecting the feelings and rights of others. Assertive communication is appropriately direct, open and honest, and clarifies one's needs to the other person. It can strengthen your relationships, reducing stress from conflict and providing you with social support when facing difficult times. A polite but assertive 'no' to excessive requests from others will enable you to avoid overloading your schedule and promote balance in your life. Assertive communication can also help you handle difficult family, friends and co-workers more easily, reducing drama and stress.

9

Journaling

Taking time to write down your thoughts and feelings at the end of each day is incredibly therapeutic. It is particularly useful to think of as many things as you can that you are thankful for each day. Journaling decreases the symptoms of asthma and arthritis, improves cognitive functioning, strengthens the immune system by preventing a host of illnesses and counteracts many of the negative effects of stress.

10

Mindfulness / Being Present

Taking time out to 'be still' is essential on a regular basis to balance out the rush and busyness which put stress on our bodies and minds. Even short periods of quiet time are hugely beneficial. It can be as easy as turning the TV off and sitting to take a few deep breaths, having a cup of your favourite tea, doing a few stretches, walking in a garden for a few minutes or mindfully enjoying a meal. Meditating on positive, uplifting literature can quickly direct your thoughts down positive channels and break negative thinking patterns.

Often we spend a lot of time stuck inside our own heads, worrying about the future or reliving the past rather than just simply being present. Being present means that you are fully engaged with what you are doing and what you are surrounded by at the time. If you mind is elsewhere, it's as though we are just going through the motions and not really living life in full colour. The fastest way to ensure that you are present is to tune into what your body is doing and to practise being mindful of where you are, how your body feels, how your breathing is and what sounds you can hear around you.

Let go of worrying about the future or over planning things and just be present, trusting that later on you will be present and be able to deal with that future moment, too.

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LAUREN PARSONS Moving your Body!

There is a very strong link between your physiology and your psychology. If you are feeling low or down, this is reflecting in your posture. Interestingly, your posture also influences how you feel. Because of this, a simple tool you can use to instantly lift your mood is changing your posture.

Lifting both arms above your head in a 'V' is the international sign for success. Rolling your shoulders back and down and standing tall and proud or simply looking up at the sky or ceiling are also great instant 'pick me ups.'

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Time Outdoors

There is something special about being out in nature. Humans are not designed to be inside all day. It is rejuvenating to be surrounded by plants and animals and to just focus on the environment around you. Take a walk ideally somewhere ‘green,' such as a local park, river or botanic garden. Focus on being present and aware of all the sounds, sights and textures around you.

Try out gardening. Even for those without green thumbs, getting into the garden and getting your fingers into some dirt is calming and relaxing. The feeling of creating something new or improving a space is very satisfying and can lead to practical benefits such as having your own home grown herbs, fruit and vegetables or simply creating a wonderful space for you to sit outside and admire your surroundings. Go to your local garden centre and get some advice on how to get started, what to plant when and enjoy the fresh produce in your cooking!

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Music

Picture how you feel when your favourite song comes on! Music has the power to influence how we feel. Music therapy has shown numerous health benefits for people with conditions ranging from mild to severe such as stress to cancer. When dealing with stress, the right music can actually lower your blood pressure, relax your body and calm your mind. Choose music to suit your desired mood and the time of day. It may be that you want something lively to get you up and going, something relaxing or something that just makes you want to dance!

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Being Creative

We all have some innate creative talents, even though we don't always find ways to express these.

Try some new creative activities such as painting, working with mixed media, jewellery making, wood working, flower arranging, clay work, baking/cooking, sewing, music/percussion or creative writing. Get some equipment together and get started!

You might even search out a club or short course to join to get your creative juices flowing!

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Sex

The physical benefits of sex are numerous and are proven to relieve stress and tension. Sex and positive physical contact lower our stress response, produce oxytocin the body's love hormone that makes you feel great and lead to numerous mental and emotional benefits and feelings of wellbeing. The challenge is that elevated stress reduces libido in both men and women, making you feel less inclined to take part in the very thing that will assist you to unwind and relax. Simple awareness of this can help you overcome this challenge and get you reconnected again.

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Getting Quality Sleep

A good night's sleep is essential for all aspects of our health.

Experts recommend 7-9 hours of quality, uninterrupted sleep each night. Stress is very closely linked to difficulty getting to sleep and staying asleep. Everything seems much harder without a good night’s rest and it can become a pretty vicious cycle that needs to be addressed.

If you have trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep these tips may help: • Get your heart rate up daily, preferably during the earlier part of the day.

• Go outdoors and get sunlight into your retina for ten minutes, ideally near midday.

• Have a varied diet: 'Eat the Rainbow.’

• Avoid watching television or other screens (big or small) within two hours of bedtime.

• Write in a journal to let go of mental clutter.

• Use a winding down routine which may include an herbal tea, PJs and bathrobe, quiet reading time, hand massage, calm music, thankful writing, deep diaphragmatic breathing or progressive muscle relaxation.

Lauren is an award winning wellbeing specialist with 16 years’ experience. For more on mindful eating, overcoming cravings and a practical ways to plan, cook and eat well, check out Lauren’s new book: Real Food Less Fuss – The ultimate timesaving guide to simplify your life and feel amazing every day. www.realfoodlessfuss.com

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LINDA GUIREY

What is Resilience?

We All Have a Choice in Our Thoughts

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n today’s world, ‘resilience’ is the term applied to our ability to come back stronger than ever after we have faced a challenging moment in our lives. Resilience is a trait that many employers seek, because we face an ever changing world. Therefore, employees need to be adaptable, flexible and resilient.

So how do we bounce back? How do we withstand criticism, tragedies and unexpected events? The most important part of resilience, in my view, is the meaning you apply to circumstances. It’s the opportunity we all have to learn from our mistakes, to gain strength from our challenges and to gain a better perspective on life.

It all comes down to the way we think: our mindset, and how we use it. Every day we make thousands of choices ranging from big choices such as a new home, career or partner, right down to every single day choices as we choose what to say, think, do and believe. We also have no control over what someone else thinks, says, believes or does, but we always have a choice over our attitude and how we will respond. “Our lives are controlled by what’s in our head, and we are the only one in there.”

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We have far more control over our thoughts that we think, because often we choose to fall into a blame mentality, and we then think that we don’t have to take responsibility. But we are responsible, every day. If our thoughts are our thoughts, then someone else’s thoughts are their thoughts.

Any criticism they may direct towards you, is just their thoughts spoken out loud. You know you can’t control other people’s thoughts, so why then, do we own those thoughts and take them personally? Why do we get upset by what other people think of us, or what they say about our ideas?

It took me many years to really understand this concept: to understand that I have a choice. I can allow someone else’s words to bother and upset me, or I can choose not to allow them to bother me. I may internally reflect on what they have said in case there may be some truth to the words, but ultimately those words are not mine. It’s not what I think, so why allow it to upset me?

