Teachers Matter Magazine Issue 51

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

TeachersMatter The Magazine of Spectrum Education

The “Three A” Method Leading Through Uncertainty & Change

Tips for Giving an Effective Presentation in Class A Starting Guide to Cell Phones in the Classroom NZ$25 / AU$25

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 51

Be the

you

Teachers Matter

when you were

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Dear Readers, The light is at the end of the tunnel! “Normal” seems to be just around the corner as Zoom meetings and students are returning to our school buildings. I don’t know about you all, but I will be so excited to have real life, tangible students back in my classroom, reading real life, tangible books in their hands! Oh, how I will NOT miss teaching littles how to read via Google Meet! I am still in awe of how educators around the globe rallied to change everything they do, pivoted to meet kids where they were overnight, and continued to teach both in-person and online for so long. What an amazing group of humans we are! Well done!

If you have a young child at home, and you’re on the fence about if they’re ready for school, be sure to read through Andrew Oberthur’s, “School Readiness.” In it, you will find an array of considerations that need to be taken into account before sending your child to school.

Ever been on a team where either all its members think like you - or none of them do? Ava Lucanus dives deeper into personality types in her article, “What Makes You Click?” Find the traits you identify with and examine the others as well. Knowing yourself and those around you will strengthen the team and lead you to success!

Sean McCormick brings us strategies to grow and strengthen students’ organisation abilities, among others, in his article, “Enhance Your Student’s Executive Function.” I know these skills are ones that have really been needed for all four of my personal children - especially as they’ve navigated through online learning and having to keep track of their assignments and projects!

Last, be sure to check out Karen Tui Boyes’ article, “Learning to Manage the Impulses.” In this, Karen guides us through how to calm our brains and refocus so we can attend to the task at hand. Not only will you learn how to calm your mind, Karen provides practical tips on how to model this for your students as well.

Yours in Education,

Jessica

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CONTENTS

In this issue

p18 – A Starting Guide to Cell Phones in the Classroom

6

What Makes You Click?

AVA LUCANUS

CAROLYN STUART

8

Teaching Only Children

24

Doom Loop or HOPE

10

School Readiness

26 Learning to Manage the Impulses

MICHAEL GROSE

ANDREW OBERTHUR

13 QUOTE 14

Great Metaphors IAN WARWICK

Teachers Matter

16 Transfer

4

p30 – Leading Through Uncertainty & Change

ALAN COOPER

18

A Starting Guide to Cell Phones in the Classroom

21

MADELEINE TAYLOR & TAINO BENDZ

QUOTE

22

Misplaced Optimism

DR WILLIAM SOMMERS

KAREN TUI BOYES

29 QUOTE 30

Leading Through Uncertainty & Change LAUREN PARSONS

33 QUOTE 34

Consent Education Needs to Start Early KARI SUTTON

p46 – Prepared, Confident Speaking

36 Don’t be Fooled: Six Myths

and Tips about Engaged Students

PATTI DRAPEAU

38

Enhance Your Student’s Executive Function

40

Tally Time

42

Help Your Students Sparkle

44

Grief and Idolisation

SEAN MCCORMICK

KATE WINCHESTER JESSICA YOUMANS

MICHAEL HEMPSEED

46 Prepared, Confident Speaking

KAREN TUI BOYES

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MAGAZINE CONTACTS CONTRIBUTOR

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

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

Subscriptions Toll free (NZ): 0800 373 377 (International): +64 4 528 9969 Thanks to the educators, speakers and authors who contributed interviews, articles, photographs and letters.

Teachers Matter magazine is registered with the National Library: ISSN 1178-6825 © Spectrum Education 2021 All rights reserved.

p52 – Being You!

p64 – The “Three A” Method

48 Increase Student Motivation

GRETCHEN WEGNER

60

50

Let’s be Honest: Burnout Sucks

62 Questioning is Key to Learning

LESLEY JOHNSON

52

Being You!

64

The “Three A” Method

HANA ZAWODNY MATT ALLEN

54

How to Get Your Kids to Leave Home

56

Mental Health Awareness for Teachers

ELIAS KANARIS

65

Stop Telling Your Kids What to Do! JACQLIN RICHARDS

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

HELEN MACDONALD

Postal Address: PO Box 30818, Lower Hutt, New Zealand

Ditch Self-Esteem and Focus on Self-Control

Phone: (NZ) +64 4 528 9969

KAREN TUI BOYES

magazine@spectrumeducation.com www.spectrumeducation.com

SUE O’CALLAGHAN

58 Why Won’t my Kids LISTEN?!

STEPHANIE PINTO

5

AVA LUCANUS

What Makes you Click?

Learning to Communicate Effectively Within Your Team

H

ave you ever caught yourself in a difficult team situation thinking, “If only she saw the situation like I do?”

Imagine if we all viewed situations in the same way? I’m sure you’d agree that whilst you could definitely see a benefit, life would be pretty uninspiring. We would all have the same opinions, always agree on everything and never experience any challenges to learn from.

One of the wonderfully rich qualities of human beings is that we all see things differently. And to get along with others, be listened to and taken seriously by your team, it’s important that you are able to recognise and embrace the different communication styles of your fellow team members. It’s also important to understand yourself and be able to identify when and how to adapt your communication style to others’ differing styles.

Teachers Matter

For your team to work effectively and achieve successful outcomes, you need people in your team who see things differently to you. A successful team needs people who see the vision, those who can figure out what needs to be done to get there, those who can analyse the situation, and those who have the people skills to lead and manage the team. If we were all great at leading and managing, there would be

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no one to do the work. If we were all visionaries nothing would get done and if we were all analysers, the research and statistics would look amazing but it would be difficult figuring out what to do next.

Understanding relationships at work are not only the key to your team success, but also your career success. You might kid yourself that you don’t care what other people at work think of you, but when it comes to influencing people to get what you want, such as a promotion, your reputation is critical. I once worked with a woman who didn’t care what people thought of her. She would barge into the office every morning and head straight for the solitude of her work-station, not bothering to greet her team members.

She never helped anyone and if a colleague helped her, she never uttered the words please or thank you. This woman’s colleagues perceived her aloofness to be arrogance and thought she was rude and ill mannered. She didn’t have any teamwork skills and lost out big time - to the tune of $30,000 per year when the time came for a promotion. She was overlooked for someone else - someone who the company considered to be more easy-going because she got along well with her colleagues and was respectful and helpful.

The company saw people skills as an important factor in choosing the right person for the promotion.

AVA LUCANUS So, how do we learn to get along with others? Stephen Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, suggests that we need to, “Seek first to understand, then be understood.”

Human behaviour is very complex, but in simple terms, psychologists have been able to identify patterns of behaviour. Recognising these patterns helps us understand what makes people ‘tick’ and what we need to do to communicate effectively with them. These patterns can be represented as four characters that guide our behaviour - a bit like the devil and angel on each shoulder that ‘whisper’ in our ear. One or two of these characters often ‘shines’ more brightly than the others and becomes our dominant subpersonality. You ‘click’ with people like you, and those who are not can drive you crazy!

Knowledge of these characters within yourself and others will help you ‘click’ with others by understanding what makes them ‘tick.’ See if you can identify some of these colourful characters in your life.

So, if you want to ‘click’ with…

Left Brain

Right Brain

BLUE Analysers

YELLOW Players

Explain the logic behind your words and actions, and back it up with data if needed.

Make it fun, exciting and energetic for them.

MAKE IT FUN

BE LOGICAL GREEN Safekeepers

RED Carers

Be clear, organised and punctual, and take into account possible risks.

Be friendly and genuine, express your feelings and show empathy for others.

BE ORGANISED

SHOW EMPATHY

The Analyser: This first character is represented by the color blue. The Analyser is a sharp thinker, direct and to the point. They are good at analysing situations and problemsolving using logic.

The Safekeeper: This green character is very careful, practical and organised. These people are always early for meetings and great with processes.

The Player: Curious, creative and impulsive is the Yellow Player. Players are aptly named because of their playfulness and although they are not always so good with details, they are great at coming up with ideas and seeing the big picture.

The Carer: Last but not least, there is the Red Carer. Carers love a hug, asking how your family is and discussing matters of the heart. They are great at building relationships and leading teams of people.

“For your team to work effectively and achieve successful outcomes, you need people in your team who see things differently to you.”

Human behaviour is, of course, much more complex than four colourful characters, but the Click! ColoursTM are a great start to help you build relationships and boost success by understanding people who are not like you.

Ava Lucanus Ava Lucanus is a Customer Experience Expert, who works with schools to help create an awareness of customer service and improve service standards.

She does this by providing customised training and coaching programs to optimise relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

See

www.edgecommunication.com.au for more information.

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MICHAEL GROSE

Teaching Only Children Tips and Strategies for Success

C

hildren from families with one child are on the rise in Australian and New Zealand schools. If these children were a political party, they’d now be part of the mainstream as around 15% of families contain one child. So, what are only children really like?

Many of the characteristics of first borns such as perfectionism, an achievement orientation and conservatism are exaggerated in this group. Most research into birth order indicates that this group generally have healthy levels of self-esteem and are more confident and articulate than children in other situations. The fact that they spend a great deal of their early years in the company of parents who can devote their considerable time, energy and resources into just one child can give them an academic advantage.

They also benefit from the fact that unlike eldest children, only children don’t experience the ignominy and angst of dethronement. They are, and will always be the sole focus of parental attention and energy.

For teachers, birth order knowledge of their students offers a rich vein of information to assist them to manage and motivate their students. The following tips will help teachers make sense of the fascinating cohort of students who are only children:

Top 3 Characteristics of Only Children: •

Reliable The need for adult recognition means that you can rely on an only child to work conscientiously and stick to class rules.

•

Conservative Spending a great deal of their early life in an adult world means many only children follow along traditional family lines.

•

Confident

Teachers Matter

Ultra-stimulation by parents and a tendency to spend more time on their own makes this cohort articulate, knowledgeable and comfortable in their own skins.

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“For teachers, birth order knowledge of their students offers a rich vein of information to assist them to manage and motivate their students.”

3 Traits to be Aware: •

Self-Absorbed Only children may become absorbed in their own world and forget to include those around them in their activities.

•

Resistant to Criticism No one likes to be criticised, but only children have a tendency to take criticism and feedback more personally than those in other birth order positions.

•

Tendency Toward Ultra-Perfectionism Many only children expect a great deal from the world, as well as a great deal from themselves. They will often put off doing a job unless they can do it perfectly.

MICHAEL GROSE CONTRIBUTOR

Teaching Strategies Beneficial to Only Children Encourage only children to mix with others.

Only children are used to life being smooth and relatively easy, so sharing time and space with others is not their forte. Group learning sessions, informal social activities and multi-age learning will help this cohort gain the social capacities that children in families with siblings usually develop.

deal to offer. They usually appreciate a great deal of communication from school.

It’s common for parents of only children to lack appropriate developmental knowledge so be prepared to put their minds at ease about issues that they may perceive as being bigger problems than they really are. Parents of only children may benefit from attending school-led parenting programmes to build familiarity with developmentally-appropriate parenting methods.

Help them develop conflict resolution strategies.

Some only children struggle with the social requirements of group settings, particularly resolving conflict with peers. Help them develop a variety of conflict resolution strategies such as compromise, taking turns and following the lead of others.

Use fun and play to loosen them up.

Only children can have intense personalities so be prepared to have some fun and be playful with them.

Avoid putting pressure on only children because they generally already put a great deal of pressure on themselves.

Engaging with Parents of Only Children Parents often have a great deal of emotional investment in their only child. They usually know about the small details of their child’s life and have a tendency to micromanage.

When working with a parent of an only child, be prepared to listen intently to their views as they will have a great

Michael Grose Michael Grose is one of Australia’s most respected experts on parenting and bringing schools and parents together.

He’s also the founder of Parenting Ideas, one of Australia’s most trusted sources of parenting education and resources for schools. Michael is a former primary school teacher with 15 years of experience. Michael continues to help teachers, students and parents through a collection of resources designed specifically for school communities.

Find out more at

parentingideas.com.au

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ANDREW OBERTHUR

School Readiness Considering ALL the Factors Beyond Age and Gender

“M

y son is born a couple of months prior to the cut off date for them to start school. I think I will give them a second year at kindy.” As a primary school’s senior leader, I have heard these comments many times in my 20+ year career. It has prompted me to analyse the various factors that may contribute to parents and educators. What are the factors that may determine how we should decide if a child is ready to start school? Are age and gender enough to determine if a child is ready to start school? I think NOT! There is a general belief that young boys should have a second year of kindergarten to assist them to be more ready for school. However, age and gender alone are not enough to make that determination. There is no one perfect process to determine a child’s readiness to start school.

Teachers Matter

At the outset, let me live on the edge by making some assumptions:

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•

One: Both parents and educators want what is best for the children.

•

Two: Parents know their children in the home and social setting.

•

Three: Parents are the first educators of their children.

