Teachers Matter Magazine Issue 60

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

TeachersMatter The Magazine of Spectrum Education

Moving Forward in our Schools and Classrooms Building up Leaders in the Classroom

Performance or Learning?

Leaders in Developing Teachers

Sometimes it Gets Loud in my Toes ISSUE 60

2

EDITOR’S NOTE

Dear Readers, What an excellent issue we have in store for you here in Issue 60 - it’s one you don’t want to miss!

How many of you have experienced new leadership moving into place within the school where you teach or work? It can come with loads of anxiety and feelings of unease. Even if it is a positive change for the building, the changeover can be daunting due to the unknowns of the situation. In Sally Foley-Lewis’ article, “Department Heads Effectively Leading as the Middle Managers,” she outlines 12 strategies that help navigate when faced with those times where so many questions may arise. I know these tips would have helped me in years when I faced those uncertainties!

The business of teaching is not for the faint of heart. It’s difficult. It’s stressful. It’s daunting. But it’s also easy. It’s also fun. It’s also beautiful. That’s why in Megan Gallagher’s article, “Cultivating Wellness,” you’ll read ten ways that you can use to help navigate those more challenging days. From getting outside to using routines to provide stability, I know you’ll be as encouraged as I was from reading this article!

Lastly, if you’re looking for ways to encourage student leadership, don’t miss “Great Student Leadership,”

by Michael Grose. In this article, he discusses multiple principles for creating, cultivating, and caring for growing student leaders in the building. When we, as teachers, are looking for students who can begin growing their own leaders, these tips can help us along the way!

I hope all is well with each of you and all your students!

Yours in Education,

Like TeachersMatter on Facebook

3

CONTENTS

In This Issue

p12 – Performance or Learning?

6

Department Heads Effectively Leading as the Middle Managers

p26 – Moving Forward in our Schools and Classrooms

18

Managing in Moments of Conflict TABITHA LEONARD

12

15

Teachers Matter

16

4

19

Cultivating Wellness

22

Listening with Understanding and Empathy

Performance or Learning?

Leadership

Nurturing Physical Literacy

34

Addressing Monday Morning Blues

MEGAN GALLAGHER

KAREN TUI BOYES

BILL SOMMERS

Quote

31

STEVE ZONNEVYLLE

SALLY FOLEY-LEWIS

9

What If You Were The Easiest Person To Work With?

p38 – Is Your Team Burning Out?

25 26

DAVID ARMSTRONG

28

KATHRYN PICK

36

38

Is Your Team Burning Out?

40

Transitioning to Secondary School

Moving Forward in our Schools and Classrooms

Collaborative Classroom Management LILI-ANN KRIEGLER

Personal Development: A Path to a More Fulfilling Life!

SUSAN SHEEHAN

Quote

ALAN COOPER

ERIN STEEL

JESS STUART

KAREN TUI BOYES

Subscribe today

MAGAZINE CONTACTS

To receive your own digital copy of the next issue, send an e-mail to magazine@spectrumeducation.com

Teachers Matter Magazine Team Publisher, Sales and Advertising Karen Tui Boyes karen@spectrumeducation.com Editor Jessica Youmans Art Director Andrea Aragon-Echano Magazine Co-ordinator Mindy Sutch hello@spectrumeducation.com

Subscriptions Email: info@spectrumeducation.com Thanks to the educators, speakers and authors who contributed interviews, articles, photographs and letters.

Teachers Matter magazine is registered with the National Library:

p48 – Building up Leaders in the Classroom

42

Creating Your own Personal Blue Zone

p58 –Sometimes it Gets Loud in my Toes

55

Great Student Leadership

58

Sometimes it Gets Loud in my Toes

KATHRYN PICK

45

48

Teaching and Well-being SAIRA BOYLE

SONALI VONGCHUSIRI

Building up Leaders in the Classroom

60

Don’t Look Down!

62

MICHAEL GROSE

51

53

OLIVE HICKMOTT

The 3 Most Essential School Supplies for Your Students JESSYKA COULTER

MICHAEL GROSE

Nutrient Boosting for Fussy Eaters JUDITH YEABSLEY

Let’s Celebrate Our Human Rights LESLEY JOHNSON

64

Understanding Success KAREN TUI BOYES

ISSN 1178-6825 © Spectrum Education 2023 All rights reserved.

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.

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

All Enquiries Spectrum Education Ltd Address: 19 Rondane Place, Lower Hutt, New Zealand magazine@spectrumeducation.com www.spectrumeducation.com

5

SALLY FOLEY-LEWIS

Department Heads Effectively Leading as the Middle Managers Navigating School Leadership Changes

C

hange is an intrinsic facet of the educational landscape, and among the most impactful shifts within a school is the transition in senior leadership. The arrival of a new head of school or principal initiates a sequence of adaptations that resonate throughout the institution. During these periods, department heads play an instrumental role in steering their teams through change, upholding stability and cultivating an environment of positivity. Their adeptness in navigating transformation, sustaining equilibrium and fostering collaboration can significantly shape the school’s overall progress amidst these transitional phases.

12 strategies to successfully navigate these times of transition: 1. Communication as the Cornerstone: The foundation of a seamless transition rests on unfettered and effective communication. Department heads act as the pivotal conduits between senior leadership and their respective teams, ensuring a transparent flow of information in a timely manner. This unambiguous communication diminishes ambiguity, quells rumours and furnishes staff with the unity they require during times of flux. Scheduled updates and platforms for dialogue curtail apprehensions, knitting together staff in a common understanding.

2. Sharing Institutional Wisdom:

Teachers Matter

Department heads are custodians of an invaluable wealth of institutional knowledge that proves invaluable during transition. Disseminating insights into the school’s history, culture, and existing practices furnishes incoming leadership with an encompassing grasp of the institution’s dynamics.

This exchange accelerates decision-making processes and empowers new leaders with the knowledge to make wellinformed choices aligned with the school’s ethos.

6

3. Exemplary Leadership: Exemplary leadership displayed by department heads exudes a positive resonance throughout the school community. By demonstrating adaptability, resilience and a proactive approach to change, they set a benchmark for their teams. An openness to novel ideas, methodologies and strategies doesn’t merely exemplify their growth mindset but encourages emulation among their team members.

4. Harmonising with Vision: Department heads synergise their efforts to ensure that departmental objectives dovetail effortlessly with the new leadership’s vision. This synchronicity enhances the cohesion of the institution and propels the realisation of overarching strategic objectives. Regular dialogues with the new leadership channels insights that facilitate the

SALLY FOLEY-LEWIS recalibration of departmental strategies, aligning them with evolving priorities.

5. Empowering the Faculty:

Exemplary leadership displayed by department heads exudes a positive resonance throughout the school community.

During leadership transitions, faculty members may confront uncertainty. Department heads assume a stabilising role by conferring empowerment upon their teams, motivating them to carry on with their routine activities while receiving guidance and assistance when needed.

Offering clarity on expectations, facilitating professional growth opportunities and serving as beacons of reassurance instils stability.

6. Navigating Challenges: Transitions invariably present challenges encompassing the adaptation to new protocols or addressing faculty concerns. Department heads must be poised to mediate,

7

SALLY FOLEY-LEWIS tackle concerns head-on and seek resolutions.

By supplying an environment conducive to open discourse and being resolute in pursuit of solutions, they contribute substantially to an unobstructed transition.

7. Nurturing Professional Development: Leadership transitions also unveil opportunities for professional evolution.

Department heads can motivate their teams to partake in professional development endeavours aligned with the new leadership’s focal areas. This not only amplifies individual competence but is congruent with the school’s evolution as well.

8. Sailing through Uncertainty: Amidst transitions, maintaining a focus on the constants—the commitment to education and the welfare of students—provides an anchor. By emphasising the bedrock mission of the school and reinforcing the role their teams play in shaping young minds, department heads instill a sense of purpose that propels them through change.

9. Cultivating Relationships: Fostering a harmonious rapport with the new senior leadership is pivotal. Department heads can arrange meetings for introductions, elucidate department achievements and engender a discourse about how collective contributions can orchestrate the school’s success. Forging relationships at an early stage nurtures collaboration and confidence.

exertions and accomplishments. This bolsters a favourable atmosphere and spotlights collective advances.

In summation, the role of department heads during senior leadership transitions in schools is paramount in sustaining equilibrium, promoting transparent communication and nurturing a constructive atmosphere. By navigating through change with transparency, harmonising departmental objectives with new visions, and unfaltering support of their teams, department heads significantly influence the school’s triumph during these transformative junctures. Their leadership cultivates unity, purpose and empowerment, consequently impacting the entire school community for the better.

10. Validating Emotions: Leadership transitions are often accompanied by a mosaic of emotions—enthusiasm, trepidation, and at times, resistance. Department heads should foster an environment where these emotions can be acknowledged and embraced candidly. By validating concerns and addressing them with empathy, they underscore their commitment to the wellbeing of their teams.

Teachers Matter

11. Adapting through Lifelong Learning:

8

Department heads, as vanguards of education, embody the importance of continual learning and growth. Participation in their own professional development and sharing these experiences with their teams fosters a culture of continuous learning congruent with the school’s ethos.

12. Celebrating Progress: In the midst of transitions, even minor triumphs and milestones warrant commemoration. Department heads can orchestrate recognition events to commend their teams’

Sally Foley-Lewis Sally helps middle managers be productive leaders.

She is a global, multi-award winning Certified Speaking Professional, who’s helped over 20,000 middle managers from diverse industries, locally and globally. With her unique blend of experiences, exceptional qualifications and humour, Sally’s keynote presentations, workshops and resources inspire, transform and deliver results.

She can be contacted at sally@sallyfoleylewis.com

TABITHA LEONARD

Managing in Moments of Conflict What to do When Dialogue Turns to Disagreement

L

eanna is a middle leader of a large team. She approaches her team member, Leon, about his history of failing to meet deadlines. The team had an important deadline, and Leanna hoped Leon would get things in on time. The conversation starts well. She feels like they are making good progress. Only when Leanna sets a firm boundary for the timeline and expectations around what needs to be done does the conversation turn from dialogue to disagreement?

Leon flicks a switch and becomes disagreeable about everything that is said. In response, to protect her point of view, she fires off statements like, "You are always late with deadlines. No one else has problems getting things in on time. You are so unprofessional." In response, Leon comes

The problem with avoidance is if we don’t talk it out, we act it out.

9

TABITHA LEONARD back with, ''You are so controlling. What's wrong with being a little late? Relax!"

WOW, What the heck has happened?

Do you believe sometimes it's a choice between telling the truth and keeping the relationship? As a result, you avoid the conversation. That is what Leanna would have preferred to do. She knows Leon always comes up with excuses or someone else to blame when getting things in on time. She often wonders if it's easier just to shut up and put up.

How often have you kept quiet rather than spoken up?

This time Leanna did have the conversation. Leon got defensive quickly and the conversation turned from dialogue to disagreement without warning. I'm guessing you can think of a few conversations that have unintentionally gone that way.

Even with the best intent in the world, you cannot control how the other person will respond. Research by the Crucial Learning Group clearly shows that three triggers cause a conversation to shift from safe to dangerous, away from connecting and into protecting.

• High Stakes

• High Emotions

• Differing Opinions We avoid any conversations that feature any one of these.

The problem with avoidance is if we don't talk it out, we act it out. We are designed wrong; our neurobiology is designed to look for signs of safety and danger. Countless generations of genetic shaping drive humans to react to

interpersonal threats as we deal with physical ones—our natural tendencies in threatening moments lean toward fight or flight rather than listening and speaking.

When a tricky conversation arises, we often face pressure and operate from a threat response.

Because we are in an amygdaladriven state, adrenaline is on the rampage, and we are almost incapable of rational thought.

Not to mention problem-solving or empathy.

We don't know where to start in those moments, so we make it up as we go along.

We act in self-defeating ways. We don't lean into genuine curiosity. Instead, we make wild statements of blame and wield our emotions as facts. It's hard to be curious when you feel challenged by someone else. We must reset the brain and reactivate our prefrontal cortex in those moments by noticing the signs and using them as a catalyst for curiosity.

Viktor Frankl, in Man's Search for Meaning, suggests, “Between the stimulus and response, there is a space.

And in that space lies our freedom and power to choose our responses. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

When you create that space, you can make better decisions in the moment.

• Build an awareness

• Notice the behaviours Let's take a look at how you can do that.

Build an Awareness Like any challenge in life, when we are caught unaware, things can escalate very quickly. Unmet expectations in a conversation can catch us unprepared. In those moments of surprise, we can react instead of responding.

DO THIS Teachers Matter

Ask yourself the following questions.

10

a. Opposing opinions? If so, get curious - What are the opposing opinions?

b. Strong emotions at play? If so, get curious - What emotions are at play here for you? What about for the other person?

c. High-stakes? If so, get curious - What's at stake here for you, the other person, the relationship?

If, at any moment, you can identify any of these in action, you are in the high-risk zone. Dialogue may turn to

TABITHA LEONARD disagreement, so take action to stop it from happening. Slow down. Move into curiosity and listen to their perspective before you share your own. Listening first, without judgment, is a powerful act of compassion. It creates safety and connection and allows you to be responsive rather than reactive.

Notice the Behaviours When we feel unsafe, we behave in a way that has a negative impact. We either move towards villainous control or victim-like caution. Nothing good will come from a conversation where one or both parties are amygdala driven.

When we feel safe, we behave in a way that positively impacts the conversation. We relinquish the need to control the conversation. We either move towards engaging curiosity or courageous compassion even when every cell in our body screams to defend ourselves.

Moving towards Positive Impacts • Pause / Breathe - Take a deep breath and as you breathe out, Acknowledge what's just been said.

Acknowledge doesn't mean you agree; it means you have heard.

• Ask - Ask an open question. Not a question you already know the answer to or a cutting rhetorical question you use as a sword. Ask a genuinely curious question.