Nobody can ‘make’ you feel anything. That is a challenging concept to get your head around, but it’s true. No one can make you angry, frustrate you or wind you up. All of those responses are an inside job: your thoughts, your head. It doesn’t mean that you don’t ‘feel’ an emotional reaction, but you can switch that emotion to something more positive very quickly when you decide not to own someone else’s thoughts.

LINDA GUIREY

It all comes down to the way we think: our mindset, and how we use it.

It’s all about the meaning, and it’s also about intent. We assume we know other people’s intent in their words or behaviour.

You would have heard things like, “You did that to annoy me,” or “You said that just to make me angry.” The problem is that we don’t ‘know’ other people’s intent; we just think we do. We believe our assumptions to be the absolute truth and we will go around sharing it as if it’s true. But we can’t know what other people think, or their intent, unless we ask them. All too often, conflict and workplace issues arise because we believe other people intended to make our life more challenging. The problem with this perspective is that it is just made up.

We, as human beings, like to be right, so we believe our assumptions and look for all the reasons to prove ourselves right.

It is so much more freeing to not take other people’s words or actions to heart. If you don’t agree with their comments, don’t own them. Flick that internal switch inside your head and let their comments go. Changing the way you think isn’t something that will happen overnight, but if you really want to be freer, to ‘react’ less and ‘respond’ more, to see a more positive outlook in life, then work on it. Become self aware, change your thinking, blame less, take more responsibility and know that you are in control of you.

Linda Guirey is an award winning speaker, author and trainer who focuses on ‘mindset’ and helping people understand the way we think and how we can change. This is fundamental to responding to change, overcoming adversity, creating better teams and minimising conflict. “It’s about helping people live happier and more grateful lives.”

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JOHN SHACKLETON

Addicted to Worrying?

How Mindfulness Can Reprogramme Our Thinking

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ave you recently woken up in the middle of the night worrying about things? Can’t get back to sleep because you‘ve got so much on your mind?

Ever felt like you can’t slow down your mind enough in order to get the rest you crave?

Most of us have experienced something like this and for many it’s happening more and more often and some are suffering almost every night.

Anxiety, as it’s called, is a feeling of worry, ner vous or unease about something, often coupled with a strong desire to do something or for something to happen. It’s a massive problem in our modern society.

According to a recent report in the New York Times, 41% of college students reported experiencing ‘overwhelming anxiety.’ The problem is not just restricted to college students from the U.S. It’s a big problem for all ages here in New Zealand, too.

Sometimes there seems to be no logic or sense to the things we worry about. Our mind wakes us up at 2 a.m. with these problems to fix, but when we consider things in the cold light of day, we realise that actually there isn’t much of a problem at all. Unfortunately, understanding that doesn’t help, nor does it take the anxious feelings away. Sometimes those feelings can stay with us for days or even months even after we realise that we don’t really have a problem.

A few years ago I myself went through a serious phase of anxiety. I was worrying about money. Now, I’m not a billionaire but I’m not broke, either. I don’t have money worries compared to those who have lost everything in a natural disaster or those who are living on the streets. However, I used to wake up with a feeling of dread of what might happen if my financial circumstances did change. It was a feeling that I was heading for serious trouble and there was nothing I could do about it. That feeling would sometimes stay with me for days or even weeks and it seemed that there was nothing that would get rid of it.

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Mindfulness teaches us how to re-programme our mind so that we can spend more time in the present and reduce our addiction to worrying.

Looking back, I can see that there wasn’t anything wrong with my money situation. I just couldn’t seem to stop worrying about it.

Only after learning about mindfulness did I start to realise what was happening and how I could fix it. I began to understand that the problem wasn’t in my bank accounts. It wasn’t anything to do with my level of activities or my abilities to run a business. The problem was that I had trained my mind to worry about things.

Sorry to tell you this, but our anxiety is our own fault. Without knowing it, we have trained our mind to perform the activity of worrying even when we don’t have anything to worry about! Our mind is like a computer that’s designed to help us solve problems. Unfortunately for an increasingly large number of us, our computer has developed a glitch and it needs rebooting.

That’s where mindfulness comes in.

In order to experience anxiety we must think about the future. That’s exactly what all fear and all worry is: thinking about the future. We worry about what could go wrong, what might happen, what’s wrong with us and what will happen if we don’t change things. All of those things are in

the future. Mindfulness is the art of keeping the mind in the present: staying focused on what is happening right now. When you think about the present you can’t be thinking about the future, so you can’t worry!

Now I can hear you say - Well don’t we need to set goals and make action plans, John? That involves thinking about the future? Yes, we do sometimes need to goal set and make plans but we probably don’t need to do it as much as we currently are.

Most people spend almost all their time thinking about the past and the future and spend practically none of their time in the present moment, and that’s what causes the problems.

Mindfulness teaches us how to reprogramme our mind so that we can spend more time in the present and reduce our addiction to worrying. This simple but amazingly powerful process is available to anyone in any situation and it will solve any worry problems you may have.

John Shackleton is one of Australasia’s leading motivational speakers. With a background in Sports Psychology, he helps people improve performance in both business and personal lives. His humorous, no nonsense style won him the prestigious NSA Speaker of the Year award. He has also worked with a number of NZ Olympic athletes over the last few years.

JOHN SHACKLETON

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REBECCA GILLMAN

Championing Student Leadership How Can we be Better Supporters?

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e’ve all grappled with the challenges that are presented by the label ‘student leader.’

We’ve all witnessed senior students barking orders at their Middle School peers as they misguidedly assume the habits of a dictator to ‘lead’ an extracurricular activity or service group. Equally misguided are some teachers whose interpretation of student leadership means that they act solely as warm bodies in rooms for health and safety purposes, watching another ‘student-led’ meeting descend into savagery of Lord of the Flies proportions and shaking their heads in despair as they answer their emails in the shadowed corner of the room. How many times have we heard the phrases such as, ‘We’ve got to give them the chance to fail,’ and ‘They’ll learn from their mistakes,’ bantered nonchalantly around the faculty lounge during yet another exasperated conversation about student council meetings going over time by an hour or a group of disaffected year 9 boys being off task for an entire service trip planning session?

We know that students learn best through doing. Experiential service learning is particularly important when it comes to global issues in education. Phrases such as, ‘improve the world,’ ‘make a difference,’ and ‘find solutions’ adorn our mission statements. In order to achieve these noble ambitions, students need to be given opportunities to speak out for what they believe in, initiate action in these areas of interest and lead projects that seek to bring about positive change. However, if we are committed to creating these opportunities to lead for students, we also need to be committed to equipping them with the necessary tools, skills and support to give leadership their best shot. Service learning connects community needs, global and local issues to curriculum. These real problems or issues not only provide opportunities for students to apply their learning, but also to make meaning by understanding, which leads to transfer in the real world.

Le t ’s t a k e a n e x t ra c urri c ul a r se r v i c e learning activity as a case in point. The service learning five stages, standards and benchmarks can help guide students to tackle authenticated community needs head on. Linked to curriculum, it leads students through the five stages (Investigation, Planning and Preparation, Action, Reflection and Demonstration), each of which guides them in thinking and doing to ensure that:

There is no magic formula; every group of students is different, as is every school and cultural context. But here are some tips that can help us be better supporters of our student leaders: • Assume the role of mentor, rather than teacher, facilitator or supervisor.