•

Four: Educators have the training and knowledge to formally teach children.

•

Five: Early childhood educators prepare children to start school.

For a child to be successful in their first year at school, ideally they will come to school with an age-appropriate level of skills in communication, socialisation and independence. Does being a young boy preclude a child from being ready to start school? Or are there other factors that may influence a child’s readiness to start school? I have met some mature four year old boys who appear ready for school. I have also met some immature five year old girls who have struggled when they have started school. Age and gender are only a couple of factors that parents and educators must consider when determining if a child is ready to start school.

If determining what is the best age for a child to start school was easy, then there would be a consistent age and criteria for parents and educators to follow. In Australia, each state determines what age a child must be to start school. And they are different. Coupled with that is the issue of early entry into school. Again, the states determine if a child can start school early, according to their own criteria (That’s a

topic for another occasion). As a country with Australia’s population and governance structures can’t agree on when children should start school, there will be more opinions from overseas countries. With our world being more accessible (pre and hopefully, post pandemic) a percentage of families have their children educated in more than one state and occasionally more than one country.

Factors that may influence a child’s communication, socialisation and independence include experiences that their parents or carers provide and experiences that their kindergarten, pre-school, daycare and educators provide.

Further factors include the family background from which a child may come.

Communication for a four or five year old child is the ability to express themselves, mainly through oral speech, in order to get their needs known. This is called expressive language.

Communication includes the ability to follow instructions and comprehend. This is called receptive language. Speech and language skills are also a part of the communication skills. Being exposed to letters, words, stories and literature are key to a child’s development. The parents and carers are the first educators in ‘teaching’ children these initial skills.

Socialisation for a four or five year old child is the ability to mix with their peers and to practise behaviours that promote social engagement with children and adults in an age-appropriate way. Practices include sharing, waiting, taking turns, joining groups and making friends. These are all important skills for engaging at school and being ready to attend to learning successfully.

ANDREW OBERTHUR

“Age and gender are only a couple of factors that parents and educators must consider when determining if a child is ready to start school.”

Independence skills for a four or five year old child include the ability to manage themselves with life-skills at an ageappropriate level. These life skills may include dressing and feeding themselves, looking after their belongings, recognising their name or carrying their school bag.

There are many conditions that provide children with the experiences to have them prepared for school. It is these conditions that must be considered when determining if a child is ready to start school.

If a child has been at daycare since they were a few months old, they will have had a variety of experiences that children who have never been to an early childhood setting may have not experienced in their early years. The opportunity to share, wait, take turns, make friends or join groups are

available at social settings, such as daycare or kindergartens.

Parents who don’t send their children to daycare need to know the importance of these social experiences and provide the opportunities for their children to engage in play, sharing and taking turns.

Children who have siblings may have been exposed to experiences at home that an only child may not have experienced. Eldest children, youngest children and middle children may all be exposed to unique experiences. Being the eldest child in a family, with a few younger siblings, may see the eldest child be more independent as their parents are busy with the younger siblings. Conversely, being the eldest child may mean the child isn’t given the time and exposure to literacy if the parents are too busy with the younger children. Parents of multiple children must work to ensure that their children, no matter their position in the family, are exposed to early childhood skills necessary for school.

Being an only child may mean the parents have more time to spend with their child, giving them the foundational skills necessary for school. Living in an adult world for a child may mean greater exposure to language and communication. However, It may also mean less exposure to social environments with their peers. There needs to be a balance between the two in order to have a well-developed child.

Children with parents who both work may have different experiences from children who have one or both parents at home for the majority of each week.

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ANDREW OBERTHUR Transition and Orientation programmes also influence a child’s readiness for school. Some schools are introducing School Readiness programs to ensure that children and parents are as ready as possible to start school. Such programmes are designed to give children a brief experience of prep and give the school staff the opportunity to make observations of the children.

There are transition statements from kindergarten that give the primary school staff and parents some indication as to the child’s readiness for school. Primary school staff are encouraged to discuss each child with the feeder kindergarten staff, as they have worked with the children in an educational setting.

What this indicates is that there are numerous factors that influence a child’s grounding in communication, socialisation and independence, which are the factors necessary to support success for children in starting school.

Children whose parents believe in negotiating with their children and giving the child autonomy for their decisions, at the age of four or five, will influence how a child copes with the structure of a school. School is a setting where rules are designed to keep all students safe, and designed to be followed by all students, with minimal debate and minimal negotiation.

There are many factors that determine a child’s readiness for school. Age and gender are only two factors. When a boy is born in one of the months before the cut off date for enrolment at school, parents and educators need to consider many factors to determine readiness. Generalising that boys should have a second year of kindergarten or pre-school or daycare based purely on age and gender may be doing the child a disservice. Parents and educators need to make informed decisions.

Children who have early childhood carers and teachers at daycare or kindergarten that provide experiences in communication, socialisation, independence skills along with exposure to literacy and numeracy foundations will influence a child’s readiness for school.

Teachers Matter

Children who have parents that value literacy and numeracy, language and communication development will give their children opportunities that give them the foundations for the building blocks of learning.

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The genetic make-up of a child may also have an influence on a child’s readiness. The great debate about nature (genetics) versus nurture (upbringing) is relevant when determining a child’s readiness for school.

Then there is the cultural background of a child that may influence their experiences, relevant to giving them the foundational skills for school. Some cultures have different beliefs about early childhood education; or how parents should ‘raise’ their children. This may influence the child’s exposure to language in their native tongue or in the language in which they will be taught.

Andrew Oberthur Andrew Oberthur is a primary school principal with over 30 years experience teaching and leading primary schools in Brisbane. Andrew has been on ABC radio a dozen times in the last couple of years. He is available for presentations and workshops for school staff and parents. In 2018 he published his first book “Are You Ready for Primary School This Year? which is about building a culture of trust, collaboration and enquiry between parents and teachers.

His book is available from his website:

www.creativecollaborativesolutions.net

Strive for

progress,

not

perfection.

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IAN WARWICK

Great Metaphors Unlocking the Nature of Creative Thought

Leaping Through Metaphor When ordinary words enter the force field of metaphor, they do extraordinary things. They are the ignition point for originality and fuel innovation. They power our writing and are the intense heat at the core of creativity. Meaning doesn't lie around waiting to be picked up, it has to be actively discovered. Great metaphors don’t just point to meaning, they create it. They don’t just discover similarities, they forge them. Often immediately.

The invention of metaphor - seeing one thing in terms of another - helped to create language itself. Metaphors are the indispensable root of language. We find our way in the world intuitively by noticing and recognising associations and similarities. The sudden apprehension of relationship connects, links, familiarises and underlies all that we see.

Understanding is arriving at a familiarising metaphor which offers us that charged tingle of recognition. In this way they help us to shape and make sense of our world.

What process connects a refuse collector who refers to maggots as 'disco rice,’ a fisherman who compares a poor man's rights to a fish ‘hanging in a net,’ an Auschwitz prisoner comparing the arrival of dawn to 'a betrayal’ or a crack addict’s skin to a ‘moth’s flaking dust?’ Such metaphors seem to be tied into the time, the event, the character, the perspective. And yet each in turn can be ‘seen’ by all of us.

How? We are moved into a way of thinking, led and sped into a new creative space. We find ourselves at the heart of the imaginative process. We have made the cognitive leap.

Teachers Matter

This article will explore the nature of metaphor and how it encapsulates the heart of the imaginative process. It will also show how we can make the cognitive leap ourselves and suggest how metaphors can be best used to initiate breakthroughs in our own thinking.

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Thinking Aside How do we come up with innovative ideas? The creative act does not create something out of nothing like in the Old Testament. It uncovers, selects, reshuffles, combines and synthesises already existing facts and ideas. Souriau believed that, “To invent, you must think aside.” When the situation is blocked, straight thinking must be superseded by the search for flashes of adjacent possibilities which will

“Metaphoric thinking is how we clarify the abstractions into a more immediately accessible and graspable understanding.”

unblock it. Metaphors offer a number of insights into how we can all think slightly more ‘askew.’

Such thinking aside is a temporary liberation from the tyranny of over-precise concepts, the axioms ingrained in the very texture of our language and specialised ways of thought. Sometimes we appreciate metaphors simply for their poetic power, their beauty, or their aesthetic pleasure.

But more significantly, they provide an invaluable way of gaining purchase to elucidate abstract scientific and mathematical concepts. Metaphors can thereby become the

IAN WARWICK

bridge between cabbages and kings. They help us to shape our world, from metaphysics to mathematics, science to psychology.

An Eye for Resemblance When we liken something to something else, connections are made, and a rival reality is floated into our minds.

This might be like that, so we think anew. We picture a likeness, which speeds us towards a new meaning or way of understanding. When we talk about how metaphors work - similes, allegories, analogies, parables – we are talking about ways that we use to substitute meaning, to transfer and translate the abstract into concrete. Metaphoric thinking is how we clarify the abstractions into a more immediately accessible and graspable understanding.

We all have a deep seated drive to integrate, to find patterns, create or expose hidden analogies and ultimately uncover solutions. Creativity needs a bump start, an idea or a way of seeing, which sets off its own generative process. Metaphors do this and in the same process, fuel original thinking.

Ian Warwick Ian Warwick founded London Gifted & Talented as part of the groundbreaking London Challenge, which has transformed education across the capital city since 2003.

He has co-written ‘Educating the More Able Student’ and ‘World Class’ in 2016 and has two new books on ‘Redefining More Able Education’. He has recently completed a book on learning called Unfinished Perfection, which focuses on Da Vinci and explores strategies for improving creativity and innovation.

For more information contact him at:

ian.warwick@londongt.org

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ALAN COOPER

Transfer Moving Thinking to Lifelong Learning

T

ransfer moves a skill from one area to another, such as the classroom or the assessment area being moved into a different context, thus becoming a life skill.

The first clues to this may well appear to you, the teacher, as some irrelevant student verbiage. Was the student letting off pressure with a silly comment? Was the student bored and needed a distraction, or is it something real and worthwhile?

The panel at the right is the final, expert level of a sequential and incremental rubric illustrating a process to organise a student’s work processes. Toward the end of the process, at the final expert level, I noted that she had added to her rubric. C. Clothes in the wardrobe.

After puzzling over it, I realised that she had transferred the processes involved in tidying up the management of her schoolwork to tidying up the management of her bedroom.

When I asked, she confirmed this. This was a crucial breakthrough for her as it was the first inkling that she was starting to develop transfer.

Teachers Matter

How serious the transfer is, is not as important as learning to do it, and that means practice fields need to be provided and persisted within the classroom. To get you, the teacher, started, here are some suggested areas for focus for these practice fields:

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•

Apply to real world problems outside the classroom.

•

Create analogies from within the school.

•

Use in a sport or recreational context.

•

Ask the students to apply the principles to another activity using a Venn diagram.

“Transfer is important enough to include in all curriculum areas.”

EXP ERT  Complete a “perfect assignment.”  Manage time by listing what I have to do: - Brainstorm - Timeline - Clothes in the wardrobe

Transfer is important enough to include in all curriculum areas.

Teacher imagination will be able to think of further relevant and motivational ideas for their students. However, at least to start, keep them simple and relatively obvious. The aim at this stage is not the degree of difficulty but grasping the thinking skills involved.

Alice, in Lewis Carroll’s, Alice in Wonderland, could not see the point of struggling. bv“There is no use trying,” said Alice, “One can’t believe impossible things.”

The Red Queen would have none of that. “I dare say you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” In the same way, we need practice.

Keep a watch out for student initiated transfers in the wild – not specifically during the lesson. Where it happens, it will also be a clear signal to you, the teacher, that deep learning

ALAN COOPER is present and being applied. Thus, it gives information that qualitative assessment, such as alphabetical and numerical grades do not.

Provided there is trust between teacher and student, look for an opportunity to have a private chat about how self-talk has developed through to the transfer stage, and eventually schedule that student to take a five-minute slot to explain to the class or if thought better their working group, on how this transfer was discovered. Constructivism will spread like a pandemic to other minds.

However, it is not all positive. Let Madeline Hunter have the last say: “When we do not want the old learning to transfer because it will interfere with new learning we can learn how to minimise or eliminate the transfer.” That will not often be easy and will rely on the individual teacher being prepared to use their personal, practical knowledge from critically looking at their own practices and passing these on to the students.

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

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MADELEINE TAYLOR & TAINO BENDZ

A Starting Guide to Cell Phones in the Classroom Phone Ban, Free for All, or a Mix of Both?

“Biggest plus we have seen in the 11 -14 year olds girls is an increase in active/physical and imaginative play. And the girls said they actually welcomed the change as they didn’t really want to be on the devices but felt the peer pressure to do so.”

— Margaret, from Auckland Diocesan School for girls on their phone policy

Teachers Matter

June 2013 in Minnesota, USA: Madeleine, a parent educator, overheard a discussion on whether preschool children should be given a cell phone. Not long after, Taino, an engineer, had a Phone Free wedding in Sweden. He later moved to New Zealand and started Phone Free Day and has helped hundreds of people create a healthier relationship with their phones.