A word of advice, however, is that Acknowledgement and Empathy are communication superpowers. To amplify their impact, steer clear of the use of “but” or “however.” These two words negate your acknowledgement and empathy.

For example, you are having a conversation with a colleague about an important deadline. There are differing opinions as to when the deadline should be. The other person has just told you that they think you are making a big deal out of nothing. What you really want to respond with is, “Well, you would say that you never take anything seriously.”

Instead you…

• Pause / Breathe

Tabitha Leonard

• Empathise/Acknowledge - “I can hear you disagree with me on this.”

Tabitha Leonard is the creator and founder of coaching intelligence NZ. She is a certified communication coach with vast expertise in coaching and education. She brings a fusion of neuroscience and mindfulness to teach ways of communicating that nurture exceptional educators and creates genuinely exceptional schools.

It's helpful to have a go-to question. It's hard to self-regulate when you are triggered to fight-flight. What might be your go-to question in those challenging moments?

For more, visit www.tabithaleonard.com

• Ask - “You just said you don't think this is important.

Can you tell me more about what you mean when you say that?”

11

BILL SOMMERS

Performance or Learning?

Teachers Matter

Learning Leads to Performance

12

BILL SOMMERS

Not Learning is bad. Not Wanting to Learn is Worse.

- African Proverb

I

n 2021, Eduardo Briceño facilitated a Learning Omnivores event on Mindset hosted by SW Metro District 288 in Shakopee, MN. In addition to Ted Talks and national consulting, Eduardo connects the research on Mindset to classroom activities.

Eduardo’s new book, The Performance PARADOX: Turning the Power of Mindset into Action, published in September 2023. The premise is we have spent years focusing on test scores. How is that working for us? As a principal, what I see are stagnant or increasing dropouts, disengagement and disillusionment among students. Eduardo proposes to refocus on the LEARNING zone. The African Proverb at the top is proving to be true.

Briceño states, “The Learning Zone is about inquiry, experimentation making, reflecting on mistakes and implementing adjustments on the journey toward greater excellence. If we want to create a culture of growth – one where continuous improvement drives increasing performance, we have to make sure that growth behaviours are respected, valued and rewarded.”

Eduardo began his presentation by asking a question. How do I want my students and colleagues to perceive me and think of me? As teachers and leaders many times we are perceived as just smart. I started coaching a math teacher named To. His dissertation was based on me coaching him in front of a class of geometry students and comparing that with another class where I did not coach him.

The students in the coached class thought Tom was just good at math. They didn’t see the preparation and thought Tom put into creating a class to teach. This was a major ‘aha’ moment for the students. Consider being more transparent with our own learning which is a model to students. It models a growth mindset versus a knowledge or fixed mindset.

One ‘aha’ for the participants in our zoom conference was the concept of Performance Zone or Learning Zone? Most of us have heard that student learning is the most important.

Consider a prerequisite, wanting to learn, believing I can learn, and that I, as the student, can continue to get better.

Increased educator efficacy results in more student learning.

Jeff Howard, at the Efficacy Institute, has done great work on accelerating adult and student efficacy.

As Eduardo explained, our focus on performance may be inhibiting learning. If our only measure of assessment is test scores, a winning score or being judged in competition, many students (and adults) tend to revert to what we are already good at and what has worked in the past. We all like to get positive comments such as, “You are a good teacher.” Students like to hear things like, “You are really good at dance,” “You are a great writer,” “You are a natural at solving math problems.” However, this may cause people to stop learning and rely on the past. Test scores are lagging indicators. If we measure efficacy or agency during the year, we may get insights into the mindset and belief we can learn.

What worked in the past will probably not be enough for a future VUCA world. From the writings and research on Mindset by Carol Dweck and Jeff Howard, feedback without judgment can be growth-producing. Being specific about what worked, what didn’t and what you might do differently that can accelerate learning.

Praise can be helpful when acknowledging effort, creativity or collaboration. Be careful with praise because it may signal an endpoint. Humility to say, “I don’t know,” or, “I am not as good as I want to be,” will help all of us learn more. If ego and seeking approval is the goal, learning is less and risktaking is diminished.

13

BILL SOMMERS Watch your Language Eduardo gives several examples of how our language can accelerate learning or diminish it, even with the best of intentions. Use the word ‘yet.’ When a student is not making progress, adding the word ‘yet’ may help alert the student that they have not mastered the skill now, but they will.

Focus on Honouring Behaviours Thinking on behaviours like persisting, collaborating, creating or helping others signals to the student to do more of that. Language like, “You are smart,” or, “You are really talented,” can say you have arrived. You don’t need to continue to learn.

Eduardo also referred to a 2016 K. Anders Ericsson’s book, Peak. Ericsson’s research over the years has been foundational and insightful. One of his quotes is, “Getting out of your comfort zone means trying to do something that you couldn’t do before. The solution is not “try harder” but rather “try differently.” Ah, continually learning new ways of doing things.

Ericsson’s approach is to set a goal to accomplish just outside or at the edge of the comfort zone. I call it the Goldilocks’ Theory. Not too easy, people get bored. Not too hard, frustration and quitting can result. Set a goal at your learning edge. Provide support in giving specific feedback without blame or judgment. Give feedback immediately so the person can self-correct. And finally, give ongoing coaching.

Another resource mentioned is Jon Saphier’s, High Expectations Teaching. It suggests that kids are learning machines. The issue is how do we open up ways for learning to occur and continue learning for the rest of their lives. Jon has provided fifty ways to help students believe that they are learners.

Dr. Saphier writes that our job is to:

Teachers Matter

1. Convince them that they can grow their ability.

14

2. Show them how.

3. Motivate them to want to.

Further he says the challenge for us as educators is to: • get our students to believe this,

• teach them how to exert effective effort • make them feel known and valued • give them high-quality instruction

How do we treat mistakes or errors? Are they a source of learning or negative emotions? As Eduardo pointed out, mistakes are learning opportunities. Think of the “F” word as feedback. Did it work? Was it correct? If so, keep doing it.

If not, stop it. Try something else.

A final thought is adult modelling. How do we model learning in front of students? How do we model learning with our colleagues? What are we working on in order to get better at learning, teaching or leading? Students are watching everything we do. Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “What you do speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you are saying.”

Dr William Sommers Bill has been an administrator at the middle school, high school, central office and at the university level working in leadership preparation programs and doctoral faculties.

As a teacher he worked with self-paced physics, math, and chemistry teaching methods. With over forty years of experience in teaching and leading schools, he has actively extended his learning from educational to include business models. He has been a consultant with Cognitive Coaching, Adaptive Schools, Brain Research, Poverty issues, Leadership Development and Conflict to Consensus models.

He can be contacted at: sommersb4@gmail.com

Quote

15

DAVID ARMSTRONG

Leadership What Would This Look Like, if it was This Easy?

P

rincipalship is sometimes described as hard, complex, or challenging, which can all be true at times…but what if it wasn’t? What if it was easy?

speaking was the primary task of the first principal, their job would be easy. If it were the primary job of the second principal . . .

And interestingly, ‘easy’ is very subjective.

I know a school leader who is amazing at creating timetables. Give them the parameters and intended outcome, and in less than five minutes they’ll have a functional masterpiece nailed. Give me the same challenge and I’ll struggle for ages and have to write drafts, redrafts and probably more drafts before I get it right. If timetabling was a big part of this gifted individual’s daily work, they would be cruising.

Teachers Matter

I’m guessing we all have aspects of the job that we find easy, but that others may well find difficult. For example, the yearly prize-giving speech. You may love giving that annual inspirational address to a packed auditorium. You look forward to it and get a real buzz from the delivery – it’s easy. But just down the road, another principal lies awake worrying about it as the fateful day gets closer. If public

16

DAVID ARMSTRONG

So, one way to make the job easier is to spend as much time as possible doing the things that energise you, and the least amount of time doing the things that you find difficult or energy sapping.

If something has a degree of challenge, and you are good at it, it also usually becomes enjoyable, fun even. (Having fun while working could be close to the holy grail!)

I suggest you start with the negatives – the things you hate doing. Even giving yourself permission to consider what they are, will have them rushing out onto the paper. That’s because they are usually closely linked to an emotion or two.

Then make a second list – the things you enjoy doing. The parts of the job that energise you. I’m guessing pretty much all of us will have something about hanging out with the kids in this list, but after that it will diverge uniquely. (If you genuinely struggle to think of things here, that is a tangible sign that change is needed, things are not OK and you may need to talk to someone you trust.)

Once the lists are started, it’s time to picture yourself doing less of the difficult and more of the energising. It may sound ‘cheesy’ but literally visualising what your job could be like with a better balance of responsibilities helps make change.

“If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.”

–W. A. Ward

Picturing something is that vital first step in making an abstract idea real. There’s more to do after making that first leap, but without it, what you decide is ‘impossible,’ stays that way.

Why not?

So, one way to make the job easier is to spend as much time as possible doing the things that energise you, and the least amount of time doing the things that you find difficult or energy sapping. Some experts even call this ‘job design’ – where you deliberately craft your role in a way that maximises your strengths (and minimises the time you spend on things that drain you).

On the flip side, this strategy means change – someone else will be doing the things that you struggle with, or those things are deleted or they are done differently. If you have a scheduling guru in your team, doesn’t it make sense for you to release them to sort that pesky learning support timetable? You could even teach their class while they do.

Before any of this can happen, some thinking will be required.

Which regular aspects of your role could be: done better by someone else, done differently by you or not done at all?

And which would you like to do yourself, or do more of?

You need some time on your own personal ‘lilypad,’ with a blank piece of paper in hand to think about this. And folks, this needs to be done off-site.

David Armstrong Dave is a primary school principal with over 20 years of experience as a school leader. He currently leads a U4 full primary in the South Island of New Zealand. He is a founding member of the 40 Hour Project, where since 2019, he has been working specifically in the area of principal wellness and long-term resilience. He is a qualified coach having trained with the NZ Coaching and Mentoring Centre and has considerable experience working with individuals and groups to help them reach their goals both professionally and personally. His passion is helping people make sense of the amazing career called principalship in ways that allow them to be effective and happy.

17

STEVE ZONNEVYLLE

What If You Were The Easiest Person To Work With?

Can you be Easy to Work With, Even When it’s not Easy?

If you were the easiest person to work with, how would it change your own wellbeing?

W

hat if you moved through your school, or learning place, as if you were the easiest person to work with?

Please note that I’m talking specifically of being easy to work with, and not for. What would your personal definition of “being easy to work with” look like?

What would people see in you that made it easy for them to work alongside you?

How would you behave around people?

Where would this thing called consistency fit in?

What would you see in the behaviour of others around you as a result?

Do you think that being the easiest person to work with would result in people thinking you were a push over, or making other judgmentally negative insinuations? (Of course, it’s not a competition. You can have many people in any one institution being easy to work with.)

But I’d imagine that if I was onto a winner and having a brilliant day, with all the ducks in a row and everything was going to plan, that I’d be easy to work with. It’s those other times when you’re up against it, neck deep, with a board report to write while having a stand down to investigate, an angry parent to deal with, a broken photocopier and no coffee in the kitchen. What about those times?

It’s easy to be the following when the tide is flowing in the right direction: • Be reliable and always follow through on your commitments.

• Be respectful of others’ time and work.

Teachers Matter

• Be open to feedback and willing to learn.

18

• Be a team player and be willing to help out wherever needed.

• Be positive and have a good attitude.

People who are easy to work with are also people who others are likely to want to collaborate with and succeed with. Unsurprisingly, being easy to work with makes your own work more enjoyable and fulfilling.

So how about you? If you were the easiest person to work with, how would it change your own wellbeing?

Steve Zonnevylle Steve is an articulate, creative, and competent professional. He has nearly 30 years of Primary Principal experience in the New Zealand school setting. He is passionate about Principalship and believes that being a Principal is one of the most important and privileged vocations on the planet.

MEGAN GALLAGHER

Cultivating Wellness 10 Classroom Self-Care Ideas to Enhance Teaching

D

o you ever get to the end of the day and feel like you have barely had a moment to draw a breath? Our classrooms are often busy places; lots of people, lots of things to do, lots going on. It can be noisy and distracting.

All of this can be a great recipe for creating more stress than we need unless we actively keep working on our self-care throughout the day.

Here are tens ways to practice self-care throughout a school day. Treat this like a smorgasbord, I hope there is something for everyone here, and that you can take on what will fit for you.

1. Your breath is a superpower, so take a couple of mindful breaths every now and then.

Breathing deep into our belly and out slowly can calm our busy minds. You might take some beautiful deep breaths before the day starts, and perhaps as you enter the classroom after each break. Before you respond

to a request, pause and breathe first. This will reduce your stress as you minimise the demand to react to everything that is happening immediately. **Involve your students: Practice breathing deeply and slowly together, learn breathing techniques to find the ones that work best for them

2. Be curious.

When things feel a little chaotic or don’t go as well as we planned, when we are presented with challenging behaviour or when things get stressful, we can fall into the trap of reacting to the out of control feeling we are experiencing instead of responding intelligently to the situation. One way to flick the switch is to tune into curiosity. Get curious about what we are experiencing internally and what is happening in the situation we are facing. Curiosity leads us away from judgment and condemnation and towards compassion and connection which is less stressful for all concerned.

19

MEGAN GALLAGHER

If we look genuinely happy to see our students, allow ourselves to enjoy things when they are going well, smile at different times throughout the day, we will influence the environment we are working in.

do what you can when you can, and in the meantime, do what you can to shift the negative energy, too.

Loneliness is a signal that you need connection. Perhaps this is a time to do something like singing as a group, or playing a collaborative game as a class to increase connection or help an individual. You might talk to a colleague or make sure you get to the staffroom. If you are tired then make sure you meet your other basic needs. Pace yourself throughout the day. If you can, even closing your eyes for a few minutes at a break might help.