• Know your students and ensure they know themselves and each other. Conduct a personal inventory: their passions, interests and talents are valuable. Take time to recognize them.

• Nurture and promote connections. This could be a common interest two students have, issues they care about, communities they are a part of, places they love.

• Inspire through storytelling. Share stories of change involving people and places that students can relate to and, in turn, share their own related stories about.

• the need that they are addressing is authenticated;

• Use media to engage students in current debates or to share tried and tested strategies for action.

• the action they ultimately carry out is beneficial to all those involved;

• Ask critical questions at key points in the planning process.

• they enjoy their learning through collaboration and shared decision making with peers as well as community partners;

• Give feedback through questions rather than statements.

• Learning occurs when they take risks and transfer their classroom knowledge and skills to service learning experiences.

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So, how can we ensure our inspired student leaders reach for their own dreams whilst motivating others to share their vision, and more importantly, contribute to it? What can we do to foster shared ownership over projects so that all students involved are engaged and learning through meaningful participation? And most importantly, how we can ensure everyone is having fun whilst engaging in these student-led service projects?

• Be present. Listen actively and show an interest in ever yone’s ideas. Probe understandings through questioning.

There are a vast world of resources available for teachers when it comes to ser vice learning. All you have to do is reach out and explore!

REBECCA GILLMAN

Students need to be given opportunities to speak out for what they believe in, initiate action in these areas of interest and lead projects that seek to bring about positive change.

Rebecca’s passion for Service Learning began in 2006, in the wake of Typhoon Milenyo. In her role as IBDP CAS Coordinator at the International School of Tanganyika, Rebecca developed helping students initiate action to address concerning issues. Rebecca is studying for a Masters degree in Development Education and Global Lear ning at University College London. She has a BA degree in English and African Studies, and a Post Graduate CertiďŹ cate in Education from the University of Cambridge, U.K.

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MICHAEL GROSE

Recovering quickly from toxic events, which are on the rise in modern education, is important for your mental well-being.

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MICHAEL GROSE

Recovering From a Toxic Incident With a Parent 4 Ways to Recover Your Well-Being

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e’ve all experienced them: Meetings with parents that quickly turn sour, leaving you feeling stressed and questioning your effectiveness or even worse, your motives.

Perhaps it’s a meeting where you cop a mouthful of abuse, leaving you feeling hurt and let down. Perhaps, a parent gossips about you and you feel powerless to stop it. Perhaps you encounter a parent with an axe to grinde, who goes to a higher authority leaving you feeling aggrieved, even powerless. It doesn’t matter how experienced you are, there will always be situations where parents gets under your skin.

Recovering quickly from toxic events, which are on the rise in modern education, is important for your mental well-being. Allowing them to fester away at you reduces your effectiveness as an educator and has a massive negative impact on your health. Here are four ideas that will help you recover quickly from toxic events reducing stress and minimising the impact on your health.

1. Don’t hold it in. TALK about it.

It’s natural to want to bottle things up or keep these types of incidents under the radar due to embarrassment or a sense of failure. But this reaction is unhealthy, as it will only allow the incident to fester and eat away at you over time. Sit down with a trusted colleague and talk about the incident and discuss the emotional impact. First, cue them that you want them to listen rather than offer advice. Choose someone whom you have a good relationship with, someone who has earned the right to be taken in your confidence. Such a person is a true colleague indeed.

2. Don’t catastrophise. REAPPRAISE the situation.

If you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night thinking about the worst case scenario, such as, “Every parent in the school will now be bad-mouthing me following that run-in with Mrs. Smith,” then you are catastrophising. Suddenly your thoughts seem like facts. If your stomach is doing cartwheels, then your emotions are running hard and furious. Put a stop to the catastrophising. Take another look at the situation and see if your perception is valid. Talk to a colleague to get a reality check. A positive reappraisal will change your thinking and bring about an emotional change, which is better for your mental and physical health. Only then will you be ready to respond more effectively to the situation. Consider seeking professional assistance if you find you just can’t stop revisiting events in your head.

3. Don’t manage alone. TEAM up.

It’s not wise to approach parents or revisit toxic meetings with parents when you’ve been badly hurt or when negative emotions have festered for days. If you do so, two outcomes are likely. First, you may become too emotional to seek a rational conclusion. You run the risk of targeting the person, rather than seeking a true solution. Second, you may be so controlling that you end up being perceived as a bully.

Rather, use a colleague or senior teacher to lead the meeting for you, allowing grievances to be aired in a calm environment and, if possible, searching for some type of resolution that is satisfactory to you and the parent. This may mean that you swallow some personal pride, which is the professional thing to do. Don’t try to lead the meeting on your own as it more than likely won’t end well.

4. Separate the professional from the personal.

So often the professional becomes personal and we take our worries and concerns home with us, rather than leave them behind at the end of the day. Worries and concerns left unchecked impact on your relationships with your family, your kids and your friends. They can also make you sick, if left unchecked. It is better to find someone to talk to who can act as a wise friend and advisor or as a sounding board. If a meeting is needed to clear the air or repair a relationship, don’t go it alone. Enlist the help of a trusted colleague or an experienced teacher to take the lead. Don’t think in terms of winning or losing when meeting with a parent. Think in terms of resolving the issue at hand in the best interests of the child involved. You need to get the mental clutter out of your head so you can feel good about yourself and emotionally healthy again.

Author, columnist and presenter, Michael Grose currently supports over 1,100 schools in Australia, New Zealand and England in engaging and supporting their parent communities. He is also the director of Parentingideas, Australia’s leader in parenting education resources and support for schools. For more information, see www.parentingideas.com.au

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KATE SOUTHCOMBE

Behavioural First Aid 101

How to Stop, Look and Assess Before Responding to Behaviours

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recently attended a first aid course and was interested to make connections between my work as a behaviour analyst and the role of a co-responder arriving on an emergency scene. In an emergency, the key assessment made within the first few minutes directs the appropriate course of action, and while time is critical, the initial response is to assess safety and risk for staff. No one in first response crews or first aid reacts immediately without assessing their position and either being directed, or doing the directing if they are the officer in charge (OIC). This fundamental stop, look and assess procedure is often missing in our day to day interactions with our students and could explain why we occasionally find ourselves in deep water. Time-critical responses still require assessment in order to prevent escalation of the current issue, and to ensure the safety of those putting their lives on the line to help. We all know the airline drill: put your mask on first before helping others. Otherwise, you become part of the problem! A trainer I know talks about the OIC having the bigger picture and the crew being focused on one job: following directives! How many times do we encounter issues where everyone appears to be the OIC? Making connections across disciplines, industries and services is an important part of growth and development, enabling us to see where maybe we could improve our own practice.

me to question my own behaviour and find ways I can improve my capacity to impact others in a positive way.