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Madeleine and Taino teamed up to share some thoughts and provide a step-by-step guide to starting the conversation around phones in schools.

Don’t get us wrong – we think that smartphones are a marvellous invention so...

What is the problem?

In short, the challenge is not phones or apps themselves, but in what way, how much and when we use them. There is no real norm or etiquette around phones, and very few get taught how to develop healthy relationships with phones and other devices. With phone apps like games and social media being designed to keep us using them, many schools experience challenges arising from students’ phone use with everything from bullying to distractions and learning disruptions.

MADELEINE TAYLOR & TAINO BENDZ

“Having a conversation at school about technology use and constant connectivity supports moving towards increased independence and confidence.”

4. Evaluate the data above and decide on a direction and philosophy. For example, no regulation at all, phones handed in at the start of the day or phones only used at breaks.

5. Socialise the proposal to the school whanau and students.

6. Present to the board.

7. Inform whanau and students on the outcome.

8. Develop posters and information for the roll out of any action.

Important points to consider: As with any change, there are several keys to success with some important points to consider.

“Social media is designed to keep your attention on the screen. We've all seen those docs and read the research. It’s all about screen time – that’s where the money is for these companies, and schools are in direct conflict with that.”

•

□ Culture of wellbeing - values and practice □ Ako - learning, teaching and curriculum □ Systems - people and initiatives •

They also change how we interact: "There was a lot less play, a lot less socialising, we were really concerned," said the senior leader at Waiuku school.

We believe that listening to those schools that have taken the first steps is a good way to go.

How can we start a conversation about phone use at school?

If you are finding that phones are a source of conflict or distraction, here are some things you can do: 1. Talk to other teachers and the leadership team. Are they also seeing the current phone culture as an issue?

Mitigating risks: □ Legal considerations? □ What about students and parents who complain or refuse? □ What are common complaints? □ How do you answer? □ What other risks do you identify?

— Hillmorton school

We are clearly facing challenges, with a very dark impact.

But luckily there are remedies and a growing movement for change. So do we put the responsibility on parents to educate their kids on phone etiquette at home? A total ban in school? Or something in the middle where phones can be brought to school but are handed in at the start of the day?

Strong leadership support and involvement from students and parents using the wellbeing indicators as a starting place:

•

Preparing targeted approach for individual situations

•

Creating effective, supportive policies

•

Involving parents, caregivers, and whanau throughout the process

•

Ensuring school-wide, professional learning and development about the new policy, how to implement it and providing support for teachers.

What will you do to take action?

•

Start a conversation?

•

Audit your own smartphone use?

•

Observe the impact of smartphones in your classroom?

•

Do nothing?

2. Talk to parents and students. Audit the impact of phone use at school both on social aspects and performance.

Bringing it All Together

3. Create a ‘business case’ with the pros and cons of a policy.

We believe that the most crucial point is to support teachers, students and their families is to create healthy technology

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MADELEINE TAYLOR

habits. By doing so we can improve study results, increase both physical and mental wellbeing and create a more inclusive culture.

“The classroom culture has changed considerably...especially among the Year 9s to 13s, the classroom culture changed almost overnight...students are able to concentrate far better on what they’re doing in class, without the distraction of notifications and sometimes phone calls.“

Schools also provide an environment for children to learn to make decisions about their world away from their families.

Stealing this opportunity to grow and develop can create a dependence that is detrimental to a student in the long run.

Having a conversation at school about technology use and constant connectivity supports moving towards increased independence and confidence.

Phones are not inherently good or bad. They are incredible pieces of technology that can empower us just as they can have detrimental effects - it all comes down to how we use them.

--Hillmorton High School head Ann Brokenshire in a TVNZ interview

Teachers Matter

Madeleine Taylor

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Madeleine Taylor is a parent of three grown sons and works as a People Skills Consultant.

Madeleine is an accomplished workshop facilitator and long-time trainer of negotiation, influencing skills and managing difficult conversations. Madeleine is a parent educator exploring how to grow resilient children in this complex world. She also is the coauthor of “The Business of People - Leadership for a changing world.” Published 2020.

Madeleine can be contacted at:

madeleine@peopleskillsconsulting.co.nz

Taino Bendz Taino is an engineer from Sweden with 10 years experience from the technology sector. He has two kids and lives in Auckland. He holds workshops and presentations on digital wellbeing and technology habits.

Find out more at:

www.techsmart.co.nz

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CAROLYN STUART

Misplaced Optimism Facing Potential Dangers in Your Organisation

M

any years ago I purchased some lily bulbs and planted them in a pot that sits on our deck. Each year just before Christmas we are treated to a magnificent display of vibrant red lilies. Last year, I noticed that my lily pot had acquired an agapanthus. It was only small and I optimistically decided that its green leaves added interest to the pot.

Just before last Christmas I noticed my lily display wasn’t nearly as vibrant as usual. I also noticed that the agapanthus had continued to grow. I tried to pull it out, but it was stuck hard and because I was worried about damaging the lilies, I figured my best bet was to wait until the lily stalks had died off before removing the agapanthus.

Jooshing up the pots on our deck was top of my job list for Easter. Approaching the lily pot I began to enthusiastically attack the agapanthus but despite my best efforts I couldn’t budge it at all. I decided my only option was to upend the pot. I carefully tipped the pot onto the deck expecting the

lily bulbs to fall out. Only they didn’t. In fact I couldn’t even find them as the agapanthus’ root system had taken over the whole pot. It took me nearly two hours to cut through the agapanthus roots in order to free the lily bulbs.

Now imagine how easy jooshing up my lily pot would have been if I’d dealt with the agapanthus when it first appeared?

But I didn’t. I optimistically hoped that by ignoring it, the problem would resolve itself, but as I now know, it didn’t.

Did you know that agapanthus are one of New Zealand's most popular flowers, and also our most visible invasive weeds? It turns out they choke our natives as well as my lilies.

Did you also know that sometimes we have agapanthus in our organisations and like their botanic counterpart, they can be popular whilst also being an invasive weed, choking the positivity out of organisations? Do you recognise any of these agapanthus?

The Gossip Gossips pass on information about others that is not theirs to share. On the surface, these agapanthus appear popular as some people really enjoy hearing the juicy tidbits about their colleagues.

The Bully

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Bullies who use positional or organisational power to make the lives of those they target miserable. These agapanthus

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“Think carefully if you see an agapanthus in your organisation - do you want to risk long term damage for a short term convenience?”

CAROLYN STUART

can also appear popular because many people are scared that if they don’t stay on the good side of a bully, they too, will become a target.

The Truth Twister

Having extracted the lily bulbs, I have replanted them.

Now comes the long wait to see if my misplaced optimism about the agapanthus has done permanent damage to my lilies. Think carefully if you see an agapanthus in your organisation - do you want to risk long term damage for a short term convenience?

These clever agapanthus take the truth and artfully twist it to mean something completely different. They are sometimes difficult to identify since shreds of truth are woven into their words. Disgruntled people find these agapanthus to be very attractive.

The Moondancer Moonwalkers give the impression of being on board with change but when no-one is looking, they carry on doing what they’ve always done. The trick to dealing with any agapanthus you uncover on the team is to nip their behaviour in the bud as soon as you spot it. The temptation might be to ignore what is happening, optimistically hoping that the agapanthus will change their ways. The problem with doing this is that the longer the agapanthus is allowed to flourish, the deeper their roots will go and the harder it will be to deal with when their behaviour starts to significantly impact the culture of your organisation.

Remember my poor lilies. If I’d dealt with the agapanthus the first time I saw it then it would never have had the opportunity to put down deep roots. Choosing to optimistically hope that the agapanthus would add colour and interest to my lily pot was not clever.

Carolyn Stuart Carolyn Stuart is a weaver of futures, who uses a strengths-based approach to help people and organisations to unlock an abundant and enjoyable future. Carolyn’s varied career in education has included 13 years as a principal, 5½ years in a senior system-level education role and now as the founder of Weaving Futures, a company that combines the latest design strategies with sound leadership practices to help people navigate their preferred future.

Carolyn can be contacted at:

carolyn.stuart@weavingfutures.nz

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DR WILLIAM SOMMERS

Doom Loop or HOPE Controlling Your Choices

“Never deprive someone of hope. It may be all [they] have.”

— H. Jackson Brown These are very difficult times. Health issues, individual financial problems and family concerns are still swirling.

Racial issues are causing most of us to re-examine our thoughts of equality, equity and systemic racism. Many are asking, “Is positive change possible?” The answer? YES! But it takes effort and action on our part.

Teachers Matter

“We can’t control the triggers in life. What we can control is the routine we choose that gets us the same result.”

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It is easy to go into the “Doom Loop.” In a 2004 article that appeared in Fast Company, the author noted that when things are not going well, many of us experience fear and anger. When hope fades, negative thoughts and feelings start occupying more of our attention and attitude.

Combining the work of Marshall Goldsmith’s book Triggers, and Charles Duhigg’s book, The Power of Habits, here is a formula to consider: Trigger – Routine – Result. Some event happens to us, we go into a response loop and we get an outcome. Do this many times and it becomes automatic.

Think about a person close to you. They say something, maybe a complaint. You respond like you always do - walk away without dealing with the issue, but walk away still feeling unsatisfied. We can’t control the triggers in life.

What we can control is the routine we choose that gets us the same result.

DR WILLIAM SOMMERS Here is an acronym for HOPE that may help to change our routines in combating negative thoughts or events that trigger emotions and behaviours.

H.O.P.E. H – Honesty and Humility Be honest about what is

happening, results that we are getting and what we want to change. If we cannot take a ruthless assessment of reality, the chance of change is limited. Have humility to listen, learn and lead actions that will get better results. As a white male, in order to learn, I want to ask questions of others who are not like me. That is how I learn from different cultures and perspectives.

O – Optimism and Options Martin Seligman, UPenn, has written extensively about Positive Psychology and Learned Optimism. This is not happy talk. Talk to people you trust to see what they do in similar situations. Create multiple ways to get to a goal. Develop emotional agility to use those options when needed. Ask others how they deal with disappointment, delusion and diversion. Find people who have found good options staying away from the Doom Loop.

P – Personal and Persisting What can I do to help myself and others to find positive responses to long-term problems?

Start with what you can do and enlist others to join you. I recommend the book Beyond Ally, by Akbar. We need allies and advocates. No more standing by, hoping things will get better and giving no effort for change. Persist with actions that will contribute to a more equitable education and community. Strong values require constancy of purpose.

support what helps with equity. Change to make life better for all. Equity is NOT Equality. Equality is giving everyone the same.

Equity is supporting people in what they each need to be successful. This is different from equality where everyone gets the same. Too often, we confuse the two terms. If you haven’t noticed, people are different! We all come from different backgrounds, families and circumstances. Not everyone needs or wants the same to be their best.

There is plenty of research that says having diverse perspectives yields better decisions and are more effective.

At Pixar, the company gets the most vocal people in a room.

Brad Bird said, “Give me the misfits and mavericks.” I’ll produce the best results when all ideas are in the room.

Pixar produces Oscar winning films by using conflict as an energy source. Of course, there has to be psychological safety in order to get the best ideas. Nobody wants to be an outcast in their organisation. That goes for staff and students.

The organisation, be it a classroom, department, school, district or community must have more than knowledge.

Knowledge is important and insufficient but there must be actions that support diverse points of view and have the ability to communicate different ideas effectively. When we are listened to, taken seriously and know that people have a genuine interest in your point of view, people's hope will come alive and stay alive. Then, and only then, will those people give all they have and are capable of contributing.

Here’s the challenge: Do something. Do one thing differently that will contribute a positive outcome. Albert Einstein once said, “If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.” Another applicable thought from Scott Russell Sanders is, “Memory grips the past and hope grips the future.” Join me in gripping the future for better schools, communities and our society as a whole.

Dr. William Sommers Image from: Interaction Institute for Social Change | Artist: Angus Maguire.

E – Efficacy and Equity Efficacy is the belief that we can make a difference and then take action to do something.

Ibram X. Kendi stated in his book, How to be an Antiracist, “One who is supporting an antiracist policy through their actions or expressing an antiracist idea.” If we want to change it, take actions that dismantle systemic biases and

William A. Sommers, PhD, of Austin, Texas, continues to be a learner, teacher, principal, author, leadership coach and consultant. Bill has come out of retirement multiple times to put theory into practice as a principal. His latest book is 9 Professional Conversations to Change Our Schools.

He can be contacted at:

sommersb4@gmail.com

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KAREN TUI BOYES

Learning to Manage the Impulses 6 Strategies to Help Calm and Refocus the Brain

P

icture this: It is a stunning day with wall to wall sunshine and I’m at a resort on the coast of Australia.