3. Get out of your seat regularly.

Sitting for long periods of time isn’t healthy for our body or brain. When we move we can release muscle tension and reduce the impact of stressful hormones.

When your class is playing a game or doing PE, feel free to get involved and join in with them ** Involve your students: Stretch and move with your class, it’ll be great for their learning too…maybe a small dance party every now and then to really shift the energy.

4. Get outside.

Outside we can breathe fresh air (usually) and feel the weather on our skin which helps bring us back to the here and now rather than being caught up in anxiety over the stressful events going on around us. This may also be an opportunity to connect with nature in some way; You may hear the bird song, you might notice the trees, you could take your shoes off and walk in the grass…vitamin N is good for the soul.

Teachers Matter

** Involve your students: If the weather is appropriate go outside and read a book, or read together, have a walk, play a game or create art.

20

5. HALT- meet your basic needs.

You are more likely to get stressed if you are Hungry, Angry (due to unmet needs or a sense of injustice), Lonely or Tired. Please give yourself permission to eat your lunch slowly enough that you can enjoy your food - you will feel more nourished. Drink regularly - water is a great choice. If you have a sense of injustice then assess the situation, is it something you can change or something you need to accept? If you can change it,

6. Use routines to minimise decision fatigue.

The time spent setting routines really does pay off hugely in reducing the thinking that you need to do throughout the day. It means you don’t have to give so many instructions and you can also turn to a routine when faced with something out of the ordinary so the class can continue even if you are otherwise occupied.

Having routines for yourself helps, too! ** Involve your students: Teach them routines and encourage them to take responsibility so you can focus on other things.

7. Organise your paperwork and resources.

Not being able to put your hands on the things you need when you need them adds unnecessary stress to the day and this is something we can take responsibility for. Setting aside the time to organise your stuff is worth the effort. ** Involve your students: Ask them for advice about organising classroom resources, and teach them to put things back where they belong…everything has a place and a place for everything.

MEGAN GALLAGHER ** Involve your students: Make sure that the tidy up routine at the end of the day is clear for your students, and encourage them to reflect on how things have gone throughout the day, too.

BONUS TIP (because I don’t do well with colouring in the lines): Smile and allow yourself to enjoy. I love Haim G Ginott’s quote below, in fact, I have had this in the front of my teacher planner for a number of years to remind me that how I show up makes a difference. If we look genuinely happy to see our students, allow ourselves to enjoy things when they are going well, smile at different times throughout the day, we will influence the environment we are working in.

8. Start the day well.

You know what you need to get yourself ready for the day, there will be tasks that are routine for you so you don’t need to think about them, you just do them. If you can have a few minutes in your classroom on your own just to breathe and mentally prepare yourself for the day ahead it can be really helpful, this is a great way to put your imagination to work for you. You might choose a positive word/quality to focus on for the day like joy, chuckle, curiosity, freedom. Look out for the word/ quality popping up in the day. You could choose a quote or whakatauki instead. ** Involve your students: Share your vision for the day with your students, encourage them to choose a positive word/quality/quote to focus on.

9. Focus on gratitude.

Set yourself a goal of looking for things to be grateful for throughout your day. Express your thanks for the little things as the day goes by, say thank you to colleagues and students, look in a mirror and thank yourself, too.

“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanised or dehumanised.”

Teaching is a complex job that requires a lot of energy. Our energy is a finite resource and each day’s reserves will be quickly used up if we are over-stressed. Emotions are also contagious so if we are stressed then that can infect the energy of our classroom, our stress can amp up the stress in our students which then amps up our stress again. It can be a vicious cycle. The good news is with awareness we can put in a circuit breaker. If we can reduce daily stressors, using some of the strategies I have suggested here perhaps, it will support our ability to manage our own stress levels and enable us to cope with the challenges that pop up better as well. It is worth the effort.

** Involve your students: Get everyone focused on the gratitude game, encourage thanking each other, noticing the little things that we do for each other.

10.

End the day well.

Give yourself a few minutes to put things away and set up enough for the next day, make sure everything is put back where it belongs. Take a few more minutes to pause and reflect on the day. Tony Ryan suggests that you write down a few things that went well and one thing that you would do differently if you were to do it again. You might jot down a couple of tasks that you need to do in the morning so you don’t have to do the thinking the next day. Once this becomes a routine it will be a simple way to wrap up your day.

Megan Gallagher Megan Gallagher Megan is a committed learner. She is a teacher and has been an educational leader who has specialised in health education for a number of years. She is an avid promoter of building resilience in our students and selves.

Contact her: www.facebook.com/teachlearnlead

21

KAREN TUI BOYES

Listening with Understanding and Empathy Practical Ways to Build this Habit in the Classroom

Teachers Matter

L

22

istening with understanding and empathy is a crucial skill that not only enhances personal relationships but also plays a significant role in academic and professional lives. The Habit of Mind of Listening with Understanding and Empathy, as identified by Prof Art Costa and Dr Bena Kallick, goes beyond simply hearing words; it involves actively engaging with the speaker, seeking to comprehend their perspective and responding with genuine empathy.

In the classroom, teaching students to listen with understanding and empathy can be a transformative experience, fostering a more inclusive and compassionate learning environment. Here are some practical ways to teach this skill and habit in the classroom.

Great listening also involves being able to monitor and control your personal dialogue and thoughts, putting your own thoughts aside to be present to the speaker’s words and meaning.

Create opportunities to practice active listening exercises.

When students are discussing or brainstorming in pairs or small groups, invite them to share what they heard and learned with the class.

Active Listening Exercises

KAREN TUI BOYES

Great listening also involves being able to monitor and control your personal dialogue and thoughts, putting your own thoughts aside to be present to the speaker’s words and meaning.

This can aid others in understanding their own thinking better. Questioning helps to eliminate ambiguity and ensure effective communication. Here are some examples of clarifying questions: - Can you please explain that in more detail?

- What specifically do you mean by xyz?

- I’m not sure I understand. Can you walk me through it step by step?

- Can you give an example to illustrate your point?

Be Curious One of the fastest ways to teach students great listening skills is to authentically model them. Show students you are interested in finding out more about what they say or their reasonings. Use phrases such as, “Tell me more,” and, “What makes you say that?”

Role Play and Perspective-Taking Attending to the Physical Explicitly teach students to notice and monitor the physical features of a speaker while they are listening. This takes practice. Practice seeing a speaker’s facial expressions, body language and eye movements. Also cue them into understanding voice intonation and what this may mean.

Teach the Listening Sequence The three P’s of listening are Pause, Paraphrase and Probe.

• Pause: When the other person finishes speaking, wait for a few moments, ideally between 7-10 seconds!

Ask yourself, “Has the other person really finished?”

Sometimes waiting is the most helpful thing to do, rather than jumping in with your opinion. In that quiet space, the other person may clarify or reframe their point of view, solution or idea.

• Paraphrase: Summarise what you heard them say.

This is a brief explanation that represents what was told to you. This is not the time to add your thinking, inferences or new ideas.

• Probe: Ask questions to promote clarity and precision of the other person’s point of view, solution or idea.

Role-play activities help students see the world from different perspectives. Assign roles and scenarios that challenge students to understand and empathise with characters who have diverse backgrounds, experiences and viewpoints. Debrief after the role-play to discuss the importance of empathy in understanding others.

Reflective Journals Implementing reflective journaling in your classroom can be a powerful tool for teaching listening with understanding and empathy. Have students write about their experiences of actively listening to others, sharing their insights, challenges and personal growth. This practice helps them become more self-aware and encourages continuous improvement.

Guest Speakers and Real-World Application Invite guest speakers to share their experiences and perspectives with your class. Encourage students to actively listen, take notes and ask thoughtful questions. Afterwards, discuss what they learned and how it increased their understanding and empathy for different perspectives in the real world.

23

KAREN TUI BOYES

Empathy-Building Literature

Teachers Matter

Incorporate literature that focuses on empathy and understanding into your curriculum. Novels, short stories and poetry can provide valuable opportunities for students to explore and discuss characters’ emotions and perspectives. Encourage students to write essays or engage in discussions to deepen their understanding of empathy.

24

Teaching the Habit of Mind and then listening with understanding and empathy, is a valuable investment in your student’s personal growth and academic success. By fostering connection, enhancing learning and developing emotional intelligence, this skill equips students with the tools they need to navigate a diverse and interconnected world. Incorporating active listening exercises, role-play, reflective journals, guest speakers and empathy-building literature can help you instill this essential habit in your classroom, preparing your students to become empathetic, open-minded and compassionate individuals.

As Professor Art Costa says, “What if everyone in the world listened with understanding and empathy? The world would be a very different place!”

Karen Tui Boyes Karen Tui Boyes is a champion for LifeLong Learning and is on a mission to transform education globally. Described as an educational alchemist, a conscious creator and a playful priestess, she grounds the research into practical strategies which positively impact teaching and learning.

A multi-award-winning speaker, educator and businesswoman, she is the CEO of Spectrum Education, Principal of Spectrum Online Academy and the author of 11 books.

Find out more at:

www.spectrumeducation.com

Quote

25

ALAN COOPER

Moving Forward in our Schools and Classrooms How Relationships Propel us or Drag us Down

Teachers Matter

M

26

y way or the highway,” is very often the philosophy of schools and teachers. This means that the school, the classroom, the total learning environment is teacher friendly rather than student/user friendly. In their book, Jonathan Mooney and David Cole, Dyslexic and ADHD students respectively, who went on to achieve university honours degrees, have this to say: “It did not matter that we showed strong alternative learning styles…these strengths were ignored… Attempts at intervention allowed people to blame us…It took us 15 years…to stop blaming ourselves…and to come to realise how profound an effect the environment had had on our ability to succeed.” Ram this home. I have just completed a draft for my teacher book, entitled, “It Is All About Relationships, Stupid.”

In my view, looking after staff-student, student-staff, and student-student relationships is not a big deal if you go about it in small bites by using the KISS technique, which once was “KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE STUPID!”

However, stupid has the wrong connotations, and is an example of what a careless word from a teacher or from a student to another student negative the camaraderie good will and even happiness you the teacher, are striving to introduce to improve the culture of the class or even the school if you are a principal or in the hierarchy. Even small flecks of “my way or the highway” are there but barely visible unless they are looked for, so delete the stupid to avoid your students and you going up a blind alley and providing stress. Even a tiny minority at a hardly observable level which will grow as the connotations of stupid are widened in time. Keep a thoughtful eye out to avoid this to avoid actioning even a minor sub-conscious, Fight, Flee, or Freeze.

Humming has many physiological pluses hidden in the body’s response. Just to name one. Humming stimulates the vocal cords to vibrate although this will not have a physical

ALAN COOPER

impact, so you do not know what is happening. This leads to deep inner body vibrations, which, again, the person is unaware of. This stimulates the vagus nerve which then feeds back to the brain all this. Once alerted the brain feeds back information that calms the body and removes or at least reduces any anxiety or despair.

A simple start, remember doing things little by little is the first principle of change! To change, try simply humming and have the class humming too as they pick up what you and the rest of the class are doing.

Highflyers become disenchanted with school, also. In classrooms and schools that would be rated as tops even the brightest and best, complain of boredom in the classroom. They decry lessons as a bore and a chore. The environment is not conducive, so even the high achievers end underachieving.

Goleman reminds us of the importance of emotional intelligence which affects our schools and classrooms like a hidden pandemic. “Mirror neurons ensure that the moment someone sees an emotion expressed on your face or an emotional expression on your face, they will at once sense that same feeling within themselves. And so our emotions are experienced not merely by ourselves in isolation but also by those around us both covertly and openly. As mirror neurons bridge brains they create a tacit duet that opens the way for subtle but powerful transactions,” between students and teachers. Getting them wrong sabotages the teaching and learning. Moreover, mirror neurons are only one of these. We are going to slide in educational standards until we are able to provide expertise for our teachers and students in all this!

A simple start, remember doing things little by little is the first principle of change!

It does not have to be that way. The misery that results from academic failure and the associated or consequential behaviour problems can be avoided. The lack of motivation from sterile lessons in sterile classrooms can also be avoided. However, to do so, there needs to be a shift in our understanding of what the problem is. Robert Sylwester boldly asserts that the problem is not the students but the teachers. He writes: “Regrettably, teacher misbehavour may well be the cause of some (if not much) disruptive, student misbehaviour.”

These are strong attacks, and in such circumstances, there is always the option (perhaps it is even a subconscious preference of our teacher brains) to downshift, to fight, flee or freeze. In short, to go into denial. However, once teachers overcome or avoid denial and look at how their teaching can recover from this. One aspect of this are mirror neurons.

To paraphrase from his book, to overcome being immune from such attacks, there are many practical alternatives, user friendly to both teacher and student. These social and emotional activities are not academic curricula, but ease the way to achieving expertise in teaching and learning.

Through an ability to understand the motivation and abilities of other people and respond to them in such a way that makes teaching and learning positive. As a teacher or a principal, using your imagination makes the difference.

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.

Alan can be contacted at: 82napawine@gmail.com

27

LILI-ANN KRIEGLER

Collaborative Classroom Management The Co-Regulation Advantage

I

n the realm of education, there are moments that redefine our approach. In this article, I share one of my transformative encounters.

Redefining Classroom Management In the traditional education landscape, teachers often believe the onus for their students' conduct is their responsibility. I commenced my career with this perspective, believing that educators and students individually needed to self-regulate.

But an alternative avenue exists to achieve equilibrium: coregulation.

Early in my career, the concept of co-regulation was unfamiliar to me. When faced with disruptive behaviour, I questioned why I couldn't establish an ideal balance.

Despite diligently enforcing classroom rules, offering commendations for positive behaviour, and implementing consequences for transgressions, maintaining a serene and cooperative classroom atmosphere seemed elusive.