Working with behavioural issues with children requires flexibility, a willingness to see the bigger picture and usually leads

2. This person is trying to get what they want. I may be blocking this person from what they want

Behaviour “problems” in other people challenge us to be better at what we are doing: it’s part of the feedback we need that says what you are doing is currently NOT working for this person. My life changed course once I accepted this feedback and began to consider my role in the feedback loop. I worked hard to remove the emotional responses that surged forth as I tried to deliver a lesson and one or maybe three children decided to “play up.” What I discovered was that my response played a pivotal part in either escalating or defusing some situations. I chose to pause and breathe before I replied or responded. I now know that I was applying First Aid 101, and using behavioural science to plan and assess my next move.

It never hurts to revisit or reflect on our practice in relation to another viewpoint and I really like the first aid model as a novel way to refresh my memory and reignite my desire to be better at what I do.

I compiled a list of things I run through when I feel that people are “getting to me” or that I am in danger of being reactive:

6. What can I learn from this situation?

7. How can I turn this around and leave everyone including myself feeling better and safe?

8. Do I want to be right…or kind?

We are ALL busy. We are ALL struggling with issues, but we owe it to ourselves and our children to change the path we are travelling down when we react. This list of prompts is generalised: it can apply to multiple situations and has sparked a change in how I deal with my daily encounters. It’s NOT easy and it is certainly a mental workout sometimes! But, it forces me to stop briefly. Often, this brief pause enables me to be in the moment and to decide to make a new choice and to respond rather than react.

Next time you pass an accident and see an ambulance or fire crew at work, remember they too are managing to stop, assess and plan before they engage. If they can do it, we have no excuses not to try! So, next time you’re faced with a challenging behaviour from a student, stop, assess safety, and then plan to approach.

1. This situation may not be about me.

What is right in front of me? Is it safe?

Do I know the risks involved?

3. Can I safely assist this person to get what they want?

4. What part am I playing in perpetuating the situation?

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5. What can I do to avoid this situation?

Do I NEED to avoid it?

Kate provides individually tailored professional development for Early Childhood Centres and schools on evidence-based behaviour management.

She also consults for par ents of children with specific behaviour concerns. kate@eprtraining.co.nz

Working with behavioural issues with children requires exibility, a willingness to see the bigger picture and usually leads me to question my own behaviour and find ways I can improve my capacity to impact others in a positive way.

KATE SOUTHCOMBE

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RYAN MARTIN

Challenge and doing worthwhile work also act as boosters to your wellbeing.

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RYAN MARTIN

An Attitude of Gratitude Reflection Matters

‘It doesn’t make life perfect, but with gratitude comes the realisation that right now, in this moment, we have enough, we are enough.’

— Robert Emmons

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ver the last ten years my beautiful wife and children have been dragged around Australia by me as I have pursued my passion for education. It has involved stints in alternate education, a disengaged youth centre, a school in a remote part of the Northern Territory, just to list a few. In and around this, my wife has also done some incredible teaching in some of the most challenging of circumstances and our children have thrived as they have embraced everything that we have thrown at them.

It was during the annual road trip home (Darwin, Melbourne) with a good friend and teacher Martin (Marty) Buchanan that I really began to get a good grasp on gratitude. Let me tell you how. At 4:00 a.m., about a week out from Christmas (both our families had flown ahead), Marty and I would jump in the car, laughing at how sweaty we already were from the crazy humidity and head back to Melbourne, about 3,800 km away. At this stage of the year, I was mentally spent and normally the idea of a mindless drive back to Melbourne would be enough to tip most over the edge. But, not me, and there was a pretty significant reason why.

Marty Buchanan is a born teacher. He has built his career around what I would consider a gifted ability to connect with people of all shapes and sizes. He is genuinely interested in the students that he teaches and they admire and respect him for this. Marty also has an obsession with making work fun. It was an absolute pleasure to watch him teach. Given that Marty has been leading the Batchelor Outdoor Education Camp for over a decade, it is staggering to think of the impact he has had on thousands of students as they come and go each year.

So, as Marty and I negotiated the first few hours of driving in darkness with livestock wandering all over the road, we slowly began to peel back the layers of the year.

It was through the process of the ‘Stuart Highway Debrief’ that I was able to get perspective on what went well, move on from the tough stuff and make plans to do things better the following year. However, the most powerful conversations were the ones that covered the ‘what went well’ moments. Not because it was a bragging session, but because it allowed me a moment to be aware of the good things, appreciate what is valuable and share it with someone else. It was these moments of savouring life experiences, focusing on the positives intermixed with hours of ABC Cricket and hilarious banter about the Wolf Creek scenery that boosted my wellbeing each year. It reminded me that this should not be a once a year conversation, but a daily reflection to deflect the negative bias we can be swamped by.

Up until recently, it never dawned on me how powerful this road trip home was in allowing me time to reflect on the year that was and harness the ‘good stuff.’ If I flew home, I would not have had the time to truly reflect on the year, as I hit the ground running with all things Christmas. As it turns out, this wasn’t a fluke. There is a growing bank of research now pointing to the fact that gratitude is strongly associated with wellbeing. Interestingly, challenge and doing worthwhile work also act as boosters to your wellbeing.

My 3,800 km road trip of gratitude is probably not feasible for most, but there are some other incredibly powerful ways to make gratitude part of your daily routine.

• Tell people what you are thankful for.

• Be aware of the good things happening around you.

• Keep a gratitude diary. Include a daily entry of the three things you are grateful for.

• Write a letter of gratitude to someone that matters in your life.

School Leadership is both challenging and worthwhile, so with some valuable end of week, term, semester or year reflection, hopefully you will be able to feel a level of gratitude for the incredible work you do.

1. Gratitude is a choice.

2. Give yourself some time to reflect.

3. Share your successes with someone.

4. Model and teach gratitude.

5. Write that letter.

Ryan Martin, recently awarded with the Northern Territory Principal of the Year, is an experienced school leader with a proven track record in behaviour management, leadership and coaching. He has a sharp focus on changing the trajectory of students from highly complex and disadvantaged backgrounds. Ryan has a passion for education but you might also find him surfing, skating or tinkering around with old cars.

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IRMA COOKE

Integration Nadine is the specialist learning leader of languages and the te reo Maori teacher.

Prior to Rototuna Junior High, she worked with staff from various schools around the Waikato on setting up effective te reo Maori programmes. She has a keen interest also in second language aquisition.

Our students are learning Te Reo Maori, the indigenous language of Aotearoa, New Zealand. Over food, we are telling stories, developing strong relationships, and perhaps leaving a legacy of what will become a strong foundation for AKO. Students will lead converstations at the Matariki lunch, and teachers will respond with the guidance of our students.

Kai and Who Am I?

Co-Teaching with Food Technology

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ototuna Junior High School is a middle school catering for students in Years 7 to 10. Our school shares the campus and some facilities with the recently opened Rototuna Senior High School, situated in the rapidly growing North East of Hamilton. A strong connection with local iwi Ngati Wairere, underpins the vision and values of the school. The local history has influenced the naming and design of areas within the school and the curriculum.