To escape the heat, I decide to go for a bush walk. I briskly follow the undulating and winding path as I take in the scenery and listen to the bird calls. As I round a corner, I suddenly freeze. Five metres ahead of me was something long, brown and squiggly. My first and frightening thought is a snake! I come from a country, New Zealand, with zero poisonous creatures (well, that can actually harm you!). My pulse increases, my breathing rate quickens and I am frozen to the spot. I know nothing about snakes. I question myself, “Is it harmless? Poisonous? Does it move fast?” My mind races and my impulse to run in the direction I have come is incredibly strong. I take a deep breath and look closer. It turns out...it was a stick!

Impulsivity is one of the brain’s protection mechanisms.

When facing danger, whether real or perceived, biological changes happen in the neocortex, where rational thinking and problem solving occurs. This results in an instant response of the brain to freeze, fight or flee. It is also the same place in our brain where we control our impulses.

During a time of threat or perceived danger, the neocortex becomes less efficient. In the event above, my amazing brain was simply trying to protect me.

Stress, threat and danger can come in many forms - hunger, sugar overload, fear of failure, success, the lights are too bright, the environment is too noisy, a fight with a peer - the list is endless. Impulsive behaviour may indicate a need for protection or safety, and may cause a slowing of the ability to think logically and rationally.

Teachers Matter

There are many times when students also need to manage their impulsivity. These times may include when they need to think before they act, consider alternatives, and reflect on

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“People who manage their impulsivity have an intentionality about their goals, actions and plan where they want to end up.”

KAREN TUI BOYES their goals, processes and outcomes. Professor Art Costa and Dr Bena Kallick included the ability to manage impulsivity as one of their Habits of Mind. They describe it as, “Taking your time, being able to think before acting, remaining calm, thoughtful and deliberative.”

People who manage their impulsivity have an intentionality about their goals, actions and plan where they want to end up. They are effective problem solvers who are able to think before they act. Patience is a key, and they decrease the need for trial and error by taking the time to reflect and consider possibilities and consequences. Both Angela Duckworth and Martin Seligman suggest that the less impulsive a student is, the more successful they are.

Managing Impulsivity can be explicitly taught, and as most good things, it takes time. Below are some ideas to test out, adapt and implement in your classroom.

Role Playing: Brainstorm and practice using the strategies you want students to use. For example, if students find it challenging to line up and wait, discuss the behaviours they might implement when lining up and waiting. Now practice these behaviours, give feedback and practice again. You might practice this five to ten times on the first day. Repeat on day two, three and four until they can do it successfully. Similarly, if students need to learn how to manage themselves when they are working independently, ask two students to bring their desks to the front of the classroom. Have one act out working independently and the other student interrupt, bump and annoy. Again, have the class brainstorm strategies. Now pair all the students up and roleplay the scene several times.

Muscle memory and new behaviours take time to embed.

Traffic Light Strategy:

Strategies & Structures: If you want students

to wait, it is essential to teach students what they could be doing while waiting and being patient. Just expecting them to be patient isn’t enough. Brainstorm ideas of what they can do while waiting. Milena, a teacher in Brazil, teaches her 3-year-old students three strategies while they wait. These are to count to ten in their head, breathe deeply and slowly and to drum their fingers on a desk while waiting. With older students, consider giving them step-by-step structures for thinking and problem solving. Students may require practice with the teacher modelling or on paper before they can do it internally.

STOP THINK GO

This is a visual reminder for students to Stop, Think and Go as they move through the cycle of the traffic light colours. I have seen even senior High School students doing actions to this!

STOP – hand out in stop action.

THINK – point to the brain.

GO – a forward moving motion with the hands.

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KAREN TUI BOYES STAR Strategy: •

Stop – Count to 10. Take a deep breath. Take a walk

•

Think – What is it about this situation that’s causing

•

Act – What actions can I take to relieve these feelings?

•

Reflect - Was this a good solution? What insights

or a break.

my feelings?

have I gained?

Wait Time: When asking a question or calling upon a student to give an answer, wait between seven to ten seconds to give them time to think, consider ideas and alternatives. When I’m modelling this in the classroom, I often hear myself saying, “What I really value is that you have taken the time to think about an answer, rather than you being the first to answer.” Model this wait time and thoughtfullness when students ask you a question also.

Pause and ponder before you respond.

Following Instructions: Do you give students

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a list of instructions or tasks and they rush off and do the first step and not know what to do next? One technique to adopt that helps students to think through their tasks, steps and outcomes is to invite them to visualise successfully completing all the steps of the tasks and what the outcome will look like. Having students pause and ponder this will allow them to see such favourable outcomes in their work.

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Karen Tui Boyes Karen Tui Boyes is a champion for Lifelong Learning across nations, industries and organisations. Winner of the NZ Educator of the Year 2017 and 2014 and the NZ Speaker of the Year award in 2013 & 2019, Karen is a sought after speaker who continually gets rave reviews from audiences around the world. Her dynamic style and highly informative content—which turns the latest educational research into easy-to-implement strategies and techniques — sets her apart from others in her field.

Find out more at:

www.spectrumeducation.com

MARCUS AURELIUS

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LAUREN PARSONS

Leading Through Uncertainty & Change 5 Ways to be Your Best Self - Remaining Calm and Resilient

U

ncertainty affects us all, particularly when you’re a leader or in a role where people look up to you.

Regardless of whether you have a leadership title or not, you are a leader. You’re the leader of your own life and the way you show up every day matters.

We’ve all faced a lot of change and uncertainty over the past twelve months. As an educator you’re having to deal with the personal ramifications of ongoing uncertainty for yourself and your family, as well as the workplace responsibilities of supporting fellow teachers, students and their whanau. That can feel like a huge weight on your shoulders.

The Six Human Needs We’ve got to remember that human beings are wired with an intrinsic desire for certainty. It’s one of our six human needs, along with growth, significance, contribution, connection and interestingly, uncertainty – because we also need a certain level of variety in our lives.

Your brain is constantly scanning the world looking for regular patterns, and when you don’t see them, it hits you at a visceral level because your brain interprets it as a threat to your very survival.

This triggers the fight or flight mode, an unfortunate survival instinct in this case, as it actually inhibits higher thinking.

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I don’t explain this to cast doom and gloom about, but simply to outline that when you’re facing uncertainty – such as changing alert levels, other people’s worries and ongoing change – it’s normal for that to impact how you’re feeling and your ability to lead and interact with others as you normally would.

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Right when you need to remain calm and clear-headed to make the best possible decisions, your body’s physiology is actually working against you, impairing your ability to think and respond.

Brain Overload You may have noticed an impact on your short-term working memory, such as when you walk into a room and forget what you went there to do, or a general inability to focus and retain details.

Your brain can only hold so much information, and research has shown that rapidly changing circumstances and ongoing anxiety can significantly reduce your ability to focus, making even the simplest tasks feel more difficult than they used to be. This of course only adds to the frustration and strain.

It’s reassuring, knowing that this is a normal physiological response and that there are solutions available.

Regaining Control The key is to shift your physiology and restore your emotional intelligence so you can function at your best. Here are five ways to do that:

1. Oscillate out of the Fight or Flight Mode The most effective way to switch from the frantic ‘red zone’ (fight or flight mode) to the calm ‘blue zone’ (restore, repair and respond mode) is to master your breathing. Many people have heard of diaphragmatic breathing but few people practise it effectively.

Breathing is the single part of your body’s autonomic nervous system that you can influence. You can’t control how fast your hair grows or skin repairs, but you can influence the way you breathe. When you do so, you instantly shift to the blue zone where you can make decisions, respond calmly to requests and function at your best.

“Rather than allowing your brain to dwell on all the challenges you face, instead choose to focus on the things within your control, and take action on those.”

LAUREN PARSONS

It’s something top athletes and military special forces use prior to high pressure situations to get in the zone. You can use this regularly throughout the day by linking five deep breaths to a routine task, such as washing your hands. This will ensure you’re engaging your body’s relaxation response regularly throughout the day, reducing the negative effects of stress.

The short video available for download at www.bit.ly/ downloadPMR is useful as a short brain break during the day or in the evening to help you relax off to sleep. You can integrate this in formal and informal ways with your students throughout the day, at mat times, before or after focused periods of desk-work. It may be utilised both oneon-one or in small groups.

2. Choose What you Focus On The fastest way to flip your mindset when you’re feeling down is to focus on what you’re thankful for. Some days it may be tough, but there are always things to find gratitude in. Your brain can’t be in two places at once, so adopting an attitude of gratitude instantly shifts your perspective.

This helps you remain a realistic optimist, which is what is needed right now.

Rather than allowing your brain to dwell on all the challenges you face, instead choose to focus on the things within your control, and take action on those. For clarity, draw a big circle and write down the things inside and outside of your control. Focus your time and energy on what’s inside the circle and let go of ruminating on the rest.

You might like to have your students do this circle activity or to have them share the best thing about their week at their tables or during mat time.

3. Ring Fence Your Daily Non-Negotiables Picture the daily rituals and routines that keep you calm and centred. Brainstorm a list of the things that lift you up, bring you joy and satisfaction or boost your energy. Choose your top 2-3 daily habits and make them your non-negotiables.

Regardless of what else happens in the day, ring-fence time for those things. They are your safety harness on the roller coaster ahead. We are all going to experience ups and downs over the months to come, but the thing that makes a roller coaster exhilarating and fun is having that safety harness firmly secured. So identify what yours will be and lock them into place.

4. Adjust Your Expectations Often we get caught up in what are called ‘musts and horribles.’ It MUST be this way…and if it’s not it’s HORRIBLE. I must get the park right outside - if I don’t, it’s horrible. The weather must be fine - if it’s not, it’s horrible.

The alert level must come down - if it doesn’t, it’s horrible.

The challenge is that these high expectations often lead to unnecessary disappointment, anxiety and stress.

One simple language flip to help you deal with uncertainty is to catch yourself when you say “I hope….” and switch it to, “I wonder…”

I wonder whether I’ll get a good park. I wonder what the weather will be like. I wonder what the government will decide. By lowering your expectations of the things you can’t control, you reduce internal pressure and gain perspective.

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LAUREN PARSONS 5. Be Open and Authentic It’s okay to let your colleagues know how you’re really doing. One reason mental health challenges persist is because we don’t talk about them or seek help early enough.

If you can be vulnerable and share how you’re doing, your stories will encourage and give permission for others to share how they’re feeling as well.

We’ve got to make it okay to ask, “Are you okay?” and to really mean it.

You don’t have to have all the answers. If someone is facing mental distress, the first step is just to listen nonjudgmentally and then to connect them with the right sorts of personal and/or professional support.

Reflect on the five points above and choose one to focus on this week. Try it out and reflect on how you feel. Then come back and focus on another one, until it becomes a habit.

Most of all, remember to stay connected. We are stronger together and we will get through this.

Teachers Matter

Kia kaha, Kia māia, Kia manawanui. Be strong, be steadfast, be willing.

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Lauren Parsons Lauren is an award-winning Wellbeing Specialist who believes that everyone deserves to thrive. With over 20 years’ experience in the health and wellbeing profession, she is a sought after speaker, coach and consultant.

TEDx speaker, author, founder of the Snack on Exercise movement and host of the Thrive TV Show, Lauren is based in Manawatu, New Zealand. She specialises in helping schools and organisations create a high-energy, peak- performance team culture, which enables people to thrive.

For more information, visit:

www.LaurenParsonsWellbeing.com

Loving a child doesn’t mean giving in to all their whims; to love them is to bring out the best in them, to teach them to love what is difficult.

- N AD IA B OULAN G ER

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KARI SUTTON

Consent Education Needs to Start Early Empowering Children to Set Boundaries

Consent Education Needs to Start Early Consent is an important concept that has been widely discussed in both mainstream and social media over the past several years. It is an idea that children can learn as early as preschool — the belief that we should respect other people’s boundaries, in order to be safe and build healthy relationships.

Teachers Matter

Talking to our kids about consent is critically important. We need to role model asking permission to touch children’s belongings and encourage them to ask permission to play with another child’s toys, share someone else’s food or be in their personal space. No matter how small or trivial these things may seem, it helps our children develop an

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understanding of what consent means and how they can seek it. Extended family members need to be encouraged to ask permission to hug children rather than simply requiring children to hug people they may not feel comfortable hugging. We need to help both our girls and boys understand that if someone says, ‘no,’ or 'stop,' and their face, or voice, indicates that they are not enjoying the game or activity anymore, it needs to stop. These concepts can be modelled in early childhood and help children begin to establish individual boundaries, understand what respect is, what respect looks like in practice and enable them to feel empowered to speak up for themselves.

Parents I have worked with have found the following four strategies useful when discussing the concept of consent with their young children:

KARI SUTTON

“These concepts can be modelled in early childhood and help children begin to establish individual boundaries, understand what respect is, what respect looks like in practice and enable them to feel empowered to speak up for themselves.”

you can explain that certain people may have different levels of access to their body. Some examples are that it’s fine if mum hugs them, or the family doctor needs to touch their body to make sure they are well, but it’s not okay for a complete stranger to do these things.