A Transformative Encounter

Teachers Matter

One day, a pivotal drama lesson led by a colleague, Dr Kathleen Buchanan, reshaped my perspective on classroom management. Positioned at the entrance to the school hall, she touched a finger to her lips instantly silencing my preschool group. Following her exaggerated lead, they tiptoed to form a circle around her chair where she looked around to establish eye contact with each child. She greeted them in a whisper, prompting a whispered response. Then, widening her eyes, she boomed, "GOOD MORNING," setting off infectious laughter and a rowdy response. Finger to her lips, she reestablished silence.

28

She didn't continue by describing the next activity but established a listening protocol. "I know you're going to love the next activity, but you have to listen until I am finished talking before you can move. Can you do that?"

The children nod. "When I tell you to, you will stand up and find a place where you can stretch your arms and make a circle without touching anyone. Yes?” They nod. “On my signal, you can run in any direction anywhere in the hall.

But there is one rule.” She emphatically holds up an index finger. “You are not allowed to collide with anyone else! Do you all know what to do?" Again the nodding. She stands quietly and invites them all to tiptoe and claim a space.

Then she lets them rip around the hall for two minutes. It is

Embracing co-regulation transfigured my teaching approach, enabling me to cultivate a classroom where collaboration and emotional maturation take precedence.

pandemonium, but miraculously, no one is knocked over.

Kathleen signals the end of the game by standing dead still.

Mirroring her stillness they transform into statues. With their energy expended and the mood raised, they reconvene in the circle.

Next, she produces a mysterious black bag, sparking their curiosity. Before inviting guesses, she asked the children to establish rules for respectful participation. They accept one child's idea to raise a hand to earn a turn to guess. Kathleen makes the guessing more inclusive by suggesting they can all silently consider possibilities. She says, "Good guessing means good thinking." Before she invites the guesses, she asks them to focus on clues. She rustles the bag and questions them: “What can you hear? What can you see?

How heavy is the bag?”

Then she calls for the first child's 'out loud' guess. After each guess, she pulls one object from the bag. An eggbeater emerges, followed by a spatula. The children deduce its contents - an assortment of kitchen utensils. Kathleen invites each child to collect one and challenges them to use it to represent something entirely different. She demonstrates the task, using a long fork as a conductor's baton. The children giggle. Kitchen utensils became microphones, golf clubs, tennis racquets and flutes. A potato masher becomes a dance partner.

LILI-ANN KRIEGLER

Transfer and Application of Knowledge Once the activity is over, Kathleen extends the learning beyond the classroom. "Where do all these implements belong?"

"In the kitchen."

"Where else do we use tools to do things? One at a time, please."

Hands go up: In the garden, in the garage, in my dad's toolbox, in the sewing room, in the gym. She chooses two examples and gets the children to name all the tools they can think of and explain their unique use. She emphasises the idea of categories. "So there are different kinds of tools that go in different places. We can categorise them according to where they are used." And she does not at any stage dumb down the language.

From this seemingly whimsical activity, Kathleen's lesson has a profound educational impact. The skills she uses can be adapted for any year level. She uses her voice, body language and gestures. She demonstrates tasks and behaviours. She preempts missteps by using a clear, declarative language style. In partnership with the students, she elicits norms and protocols. She introduces complex

language and highlights thinking skills. She controls the energy and emotional tone and invites engagement, teamwork, exploration and creativity. This experience with Dr Kathleen Buchanan exposed me to the heart of coregulation and from that moment, my classroom strategies were transformed.

The Journey of Co-Regulation Unveiled Dr Buchanan's teaching approach transcends the teachercentric model, inviting collaboration and shared ownership in the learning journey. This seamless integration of diverse techniques empowers students, fosters unity and invites an active role in shaping learning experiences.

The Essence of Co-Regulation The game changing concept of co-regulation is not new. It aligns with sociocultural and socio-cognitive learning theories proposed by luminaries like the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky, and US researchers Albert Bandura and Barry Zimmerman. The distinguished researcher Linda K. Murphy and other experts have catalogued methods to transcend the conventional teacherstudent relationship.

29

LILI-ANN KRIEGLER

Collaborating for Success Co-regulation erases the traditional boundary between educators and students, elevating them to co-learners. It transcends imposed rules, welcoming active participation from students in shaping the classroom environment. It embodies a shared vision of harmony, acknowledging and comprehending everyone's emotions and needs.

A New Paradigm of Classroom Management

approach, enabling me to cultivate a classroom where collaboration and emotional maturation take precedence.

By integrating students of all ages into shaping the learning environment, we foster a realm where ideas are shared, emotions are comprehended, and solutions are collectively designed.

Join me on a voyage of co-regulation and forge a classroom milieu where students and educators prosper hand-in-hand to embrace learning, growth and harmony.

Through co-regulation, educators forge an environment where robust reciprocal relationships flourish. Students are empowered to voice their thoughts, define norms, and contribute to activity planning. Shared responsibility deepens their sense of belonging and nurtures emotional growth and teamwork.

Teachers Matter

The Ripple Effect on Wellbeing

30

Lili-Ann Kriegler

When educators embrace co-regulation, the classroom transforms into a space where students and teachers thrive, which curtails the risk of teacher burnout because a nurturing environment fosters mutual relationships and positive interactions.

Lili-Ann Kriegler (B. A Hons, H. Dip. Ed, M.Ed.) is a Melbourne-based education consultant and awardwinning author of Edu-Chameleon and Roots and Wings.

Lili-Ann writes to share the wisdom she has acquired through her training and 30 years of experience in education. She is a child, parent and family advocate who believes that education is a transformative force for humanity.

Embrace the Power of Co-Regulation

For more information, visit www.kriegler-education.com

Embracing co-regulation transfigured my teaching

ERIN STEEL

Nurturing Physical Literacy Creating a Foundation of Lifelong Well-being

I

n the pursuit of a well-rounded, quality education for our students we eagerly teach, it is important to recognise that intellectual growth alone does not suffice.

Just as reading and writing are fundamental to academic success, developing physical literacy is equally essential for a comprehensive, thriving life. This article explores the significance of nurturing physical literacy and its impact on personal growth, health and holistic development and provides some time for reflection.

Understanding Physical Literacy: Physical literacy is more than just being physically active; it incorporates an understanding of fundamental movement skills, as well as the confidence and motivation to participate, and the motivation to engage in a wide range of physical activities. Physical literacy is about equipping individuals with the tools to move with competence and confidence in different environments and contexts.

31

ERIN STEEL

At its heart, our collaborative approach needs to ensure we are deliberate in action, towards our key intention - to nurture the individual’s relationship with physical activity across their lifetime in a way that works best for them.

and prioritises physical activity and movement. Physical literacy can be achieved through initiatives such as physical education classes, extracurricular sports, active transportation and the integration of movement into everyday routines.

Through team sports and cooperative activities, individuals learn valuable lessons in teamwork, communication and conflict resolution. These skills extend beyond the context of the field or court – they enrich personal relationships and prepare individuals for success in a collaborative world.

A Foundation for Lifelong Well-being: Physical literacy serves as a foundation to a lifelong appreciation for physical activity. The development of physical literacy encourages an active lifestyle that enriches overall quality of life. This will look different for each person. For me, that might include a leisurely bike ride with family, play time at the playground, a brisk walk through local walking tracks with friends or an enthusiastic game of football or cricket.

Teachers Matter

Promoting Physical Literacy:

32

We all play essential roles in fostering a positive attitude towards movement and supporting children’s interests through physical literacy. It begins with integrating movement into the curriculum, encouraging students to explore various activities and emphasising the joy of movement over competition.

Growing a Movement Culture: To foster physical literacy effectively, an holistic approach is required. This involves creating a culture that values

By nurturing physical literacy, we set a positive example for our children, encouraging a cycle of healthy habits that can be passed down through generations. When we weave physical literacy into our everyday lives, we are empowering individuals to lead healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives, which creates a ripple effect that extends to families, communities, society and beyond.

A Lifelong Promise Through Physical Literacy: In championing the significance of physical literacy, we set upon a journey that extends far beyond the scope of movement alone. At its heart, our collaborative approach needs to ensure we are deliberate in action, towards our key intention - to nurture the individual's relationship with

ERIN STEEL

physical activity across their lifetime in a way that works best for them.

A Final Reflection: Now, take a few moments to reflect. Engage with the following questions, for they serve as the launchpad for your personal exploration of physical literacy—a journey that promises ongoing joy, growth and meaningful engagement with the world of movement.

Physical Literacy Reflective Questions: 1. What does physical literacy mean to you? How would you define it in your own words?

2. Reflect on your current relationship with physical activity. Do you feel confident and comfortable engaging in a variety of physical activities? Why or why not?

3. Think back to your childhood. Were you encouraged to explore different types of physical activities and develop fundamental movement skills? How do you think this has influenced your physical literacy today?

4. Consider the range of physical activities you've tried in your life. Which ones do you feel most competent and comfortable doing? Are there activities you've always wanted to try but haven't yet?

5. Reflect on any obstacles or challenges that have hindered your engagement in physical activities.

How have you overcome these challenges and what strategies have you used to build your physical literacy despite them?

6. How has physical literacy impacted your overall wellbeing? Can you identify any specific instances where your physical literacy has contributed to your holistic well-being?

7. Reflect on your role as a role model. If you have children or younger siblings, how do you encourage their physical literacy development? What lessons from your own experiences do you hope to pass on to them?

8. Reflect on a moment when you felt a strong sense of accomplishment related to physical activity. What skills did you demonstrate? How did that experience make you feel about your own physical literacy?

9. Think about the balance between physical literacy and other aspects of your life, such as work, family and hobbies. How can you ensure that physical literacy remains an integral part of your routine?

Erin Steel Erin is a dedicated educator with over 18 years of experience in education. As a Healthy Active Learning Facilitator, she has a strong commitment to promoting physical activity, healthy lifestyles and personal development among teachers and children. Erin’s expertise lies in Health and Physical Education. She works with senior leadership teams, teachers and students to create supportive and inclusive learning environments that empower students to become confident learners and communicators.

33

KATHRYN PICK

Addressing Monday Morning Blues Using Self-Determination Theory

W

e’ve all experienced it at some point during our working career – the “Monday morning blues,” where we return to work despondent, lacking energy and either feeling flat or completely depressed. Monday morning blues refer to those feelings of dread, anxiety or loss of motivation that employees often experience as they begin their work week.

Teachers Matter

While there are many contributing factors for feeling that way, it is a good idea to stop, take notice and assess whether ‘the feeling of dread’ is becoming more regular, or intense, or is it simply reflective of something less problematic, such as a great weekend that you don’t want to see end.

34

Factors you need to address include (but are not limited to) loss of purpose, emotional exhaustion, self-doubt and feelings of worthlessness, stress and burnout, ongoing classroom challenges which consume your energy and don’t get solved, or a lack of work-life balance. Teaching is a stressful and demanding role, and any one of these can steal the joy and fulfillment that drives teachers to continue the important role of educating and influencing the lives of our children and youth.

Self determination theory is a useful framework from Positive Psychology which can help address teacher Monday morning blues. Psychologists Richard Ryan and Edward Deci challenged previous theories that asserted external factors like rewards, such as salary or accolades, were the primary motivators for individuals. Instead, they contend that people are intrinsically motivated by personal interests, curiosity and values. They assert the most important factors for internal motivation stem from people being actively engaged in autonomy, competence and relatedness.

Applying this theory in education can assist teachers to regain their sense of purpose and motivation. Use the following questions to help guide your thinking: Are you encouraged and involved in decision making processes related to curriculum, classroom management and professional development? (Autonomy) Are you encouraged and given opportunities to enhance your skills and knowledge, so you can feel more competent?

(Competency)

KATHRYN PICK

Would you feel comfortable in being proactive and taking the lead in your school to encourage teachers to maintain a healthy work-life balance through the prioritisation of self care, boundary setting and regular breaks to prevent burnout?

Are you involved in creating a supportive and collaborative school culture where you feel connected with other teachers in your school, share experiences and together build a sense of relatedness and community? (Relatedness) Would you feel comfortable in being proactive and taking the lead in your school to encourage teachers to maintain a healthy work-life balance through the prioritisation of self care, boundary setting and regular breaks to prevent burnout? Can you utilise your strengths in your school or follow and activate your passions? Does your school acknowledge and celebrate both small and significant achievements of teachers and students to boost morale for all, and reinforce a sense of purpose?

Addressing teacher Monday morning blues is essential for the well-being and effectiveness of educators.

Understanding the underlying causes and applying Positive Psychology principles, such as Self determination theory, can help reignite teachers’ motivation and sense of purpose.

By fostering autonomy, competence and relatedness, promoting work life balance and providing mental health support, schools can create a more supportive and motivating environment for their teaching staff. This in turn, will positively impact the quality of education provided to students.

Kathryn Pick Kathryn passionately advocates for the prioritisation of personal well-being for educational leaders, who, in their demanding roles, invest copious amounts of time and energy. Unfortunately, well-being support is often insufficiently reciprocated by those serving in principalship roles. By championing the cause of nourishing well-being among leaders, she seeks to foster a culture where they can thrive and feel empowered to address any emergent and planned events, to produce more resilient, inspired, and effective educational communities.

She can be contacted at: kapick132@gmail.com

35

SUSAN SHEEHAN

Personal Development: A Path to a More Fulfilling Life!

Unlock the Power of Potential

I

n the dynamic world of education, where teachers play a pivotal role in shaping young minds, the concept of personal development often takes a back seat. However, in this article, we'll explore how investing in personal development not only enriches the lives of educators but also profoundly impacts their students. And at the heart of this transformation lies the incredible power of the human brain.

Understanding Personal Development for Teachers

Teachers Matter

Personal development encompasses a wide range of activities and practices aimed at improving one's skills, mindset and overall well-being. For teachers, I see this journey of self-improvement not as a luxury, but a necessity.

It involves continuous learning, self-reflection and a commitment to growth: to do everything with excellence in mind to ‘being your authentic self.’