Learning module units are co-constructed, taught and assessed collaboratively by teachers from several curriculum learning areas in response to student needs and interests. These modules foster deep learning and student engagement, with meaningful connections across learning areas.

Nadine Malcom-Cant and I were excited to be paired to teach a year 7 and 8 Te Reo Maori and Food Technology module this semester. So far we have sparked lots of ideas around the name of our module

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‘Kai and Who am I?’ What we already knew is that one of the most authentic ways to experience a culture, the language, traditions and history, is through food. We started the sparking phase by getting our students in Umu (our food technology room) the beginning of their learning journey by growing their own starters inspired by Matua Anarau from our senior school who came in to share his home cooked loaf of rewana bread and a portion of his nanny’s starter for the module to keep. During our seeking phase we learned the science behind fermentation using potato and used our senses to compare it to our own yeast bread, and with all of this learning we really enjoyed listening to Matua Anaru who believes the need to embrace ‘aroha’ when cooking.

We believe that relationships are key in connecting with our students and creating inspiring learning opportunities such as inviting guest speakers and making use of our space and the links within our community. We have observed our learners engage at many different levels, and feel lucky to have such varying and differing areas of expertise, to enable us to better collaborate with our students and to thoughtfully live with the nature of technology that shape our lives today and toward the future.

We hope for our learners to understand the ethics around food customs, and have a philosophical understanding of the issues surrounding historical, contemporary and future scenarios of Maori Kai. There is a real, rich culture of food between Maori and the early settlers, It was a melting pot of not only these new ingredients, but also the ways Maori prepared food.

MKR Too blessed to be stressed!

We invited MKR contestants, Rotorua besties, Hera and Tash to cook and to share some of their traditional and contemporary kai, the stories of their whanau and upbringing behind recipes, traditions and embrace Maori Cuisine. Another learning module (Visual Arts and Technology parked their module for their block) lead by Anna Pratt to capture moments of students lapping up every word as Hera and Tash did a wonderful job of weaving natural, real

IRMA COOKE

Pork and Watercress Dumplings - Natasha (Tash) Whitehead Inspired by the traditional Boil Up.

Ingredients Pork & Watercress Dumplings Small packet of pork mince Pork belly (skin off) Sesame oil Salt and pepper Sugar Chicken stock powder Watercress (6 handfuls) Spring onions Ginger indigenous ingredients into a collection of vibrant, flavorful and approachable recipes.

They tied in our te reo language beautifully as they demonstrated, just enough for our students to begin to learn how to share back during their Matariki lunch. Each student will be speaking te reo when asking our entire staff during our Matariki celebration lunch if they would like to try Maori cuisine he rewana mau?

Would you like some rewana bread? He paraoa parai mau?

Would you like some fried bread? Ae koa! Yes, please! This is yummy! He reka!

Students will also stand during the kai to present their pepeha which of course was inspired by the name of the module’ kai and who am I?’ A take away from Tash and Hera’s visit, is to be open to what is out there and to embrace Maori culture and cuisine.

Development of the Menu Later on in this term our students will continue to follow our schools learning process, they will design and evaluate their own prototypes while complimenting Hera and Tash’s menu, adapting the recipes in response to a given brief. Stakeholder feedback will enable students to refine their practice allowing students to have agency. Students will go foraging and cook in Pirongia’s forest with their Indigenous ingredient lead by Charles Royale who will support their understanding of medicinal properties of edible plants. Students will be inspired to trial and test new concepts toward our matariki menu depending on our staff’s dietary needs and feedback,

allowing for their prototype to hopefully become a realised outcome. To take something traditional that we all know from growing up, but put a twist on it.

Context: Kai has the power to bring people together and to help us better understand each other. One of the most authentic ways to experience a culture and learn about its traditions, history and language is through food.

Issue: Despite Maori having a rich and unique culinar y heritage, you won’t find any Maori fine dining restaurants anywhere. What can we do as kiwis to keep Tikanga alive?

Brief: You are to develop an indigenous menu item that fuses traditional with contemporary. You will be required to speak full te reo when serving kai for 120 people at a Matariki lunch held at RHS. The menu must address the needs of stakeholders attending the lunch.

Specifications: Your menu item must: Include at least one locally sourced foraged ingredient Be developed within 100 minutes Utilize In-season vegetables or fruit Resemble a finger food, so it is easy to eat without cutlery.

Garlic Sweet chilli sauce Soya sauce Dumpling wrappers

Method 1. Boil prepped watercress until cooked in salted water. Squeeze out water then fry off in sesame oil & chop up.

2. Finely chop pork belly add to mince (pork belly adds texture, so add enough until your happy with consistency).

3. Add 2 finely chopped spring onions, 1T grated ginger, 1T crushed garlic, pepper, good splash of sesame oil, & sweetchilli sauce, 1T soya sauce, 1t of chicken stock, 1T salt, 2T sugar 4. Add this to pork mixture & leave for at least 30 mins to marinate.

5. To make dumplings get your wrappers a bowl of water, wet your finger & draw a circle around the outskirts of each wrapper. Using a teaspoon place mixture in the middle then close dumpling up like a half moon.

6. If you want to be a bit flashier, once you have the half moon shape wet the corners and connect them (make sure there's no air inside and you don't overfill) 7. Simmer a pot of water with sesame oil and cook until they float to the top & appear transparent. I test one & if I like the flavour I make up the rest.

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IRMA COOKE

Fry Bread Ingredients 1 tsp yeast our 31/2 C plain fl d eeter fried brea d more for a sw ad rga su p Ts ½ 1 ½ Tsp salt 3 tsp olive oil 1 ¼ C water

Method

ients. the dry ingred Make a well in t ingredients.

Add in the we over knead. bined. Do not Mix until com in bowl ball and leave ther in a large ge to re tu ix m Bring the of hours least a couple to prove for at with well oiled h and flatten pieces of doug rip y, ad re n Whe l. hands. k full of hot oi deep fryer or wo a er th ei to in Place gently the other side. flip and brown When brown, tted spoon.

Remove with slo and jam or lots of butter Eat hot with wing dips. llo fo with the alternatively

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Horopito Hu mmus Ingredien

ts

A good pinc

h of salt

Horopito pe pper Clove of ga rlic 2 teaspoons of oil 170g of your favourite

Method

prepared hu

mmus

Add a pinch of salt and horopito pe whisk well. pper to the oil and H ea t th e oi l m ix tu re ge n tl y fo r ab re le as es th ou t 5 m in u e ci tr ic fl av te s. Th is ou rs an d ar horopito pe om at ic oi ls pper. Cool to fr om th e room tempe rature.

Pour the hor opito infuse d oil into th and stir it th e prepared rough until hummus well mixed.

Cover the hu mmus and refrigerate, pepper to in allowing th fuse for 2-3 e horopito hours.