4. Teach the importance of telling someone.

We need to reassure children that if someone violates their body autonomy, or touches them in a private area, it isn’t their fault. We need to stress the critical importance of telling someone they trust if this happens, even if the adult doing it is someone they trust or know.

These are concepts and lessons that need to be taught and talked about more than once. As parents and educators we need to be modelling these behaviours and reminding our children of the concepts over a period of time, so they become ingrained attitudes and habits. This will ensure our children fully understand concepts like body autonomy and verbal consent and have healthy, happy and safe relationships.

1. Teach the correct vocabulary early.

Give your child the correct, scientific words to describe their body parts. This helps break down the stigma surrounding the terms and encourages children to not be embarrassed when talking about their bodies with their parents or another trusted adult.

2. Teach children independence and body autonomy.

This is the concept that individuals have control over their bodies, what happens to them and who is allowed to touch them. We need to respect children’s wishes about tickling, kissing, cuddling and hugging – they should not be forced to hug or kiss anyone. We need to teach our children that if someone says, “No,” to being touched, that request should immediately be respected and the behaviour needs to stop. Talk to your children about areas of the body that are public and private. (I often do this by talking about the areas underwear or bathing suits cover.)

3. Talk to friends and family about consent.

Let friends and family know that you’re teaching your children about consent, body autonomy and boundaries.

That way grandma or grandpa doesn’t get offended if they don’t get a kiss. There may need to be a reeducation process for close family members that explains it’s not a requirement that grandchildren automatically kiss, hug or sit on grandparents’ laps. There are other ways to show affection and care such as giving a high five or fist bump. Explain what you’re teaching to your General Practitioner and get them to ask for consent before touching your child, too. As children get older,

Kari Sutton Kari Sutton is an educator, speaker and author who has helped over 25,000 children, parents and educators with evidence-based strategies, tools and approaches to foster children’s positive mental health. She helps others to plant the seeds of resilience, emotional wellbeing and mental fitness in our children.

For more information, visit

www.karisutton.com

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PATTI DRAPEAU

Don’t be Fooled: Six Myths and Tips about Engaged Students Keep Engagement Strategies Simple

W

hen students actively engage in learning tasks, teachers are happy because the students are following the rules and doing their work. Students participate and demonstrate curiosity, interest, commitment and achievement. They generally stay on task, cause little trouble and often receive good grades. Are these learners truly engaged learners or are they just doing what they need to do to please the teacher? The following are six myths that teachers should watch out for if they truly want their students to be engaged learners.

Myth #1:

When students track you with their eyes or nod when you speak, these are indicators that students are engaged. This is a myth. Have you ever feigned attentiveness in a class or a lecture and your mind was really a million miles away? Students fake attentiveness in just the same way. Most teachers can tell when this is happening, but some don’t pay attention and simply keep carrying on with a lesson.

Tip #3: You want to encourage students’ interests. The interests should be related to the content associated with the task at hand. You need to help students understand that they should spend time on the required learning and negotiate with you additional time to accommodate any related interests which are not part of the assigned task.

Myth #4: Engaged students always complete assignments. This myth is not true because some students are perfectionists who do not feel their work is perfect enough. The perfectionists either turn their work in late or worse - they don’t turn their work in at all. They may want more time to get the assignment completely right.

Tip #4: You cannot judge a student’s engagement by their productivity. Truly engaged students may appear less productive than students who just try to get their assignment done for the sake of completing the assignment.

Tip #1: Be a diligent observer. Know when students are simply tracking your movements versus truly engaging with the lesson.

Teachers Matter

Myth #2: Students who are engaged learners are

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obedient learners. While this may be true of some engaged learners, however other learners do not want to stop doing their work. They may not want to stop carrying on a conversation when you call time. Still other engaged learners follow their own modified instructions because they prefer to do an assignment their own way.

Tip #2: Provide lesson components that are differentiated to allow for student learning preferences.

Myth #3: Engaged students stay on task. We often think

that an engaged learner will produce work if they stay on task. However, truly engaged students may go off task.

They might become so interested in learning that they spend time on related content that is not part of the assignment.

“We must all remember that no strategy or technique is as effective as when teachers seek student engagement by caring and building relationships with their students.”

PATTI DRAPEAU Myth #5: Engaged students are courteous. They wait

their turn before speaking and they honor social norms. This is certainly not true of engaged students who are so excited about their learning! They often shout out and forget to wait their turn. These students are engrossed in learning and skip niceties. Students who are engaged learners may be impulsive and take over class discussions.

Tip #5: While it is important for students to be polite, politeness is not necessarily a sign of engagement.

Myth #6: Engaged students seek entertainment.

Teachers feel the pressure to find some fun activity or some cool demonstration to spark engagement. Teachers use entertainment as a way to capture and hold students’ attention and interest. However, there is a difference between a student who is eager and one who is merely entertained. Entertainment itself does not ensure engagement.

Tip #6: Set the tone for engagement by creating a classroom atmosphere that promotes happiness, confidence, enthusiasm and laughter. Don’t just entertain. Set a positive classroom climate conducive to engagement.

Here are a few strategies that can help you with student engagement. Teachers can use a Teacher-Engage-O-Meter graphic that is included in my book Inspiring Student Empowerment Moving Beyond Engagement Refining Differentiation, to help them reflect upon the degree of engagement in a lesson. For example, students are asked to visualise how they might feel if they were a plant and respond in their science journal. The teacher uses the Teacher-Engage-O-Meter to indicate whether the class appears engaged in the content of the lesson (knowing parts

of the plant), the process of the lesson (visualising) or the product (responding in the science journal). In this example, the students know the parts of the plant and they like to visualise them, but the product form falls short. Next time, the teacher will ask for a more engaging product form rather than requiring students to write in their science journals.

Some other ways to engage students include giving students interesting content and challenging them to make meaning. Teachers can spark their curiosity with novelty, humor and questioning techniques. However, we must all remember that no strategy or technique is as effective as when teachers seek student engagement by caring and building relationships with their students.

Patti Drapeau Patti is an educational consultant, internationally known presenter and author. Patti is also on the part time faculty at the University of Southern Maine. Patti is the author of six books and a variety of articles. She has over twentyfive years of classroom experience teaching students in Freeport, Maine.

Patti can be contacted at:

ptdrapeau@aol.com

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SEAN McCORMICK

Enhance Your Student’s Executive Function 4 Small Steps That Make A BIG Difference

F

or many students, school feels overwhelming and unmanageable, which can limit their ability to use their executive function. As an educator, helping students sort out their disparate responsibilities and assignments into a tidy to-do list can be a life changing experience. Here is how:

Step 1: Help them put all their assignments on ONE to-do list.

Awareness is the seed of enlightenment, so having all of their assignments in one place is the seed of getting them done! Once all the assignments are listed in one place, you and the student can review them and prioritise the assignments that are most urgent. Once everything is clearly listed, the student is ready to identify which assignment they need to start with.

Step 2: Have them circle the assignment that has the highest point value with the lowest grade.

To reduce the cognitive demands related to prioritisation, I tell students the way they can decide what to prioritise is by circling the assignment with the GREATEST point value in the class with the LOWEST grade. To figure this out, I instruct them to look on their school portal and identify the class with the lowest grade. To be sure their time is used wisely and they can still earn credit for those assignments, I have them send an email using the following template: Hi (Teacher Name), I noticed that my grade in your class is currently a (grade).

I can also see that I am missing the following assignments:

Teachers Matter

1. assignment name 2. assignment name

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Am I still able to make-up these assignments for full credit? My goal for this semester is to earn a (desired grade) in your class.

Could you advise me on what the best approach would be to work toward my goal?

Sincerely, (Your Name)

This process also helps them build a stronger relationship with their teacher and shows they care, which is something teachers appreciate.

Step 3: Provide prompts and support until they complete that one assignment.

Now that they have a plan, your job is to chunk things out so they feel manageable, while also collaborating with other tutors and school supports to help things get done.

Asking simple questions like, “Do you want to work on your homework today?” and getting your students to say, “Yes,” will open the door to follow up questions like, “What time do you want to start?” and “How can you show proof that you have completed that?” Using solution-focused questioning is one of the most powerful tools in your tool box.

As the executive function specialist, it is your job to share that to-do list with the tutors, family and other supports to the student to ensure everyone is one the same page.

Don’t feel like you need to do everything! Help the student become a resource based thinker and your job will get easier and easier.

Step 4: Repetition, repetition, repetition!

Sometimes, things don’t go perfectly. Maybe, a student can only finish two out of three of their assignments for a specific class. When things like that happen, provide the student with templates or talk them through how to ask for more time. Remember, everything is negotiable! Help them see there is no harm in asking for an extension and facilitate strengthening those executive function skills that will allow them to build relationships, negotiate their salary and create realistic timelines down the road.

Repeat these steps over and over and your student will remember you as a person who cared deeply about their success and was not willing to give up on them.

Additionally, by providing clients with a repeatable process, you can help reduce the anxiety and frustration that often accompanies challenges related to executive function.

SEAN McCORMICK

“Using solutionfocused questioning is one of the most powerful tools in your tool box.”

Sean McCormick Sean McCormick, MS Ed. is a credential education specialist, educational therapist working on his professional certification, and an education entrepreneur. He founded Executive Function Specialists, an education business that helps students and families navigate the special education process, and also hosts the Earn More Tutoring Podcast, in which he interviews educators who have built flourishing practices and business.

Sean can be contacted at:

sean@efspecialists.com

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KATE WINCHESTER

Tally Time Making Data Collection Work for You

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omething that fascinates me is talking to teachers about taking data on behaviour. It is often difficult for many of us to understand the value of taking data and the importance of defining the behaviour before we can get meaningful data.

Teachers Matter

Recently, I have been challenged in my work as I try to encourage teachers to take data on students’ behaviours of concern. Many teachers see it as a cumbersome task that simply prolongs the time they have to wait for help.

Working collaboratively with staff to support data collection and the rationale behind it is central to successful behaviour change. Often, I begin with a story. Here is one that makes me smile as I recall it!

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Sometime ago, I was at a large gathering of professionals at a conference. I recall feeling slightly reluctant about having to be there and began to display some escape/ avoidance behaviours such as fiddling with my belongings and wanting to talk! As I focused on the first speaker, I was genuinely surprised at the number of “ums” at the very start of the speech – it struck me that my net was open to both random apostrophes and “ums!” So, I took data on “ums” and I got excited as the “ums” rolled in. My method of collection was to do what is called a time sample procedure, which is doable and gives a snapshot of a behaviour in a set time frame. I set my timer and took a tally of all “ums” in the

“Working collaboratively with staff to support data collection and the rationale behind it is central to successful behaviour change.” first five minutes. Each presentation was a different length so data collected this way is then generally consistent across all speakers. A time sample snapshot of data is invaluable in determining whether you have a behaviour that needs further investigation.

The definition in my “case study” was easy – the sound “um.” In many cases, however, unwanted behaviours can become challenging to define. If we are not clear on what the behaviour looks like, our data won’t be useful. Here’s a short list of points to consider when collecting data: •

If you are concerned with off task behaviour, the challenge is to define what off task looks like for this individual.

KATE WINCHESTER •

With high rates of behaviour in the case of the “ums,” it is easy to use a time sample method.

•

If there is a low rate of behaviour, you might take data across a session.

•

It may be easier to take data on appropriate behaviour at times.

Focused data is vital when planning ethical and sustainable interventions or supports. If we take the time to take simple tally type data on anything we want to change, we would be truly amazed at what insights we gain and what outcomes we can influence.

With the last point, it might be easier to focus on appropriate behaviours for another reason. Generally speaking, by some freak of nature (or The Law of Attraction!) we seem to get what we focus on! So, directing your attention to desired behaviours is not only encouraging, it serves to redirect your focus!

Data gathering is about supporting informed decision making for an individual based on their current behaviour under certain situations. It allows for a tailored response versus a one size fits all strategy. Often, we find the one size fits all works really well, and then again, sometimes it doesn’t. Then the strategy gets the rap, not the application, of the strategy! It is possible to have a generic format or intervention that is tailored to an individual. I always use the fire evacuation procedure: There are generic elements in all evacuation procedures but details differ depending on the building, its location, size of facility and number of staff, etc and the type of emergency (fire, earthquake, flood, tsunami).

Type of Behaviour Wanted/ Unwanted Behaviours

Data Type

Clearly Defined

Outcome Measure

Kate Winchester Kate is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst and NZ registered psychologist. She provides services and support in implementing lasting behaviour change for fitness coaches, parents and schools. Kate divides her time between her horses, volunteering as a firefighter in her local community, and training and competing as a fitness athlete.

Kate Winchester B.Ed. (Hons) UK MSc Psychology BCBA. Kate can be contacted at:

kateannewinchester@gmail.com

Triggers or (Antecedents)

Outcomes or (Consequences)

ABC/Tally

What does it look like?