36

The Brain: The Epicentre of Learning As a teacher, you're aware that the brain serves as the epicentre of learning. Engaging in personal development is, in essence, a form of nourishment for your brain. Far from being a static organ, the brain boasts remarkable adaptability, a phenomenon termed neuroplasticity.

When you consciously partake in activities that challenge your intellect, you begin by instilling new knowledge into your unconscious. Every instance of acquiring fresh insights, exploring innovative approaches, or honing your emotional intelligence serves as a catalyst for neuroplasticity. This dynamic process fortifies neural connections, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of your brain. Consequently, you refine your capacity to impart knowledge, manage your life and classroom and create a positive environment, both within the classroom and beyond. In short, the matter of the brain is relevant for your ultimate health and happiness.

SUSAN SHEEHAN

Remember, personal development isn’t a solitary journey; it’s a global movement that unites educators in their quest for excellence.

7 Practical Steps to Enhance a Teacher’s Well-being In the ever-evolving world of education, teachers play a pivotal role in shaping the future. However, it's essential as a teacher that you remember that your own growth is just as crucial as that of your students. Personal development is even more of a necessity in this crazy, chaotic world we live in today.

1. Mindfulness and Stress Management: Begin by incorporating mindfulness practices into your daily routine. Simple meditation exercises can help reduce stress and increase focus. Start with just a few minutes a day and gradually increase the duration. There is power in stillness!

2. Reflective Journaling: Maintain a reflective journal to track your experiences, successes and challenges.

Reflective writing can enhance self-awareness and as you write you get deeper into understanding and knowing yourself. There is power in taking pen to paper!

3. Continuous Learning: Commit to ongoing professional development. Attend workshops, conferences and online courses to stay updated on the latest teaching methods and tools. This knowledge will directly impact your students' learning experiences and will have a huge impact on your belief in self and confidence. There is Power in Brain Feeding New Information!

4. Collaboration and connectedness: Connect with like-minded individuals and teachers locally and globally. Join online communities, teacher forums or social media groups where you can share ideas and experiences. There is Power in “More Brains are Better than One!” 5. Emotional Intelligence: Discover new ways to master your emotional intelligence. Learn to recognise and manage your emotions. Be mindful of how you feel and what is causing you to feel a certain way. Listen to

your heart, your mind, environment, gut and shift what makes you feel less than what you want to feel.There is Power in Emotion!

6. The Global Relevance of Personal Development: Personal development transcends borders and cultures.

It's a universal journey that educators worldwide can embark upon to improve their teaching and well-being.

Whether you're teaching in Asia, Europe, Africa or the Americas, the principles of personal growth remain constant. Tony Ryan, a renowned author and speaker, suggests that educators across the globe can benefit from personal development strategies. There is Power in People!

7. Fulfillment from Growth: Personal development is a journey of self-discovery and growth. The sense of accomplishment and progress you experience along the way boosts your self-respect, love of self and ultimate happiness. In essence, personal development is not just a professional endeavour; it's a path to a more fulfilling and joyful life. By investing in your growth as an educator, you not only become a better teacher but also open the door to greater happiness in both your career and personal life. There is Power in Being Happy!

In the realm of education, teachers are the change-makers.

By prioritising personal development, you as the teacher can enhance your own life and, in turn, create a more vibrant, enriching and effective learning environment for your students. Remember, personal development isn't a solitary journey; it's a global movement that unites educators in their quest for excellence. So, if this is a new concept for you, take the first step, embrace your excellence and embody your authenticity, you will thank yourself later, that I can promise.

Susan Sheehan With a rich background in personal development, brain training, branding, business and wellness, Susan Sheehan is a dedicated professional with a passion for assisting individuals in achieving their full potential. Her experience and track record of helping diverse individuals make her an asset in the fields she’s mastered. Her ability to bridge personal development, business and life has earned her recognition as a valuable resource in both personal and professional transformation. Susan is committed to guiding others towards success and holistic well-being.

37

JESS STUART

Is Your Team Burning Out? 7 Secrets To Stop It

T

he World Health Organisation predicts burnout will be a global pandemic in less than a decade and The World Economic Forum estimates an annual burnout cost of GBP 225B to the global economy. We know there’s an organisational cost of burnout, too, with increased turnover, absenteeism and of course, the obvious impact on performance.

4. Master the art of tiny gains and focus on one thing at a time. Teams with too many priorities

will feel overwhelmed and spread too thin. It’ll also hamper their progress on said priorities. Out of all your priorities, which is the actual priority for now? The most important thing for the day or this week? Start there.

Burnout has increased since the pandemic and the future is uncertain. Here are seven ways you can beat burnout for yourself and your team.

1. Mind your busyness – It’s not a badge of honour or a

reflection of how valuable you are. It’s a sign you’re not at your best if you’re always busy and probably running on an empty tank. Slow down so you can be effective, rather than busy.

2. Prioritise rest and self-care to build your resilience and ensure you are a sustainable resource. Talk about the things you do with your team and ask others what they do to keep this front of mind and show it’s an important part of leading yourself regardless of your role or hierarchy.

3. Know your triggers when burnout is approaching. Audit your energy levels and fuel the tank as necessary.

Teachers Matter

5. Structure your life for success - harness the power

38

We must develop some practical strategies to wipe the slate clean and move forward to be our best without burning out in the process.

of good habits. This can be as simple as taking a lunch break, introducing walking meetings or keeping a tidy desk. This also means delegating, setting boundaries and saying no to ensure you’ve not overcommitted or spread yourself too thin.

6. Create space. Thinking space is so critical; it’s where we innovate, it’s how we think strategically, it’s how we calm our minds. It’s also how we focus and gain clarity to make decisions and solve problems, not to mention the impact it has on overwhelm, stress and our emotional regulation. Make sure there’s space in your schedule. It’s often where we add the most value and impact because of the ideas we generate that our creativity simply can’t access in a busy, noisy, overloaded brain doing back-to-back meetings and a hundred emails.

JESS STUART

7. Get your flow on. The art of flow increases our

productivity and focus allowing us to access a state of deep work. Know the kind of environment you need for focus and understand your daily rhythms so you know when you’re at your most productive. The same goes for those you work alongside.

and a new way of doing things. We must develop some practical strategies to wipe the slate clean and move forward to be our best without burning out in the process.

Most importantly, as a leader, role model this stuff. Your people follow your example rather than your opinion. It’s not good telling everyone else to log off and go home to rest if you’re still sending emails at 10 pm.

These are just a few of the tips from my Burnout to Brilliance programme where we do the practical work to bring these theories to life. It’s designed to allow us to find more time, to battle the busyness and cut through the noise to do important work, to improve our focus. It helps us understand burnout and avoid it. It helps our teams improve their productivity and focus. To understand the habits of high performing people and how we can hack some of those habits to gain control of our schedule and to overcome some of the overwhelm that can happen when we get busy.

Burned out staff will not perform at their peak, nor will they be engaged. We know that that has an impact on the bottom line. Retention will suffer as they won't be sticking around and there will be the obvious impact on productivity. To enable your team to perform at their peak, to re-energise, to re-engage, to press reset, we need a new way of thinking

Jess Stuart Jess Stuart is an international speaker, coach and author specialising in mindset, performance and leadership. A brush with burnout in her corporate career led Jess across the world to train with Buddhist monks and nuns. A decade later, after writing six books and running her own successful business she shares what she knows about mind-set, resilience and self-belief to empower people to unlock their potential.

Learn more at: www.jessstuart.co.nz

39

KAREN TUI BOYES

Transitioning to Secondary School

I

t can be an exciting and challenging time moving up in the school system from primary or intermediate school to secondary school. You are moving from being the big fish in a small pond to the exact opposite. It can be really daunting for some. Below are 10 key ideas and strategies to help make the transition successful.

1. Take Initiative: Be proactive in this learning journey. This applies to both the students and the parents. Seek out resources, ask questions and when you are not sure, take the first step towards knowledge. It is also crucial to check understanding as many of the confusions and misalignments stem from a lack of clarity. It’s the old adage, don’t assume (ass/u/me: it makes an ‘ass’ out of ‘u’ and ‘me’.) Each school has its own systems and procedures. Ask and seek clarity. As a student, if it is not ‘cool’ or doesn’t feel ‘safe’ to ask in class, ask after class, send an email or schedule a meeting time.

2. Respect Differences Understand that high school is diverse. It is, as Forrest Gump says in the 1994 movie of the same name, “My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates.

You never know what you’re gonna get!” Every year level is different. It is a big melting pot and a wonderful opportunity to meet people with a range of different ideas and beliefs. Treat everyone with respect, appreciating the various backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives you’ll encounter. There is richness in being able to understand life from differing points of view.

Teachers Matter

3. Adaptability:

40

High school brings changes and chances, and adaptability is key. There will be new routines, a different teacher each hour, corridors of classrooms and new subjects. While schools often do not teach note-taking, it is important you learn how, as many teachers will expect this. Take a course, Google tips and techniques and know that notes do not have to be taken in the way the teacher says. Test a few different strategies and evaluate their effectiveness. Most of the content you learn in the first two years of High School will be built upon in your senior years. It is the foundation of success. Secondary school is a chance to test out new ideas, ways to learn and remember, study and learning strategies. While in most schools, teachers

will be teaching a subject; maths, horticulture, German, etc, the underlying premise is to learn how to learn.

Embrace these new challenges with an open mind and you’ll excel.

4. Nurture Relationships: This is about building strong bonds with teachers and peers. Relationships can positively impact the learning experience and provide valuable support. This is a chance to join clubs, connect with like-minded people and perhaps make friends for life.

5. Stay Organised: This is a great time to start developing effective timemanagement skills. These skills will last a lifetime.

With teachers issuing assignments, tasks, and giving dates for tests, it is important to keep track of these.

Keep a planner or digital calendar to track assignments, projects, and deadlines. Use your phone if that works for you. If you are taking digital notes, practice filing them into subject folders on your desktop. The use of hashtags or keywords in documents and titles will make it easier to locate the file later on. Create systems to ensure work is handed in on time. This might be reminder alerts on your phone or calendar. Create a space to study and do homework and ensure all the supplies you need will be there.

6. Independence: This transition is the start of taking responsibility for your education. High school grants more freedom, and with freedom comes more responsibility. Use it wisely to make informed choices. Independence does not mean you have to do this on your own, it means asking for help when you need it. High school serves as a stepping stone to adulthood. It offers opportunities for students to explore career interests, consider university or vocational options and develop skills that will be valuable in the future. Engage in class and be an active participant in your education.

7. Time Management: Prioritise your tasks wisely. Allocate sufficient time for studying, extracurricular activities, and personal growth. A great tip is to take 5-10 minutes at the start of each week and plan your week. Having an overview of

KAREN TUI BOYES applications and relevance. Set weekly achievable goals to motivate you in those subjects you are finding challenging. Small successes and wins will increase your motivation to keep going.

9. Optimism: Maintain a positive attitude, even during challenges.

Believe in yourself and your abilities. Use affirmations and positive sayings, to keep your brain focused on what you can do, rather than what you can’t. Know that everything is hard before it is easy, and you can do hard things! Just because your parents were not good at something, doesn’t mean you won’t be great at it. Being good at Maths, English, or Art is not in your DNA! A positive mindset leads to more success. Also, know this – in the first 1-2 weeks of High School, you are going to get lost and not know which class you have next or where to find that classroom. Instead of getting upset, make it a game, a quest to get lost 3 times in your first week! Find the fun in the transition and the challenges it brings.

10. Navigate: As you navigate this new part of your life, know that, as business coach, Robin Sharma says, “Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.”

Before you know it, you will be confident in your new environment and showing others the ropes.

Remember, the transition from primary school to high school is a transformative period in your life. High school is a voyage - you’ll encounter turbulent waters, tranquil stretches, and gusty winds, and at times, you’ll need to have faith in the stars! By following these tips, you’ll be better prepared to excel academically, develop valuable life skills, and enjoy a fulfilling high school experience.

what is expected for the week and seeing where you can schedule assignments and school tasks will help lower stress levels and keep you on top of the work. Avoid multitasking as it actually slows your brain down and research shows can lower your IQ! Turn off distractions and notifications and work on one subject at a time during a study session.

8. Intrinsic Motivation: Harness your intrinsic motivation to stay dedicated to your studies and attain your desired achievements.

This means you need a goal, a reason to learn the information. You may not know which career paths you want to go down just yet, so take every learning opportunity you can without overloading yourself.

If you are not sure ‘why’ you are learning something, create more motivation by searching for real-world

Karen Tui Boyes Karen Tui Boyes is a champion for LifeLong Learning and is on a mission to transform education globally. Described as an educational alchemist, a conscious creator and a playful priestess, she grounds the research into practical strategies which positively impact teaching and learning.

A multi-award-winning speaker, educator and businesswoman, she is the CEO of Spectrum Education, Principal of Spectrum Online Academy and the author of 11 books.

Find out more at:

www.spectrumeducation.com

41

KATHRYN PICK

Creating Your own Personal Blue Zone Using the Power 9

Teachers Matter

R

42

ecently I taught my year 5-7 class of students about the Blue Zones. I knew my students were young and the social research and studies surrounding the Blue Zones is basically about ‘old people’ (high density populations of centenarians) so I was aware of the risk regarding student interest and motivation. Would my students find this as interesting as I did? Having read all three publications about the Blue Zones, I personally found the study about healthy aging fascinating and there is much to learn from the principles of health and wellbeing they apply daily. I asked my students to submit an assignment that required them to create their own Blue Zone, using the Power 9. I was thrilled when I learnt that for many it had become a whole family affair. My students interviewed their grandparents (some also had great grandparents they could chat with) their parents and other extended relatives to gather data

about their perceptions on healthy aging. The study through my year 5-7 students became a rich and powerful experience for them, their families and many even got work colleagues and friends involved in the process.