For a smoo ther consist ency, slowly taste. drizzle in m ore oil to

IRMA COOKE IRMA COOKE

Watercress and M icro Dip

Ingredients

(Makes 2 cups)

1 large bunch wa tercress 4 T micro greens 1 cup cottage ch

Over food, we are telling stories, developing strong relationships, and perhaps leaving a legacy of what will become a strong foundation.

eese 1⁄3 cup mayonna ise 1⁄4 cup each roug hly ch

2 tbsp. fresh lem 1 tsp salt and fre

Method

opped chives an

d parsley

on juice

shly ground blac

k pepper, to taste

Purée watercres s, micro, cottage cheese, chives, lem on ju ice , sa parsley, lt an d pe pp er in a fo od pr oc smooth. es so r un til

Irma, a former Chef who now puts to good use her skills and passion for food as a Specialist Food Technology leader.

When she isn’t judging Waikato’s restaurants or working with student teachers for Waikato University, she is busy collaborating with the team of teachers at Hamilton’s newest school, Rototuna Junior High School.

61 61

CLAIRE ORANGE

Teacher Compassion Are You Burned Out?

H

ave you reached a point in your life where you feel that your ‘care factor’ seems to be evaporating? You go through the motions, but somehow the stuff of life that you know is really sad, the stuff that used to move you to tears, now struggles to find its way in to your heart.

My guess is that you have always been that person right from childhood. The child who sat with the new kid at school, who gave up time after class to help the teacher, who really struggled to say, “No.” Hang on, let’s put that in present tense. The child who is still struggling to say, “No.”

Once, you used to ‘personal project’ each and every child and family who came into your room. Every story lived in your heart and guided your hand and your head. The sorrows and joys of the child and the family were as much your own as they were theirs.

And then, the years wore on and there were just so many children and so many stories and so much to do, to understand, and to be, that somehow, that well of compassion that you thought was bottomless started to dry up.

Empathy, Compassion and Burnout Did you know that empathy and compassion are different? Whilst empathy might continue, it’s compassion that takes a beating over time. This is called Compassion Fatigue. High levels of empathy give us windows of insight into the journey of another. The addition of compassion means that positive, affirmative and healing action will be taken to change or impact in some way that journey.

You’re Not Alone There is some comfort to be taken from knowing that you are not alone. Many who are drawn to caring professions are those who lead with their hearts and really want to make a difference. It’s easy to sort the true empaths from those just doing a job simply by looking around and seeing who is serving on committees, leading, working parties, or volunteering for just one more position to help yet another child or family to engage with their education.

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For many teachers, there’s a struggle to add conditions and limits to compassion.

What are the conditions you put around your giving and compassion? If the answer is that you have no conditions to your compassion, this is the likely equation to that question: Empathy + Compassion - Conditions = Fatigue and Burnout Luckily, most of us empaths do get fair warning when we’re approaching burnout.

Feelings of resentment and guilt can cause lots of noise in the head and heart. The noise is there for a reason and listening is highly recommended, but not always acted upon.

Setting Healthy Boundaries Around Compassion Altruism is the quality of the truly beautiful human, but it is one that can get used up with little gratitude, can be overlooked and even taken for granted. The only person who can change that is you. Here are some simple ways you can start to care for yourself, to be self-compassionate, in order that you may continue to shine your light brightly.

Know your value: The gratitude and recognition of others for sharing the room in your heart so graciously is wonderful, but if that’s what drives you, you’re never going to feel like you can be or give enough.

Right now, take a moment to quietly recognise your value, your contribution and congratulate yourself. Try doing that every day.

CLAIRE ORANGE

Your compassion is a gift: one that you, yourself, should stop, open and experience too.

Learn to say, “No:” It’s hard, very hard, but people will appreciate you more if you sometimes have to say not this time. By doing this, you’re also modelling the ultimate compassion: self-compassion. It really is ok to say, “I simply can’t take that on right now, but I can help you to find someone who can.” This is so difficult the first time, and so liberating when you learn the art.

Ritualise letting go: Carrying the emotional baggage of others is most likely your trademark. So, how do you step away from it and give yourself some emotional distance? What can you do as you step out of the school every day to cut the emotional ties with that day, and create some space for your own thoughts, feelings and wishes? Whether it’s washing your hands to shake away t h e d a y, t a k i n g a moment of mindfulness, or the chanting of a mantra as you open the car door, choose something and do it ritually to signal to your brain the closing of the compassion compartment for just a little while.

Plan time out: What do you have planned that you’re looking forward to? It fills your emotional bucket when you plan something that’s simply about you. Put it out there on your calendar, look forward to it, anticipate the joy of caring for yourself. Make sure to do it often.

F i n d a m e n t o r : Ever yone needs an accountability partner, a shoulder, an ear, a voice of calm and wisdom. Do you have one? There’s much power in having someone outside of your own experience to gently nudge you when you’re about to say, ‘yes.’or to tell you to go home and let go of your day. Find that person and be that person for another.

You’re Important Too Compassion burnout is a real thing, and it can impact your physical and mental health. Your compassion is a gift: one that you, yourself, should stop, open and experience too. I’ll finish with the wise words of Buddha, something to reflect on and remember: “You can search throughout the entire world for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and attention.”

Claire is an experienced therapist, mum to four and an author. She is a passionate advocate for better mental health outcomes for children everywhere. Her co-written Social and Emotional Learning resources for children, parents, teachers and therapists have international reach. Read more at www.bestprograms4kids.com.

63

Picture Book Study

LESLEY JOHNSON

Queen Victoria’s Underpants Author: Illustrator: Publisher: ISBN#:

Jackie French Bruce Whatley HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd 0732288223

Very few people probably know that Queen Victoria made the wearing of underpants popular. At the beginning of her reign, very few women wore them. But Queen Victoria made tartans, perambulators and chloroform fashionable. By the time she died just about every woman in Britain wore underpants like hers.

Research: Do some research on Queen Victoria, Napoleon and Captain Cook.

You be the judge: Who do you think had the greatest impact on history?

Queen Victoria

Napoleon

Event 1 Event 2 Event 3 Event 4 Event 5 Event 6 Event 7 Event 8 The person who had the greatest impact:

64

Reason:

Captain Cook

LESLEY JOHNSON Compare and Contrast: Use the Compare and Contrast template: http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson275/compcon_chart.pdf Compare and contrast the type of underwear worn in cold climates to that worn in hot climates.

Create: a. Use the BAR Thinker’s Key to design another pair of underpants for Queen Victoria.

b. Compose an advertising jingle to promote your newly designed underwear.

Questioning: a. The answer is Underpants. Think-Pair-Share 5 questions which will have the answer ‘Underpants.’ b. Prepare a list of questions you would ask if you were to interview an underwear designer like Calvin Klein, Elle McPherson or Peter Alexander. You will need to research these designers before you form your questions. Using a KWL chart may help you prepare.

Role Play a. Victoria had a reputation for being very serious in public but also having a fun side in private.

Look carefully at the illustrations in this story. Do they show these two sides of her effectively? Assess and explain. b. Mime Queen Victoria • trying to hold her skirts down on a windy day • roller-skating • playing the bagpipes.

• taking ladylike steps • having ants in her pants • Lace-makers twirling their bobbins.