Increase/Decrease

What happens just before...

What happens after...

Unwanted

Tally

Leaving seat

Decrease

Asked to write a story

Avoids writing story

Wanted

Tally

Number of words

Increase

Asked to write

Given a break

Unwanted

ABC Tally

Leaving the room

Decrease

Request to come to mat time or wash hands or sit at table or come to lunch

Escapes the situation

EXAMPLES

ABC data is listing triggers or what happened just before the behaviour of concern and the consequence or outcome for the

student.

Combined ABC and Tally Data Behaviour

Number

Triggers or (Antecedents)

Outcomes or (Consequences)

Time Sample

Leaving seat

IIII

Asked to write a story

Avoid writing story

Across a session

Calling out

IIII II

Mat time

Attention from peers

10 mins

Leaving the room

III

Request to come to mat time or wash hands or sit at table or come to lunch

Escapes the situation

Across a session

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JESSICA YOUMANS

Help Your Students Sparkle!

7 Tips to Classroom Management

When children walk through our classroom doors, they are not always ready to talk to me, or their friends. They are not always ready to sit quietly and receive information. They are not always ready to share their toys or morning work bin. They are not always ready to learn. Not because they don’t want to - but because they are still learning how to do these tasks we view as simple and inherent. You see, so many children today are walking through our classroom doors without a full stomach from a hot breakfast (or even a cold one), without a hug, a reassurance to have a good day or hope that there will be dinner and a happy evening ahead. They come to us, having endured so much trauma that their brains are not wired to trust for even the simplest of tasks. So, how do we as educators - in the span of a school day - help these precious children to calm their hearts and minds so they can receive information and learn something academic?

We must begin by knowing that the process is slow, often difficult, but so worth it. We must celebrate the small victories with individual students and with the class as a whole. We must be mindful that what we see on the surface may stem from so much more going on underneath.

We are not medical professionals, and may not have the mental health training that we seem to need...but we can incorporate some simple strategies that will help all our students, whether they come from a background of trauma or not.

1. Start the day with a Morning Meeting.

Teachers Matter

Use the time for the day’s agenda, a greeting, a time for sharing where the kids can get to know one another.

Don’t include academic material during this time.

It needs to be a safe zone where kids can feel free to be themselves without the pressures of performing academically.

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2. Allow processing time.

Be understanding if a student doesn’t trust you just because you’re an adult. It is often the adults in their world who aren’t trustworthy. Don’t take it personally - just keep loving them and being consistent with your classroom management.

3. Use positive reinforcements.

Reward systems that truly reward work well - but once a reward has been earned, it remains earned. Never take

“Children don’t come to us at school as perfect cookie cutters, all molded the same exact way. Not all strategies work for all kids, so it’s up to us to find the ones that do.” away whatever it is the student has earned. Make sure to explain why a child is earning a reward. For instance, in my classroom, I hand out “sparklers.”(These are really just little craft pom poms!) If I see a child with a positive behaviour that I have previously modelled, I will hand them a sparkler and say something like, “I see Johnny sitting so quietly in his space, with his hands in his lap. Thank you so much!” Even if Johnny is rolling across the carpet five minutes later, I will never take back the sparkler he earned previously. Some kids may take longer than others, but eventually they see that the preferred behaviour is what earns the sparklers, and they all want to sparkle!

3. Reward Often and then Taper Off. At the beginning of the school year, as students are learning the routines and expectations of a new classroom (or being in school altogether!) I reward with sparklers often! I keep a bucket near me at all times and even keep them in my pants’ pocket so I can hand them out as immediate feedback. This lets students know right away what they’re doing is a good thing. It makes them want to do it again. It makes the kid sitting next to them want to do it, too! As the students learn the expectations, I taper off how often I am giving out a sparkler, but they still have the opportunity to earn several a day!

The focus just shifts from behaviour to hard work ethic and quality work as they’re able to do more and more.

(Sparklers are able to be “cashed in” for a prize of their choice on Friday each week. There are different levels of prizes, so the students decide if and when they would like to spend their sparklers.)

JESSICA YOUMANS 4. Utilise a Whole-Group System.

Kids like to talk - a lot. In fact, most of my primary school report cards stated that I was an “Excessive Talker.” (This is yet another reason to have a Morning Meeting time! Our talkers can get a little bit of that out first thing!) Although I love to hear their stories and wild tales, there are times when students need to buckle down and actively listen to a lesson or to a friend’s ideas on a subject. It is often difficult for young children to learn how to wait their turn to speak. I use “Blurt Beans” to help aid in strengthening my students’ ability to learn and wait their turn to speak. Each day, the students begin with three beans. Their goal is to keep the beans all day. If they yell out, or interrupt the lesson, their learning or a friend’s learning by talking, they must turn a Blurt Bean back into the bucket. At the end of the day, any beans the students have remaining are placed into a big jar that has lines taped or drawn around it at various levels. Once the jar is filled to a line, the entire class earns a fun reward, such as a special snack, extra recess time, or some extra time to color pictures. All students earn the class reward, whether they contributed one bean or 50 beans! It is amazing to me each year what the power of positive peer pressure can do to influence those around you!

6. End the Day With an Afternoon Meeting.

So often, we forget the value in transitioning out of our school day. We put a lot of effort into transitioning INTO the day, but the afternoon is a flurry of packing backpacks, double checking transportation needs, and the transition is lost in the shuffle. I have found that an Afternoon Meeting is just as important as a Morning Meeting. This is a time where students are allowed to share a thought or feeling about their day, to say good-bye to their friends and to think forward about what lies before them that night and even into the next school day. This is a time where we also discuss our “Glow and a Grow.” What did we do well as a class today? (Glow) How can we do something even better tomorrow? (Grow) I am always so impressed with the deep thoughts even our youngest students give to this time of reflection!

Children don’t come to us at school as perfect cookie cutters, all molded the same exact way. Not all strategies work for all kids, so it’s up to us to find the ones that do. These are some that have worked for a lot of my students - and I hope they work for a lot of yours, too!

5. Allow Kids to Visit Antarctica.

Kids will inevitably encounter something that makes their anxiety go through the roof and trigger their survival mode. When they do, it won’t likely be a pretty situation. They may hide under a table. They may kick or scream, or refuse to speak. Have an area designated in the classroom for these times where the student can go and “cool” down by coloring, drawing, using a weighted blanket or writing about what they are feeling. When they are ready, they can rejoin the group. Make sure that after a student has been to “Antarctica,” they are given a fresh slate with the adults in the room, too.

Jessica Youmans Jessica Youmans serves as a teacher in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. She was named the Teacher of the Year for her district for the 2019-2020 school year. She is happily married to her husband and enjoys spending time with him and their four wonderful children, who range in age from 16 to 10. Above all, she works hard to make sure her students know they are deeply loved and cared for!

Jessica can be contacted at:

jessyoumans5@icloud.com

43

MICHAEL HEMPSEED

Grief and Idolisation Allowing Everyone the Chance to Heal

L

osing someone you love and care about is challenging.

Currently, I am involved in working with people who are hurting after the suicide of a colleague. There are several observations that I want to make. After this person's death their Facebook page became a tribute page with large numbers of people posting messages about how much this person meant to them. It is natural to express grief - the challenge is that many people who posted on the Facebook wall were turning this person into almost a kind of saint.

Like all of us, she was a human being with many flaws.

Statements were posted such as, "She was the kindest and most loving person to walk the earth."

This statement, and many similar, idolise the person and turn them into someone they were not. Idolisation makes the person to be greater than they were, and this may make the grief process worse. Instead of mourning the loss of someone who was a good friend, they are now mourning the death of one of the greatest people to walk the earth.

A big part of grief can be processing the times when things didn't go well. Often when we experience grief, we think back to the times things we got wrong, the arguments we had and the things we wish we hadn't said or done. When we idolise someone, we take away the chance for people to process that grief.

Teachers Matter

If you read the Bible, you might know the passage from John's Gospel that says, "The truth will set you free,” in John 8:32. The lack of truth from idolisation will mean many

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Trigger Warning Suicide References

people get stuck in their grief, they won't be able to work it through because they are not grieving the loss of a real person, they are grieving an imaginary person.

It is important to learn how to grieve and express sorrow in a positive way such as...

"You were a fantastic friend to me. You were always there for me. You really helped me. I will miss you." Statements like these are a great way to honour the person because they say what they mean to you, and they keep the person human.

Another statement is, "There were some times when you could be really stubborn but I really valued your friendship." Expressed carefully statements like this can be positive and allow us to acknowledge what it was really like to be with this person.

“Talk about someone who has died. Encourage them to have a realistic view of the person.”

Many of these issues come from our lack of knowledge about how to process grief. In school, we are taught differential calculus, but not how to process grief. I encourage teachers and parents to teach young people how to talk about someone who has died. Encourage them to have a realistic view of the person. Sometimes we may feel that we cannot say or think anything bad about a person but to the right people expressing this can help us begin the healing process. It can take us out of a place where we are stuck in idolisation and a grief for a person who never existed, and help us to really start working through the grief process.

One of the biggest problems with suicide can be copycat suicides, where one suicide "inspires" another. Knowing

MICHAEL HEMPSEED

someone who died by suicide can be one of the biggest risk factors for suicide. Idolisation of others could impact someone who is considering suicide. Often, when someone is thinking about suicide they are not thinking rationally.

Here are some examples of this:

many people think and feel. Knowing this, it means we need to be really careful about how we speak of people who died by suicide. We also need to be aware of any changes in our friends, coworkers and loved ones --and if we see something, we need to say something.

A woman in one of my seminars said that after the death of a friend by suicide, she did not feel sadness -- she felt jealousy. She was jealous that this person was at peace and everyone else was miserable. This may be a hard concept for some people to get their head around but this is how

Michael Hempseed If you need help or to talk NZ: Call 0800 LIFELINE (0800 543 354) or send a text to HELP (4357) for free Australia: Call Lifeline 13 11 14 or Text 0477 13 11 14 for free

Michael Hempseed is the author of Being A True Hero: Understanding and Preventing Suicide in Your Community, which has sleep has a major theme. The book is being used by the New Zealand Police, Fire and Emergency NZ, GPs, Counsellors, as well as many parents and teachers.

Michael gained an honours degree in Psychology from the University of Canterbury in 2008. The Trauma page on my website has more info about this: www.beingatruehero. com/trauma.html Michael has lots of sleep resources on his website:

www.beingatruehero.com

45

KAREN TUI BOYES

Prepared, Confident Speaking Tips for Giving an Effective Presentation in Class

S

tudents are often asked to give oral presentations in class. I’ve been pondering the bigger purpose for this as there are a myriad of assessment methods. Is an oral presentation the best way to access knowledge and understanding? How useful is it for students to sit through 19 presentations on the same topic?

Oral language is important in many aspects of life. A goal of educators is to ensure students can voice their convictions and stand up for what they believe in. Studies show that being able to express your knowledge, ideas and feelings and communicate with clarity, enhances cognitive ability.

The question is: What are you assessing? The content, the presentation or both?

Teachers Matter

If you are giving feedback on the visual and oral delivery, it is essential you have clear understandings, guidelines and rubrics that are both explicitly taught and shared with the students prior to the presentations.

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“Top speakers will rehearse the same speech up to sixty times before they give it. That’s why they look so confident.”

We have all been to boring presentations where someone has screeds of small text on powerpoint slides and proceeds to read it word for word. This is commonly known as death by powerpoint! Below are some hints and tips for visual and oral presentations:

Tips to Plan Your Talk StoryBoard Your Presentation: What are the key points you want your audience to remember? Write these on sticky notes and arrange in a sequence. This allows you to change the order easily. You do not have to start at the beginning.

Maybe you start your presentation at the most exciting, tense, impactful part and then add the details before and after.

Rehearse – Rewrite – Rehearse: Practice your talk

aloud. If you are going to give the presentation standing, it is recommended you practice standing. Video yourself if you can and watch it later to help you improve. Your voice

KAREN TUI BOYES will sound strange because how you hear it and how it is recorded sound differently. Notice your hand gestures, eye contact and movements. Rehearse with someone who can give you feedback to improve. Then rewrite, change and edit your talk so it feels better to say aloud and practice again.

Top speakers will rehearse the same speech up to sixty times before they give it. That’s why they look so confident.

Avoid Reading Your Presentation: Giving a

presentation is not public reading. Use note cards with key points and speak to those. The more you practice the easier this will be.

Talk to the Back of the Room: Projecting your voice is an essential part of giving a great talk. Talk to the people at the back of the room with a strong clear voice.

Give Eye Contact: Ensure you look up from your notes

and give eye contact to your audience. You do not have to look at their eyes directly. Many professional speakers look just above the audience heads with soft eyes, rather than a hard stare.

Once you have your design of your oral presentation, then you may add visual slides. They are not, however, necessary to give an impactful, informative or memorable presentation.