Teaching is a noble yet demanding profession that requires educators to navigate various challenges while nurturing the growth and development of their students. To thrive in this role and create a better state of flourishing, teachers can also draw inspiration from the Power 9 principles of the Blue Zones. These regions are known to have the highest density rates of centenarians who apply healthy aging strategies and very effective wellbeing principles. I encourage you to learn about the Blue Zones and use their Power 9 principles to enhance your own wellbeing, with the flow on effect of improving classroom effectiveness.

KATHRYN PICK

It is vital that teachers look after their own health and wellbeing so they can flourish personally, professionally and positively influence and shape the future of society through education.

living. What can you do to offload pressure and release tension? Exercise and spending time with good friends outside of school can support this. Teachers can also implement stress reduction techniques like mindfulness exercise and deep breathing into their daily routines to benefit both themselves and their students. Creating a calm and supportive classroom culture fosters emotional wellbeing for everyone.

4. 80% Rule: People in Blue Zones practice mindful eating, stopping when they are 80% full to avoid overeating. How can you put this into practice?

Drinking plenty of water and prioritising balanced nutrition with regular snacks and meals which maintain energy levels throughout the day.

5. Plant Slant: Blue Zone diets are predominantly plant based and emphasise fruits, vegetables and whole grains. What night(s) could you prepare and eat a meal without meat?

The Power 9 of the Blue Zones are a set of lifestyle and cultural practices common to Blue Zones that contribute to the longevity and vitality of their residents. These principles include…

1. Moving Naturally – Exercising regularly in low intensity physical activity through daily tasks like walking, gardening and manual labour. It could mean deliberately parking further away from your classroom to increase your steps, walking up the stairs instead of using the lift, stretching throughout the day or getting your class involved in movement exercises that you can do alongside them.

2. Purpose – Blue Zone residents have a clear sense of purpose in their lives whether through their work, community involvement or personal goals. The Japanese call it Ikigai which loosely translates to ‘the reason for getting out of bed.’ What motivates you to get up each day? What fulfills you and makes you feel like your efforts are worthwhile? Reflecting on the impact you have on your students’ lives can reignite your sense of purpose as can thinking of ways to align your values to teaching practices, so you are actively living those values.

3. Downshift: Managing stress through relaxation techniques such as meditation, prayer or spending time with loved ones is a crucial aspect of Blue Zone

6. Wine at 5:00pm: Some Blue zone communities enjoy moderate alcohol consumption, particularly red wine, in a social context. This one, not so hard to apply, but always remember - moderation.

7. Belong: Residents of Blue Zones maintain strong social networks and prioritise spending time with family and close friends. The Japanese have moai, which means ‘meeting for a common purpose.’ These friendship groups support each other in times of need as well as meeting together regularly to socialise. Do you have a strong support group of friends? What professional development networks could you join? Can you start a teacher support group for the level of children you teach

43

KATHRYN PICK

in your school or wider school community? Be sure to also create a collaborative classroom environment so students feel connected and have a strong sense of belonging.

8. Loved Ones First: Family plays a central role in Blue Zone cultures, with older generations often living with or near their extended families. Ensuring you have healthy work life balance is crucial. Communication and time management skills can also help achieve this balance.

9. Right Tribe: Surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals who support a healthy lifestyle is another common feature of the Blue Zones. Social research has identified that individuals are more than three times as likely to follow the habits of their social group, so it pays to make sure your intimate social circles apply healthy habits. Can you get involved in a personal interest club outside of education to ensure you have a break from a focus on teaching and school. For instance, you could do photography or participate in a sport.

Spend some time developing your own personal Blue Zone from the Power 9. It is vital that teachers look after their own health and wellbeing so they can flourish personally, professionally and positively influence and shape the future of society through education.

Teachers Matter

Kathryn Pick

44

Kathryn passionately advocates for the prioritisation of personal well-being for educational leaders, who, in their demanding roles, invest copious amounts of time and energy. Unfortunately, well-being support is often insufficiently reciprocated by those serving in principalship roles. By championing the cause of nourishing well-being among leaders, she seeks to foster a culture where they can thrive and feel empowered to address any emergent and planned events, to produce more resilient, inspired, and effective educational communities.

She can be contacted at: kapick132@gmail.com

SAIRA BOYLE

Teaching and Well-being Is it Achievable to have Both?

A

s a school principal, over the last three to five years I have observed, with a mixture of sadness and delight, the steady trickle of teachers stepping away from the job, into fields which offer them the desired lifestyle as well as the paycheck that matches their worth. My sadness comes from the loss of vibrant and passionate energy in education and delight as our colleagues, our people choose LIFE! Throughout 2021, it was reported that there was a global pattern of people stepping away from high pressure and choosing jobs with less hours, less pressure, less stress and consequently less remuneration. It was even given a name – The Great Resignation. The two-year plus, COVID rollercoaster saw many people take stock of what was important

Why can’t we have a fulfilling and rewarding career in education AND a flourishing, healthy, balanced and fulfilled lifestyle?

45

SAIRA BOYLE in their lives, down-tools, down-size and down-stress in order to gain some sort of balance and satisfaction in life.

The big question I have been asking myself is, Why can’t we have both? Why can’t we have a fulfilling and rewarding career in education AND a flourishing, healthy, balanced and fulfilled lifestyle?

Having explored this question on a personal level, as a school principal and teacher, I believe the answer is that we can!

In January of 2018, I was diagnosed with an unprovoked blood clot. Watching the doctor snap into action as he worried it could break off and go to my lungs or brain, causing irreversible damage or death was a fairly loud wake-up call. The silent killer, of which I had heard, had decided to make an appearance and the only thing which could account for it was stress. Ongoing, daily stress.

You all know about this, right?

Fast-forward to 2020. My right arm was experiencing pain, my shoulder eventually locked up and I was unable to move the arm more than a few centimeters in any direction, I was in constant pain. I had a frozen shoulder! I started to feel ‘old’ and like the big decline was on its way.

You may be thinking, we all have pain, we all have illness. Why is she telling us this? Well, that is the point! We don’t need to experience this pain at all!

Teachers Matter

On reflection, I look back and realise, even with these two health alarm bells, it was only when I experienced a huge and traumatic loss at the end of 2021, did I truly wake up and take action. This is key: We have the power to take action for ourselves, which in turn makes us more effective educators.

46

So often, we miss the small signals, or we don’t stop and take them seriously. I can assure you, they are there - in the twinge of a muscle, or the ache in your joint; in the upset stomach or the chest tightness, the small signs are there. Our bodies are performing a multitude of actions to keep us alive and well every day, connecting with our minds and inner voice and vice versa. I’ve come to believe we can do one of three things in response: 1. Brush the little messages and signs away, explaining them as ‘old age’ or the pressure of the job. Iit doesn’t have to be this way!

2. Numb the signs and signals with pain relief, wine, food and other indulgences. The body will win eventually –

and not in a good way.

3. PAUSE and listen. Then create a space where you can take time to reflect on the way in which you live your life. Decide the small habits you can build every day to TAKE YOURSELF BACK. This is the path to FLOURISHING. I decided to learn more about my body, embark on a course of study and make it something. That meant I was an absolute novice and I could eventually help others to find their own strengths. In the last year, I have trained and become a certified personal trainer as well as studying towards the Diploma in Positive Psychology and Wellbeing.

It was hard being the least experienced after years of being the expert. It was challenging being the least strong and oldest in the class. But it has been exhilarating studying in an area which has become a passion!

Being able to combine my Growth Coaching accreditation with the PT course and education background to help people flourish is amazing!

It does not matter how long you have been in the job it is CRITICAL to prevent yourself from becoming the job. Top tips for the term break: • Unhook yourself from the identity of the job. You are not your job and your school can live without you working excessive hours. Create your own boundaries.

• Engage with a coach or take time to self-reflect to discover your true purpose and passion.

• Make a plan to climb your second mountain of life before it is too late.

Trust me, it is the most re-vitalising thing you can do for yourself, and will make you a more vibrant educator to boot! The magic that happens while you do this is in the hearts and minds of those around you. Your children, your partner, your family, your staff, your class and community will all see it. When they see you being a model of wellness, they will notice and your influence will be tangible. This is leadership.

Hearing my youngest daughter tell me, “Mum, you are thriving now,” was the biggest reward I could reap from my actions of daily self-care!

In order to take the leap to discover your purpose and passion, perhaps these simple activities can help: • Vitality – Focus on clean, nutrient dense food, drinking 2L of water daily. Increase the quality and quantity of your sleep. Add in daily movement.

SAIRA BOYLE

Building muscle is the best insurance policy of all.

Your energy will begin to thrive!

• Simplicity – Declutter your life: from your inbox to your wardrobe, your friendships to your responsibilities. If it doesn’t serve you, say goodbye.

Create boundaries around your school work and stick to them, it can be difficult at first but it’s rewarding long term.

• Curiosity – Spend time getting to know YOU. Listen to your body, quiet the mind. Self-discovery is the most exciting part of self-care and is the LEAST selfish thing you can do!

• Courage – Make a list of the things you have always wanted to do. Make a plan and do at least one of them.

Who cares what people think! It’s your life, live it in love with yourself.

• Wisdom – Read daily. Learn a new skill. Learn about being human and then use your experience to build upon and write your path forward. Don’t leave it to chance!

• Peace – Leave the ego-based identity at the door and come home. Home to yourself, the real and true you because you are all powerful, perfect, whole and able to climb your second mountain of purpose and passion!

My hope is that by sharing a snippet from my story, of how I’ve gone from Principal to Personal Trainer and Mindset Growth Coach, and thus from perfectionism to peace, you will take away at least one small self-care action to apply to your life during the term break and nurture your wellbeing!

Most of them wake up each day, unaware it will be their last.

Principals and teachers are disproportionate in that number.

We are not guaranteed another breath. If there is something you want to do with your life, go do it.

No more waiting.

Be bold.

Love deeply.

Live with purpose, passion and peace.

Saira Boyle Saira is a passionate educator, principal and growth coach who nurtures a strengths based approach to realising the potential of others. As an experienced school principal, across a diverse range of schools, she has experience in most challenging and rewarding situations and always approaches her responsibilities with hope and optimism. Saira is a leader who lives out her values and puts theory into action to inspire others.

She can be contacted at: sairab83@gmail.com

Around 300,000 people die each day around the world.

47

MICHAEL GROSE

Building up Leaders in the Classroom 5 High Value Student Leadership Habits

A

s teachers we spend most of our time developing positive habits in students, however not all habits are equal.

Teachers Matter

Compare a daily silent reading habit with a workspace tidiness habit.

48

Both habits have value, but the former is a higher value habit that will most likely expand over time with unlimited potential to stimulate learning, curiosity and creativity. By comparison, workplace tidiness has limited merit.

The same principle applies to student leadership. Some habits have far greater value than others.

The following five high value habits, when prioritised by teachers and parents, have potential for significant, lasting impact on students’ leadership capabilities.

1. Clear Communication Effective leaders in all walks of life communicate clearly and succinctly.

The ability to inform, inspire and support with words separates good from great leaders. Whether one-on-one, small or large group-based, the speaking habit carries massive leadership weight.

Communication is made up of many small habits – standing strong, making eye contact, smiling, cutting out verbal clutter (‘like, you know, uhm, and’) and pausing are examples of mini-habits that lead to the highly valued habit of effective communication.

Communication is a high value habit best developed from a young age.

MICHAEL GROSE 2. Encouraging Others Great leaders lift others with actions, but also with their words.

There is no better way to lift a fellow student than to help them develop the courage to persist, contribute and keep their chin up when things are tough.

creating situations and events where students need to step up, organise and problem-solve. Think outdoor education activities or indoor open-ended team games.

Asking for volunteers rather than direct students to act is another simple teaching habit that promotes initiative in students.

Encouragement, like any skill, can be learned. But it’s only through modelling and repetition that it becomes a habit.

It’s a highly-regarded leadership habit worth embracing, sharing and practising.

3. Initiating Games and Activities ‘Cometh the situation cometh the leader,’ is the principle upon which situational leadership is based.

But initiators are risk-takers. They know that they can fall flat on their faces should their suggestions be rejected, their projects may fail and they might be the only players in a game.

Like high-wire walkers who dazzle us with their daring do, initiators have the potential to achieve so much more than those who sit back and wait until others step up.

Smart teachers leverage their actions by focusing on student habits that have the most impact in terms of learning, wellbeing and in this case, leadership.

Teachers can develop initiative in many ways including

49

MICHAEL GROSE

4. Service to Others “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you…” You likely know the rest: “...can do for your country.”

This famous President Kennedy quote delivered at his inauguration in 1961, was an invitation to the people of America to serve. It was also an invitation to his people to be leaders.

Leaders serve others. They do hard things. They help others out. They give up their time. They give talks even though speaking in front of others makes them feel anxious.

The habit of acting in the service of others is part spiritual, part moral and part practical.

Service comes from a benefit mindset. “How can I help?” rather than, “How can I look good and get what I want to be successful?” is the predominant principle at work.

counterparts who can get carried away with the emotion of the group.

Undoubtedly, calm is a leadership superpower and a high value habit to develop in students.

What high value leadership habits are you developing in students?

It’s a question worth thinking about.

Smart teachers leverage their actions by focusing on student habits that have the most impact in terms of learning, wellbeing and in this case, leadership.

Not all habits are the same.

Some habits bring bigger rewards than others. That’s why we need to be discerning about the habits we develop in young leaders.

It’s an incredibly high value habit that can be promoted with persistence and consistency.

5. Staying Calm

Teachers Matter

It’s easy to spot a leader in a crisis.

50

Just look for the calmest person who can keep their head as everyone else is looking to them for guidance.

Whether it’s on a sporting field, in a noisy classroom, a feisty family or workplace turmoil, effective leaders control their emotions so that they can think and problem-solve.

They may be churning up inside, but they can keep a lid on their emotions when the heat is on.