• Mum cutting out the underpants • Bridget’s father driving the first steam train Your audience will guess who you are and what you are doing.

On a PMI chart, record what was done well, what would have improved the performance and an interesting move that would add to the mime.

Lesley has taught for 30 years. The facilitation of an ICTPD cluster nurtured her three passions: Literacy, ICT tools and Thinking Strategies. She now runs her online business, Read Think Learn, providing online literacy resources that promote higher order thinking.

65

ROBYN PEARCE

Four Tips on How to Complete Large Projects A Writer’s Personal Case Study

H

ave you ever wanted to embark on a big project, but felt stymied by the size of it?

Everyone is busy. We all have our regular work, existing clients, prospects, staff or contractors, deadlines to meet. The list goes on. So, where do we find time to implement new projects? It’s so easy to say, ‘I don’t have time,’ isn’t it?

A Personal Case Study: A major activity I’ve thought about for years is to write novels. Non-fiction is easy for me.

I can churn out business writing relatively easily, with six big books and many smaller ebooks, articles, workbooks and products to prove it. But for years I’ve made excuses about doing novels. The long-running internal dialogue went like this:

OLEGDUDKO

The motivator was the deadline.

Completion becomes its own reward.

66

ROBYN PEARCE

• I don’t have time to focus on fiction while I’m running my business.

• I need large blocks of time to get into the flow.

• The research will take too much time.

However, something happened a year ago to change that belief, and I’m jumping for joy. I’ve just finished my first historical novel. People keep asking how I did it. I’ve identified four key strategies. I hope you’ll find them helpful also as you undertake your next big project.

Tip 1: Set a Goal Learning point: Don’t focus on the mighty effort required to finish. Break your project down into bite-sized achievable chunks.

Example: A year ago, I attended a 2-day course with writing coach Kathryn Burnett.

At the end of the second day, she challenged us to set a target of words per day, per week, or even per month, that we felt we could commit to. She said, ‘I don’t care what the number is. I just want to you to set a number that you believe you can do.’

I know heaps about goals; I even teach it. But having someone else challenge me helped lift the ‘excusitis’ I’d become bogged down with. As a result, I found a relevant marker and worked backwards.

I had already booked a flight to Canada and the States seven months later to visit family.

Given that the story shouting to come out is set in 1830’s and 1840's America, it dawned on me that the coming trip was an excellent research opportunity. And, if a decent number of words had already been penned, any research would be more relevant and useful.

Breaking the overall target into small pieces, I calculated that 500 words a day until I left would give me 80,000 words, a decent chunk of completed work. A small daily target felt achievable; 80,000 words felt like an impossible mountain. I didn’t manage 500 words every single day, but for more than two-thirds of the year, I did. (Life sometimes got in the way.) However, it was ver y gratifying to have 50,000 words completed before I stepped on that plane in August. It didn’t matter that I didn’t make the target

of 80,000. It was only a device to keep me focused. And yes, even that amount of work made a huge difference to the re-search.

Tip 2: You Might Have to Put Something Else Aside Learning Point: Sometimes we have to temporarily sacrifice a good goal for the greater goal.

I gave up two things. One was sleeping in.

Early morning is always my most creative time, so for most of last year you would have found me at my keyboard soon after 5am, even on holidays and weekends. I usually wrote for two or three hours, depending on what else was happening that day. One other thing I gave up, for the second half of the year, was French classes. I’ve been learning French for the last six years, with the aim of speaking reasonably fluently with friends in France. Those extra hours not travelling to class, in class, and study, were allocated to the writing.

Tip 3: Don’t Underestimate the Power of Small Contributions Over Time Learning Point: Every few minutes makes a difference.

Jim Collins, in his fabulous business book, ‘Good to Great,’ talks about the ‘Flywheel Effect.’

“Each turn of the flywheel builds upon work done earlier, compounding your investment of effort … If someone asks, ‘What was the one big push that caused this thing to go so fast?’ … you wouldn’t be able to answer…

It was all of them added together in an overall accumulation of effort applied in a consistent direction.”

What small piece of activity can you do today that will make an impact on your big goal?

From a writing perspective, another New Zealand writer, Jude Knight gave me some really practical advice. She is a very prolific Regency romance novelist who also holds down a day job in Wellington. She

commutes to work on the train from the Wairarapa and can power out 800-1,000 words in an hour’s commute. She said, ‘Even if you’ve only got 10 minutes, write.

It’s amazing how quickly a book will grow if you use the gaps.’ After that conversation, I found myself following Jude’s advice. The result has been electrifying.

Tip 4: Lock Yourself into a Commitment to Others Learning Point: Energy is released when you commit to someone else. It might be an ‘unreasonable friend’ who doesn’t take your feeble excuses. It might be a date when something’s due. Ask any student with a deadline looming! In October, when I was about two-thirds of the way through my novel, an opportunity came up that required the book to be complete by late January. I decided to apply for it. Suddenly I experienced an amazing release of energy.

Words poured off the tips of my fingers. I found myself working into the evening, even though I’ve never seen myself as creative in the latter part of the day. The more I wrote, the easier the writing became. Since then, other opportunities have also arisen.

Whether or not I’m successful with the first one is no longer important. The motivator was the deadline. My behaviour changed, energy lifted, and the book is finished.

Completion becomes its own reward.

All the very best with your own projects. You CAN do it.

Robyn Pearce is known around the world as the Time Queen, helping people discover new angles on time.

Check the resources on her website www.gettingagrip.com, including a free report for you: How to Master Time in Only 90 Seconds. She is a CSP, a Certified Speaking Professional. This is the top speaking accreditation in the profession of speaking and held by only about 800 people around the world. www.gettingagrip.com

67

Msae

r h tpig tns o erig - nnw

68

KAREN TUI BOYES

Goal Setting in the Primary Years Building Goal Setters from the Ground Up

A

n essential part of learners being independent and self directed is their ability to set and reflect on goals for their success. Throughout each age and phase of schooling, there are several key ideas and strategies that will scaffold the learning for students to be highly efficient and proficient goal setters further up in schooling. Ensuring the foundations are strong early will facilitate success later.

The first year...

When students enter school they may be filled with hopes and dreams of learning to read, write and do maths all on day one! A great place to start is with an understanding of how the brain learns and grows. You can find many resources and videos on YouTube.

One of my favourites is “Ned the Neuron.”

Understanding the importance of challenges being key to brain growth and the 'everything is hard before it is easy,’ philosophy are fundamental foundational stones which need to be embedded at the start of students’ school journeys.

cocoon it will die, because it is the struggle that makes the butterfly strong. Likewise, our role as educators is to allow learners to struggle, to give them progressively challenging content which allows them to strengthen their learning muscles and grow.

This, of course, must be tempered with a balance of success, wins and achievement.

In these early years it is crucial for learners to recognise that what one person finds easy, another will find hard. We are all at different stages of our development and the acceptance of this will facilitate a more supportive and empathic classroom.

Goals at this level need to be achievable within a short time frame of perhaps 1-2 weeks. Learners should know their next steps and see the benefits in the learning.