Tips for Effective Powerpoint Slides The powerpoint is not your presentation or your notes.

If the technology fails, your presentation should be able to continue. Your slides are a visual aide to support your message and presentation. The best powerpoints should not be remembered -- it’s your messages which you want your audience to recall.

speaker then reads the words also.

Readability: If you have words, diagrams or graphs on

your slides, ensure people at the back of the room can read them easily. If you want your audience to read, give them a handout.

Use High Quality Images: Bold, strong images with clear definition are recommended. Remember to download images with high resolution of about 1024 x 768 pixels, especially if you want the image to be full screen. Avoid using clip art. Remember to give credit for your image sources. Two great sites to access free images are unsplash. com and pexels.com.

Minimise Transitions & Effects: Just as too many

words or a cluttered screen can disengage and confuse the audience, so can too many whiz-bang transitions. They may be cool, however a rotating, twirling, jumping image or slide is more often a distraction from your content. Use transitions and effects sparingly.

Blank Your Screen: To keep the focus on you, the speaker, when a slide is no longer required to reinforce your talk, add a blank slide between your visuals or press B (for black) or W (for white) on your keyboard to blank the screen. To unblank, press B or W again or just advance to the next slide.

Avoid Jumping Through the Slides: If you suddenly

find that a slide you need is not next, or you are running out of time to present, do not quickly flick through the slides.

This is confusing and dizzying for the audience. Instead, know the numbers of each slide and type the slide number you want to go to on your keyboard and press enter to advance directly there.

Go for Simplicity: Less is more when it comes to slides.

Forty slides in a ten-minute presentation, is one every fifteen seconds which is mind blowing for the audience. They will be visually overloaded. Only use slides if they enhance your message.

Avoid clutter: Too much on a slide can confuse your audience. Use simple, engaging images that enhance your message.

Limit the Words: Use key words if you need words at all. Avoid bullet points as you want your audience to listen rather than read. The brain is unable to read and listen simultaneously. This is because most people read by vocalising the words inside their mind which utilises the same part of the brain as listening. Since both actions, reading and listening -- are trying to access the same part of the brain, it is very difficult to process both concurrently.

Avoid Reading the Screen: If you do have words, avoid reading them aloud. Your audience is likely to have read them before you do and therefore it can be annoying that the

Karen Tui Boyes Karen Tui Boyes is a champion for Lifelong Learning across nations, industries and organisations. Winner of the NZ Educator of the Year 2017 and 2014 and the NZ Speaker of the Year award in 2013 & 2019, Karen is a sought after speaker who continually gets rave reviews from audiences around the world. Her dynamic style and highly informative content—which turns the latest educational research into easy-to-implement strategies and techniques — sets her apart from others in her field.

Find out more at:

www.spectrumeducation.com

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GRETCHEN WEGNER

Increase Student Motivation The Consent Burger

R

ecently, an educator I mentor sent me an excited text message: “Gretchen! I have to tell you a story! Can we FaceTime?”

She told me she’d just gotten off a training call with a classroom teacher whom she is mentoring about how to be more coach-like in her relationships with students.

She’d just taught the mentee my 3-Step Consent Burger and the teacher got so excited. “You put words to something that’s been bothering me for a while now,” the teacher gushed. “I can’t wait to try it!”

What got this educator so pumped up?

The Consent Burger is a three-step communication protocol that I teach adults to use when communicating with students. I developed it in the context of the one-to-one academic and executive function coaching, but I’ve seen it revolutionise relationships in the classroom, in families and more. Clearly, this classroom teacher saw the potential, too.

Increase Student Motivation with the Consent Burger Here’s how it works. Imagine a yummy burger -- you get to decide whether it’s a meat or veggie burger. Every burger also has a top and bottom bun, right?

Step 1: Get Consent. The top bun represents asking

Teachers Matter

students for consent before we teach them. In my coaching, when I teach students a new skill, I like to empathise with them. “I’m hearing that you’re sick and tired of getting low grades on your tests. I know some brain science that might just help you understand why you’re scoring so low and what to do about it. It will take me about ten minutes to teach it to you. Are you willing to let me share it with you?”

And voila -- we have asked for consent.

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Step 2: Teach the Lesson. The burger in the middle

represents the lesson you offered to teach the student. I’ve only ever had one student tell me they weren’t willing to learn (and they had a really good reason, too!). Most of the time, students say yes, and then I teach them the lesson I promised I would.

Step 3: Reflect About Takeaways. When I’m done

teaching the mini-lesson, I often like to say something like, “There you go! That’s what I thought might be valuable for

you to learn. But what do you think? What value did you hear in what I just shared?” This is the bottom bun of the burger. I’m often pleasantly surprised by what students say when I give them a chance to check in about what was valuable.

I’ve noticed that when I follow these three steps with students in one-to-one coaching, they are more likely to be engaged, pay attention, ask solid questions and experiment with more effective academic habits. It feels a bit like magic!

As effective as the Consent Burger is in coaching and tutoring, it’s equally effective in the classroom. I’ll explain more in a moment, but first let’s talk about the theory.

The Power of Shifting Students from External to Internal Authority In contemporary schooling, students rarely get a choice in what they learn.

The school system serves as an “external authority” telling teachers what to teach and when to teach it. Teachers then become the “external authority” who pass along the required content to students. Students are at the bottom of the chain, empty vessels who are expected to gratefully receive this trickle down wisdom.

1. Get consent

Empathise with the need and offer hope (Student-centered internal authority)

2. Share

Teach the lesson, advice and ideas. (Teachercentred, external authority)

3. Reflect

Ask what was useful and relevant (Student-centred, internal authority)

GRETCHEN WEGNER be relevant or valuable to them. This could be through journaling, a think/pair/share or group discussion.

“Even though school is meant to empower students with knowledge, the very structure of the learning ends up inadvertently disempowering students instead.

Next, teach the lesson as usual, in as interactive and engaging a method as possible.

The Consent Burger is an attempt to even out some discrepancies in power and privilege that are so often present in communication between adults and students.”

As an academic life coach, I’ve had hundreds of intimate conversations with students about their learning, and I know for a fact that students crave learning that is relevant, useful and helps them feel competent.

Finally, save a few minutes to have students reflect: What do they remember? What did they learn? What was of value to them? Was there some content that felt especially relevant?

A thinking skill they got to practice that will be of value now or in the future? If it didn’t feel especially relevant, that’s okay, too.

The Consent Burger is a great communication tool for adults to use with students to help them feel centred and included in their own learning. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Even though school is meant to empower students with knowledge, the very structure of the learning ends up inadvertently disempowering students instead.

The Consent Burger is an attempt to even out some discrepancies in power and privilege that are so often present in communication between adults and students.

It is a tool that can be used by anyone -- and even by students themselves -- to help connect students to their “internal authority” and put them back in the center of their own learning.

It acknowledges that there are skills and knowledge that students do not innately possess, which need to be taught by an “external authority.” But they can be taught in a way that honors, rather than ignores, students’ “inner authority” -- their desires, feelings, needs and challenges.

When educators start and end learning experiences by centering students, we increase motivation to learn and effectiveness of coaching and teaching.

How Teachers Can Tweak the Consent Burger for the Classroom When working with groups, classroom teachers don’t have the luxury of asking individuals for consent directly.

However, you can incorporate key elements of the Consent Burger into lessons and assignments.

For example, when you introduce the lesson of the day, give students an opportunity to reflect about why it might

Gretchen Wegner Gretchen is an Academic Life Coach and the creator of The Anti-Boring Approach to Powerful Studying™. Gretchen trains educators to transform students into voracious, organised learners through her signature courses The Art of Inspiring Students to Study Strategically and the AntiBoring Approach™ Coach Training Program.

Find out more at:

gretchenwegner.com

49

HANA ZAWODNY

Let’s be Honest: Burnout Sucks Recognise the Signs and Help Yourself Recover

B

urnout is on the rise. Societal changes are occurring at an ever increasing pace, and they are impacting our stress levels and health at work and home.

What is Burnout?

Burnout is a combination of mental and physical exhaustion, caused by ineffectively managing prolonged stress.

According to WHO (World Health Organisation) burnout is an occupational phenomenon. Burnout leads to many serious health conditions, one of which includes chronic stress -- this is linked to the top five causes of death.

In my experience, burnout isn’t solely caused by your professional life. Strained personal relationships, finances, social expectations and trauma add to the load of those already experiencing chronic stress levels at work. When personal and professional stresses combine, they cause a rapid decline in mental and physical health.

Nobody wants to go through life running on empty, feeling like the simplest of tasks are sucking the life out of them and consuming more energy than they have.

Signs of Burnout Burnout is sneaky. You may think you are coping ok, but in reality burnout is creeping up on you. It is progressive and you don’t always notice the various stages as you transit through.

Teachers Matter

Burnout has a variety of different signs, including:

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•

Exhaustion, fatigue and insomnia

•

Negative and cynical outlook

•

Low mood

•

Memory recall

•

Increase in frustration, anger, sadness

•

Lack of tolerance

•

Loss of creativity and purpose

•

Reduced professional efficacy

•

Difficulty concentrating

•

Reduced performance and productivity

•

Health issues like headaches, digestive issues, muscle tension

“Nobody wants to go through life running on empty, feeling like the simplest of tasks are sucking the life out of them and consuming more energy than they have.”

HANA ZAWODNY

What Causes Burnout?

1. Overwork - People are frequently asked to perform tasks with unrealistic time frames, experience increased workload and are asked to do tasks with inadequate equipment or skills.

2. Lack of Control – An inability to influence decisions about your job, like deadlines or workload, how the work is to be completed or resources required to perform the job.

3. Reward – This is not just about the paycheck. It’s also about social acknowledgement, such as a thank you or feedback and recognition for a job well done.

4. Isolation – Isolation is people not feeling connected to others emotionally or physically. An employee can feel isolated at work when they don’t feel heard or supported.

5. Fairness – Perceived unfairness contributes to burnout.

This could be unfair treatment compared to your peers, or inequities in promotions or workloads.

6. Values – When values become misaligned with the school or principals, you become more cynical towards your role and school.

If you identify with any burnout signs above and are continuously operating in a heightened state of stress, check in with your medical practitioner.

Handy Tips 1. Make downtime part of your schedule and lock time in your diary for yourself, time for socialising and for your loved ones. Choose activities that bring happiness and joy, to release endorphins and assist in achieving and maintaining a positive state of mind.

2. Prioritise yourself. Create a wellness plan and make it a habit. Move your body daily. It doesn’t have to be strenuous exercise -- even a short walk does the job. Eat healthy foods and hydrate adequately. We underestimate the power that nourishing our body has on our performance and most importantly, our mindset.

3. Be mindful of language. The words you use have energy and power. When you use negative language, it causes the brain to release stress chemicals. Using a positive solution based approach, you remain in a neutral or more euphoric state. For example, when you ‘have’ to do a task it feels hard and heavy, but ‘getting’ to do an activity is lighter and easier.

If you think you are on the Burnout Bus, get off. Don’t travel the long, hard road to recovery.

Resolving burnout means creating new beliefs, habits and ways of operating (behaviours).

The Impact Burnout can have a substantial effect not only on your health but your relationships and career, too. You may need to take time off to recover or spend large sums of money on your health. The psychological trauma of feeling like a failure and not being good enough or worthy enough, along with re-evaluating your life.

Avoid Burnout If you don’t want the life force sucked out of you, take action now or your road to recovery may take you not days or weeks, but years. If you are experiencing any signs of burnout, or know someone who is, get support straight away. Quick action in treating burnout will be cheaper and much less soul destroying in the long term.

Hana Zawodny Hana is a qualified Transformation Coach, Co-Author and the Director of Transform Inside Out Limited. Hana is passionate about empowering women to reclaim their inner power and bring balance back to their lives. Working with Hana helps bust beliefs that hold you back, so you can love life and life your dreams.

Find out more at:

www.hanazawodny.com

Health hygiene habits are so important to maintain equilibrium in how you show up to work and perform each day.

51

MATT ALLEN

Being You! The Importance of Staying True to Yourself

Our time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

– Steve Jobs

R

ecently, I had the pleasure and privilege to hear and then interview Dr Ashley Bloomfield as part of a speaker series held at Scots College. What struck me most throughout Ashley’s speech and the follow up question and answer session was his complete authenticity. Throughout his presentation he reiterated three major points - tell the truth, demonstrate humility and most importantly, be yourself.

Most people would agree that these three qualities are what we all aspire to being, but do we?

These three characteristics (and many others) that define who you are as a person and how people perceive you are steeped in tradition, family values, common courtesy and common sense. The problem I see with common sense these days though, is that it isn’t always that common!

Teachers Matter

I believe the reason why so many New Zealanders came to trust Dr Bloomfield was that he was “real.” We could relate to him, not because he is the Director General of Health but simply because he’s a good bloke, a soft spoken father of three, a husband, a neighbour, a friend and a person that would stop in the street to say, “Gidday.”