Introverts, with their innate ability to go within, have an emotional smarts head start compared to their extraverted

Michael Grose Michael Grose is the founder of the Young Leaders Program, an in-school program designed by teachers that builds strong cultures of student leadership in primary schools. An experienced educator and popular presenter Michael is a PSA Australian Educator of the Year winner and is a Hall of Fame member of the Professional Speakers of Australia.

Find out more at www.youngleadersprogram.com.au

OLIVE HICKMOTT

Don’t Look Down!

Modelling how to Look Up for Visual Recall

D

on’t look down!

When children are struggling, where are they looking?

Just notice for a few minutes; They are probably looking down into their negative emotions or, worse, their selftalk, which is busy re-enforcing failure, with words like, “I can’t do this. It’s impossible.” When they look up, they are accessing pictures and sideways for speaking and listening.

So, the message is that if the student is struggling: Don’t let them look down.

Let’s add a bit more detail. When looking up with still eyes, you will see still images; if their eyes are rapidly moving, their images will be moving too or maybe they are watching a video. Visual recall is for things you have seen before and often up to the left, and visual construct for imagination is often up to the right. But sometimes, they are just the other way around; That isn’t a problem.

Now how are you going to encourage them to look up in class?

• When reading, prop the book up or even hold it up like reading a newspaper. As confidence grows, you will be able to lower the book.

• When writing, don’t look at the paper. Fix your gaze on something you are copying down from the board or a computer screen and copy what you see. Don’t worry about the lines being a bit wonky to start with; they will get better with just a little practice.

• Alternatively, when writing, use a flipchart or stick paper on the wall to keep them out of emotions. You will be amazed at how quickly their writing improves.

• You can learn how to spell visually by simply looking up and imagining the word. Then you only need to copy it without looking down at the paper.

• As a bonus, if you keep your eyes fixed on what you are copying, your handwriting can improve and be faster.

• Don’t forget that even strong visual thinkers may not always think visually. If someone tells you they are sad or unhappy, they will probably look down. Suggest they look up to where the wall meets the ceiling and continue with the story. After about 30 secs, they may say, “What happened then? It's not as bad up there as it was before!” An invaluable tip. Every doctor or nurse should know this!

51

OLIVE HICKMOTT

Visual recall is for things you have seen before and often up to the left, and visual construct for imagination is often up to the right.

Most people don’t even realise they are looking up and seeing images, it all happens too fast, and it has become an unconscious habit over the years. Looking up to see images of words is just the same skill. In fact, when we teach children this skill, we get them to superimpose words on familiar objects to get them started.

One of the children I worked with tried to remember the cartoon on the cover of his folder. He was gazing out into space. I asked him what he could see and he said he didn’t know. I suggested he might bring it nearer, and he rocked back in his chair as it landed on the window frame. He could immediately tell me all the details of the cartoon. So, when people lose their pictures, they can often get them back.

These pictures are vital for creativity, problem-solving and many aspects of life.

Teachers Matter

Olive Hickmott

52

I am a Forensic Health and Learning Coach. A reformed Dyslexic and ADHDer I created Empowering Learning to enable highly creative, imaginative, neurodivergent students to learn in the most effective way for them, that is typically through their strengths of mental imagery. I am the architect of the New Perspectives series of personal development books and author of The Elephants in the classroom, Bridges to Success, Seeing Spells Achieving, You too can ‘do’ Health, Recover your energy, How to Reduce the Impact of Dementia, Back from the Brink... twice Find out more at www.olivehickmott.co.uk

JESSYKA COULTER

The 3 Most Essential School Supplies for Your Students Help Your Students Learn More with the Right Supplies

O

f the hundreds of school supplies available to your students and their parents, there are three that make learning easier in every class.

#1: Planner or Agenda If your school doesn’t provide a planner or agenda for each student, encourage parents to purchase one. If you notice one of your students not using the school provided one, there are a couple of possible reasons: 1) The student doesn’t know how to, or 2) the student isn’t motivated to use the planner. Note taking is a study skill many students are missing but is essential for filling out a planner. Motivation can come from something as simple as adding a personal picture or decoration to the front cover.

A planner is each student’s lifeline. When you share homework, an upcoming project, or even important information for next week’s class, your students need to record it in their planners. For younger students, it’s a good idea to walk the class and make sure students have written down what you asked. But as students enter middle school and approach high school graduation, it is not your responsibility to verify information is written.

At the start of the semester, ensure your students know where to find important dates. Be consistent. Does each class have a section on the whiteboard with important information? Are you going to post everything online once a week, or do you expect students to listen to your verbal instructions at the end of each class? Once students know where the information is, it becomes their responsibility to use it.

If you want, give points for a well-used planner. A student planner helps the student, you and parents.

#2: Colored Ink Pens No matter the class you teach, it’s essential for students to have more than pencils in their book bags. Colored ink pens can really help visual learners, but they are important for note taking and annotating for every student. Blue and black are a great place to start, but for the most contrast, encourage your students to have a bigger variety such as: red, green, and purple ink pens. The pens which click and contain four or more colors are great!

53

JESSYKA COULTER

Essential School Supplies

No matter if your class is in-person or online, if assignments are mostly paper or virtual, these three supplies will help all of your students.

students’ backpacks. A student can have a folder for each class that takes less space. Did I mention the fact paper of any kind can rip out of a binder pretty easily? Buying folders with pockets gives students additional space to store important papers such as the day’s assignment. Finally, different colored folders for each class can help with organisation as well.

The colored ink has many uses for your students. First, if you have students self-check assignments, have them use a different color than they completed the assignment with; it helps them to see what questions they missed, steps they forgot or even aspects they didn’t understand as well as they thought they did. When reading in class, have your students use different colored inks to annotate various aspects of the story or article such as: vocabulary words, important people/places or even their questions/points of confusion.

When your students make a habit of using different colors to represent different things in class, they’ll continue that to their notes, study guides, homework assignments, review packets, rubrics and more, which will improve their study skills for years to come.

School supplies help learning. It doesn't hurt when they make education more fun and efficient for you and each of your students. No matter if your class is in-person or online, if assignments are mostly paper or virtual, these three supplies will help all of your students. When families don’t know what to buy their students to improve their learning, they end up buying unnecessary supplies, and you end up wondering why your students are missing basic supplies like pencils and paper, let alone tools to keep them organised.

Teachers Matter

#3 Plastic Pocket Folders with Brads

54

If plastic folders aren’t on the required school supply list for your room, add them ASAP or even by next term.

Plastic folders will survive almost any type of student you have – the one who doesn’t have a backpack, the one who overstuffs his bag or even the one who seems to destroy supplies automatically. Remember to ask your students to get the ones with brads. Those brads are going to keep loose leaf paper where it belongs all year long. Your students can even put in page dividers which aid in organisation, a study skill many teens lack. Folders don't produce all those little perforated pieces of paper. They don't un-spiral, and students can add more paper as needed.

Three-ring binders are not the answer. They’re expensive, and they take a LOT of room in your classroom and in your

Jessyka Coulter Jessyka Coulter is the CEO and Founder of Ace Cookie Tutoring. Her company offers study skills tutoring and executive functioning skills coaching through her Love to Learn study skills program. She knows most schools offer a one-size-fits-all curriculum that doesn’t meet every student’s personal learning needs. When students discover HOW to learn through the study skills Jessyka teaches, they love to learn.

For more information, email acecookietutoring@gmail.com

MICHAEL GROSE

Great Student Leadership 7 Principles for Developing the Next Generation of Leaders

I

dentifying prospective student leaders is a tricky task for teachers.

It’s a mistake to focus on helpfulness in students in the hope that it will automatically transfer to leadership.

While helpfulness, kindness, empathy and other pro-social qualities may make for wonderful citizens, on their own they don’t make for great leadership.

However, with the right strategies in place students can make the leap from reliable helpers to highly effective leaders. Here’s how:

While helpfulness, kindness, empathy and other pro-social qualities may make for wonderful citizens, on their own they don’t make for great leadership.

55

MICHAEL GROSE They also showed that some work had been done at a school level to build a conceptual understanding of leadership in students.

2. Promote personal initiative at every opportunity.

In my student leadership workshops, taking initiative is an early indicator of real leadership potential.

The workshop activities are structured in such a way that students are invited to step up (volunteer to talk in front of others, solve problems, form a group to complete a task) and into the role of leader.

1. Put student leadership under the spotlight.

I always begin my workshops with prospective student leaders with a simple question: “What does a leader do?”

The discussions that follow are enlightening, revealing a great deal about the student leadership development work they’d received.

Most responses are variations of these four ideas.

1. “A leader is a good role model.”

2. “A leader is a good helper” 3. “A leader is a boss.”

4.

“A leader is good at sport/performance/studies.”

These responses, while technically correct, show a shallow level of leadership understanding.

However, on occasions the responses refreshingly showed a depth of understanding, which could be attributed to astute leadership development they’d received. These responses included:

Teachers Matter

1. “A leader is someone who represents the school and shows them how to do the right thing.”

56

2. “Leaders form teams and get things done that help others.”

3. “Leaders speak in front of others in many ways and for many purposes.”

4. “Leaders are people that others look up to and want to be like.”

These responses show knowledge of leadership concepts such as representation, delegation, team building, communication skills and modelling - all different parts of the student leadership framework.

The step from helper to leader requires opportunities for students to take the initiative to form a group and to be proactive and problem-solve.

Experiential learning is at the heart of effective student leadership development.

3. Give plenty of opportunities to lead, solve problems and serve the community.

Leadership is difficult to teach but easy to develop when suitable opportunities are provided for students.

Teachers who wish to develop student leadership capacity should provide students with real life opportunities and projects to serve their communities, work through problems and challenges together and adopt different roles in ways that offer authentic, meaningful development.

Also, they should give students opportunities to set goals, make plans, evaluate progress and reflect on their learnings.

These are essential for real student leadership development.

4. Develop self-leadership first.

The development of self-knowledge is at the heart of student efficacy, yet too often, we promote external leadership factors, such as teamwork rather than friendship skills, first.

Often students shut down – they won’t talk, form a group or accept a challenge – because they haven’t developed proficiency in the personal domain.

Start by developing leadership skills and proficiencies on a personal level before opening students up to leadership in the public domain. This means leadership development begins early in a child’s school life building on many of the social and emotional skills that are necessary for student success.

MICHAEL GROSE 5. Promote self-awareness and emotional regulation.

Lack of emotional awareness stymies leadership development.

Inversely, emotional awareness helps students understand themselves including what excites and enthuses them as well as those activities, situations and people that cause anxiety and bring tension.

Developing leadership skills without including emotional awareness is like giving a sailor a yacht with only one sail.

It will be fine while the weather holds but they will be at the mercy of the wind in stormy weather.

Similarly, without the ability to recognise and regulate their own emotional states students will be at the mercy of their own emotions when they meet with difficulties and challenges in their roles. This will result in either underestimating or overrating the scale of challenges they will face.

7. Develop empathetic, informative, representational communication skills.

To speak in public or not to speak, that is the question.

Okay, Hamlet didn’t say those words but the prospect of speaking in public prevents many potential leaders from stepping up to the leadership plate.

Public speaking is only one part of the leadership communication matrix, but it’s a vital part indeed. Being able to inform, to give messages others will respond to and to be able to represent the thoughts and feelings of others is at the heart of great leadership.

These skills start in primary school when students are primed developmentally to gain agency and efficiency in communicating with others.

Sadly, we have neglected these skills for far too long.

From Helper to Leader in Leaps and Bounds These principles and the activities that promote them, will help you transform students with a propensity to help into responsible, dynamic, benefit-focused leaders invested in themselves, their school and their communities.

Great leaders are needed in all walks of life – in schools, the workplace, in families and communities. Developing leaders is a vital community service.

It’s exciting to think that you have a hand in shaping not only your school's leadership culture, but the leaders of tomorrow and the skills and attributes that they will use to shape their social environments.

6. Teach students to manage time and people around competing priorities.

The trend toward smaller families and the propensity for adults to organise children’s lives has led to a deterioration in students' organisational and personal management skills.

This hampers leadership development as both time management and people management are needed for effective leadership.

Any program that develops leadership must provide students with experience in these vital areas.

Michael Grose Michael Grose is the founder of the Young Leaders Program, an in-school program designed by teachers that builds strong cultures of student leadership in primary schools. An experienced educator and popular presenter Michael is a PSA Australian Educator of the Year winner and is a Hall of Fame member of the Professional Speakers of Australia.

Find out more at www.youngleadersprogram.com.au

57

SONALI VONGCHUSIRI

Sometimes it Gets Loud in my Toes Helping Students Find Their Voice

Teachers Matter

This story is meant to support the cultivation of assertiveness in children via play. Especially for children who may need accommodations at school, they can learn to feel safe asserting their needs by making it fun.

58

L

ast week at school, my five-year-old daughter yelled at her friend, “BE QUIET. YOU’RE TOO LOUD!”

My daughter was the one yelling. Does this ever happen in your home? Someone screaming for quiet? Ironic, isn’t it?

Her teacher, who told me about it at the end of the day, was baffled.

Later that day, I checked in with my daughter about what was actually going on at that moment. I let her know it was okay if she wanted to share and it was also okay if she didn’t want to talk about it with me. She shared that there was too

much noise. It was her first day back to school after having been out for a week, and she found snack time really loud and busy.

I told her, “That happens to me, too.” She nodded and smiled. My kids are sensory sensitive, just like me. She’s heard me ask for support in a light tone by saying, “My ears are ringing. I want to be together. Would you be willing to support me by having us all whisper?” This is a genuine question, and a “no” would be alright. I’d simply then move to get the quiet I need to reground myself.

We chatted about how she can get quiet in those moments by finding a quiet spot or a book to read. We discussed her sharing with her teacher that, “Sometimes it gets loud in my ears. Would you support me in finding a quiet spot when I need it?”