Celebration of the effort, as well as the end result is essential, as this is the muscle we want to develop.

Examples of short, achievable goals at this level may include: • finger spaces between words;

Our role as educators is to allow learners to struggle, to give them progressively challenging content which allows them to strengthen their learning muscles and grow.

• attempting words not used before: for example, gigantic for big; • follow 3 instructions accurately; • continue sequential patterns; • give clear directions so others can follow correctly.

School is often 'sold' to children as being fun and exciting, and it should be; however, learning is not always a comfortable, joyful experience. I believe it is important to have open and frank conversations about the role that the hard and difficult play, and how those experiences make us stronger.

The analogy of helping a butterfly out of the cocoon can be linked to the science life cycles. If you help a butterfly out of the

The key at this level is RESPONSIBLE RISK TAKING: students being able to attempt something new, even if they are not sure if success will come on the first try. As a teacher, when you hear students say, "This is hard,” remind them it is supposed to be a challenge and encourage them to give it a go. Applaud the effort of risk taking and the mistakes which allow learning to happen.

Years 2 and 3 Once the foundational stone has been set, the next years are about reinforcing these principles by adding levels of understanding. Ideas include to relate the 'hard to easy' concept to prior experiences

such as learning to ride their bike, learning to swim or identifying progress in their reading or writing from the start of the year.

The idea here is to give concrete evidence of the concepts. Discussions of what it feels like to work through hard to get to easy will expand learners awareness.

At this level, start with class goals and move toward learners setting, in conjunction with the teacher, individual goals. These are likely to still be academic goals but may also include social goals as well. A longer timeframe might be offered from 2-5

69

KAREN TUI BOYES

Year 5

weeks and more complex goals may require milestones along the way.

The key here is PRACTICE. The ongoing practice and effort learners take will drive them faster towards success. Of course, practice is often fraught with mistakes, inconsistency, failure, frustration and wanting to quit or give up. Here the disposition of PERSISTENCE is employed. Explicitly teach and discuss this with your learners: The ability to keep going, persevere, look for another way to solve the challenges, use grit and stick to it is pertinent to learning.

Year 4

Teachers Matter

With the foundation of goal setting firmly set, you can now add more complexity. At this level, introduce a goal setting structure such as SMART goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time bound.

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Conversations might centre around students learning what they don't know, rather than going over what they can already do. At this level, discuss avoidance strategies and what your learners do to avoid or get out of doing the hard learning. Bringing this behaviour out in the open helps reduce it.

Provide the big picture to enable learners to see the next steps required to meet their goals and encourage the recording of both academic and social goals. Self-evaluation and reflections can also be introduced at this level.

Modelling of the goal setting process is important here. Ensure the goals are stated in a positive manner, rather than what they don't want. Avoid the words 'don't' or 'not' and focus on what the learner wants to happen.

The key at this level is being SPECIFIC. The more specific the goal, the easier it is to

Goals can be 5-10 weeks long with clear, specific outcomes at this level. Learners may even be working on 2-3 goals simultaneously. The more complex the goals, the more the conversation of 'hard to easy' and 'avoidance' becomes relevant.

achieve. For example, the goal of learning to play the clarinet is not specific, however learning to accurately finger and play the first octave is specific. A goal of learning the periodic table is too broad, so refine it to learning the 37 elements they don't know.

Social goals may include dispositions a learner wishes to develop, such as Striving for Accuracy by checking their work, or Managing Impulsivity by stopping to think before blurting out an answer. They may even focus on a behaviour they wish to develop, such as giving more contributions during group work or letting others contribute more.

Academic goals may be unpacked through a thinking disposition: What thinking strategies or habits might assist in being able to meet a goal? These may include Prof Art Costa and Dr Bena Kallick's Habits of Mind, such as being able to think about their thinking, use past knowledge, persist, and take responsible risks or think flexibly.

At this stage the key is embedding the Dispositional Behaviours, plus planning the STEPS involved to complete a goal. These may be milestones along the way or mini goals toward a bigger target. Encourage learners to self-reflect by journaling and remember to celebrate the effort and results.

Once again, being SPECIFIC is to be emphasised. A goal of learning to speak French requires further unpacking with questions such as, “How will you know you can speak French? Do you need to know all the words in the French dictionary to speak French? When will you be using the French Language? Are there specific phrases you need/want to learn?� This may narrow the goal to more achievable and specifically focused, and may sound something like this: My goal is to be able to introduce myself and have a short conversation with my French neighbour. Add to this the steps and the Dispositional thinking, which may include thinking and communicating with clarity, precision, applying past knowledge and persistence. The goal is then far more likely to be achieved.

KAREN TUI BOYES

Year 6 and Beyond With all of the above established and firmly embedded in students, it is time to add the icing on the cake to enhance the effectiveness of the goals. A new framework of Set, Plan, Monitor, Achieve may be introduced.

Perhaps at all stages of goal setting development, and especially at this level, it is paramount that learners know where they are at in their learning, where they are going and the next steps to get there.

Understanding the 'gap' is a significant part of successful goal setting.

The Spaceship analogy is the idea that a spaceship heading towards the moon is not on target 100% of the time, nor 50%.

The analogy explains that the spaceship was only on target 3% of the time. So, what was it doing the other 97% of the time?

Correcting. There is a navigator constantly doing small course corrections to put the spaceship back on track. This is a useful analogy for when learners feel they are not succeeding.

Written reflections of the journey may also be a key part of success, as this allows the learner to self-evaluate throughout the process and correct when off course.

One of my favourite quotes on goal setting is from Napoleon Hill. "Your attitude determines your direction." Throughout this process, at every age and phase, consider relevant and meaningful celebration of both the effort and the goal achieved.

Success breeds success.

Goal setting by its nature can be a messy business with ups and downs along the journey. Here are two ideas to introduce which may help: the iceberg illusion and the spaceship analogy.

The Iceberg Illusion is all about what you don't see. Learners often perceive success is easy for others while they are struggling.

Of course what we don't see is everything that happens below the surface. Silvia Duckworth has illustrated this superbly below.

You may choose to share a coaching model to enable learners to coach each other and deepen the goal setting experience and success. This requires teaching students how to question with intent and to be able to listen with understanding and empathy.

It involves constant modelling with your learners and explicitly unpacking and teaching the skills of effective listening and questioning.

Both these models help develop awareness that success is not instant and the struggles and challenges are a natural part of the process. They also highlight the selfdiscipline to put themselves back on track and the need to avoid negative self talk.

If you are working toward your learners being fully self-directed and independent, you need to consider how to encourage learners to be self-managing, selfmonitoring and self-modifying within their goal setting.

Happy goal setting with your students.

Karen is an expert in effective teaching and learning, study skills, motivation a n d p o s i t i v e t h i n k i n g. S h e wa s recognised with the NSANZ Educator of the Year award in 2014 and 2017, and works in schools throughout Australasia teaching students how to Study Smart and teachers how to raise achievement. www.karentuiboyes.com

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