SONALI VONGCHUSIRI

I want kids to want to share their needs and I’ve found that an easy and enjoyable way we can do that is through humour.

kids and all kids in navigating school and friend experiences in a way that is considerate of both themselves and their peers. For a child with albinism who is struggling with the brightness coming from a window and anxious about communicating their need to the teacher or friend directly, what if we could make it funny as we whisper to them, “Sometimes it gets bright in my... elbows?”

She’s nervous about asking her teacher. She asks if I’ll ask for her. As much as I want to do this, I also want to support her in finding her own voice. What I’m happy to do is be there while she tells her teacher.

The next day, at drop-off, we found the teacher. My daughter goes quiet. She asks me to remind her what to say.

I whisper in her ear to say, “Sometimes it’s loud in my toes.”

I can see her smile even through her face mask. She looks at me and says, “No, mommy, you’re wrong.”

I say, “Oh, okay.” I lean towards her ears again and say, “This time I’ve got it! Sometimes it gets loud in my belly.”

She smiles and sighs. I say, “Not it, huh? How about, “Sometimes it gets loud in my... nose???” She giggles, turns to her teacher, and says in a clear voice, “Sometimes it’s too loud in my ears. Can you help me find quiet when this happens?”

She expressed her needs confidently. She expressed her needs respectfully. She found her voice.

At the end of the week, her teacher told me that during a class movie, my daughter said it was loud in her ears. Her teacher invited my daughter to stay quietly in the room.

My daughter curled up with a book on the class carpet.

It’s important to me to empower my kids to speak for themselves. And it’s important to me that learning to find their voice is safe for them, too. I want kids to want to share their needs and I’ve found that an easy and enjoyable way we can do that is through humour.

My daughter doesn’t have albinism, but I do. When I asked for support as a child, I didn’t know how to do it and feel empowered, capable and confident at the same time. That’s a big part of the reason I care deeply about supporting my

Sonali Vongchusiri Sonali Vongchusiri is a parent coach, founder of Forward Together Parenting and the “Raising Your Strong-Willed Child”” series. She often says that she was that kid and now she has three of those kids. She supports parents in shifting from “parenting perfectly” to “parenting with personality”. Parents can step off the emotional rollercoaster with their child, simplify parenting and stabilize their relationship with their child by uncovering and meeting both their child’s core needs and their own.

She can be contacted at: hello@raisingyourstrongwilledchild.com

59

JUDITH YEABSLEY

Nutrient Boosting for Fussy Eaters Part One - Breakfast Options

P

arents of fussy eaters are often concerned about what their child eats from a nutritional standpoint. They are worried that a limited diet means their child is missing out on valuable vitamins that will help them grow and develop.

There are ways though, even in very narrow diets to maximise the nutrients that a child consumes.

A simple way to do this without changing anything about the food is to rotate foods. As much as possible, serve a range of foods across a day and a week. Even within a narrow diet serve the different foods that a child eats rather than just a few. This means that they are getting the best spread of nutrients and also textures and tastes.

Nutrient Boosting Foods If a child has a very limited diet – less than 20 foods – it is worth considering support to help increase the number of foods eaten.

However, even within a limited range of foods, there are still ways to add in some additional nutrients. Let’s look at how caregivers can do this at breakfast.

BREAKFAST 1. Bread – (or bread-type options): Upgrading the quality of the bread can be a simple but good step in boosting nutrients.

Teachers Matter

If a child is stuck on white bread, then high fibre options are a good start. A swap for white spelt or sourdough may be possible, and these have a better nutrient profile and are more easily digested.

60

If wholegrain or wholemeal options are okay, these provide more nutrients than white bread. Rotating between different types can help deliver different nutrients, too.

2. Spreads – what is added to toast or other carb bases can pack a punch. Nut or seed butters deliver protein, healthy fats, minerals and vitamins.

Home-made jam made simply from pureed fruit, some sweetener, and chia seeds can be a great option or some of the better-quality jams are primarily fruit.

Marmite or Vegemite has a good dose of B vitamins.

JUDITH YEABSLEY

A simple way to do this without changing anything about the food is to rotate foods. As much as possible, serve a range of foods across a day and a week.

3. Toppings – whether a child prefers cereal, pancakes, yoghurt or toast, there are many toppings that can be added to boost nutrients.

Grinding nuts and seeds (or buying something like LSA) and sprinkling a little on food can boost those good fats and minerals. As nuts and seeds are dry and crunchy, sometimes this is easy for a child to accept.

Chia seeds can surprisingly also be a win. I know several parents who have introduced this as a crunch factor on top of spreads on toast, thereby introducing fibre and healthy fats. Perhaps mixing ground nuts or seeds with cocoa powder helps as it introduces a chocolate flavour. Cocoa is a good source of zinc.

However, cacao is more nutrient-rich if that’s okay for your child.

Fruit juice, even though it gets a lot of negative advertising, can be a positive for fussy eaters. If a child is unable to eat whole fruits, fruit juice can be an alternative. It enables a child to become comfortable with the taste of fruit and delivers much of the same nutrients, just without the same fibre. This is not as an alternative to water but used as a bridge for children who find eating fruit challenging. V8 juice has both vegetable juices and fruit/veg mixes that may be accepted and again used as a way to gently move towards eating vegetables.

5. Cereal – Adding additional toppings or fruit as discussed can be great.

Milk kefir can be added for probiotics. Mixing a little in with regular milk doesn’t necessarily change the flavour but is excellent for gut health.

6. Pancakes – These are often seen as a more treaty option but that’s due to the topping, not the pancake.

Home-made pancakes made with flour, egg and milk provide a good protein fix first thing in the morning.

There are also many different variations of pancakes, such as two eggs plus a mashed banana. Different flours like oat, buckwheat and wholemeal are often accepted in pancakes as they don’t markedly affect the colour or flavour. If testing a new flour for the first time add a small percentage for buy-in. Fruit or veggies like spinach or pureed pumpkin can also be added to the batter. Even chicken can be blended into a pancake.

Stay tuned for the next article, which will focus on snacks, lunch and dinner nutrient boost options.

Any time we can introduce more fruit we are adding additional nutrients, fibre and often antioxidants. We can do this in the form of sliced or grated fruit added to foods. Tinned fruit may be preferred and is available all year round. Fruit purees or mashed fruit like bananas can be added to toast, crumpets or pancakes, for example.

4. Fruit – the best way to increase the amount of fruit eaten, is to serve it more often! If fruit is not a feature of breakfast at the moment, it’s not too late to start.

Fruit is versatile as it can be added to other foods, diced, pureed or sliced or just served whole at the table.

Dried fruit may be easier for some children as it is dry and sweet but nevertheless, a great source of nutrients.

It’s also perfect to have at breakfast as parents can ensure a child brushes their teeth afterwards to get rid of sticky, sugary residue.

Fruit puree is another choice. Many children prefer fruit in a more liquid form and if so, there is no problem serving like this or adding purees to a smoothie.

Judith Yeabsley Judith is an AOTA accrediated picky eating advisor and internationally nutriontional therapist. She works with hundreds of families every year resolving fussy eating and returning pleasure and joy to the meal table. She is also mummy to two boys and the author of Creating Confident Eaters and Winner, Winner I Eat Dinner. Her dream is that every child is able to approach food from a place of safety and joy, not fear.

You may contact her at: Judith@theconfidenteater.com

61

LESLEY JOHNSON

Let’s Celebrate Our Human Rights Texts to Promote Peace

...let us continue to work together to develop and nurture in future generations a culture of human rights, to promote freedom, security and peace in all nations.

–Kofi Annan

T

his term or semester of the school year gives us many days of celebrating the positive nature of our international society.

8 Sep

Fri

International Literacy Day

21 Sep Thu

International Day of Peace

2 Oct

International Day of Non-Violence

Mon

Discussions around human rights from this storyline may enable children to empathise with the impact that the violation of rights has on people.

17 Oct Tue International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 13 Nov Mon

World Kindness Day

16 Nov Thu

International Day for Tolerance

20 Nov Mon

Universal Children’s Day

2 Dec Sat International Day for the Abolition of Slavery

Teachers Matter

3 Dec Sun International Day of Persons with Disabilities

62

10 Dec Sun

Human Rights Day

18 Dec Mon

International Migrants Day

These are just a few you might like to use as a topic focus.

Interestingly, the semester begins with the International Literacy Day. This, In my opinion, runs across all of these ‘days.’ There are so many wonderful resources that can be found in libraries, both physical and online in places like Storyline Online, Unite for Literacy and the judicious use of YouTube.

Some topics, like slavery, may be quite foreign to many students. However, once they are able to identify the tenets they may recognise that slavery still exists in many forms all around our world. Modern slavery, a widespread violation of human rights, occurs in every country and many industries in today’s world. It is often hidden from view and in this fact it differs from slavery as it was once recognised in a realm of racial divide.

White Socks Only Author: Evelyn Coleman Illustrator: Tyrone Geter Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co 1996 ISBN: 9780807589564

LESLEY JOHNSON

Use graphic organisers to summarise thinking:

White Socks Only, by Evelyn Coleman, is a story that will introduce children to apartheid and the concept of inequality practised through race. Discussions around human rights from this storyline may enable children to epathise with the impact that the violation of rights has on people.

• Find the country and state the story is set in on a globe or map.

• List other countries/places that you think would get hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk.

Think Pair Share: - What did the girl think the “Whites Only” sign meant?

- What did the white man who hit her think the “Whites Only” sign meant?

As a class, use a consequence wheel and a sequence graphic organiser to summarise the story. Start with the girl using the water fountain in her white socks. Evaluate which organiser you found better for the purposes of summarising.

Give reasons for your answers.

Analysis through drama: With a partner, role play what you think the turning event in the story is.

OR Create a freeze frame of the scene where the black people hugged and cried over the girl.

Each person add a thought that explains why they are hugging and crying.

Create: Create a sign that you think should be at a water fountain.

- Why did the black people stand and let the man hit them?

- Why do you think the Old Lady from church took off her shoes before drinking at the fountain?

- Explain what “good” the girl did by going into town that day.

Working in a small group: a. Use drawings and key words to identify the settings of this story. Include important places, land names, country, time of the day, season, temperature and decade. b. Write questions for any setting information that you don’t know.

c. Compare your information with other groups and see if you can answer all the groups’ questions. d. Discuss and brainstorm the ways and reasons for the important settings in this book.

Lesley Johnson Lesley Johnson 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.

For more information, please visit:

www.readthinklearn.com

63

KAREN TUI BOYES

Understanding Success

S

peaker and author Peggy Klaus’ book BRAG! - The Art of Tooting Your Horn Without Blowing It, really appeals to me. She teaches how to achieve self-promotion and networking with grace and impact.

Living down under in New Zealand, we have an unusual phenomenon here called the Tall Poppy Syndrome. It comes from a belief that equality and fairness are principle values and if someone seems to be more successful than the group, there is a need to discredit them and bring them ‘back to our level.’

It is a particular cultural trait that makes people not want to shine too bright and make their family, friends and neighbours feel less. This is evident in most areas of our

society, except in Rugby. We expect nothing but the top performance from our beloved All Blacks rugby team.

The difference is this... in many countries, when the poppy farmer goes out to his field one morning and sees a poppy one metre taller than the others, she will stand there in awe and wonder how to make all her other poppies grow that tall. Conversely, a New Zealand (or Australian for that matter) poppy farmer will see a poppy one metre taller than the others and cut it down.

Celebrating your successes can seem like you are boasting, being big-headed or showing off. It is key, however, to acknowledge your successes to continue being successful. It is not about being ego-driven. Sharing your success can be

Teachers Matter

Remember, success is not a one-time event but a continuous journey of growth and self-discovery.

64

KAREN TUI BOYES • Who are the individuals who have supported my journey to success?

• How can I nurture and expand my support network?

• What role can I play in supporting others' success?

• How am I investing in my personal and professional development?

• What might be key new skills or knowledge I could acquire to enhance my success?

• How can I stay open to learning from different sources and experiences?

• How can I maintain my motivation during difficult times?

• What strategies do I have for bouncing back from setbacks?

• Am I open to trying different approaches when faced with challenges?

Using your answers to these questions, create a blueprint for replicating success in various aspects of your life. Focus on the repeatable behaviours and actions to have used and consider how these can apply to your next achievement goals.

actioned in a humble way and is likely to create a positive ripple effect on others.

Achieving goals and your desires is better when you can share your successes and celebrate them. Each time you celebrate your accomplishments, you raise the bar for your next steps. It is also known to boost your confidence, help to stave off burnout and fuel your continued success. Seeing how far you have come, rather than how far you have to go, can also be a prime motivating factor to keep going.

Success is not just about reaching a destination though.

It's about understanding the process and learning how to replicate it in various aspects of life. Many people achieve success and are not sure how they did it, only to crash and burn in their next project or attempt to be successful. To unpack personal success so it can be repeated, it is critical to break down the elements that contribute to your success and ask key reflection questions along the way. Success is a dynamic process that involves understanding your goals, reflecting on your journey, and making adjustments along the way.

Here are some reflection questions to consider…

• What were some of the key factors that contributed to my past successes?

• What were some of the obstacles I encountered in past failures and what can I learn from them?

• How can I use these lessons to improve my future efforts?

Remember, success is not a one-time event but a continuous journey of growth and self-discovery.

Stopping and truly experiencing the wonders and goals you have achieved creates more success. As Oprah Winfrey says, “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”

Take a moment to list some of your past goals and achievements that you are proud of. Unpack some of the reasons which have contributed to your success and apply these to your next endeavours.

Karen Tui Boyes Karen Tui Boyes is a champion for LifeLong Learning and is on a mission to transform education globally. Described as an educational alchemist, a conscious creator and a playful priestess, she grounds the research into practical strategies which positively impact teaching and learning.

A multi-award-winning speaker, educator and businesswoman, she is the CEO of Spectrum Education, Principal of Spectrum Online Academy and the author of 11 books.

Find out more at:

www.spectrumeducation.com

65