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In my view, telling the truth, demonstrating humility and being yourself are the building blocks to being a good person, a person that people want to be around, a person people can trust and in the midst of a world pandemic, a person that a country of five million could rely upon at 1pm each day to lead us through a time of such uncertainty.

Dr Bloomfield reinforced the notion of “knowing your why.” To me, I took this as understanding what it is to be you. As individuals, being truthful means that we can grow and mature and learn from our mistakes. Being humble is considered one of the virtues of the human condition, along with kindness.

MATT ALLEN

“When you are always yourself, you are more likely to have focus and direction in your life.”

Why should you always be yourself? According to www. lifehack.org, you should strive to be yourself at all times because you will:

1. Live in Alignment with Your Values and Beliefs Being yourself is all about knowing what you believe in and the values that you live by. When you are not yourself, you will take on the values and beliefs of others.

you are, you are more likely to know the goals you want to accomplish and how to go about accomplishing them.

Dr Ashley Bloomfield may be remembered in history for how he informed an entire nation about how to deal with a global pandemic on a day-to-day basis but I think he may have also taught us how being true to yourself might just be the best protection you’ll ever need. As Oscar Wilde once said, “Be yourself, everybody else is already taken.”

2. Establish Your Own Identity When you are able to have a solid foundation of being you, you are establishing your own sense of identity. No matter what happens in your life, you will always know who you are. Without establishing your own identity, you may easily conform and lose yourself.

3. Build Courage It takes a great amount of courage when you decide to take the path that goes against the crowd. The reason why the majority of people take the broad path is because it’s easy.

It’s more of a challenge when you stay true to yourself and establish your own identity.

4. Establish Boundaries When you are always yourself, you know what your limits are and the boundaries that you have set for yourself. If you are always yourself and you establish boundaries, you are more likely to be aware when people start taking advantage of you.

Matt Allen Middle School Principal Matt Allen joined Scots College in 2013. He has an extensive history with both primary and secondary education, in New Zealand and England, where he taught for two years. Matt is a passionate educator who strongly believes that the balance between academic, cultural, sporting and special character development is essential for establishing the vital skills needed to adapt to an ever increasing globalisation of learners.

Matt can be contacted through email:

allenm@scotscollege.school.nz

5. Find Focus and Direction When you are always yourself, you are more likely to have focus and direction in your life. When you stay true to who

53

ELIAS KANARIS

How to get Your Kids to Leave Home Guiding the First-Time House Buying Process

As we sat around the dinner table, my 17-year-old son started shovelling food down his throat. The sight was almost as unpleasant as the noises he was creating!

New Zealand, median prices for residential property across New Zealand increased by 32.3% from $620,000 in May 2020 to $820,000 in May 2021.

“Mate,” I said, “Slow down! That’s revolting. If you carry on, you’ll never attract a girlfriend, get married and want to leave home.” To which my wife, of all people, said, “But I don’t want you to leave home!”

On average, a property in Auckland will be on the market for only 32 days before it is sold! With a lack of stock, it becomes important that if you want to join the property ladder, you approach the market ready to move quickly.

I don’t know about you, but I think that I have done my duty. We have raised two great kids. They graduated high school and are now at Uni. They have part-time jobs and no student debt. The next logical step is to guide them into their own home, so that my wife and I can enjoy becoming empty-nesters.

To do this, you want to be pre-approved before you go to an Open Home. Yet, it can be challenging to know how much to offer. In this article, I’d like to give you hope and the top four tips for your tamariki to get them on their way….

The trouble is that the real estate market is going crazy!

Interest rates are falling and house prices are rising.

Teachers Matter

According to the latest data from the Real Estate Institute of

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1. Join Kiwisaver.

If your tamariki are working, make sure that they set up a Kiwisaver account. This becomes a compulsory savings account for them, something that the bank will consider as evidence that they can save money.

ELIAS KANARIS When it comes time to buy their first home, the government has put aside some attractive grants through Kainga Ora. They may qualify for as much as a $10,000 First Home Grant per person. But wait, there’s more…

That could equate to $20,000 for a couple, which can be used towards their deposit.

Obviously, T&C’s apply, and you can find out more by visiting https://kaingaora.govt.nz/.

“If they had $20,000 in First Home Grants (as a couple) they would only need to find another $15,000 in savings.”

2. Keep a clean credit history.

Today, retailers use “After Pay” to tempt people to buy now.

Back in my day, we called it ‘layby.’The difference is that we had to pay up in full BEFORE we bought the product.

With After Pay, having monthly payments of only $20 may seem convenient to our kids, but if they miss a payment, it’s reflected in their credit history. Banks look for good financial character with every applicant. One measure to that end will be their credit score. A $20 missed payment is given as much weight as $2,000. (If you want to see what your credit rating is for free, go to https://www.creditsimple.co.nz/.)

Teach your tamariki how to set up an automatic payment on their Internet banking app or at least create a reminder to pay the loan off at least two days prior to its due date.

3. Start a budget.

This is the least popular suggestion that I have, but the most practical. If young people know how to set a budget, they can put a plan together to start saving. To help people get started, I have access to a simple budgeting tool that you can download here: https://bit.ly/fhbuyer .

4. Look for fragments.

Currently airing on TVNZ1 is a programme titled, “Eat Well for Less NZ,” which encourages families to replace brandname products in their weekly shopping for the house brand. The savings are merely fragments, when measured individually. But when accumulated, they can be staggering.

Using the same principle, what if your tamariki cut out that cup of coffee and a muffin that they eat every day? They can easily substitute that with a can of V and a pie, which is essentially the same! They would save an average of $8/day times 5 days/week. That’s $40 each week. If they put that aside, by the end of the year they would have saved $2,080!

What is the cost of a new Kiwibuild home? In Auckland, it is capped at $700K. How much deposit do they need?

5% = $35,000. If they had $20,000 in First Home Grants (as a couple) they would only need to find another $15,000 in savings.

Soon you could be an empty-nester…

Elias Kanaris Elias Kanaris is an author and speaker. He has written three books on leadership, resilience and finances.

He is a registered financial advisor with New Zealand Home Loans (NZHL) where he helps his clients attain their financial freedom faster.

He can be contacted at:

elias@eliaskanaris.com

55

SUE O’CALLAGHAN

Mental Health Awareness for Teachers Work on Yourself First

I

began my teaching career in 1988 at a boarding school.

Not only was I head of an art department, but I also lived in a boarding house with teenagers. At the age of twentyone, I was only a few years older than the students I taught!

During the next fifteen years, I had the incredible privilege of being exposed to the daily life of thousands of teenagers 24/7, seven days a week. In addition to my boarding house duties, I coached rowing at five in the morning. I windsurfed with my students, wading through icy waters during the winter months. I tramped through the mountains on Duke of Edinburgh Award expeditions. In general, our students had a pretty balanced life. Although teaching had its demands, we had little paperwork, the Internet didn't exist and if I am honest, I don't remember many mentions of mental health.

There is no doubt that teaching today is nothing like it was in the late 80’s! By contrast, it is one of the most challenging jobs you could choose. The workload is demanding, the admin is draining, the policies, procedures and expectations are such that the profession has one of the highest burnout rates of all careers. Figures reveal 21% of NZ teachers either move schools or leave the regular teaching profession. In addition, almost a fifth of primary school teachers and half of high school teachers quit within the first five years.

More than 17,000 students are without teachers due to a nationwide shortage.

Teachers Matter

Two questions arise: Why are teachers so burned out? How can we equip our teachers with the resources to stay?

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There is no doubt that the increase in concern around mental health in the classroom adds an enormous emotional drain on teachers who have to juggle student anxiety, bullying, parent expectations, overwhelm and fear. Whether we blame information overload, social media comparison, academic pressure, a lack of boundaries or socio-economic reasons, we must accept that change needs to happen.

Essentially, we need to increase the training and support offered to teachers to empower them in mental, emotional and psychological survival and wellbeing.

As founder of Teenage Toolbox, and co-founder and CEO of ImpACT-Mental Health, I believe the psychological theories and principles we learn in universities are useless - unless we activate and empower teachers with basic strategies that create healthy change.

ImpACT-Mental Health, delivers Resilience Education Programmes to equip students, parents and teachers with skills to survive. In a rapidly changing and uncertain world, endurance, adaptability and perseverance are required now more than ever!

In the 80’s, resilience was an essential ingredient that empowered survival. The outdoors, sport, physical activity as well as exhaustion - all played their role in good sleep and healing, alleviating the signs of depression, and reducing anxiety and fear for students and teachers. Along those same lines, music, drama and the arts, being involved in creativity and innovation prioritised social connections.

IMH believes what it takes for teachers to survive is not complex. What teachers struggle with - which IS different now - is time! Therefore, we must build into the teaching profession time to heal, time to breathe and time to grow so that teachers stay psychologically strong. In turn, they can bring a depth of compassion and understanding into the classroom.

One of the most popular talks ImpACT-Mental Health delivers to teachers in schools is Understanding Trauma and Coping Mechanisms. We address the challenge of facing a class of thirty or more students while dealing with personal, emotional and psychological issues, internal wounds and unaddressed ACE scores.

A broken relationship, young toddlers, teenage conflict, empty nest syndrome, elderly relatives, divorced parents, sickness, loss and even death all take their toll.

Yet, while we send our students to support services and

“If we devote a little more time to our teachers’ self-care as we used to many years ago - they can not only become the best versions of themselves outside the classroom - but also inside!”

school counsellors, how much time do teachers invest in themselves?

they must first prioritise their own needs. Recognising that need is only the first step.

Adversity doesn't discriminate. Yet we know it isn't necessarily what happens to us that dictates our stress levels or our life outcome, as much as how we respond to those adversities.

The second step is to equip teachers with resilience tools and increase training around trauma and coping mechanisms.

Taking time for healing, developing healthy mindsets and communication, implementing boundaries, understanding needs, and building a sustainable life are foundational to transformation and growth. If we devote a little more time to our teachers' self-care - as we used to many years ago they can not only become the best versions of themselves outside the classroom - but also inside!

My first published book, TAKEN, tells the story of having my 1, 3 and 5-year-olds abducted while pregnant with my fourth child. As trauma and tragedy ripped through my life, I became aware that I had choices in my response to suffering. In addition, I needed to own my healing journey to be the best version of me. To go on and raise four children - and to be beneficial in the classroom - I needed to first take care of myself.

Six of the non-negotiable strategies we use in IMH to empower teachers to survive are no different from those that empowered me on my healing journey. Embedded into our resilience education programme, those skills are also endorsed by research we carried out into the lives of 150 individuals we interviewed on the skills needed to overcome adversity. They include: •

Live in gratitude and the power of positivity.

•

Connect with friends and family. Prioritise support.

•

Take time out to heal.

•

Examine and implement improved physical exercise, diet and lifestyle.

•

Accept help, therapy and personal development.

•

Find healthy coping mechanisms, boundaries and communication.

Teachers are, without doubt, undervalued, overstretched and challenged in every area of their lives. Yet, in expecting them to impact student lives and have the skills and resources to address a mental health crisis in the classroom,

In essence, we must ensure our mental health programmes don't exclude those that matter the most! Let’s raise awareness around recognising the value of our teachers and do all we can to support their own psychological well being!

Sue O’Callaghan Sue O’Callaghan is a public speaker, thought leader and master influence in Resilience Education and Trauma Recovery.

A powerful motivational speaker she is a firm believer that tragedy and adversity are the foundations to thriving in life if an individual confronts their healing journey head-on.

For one-on-one sessions, school bookings, publications or other information, Sue can be contacted on

suesieoc@gmail.com

57

STEPHANIE PINTO

Why Won’t my Kids LISTEN?!

Getting Kids to Actually Hear You

D

o you find yourself wondering why your kids seem to ignore you all the time? It’s as if they have selective hearing! They might be watching TV or on the iPad and it can take five or ten attempts at trying to get their attention!

For some of us, this is one of the most frustrating aspects of being a parent! We wonder why they seem not to care about what we ask of them…and gee, it can really push our buttons.

Teachers Matter

Why does this happen? There are a variety of reasons, but I have summarised the main ones for you, so that we can have a little more understanding about kids’ behaviour and how to manage it.

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Reason 1: Kids’ brains are heavily under-developed.

This lack of cognitive skills means our kids have difficulty shifting attention quickly and easily, for example, breaking their attention from TV to your voice.

Reason 2: Kids are naturally egocentric and are still

developing their Theory of Mind, or the ability to put themselves in other’s shoes, which fosters empathy.

Reason 3: Kids inherently test boundaries as a way to

assert their independence. This is normal and healthy, yet frustrating for us parents.

STEPHANIE PINTO As parents, we are the leaders of our family. I don’t mean this in a traditional or authoritarian sense of leadership, but rather that we hold the key to setting the tone and the culture of our family. We are the ones who need to approach each interaction with our kids from a place of love and compassion, rather than a hierarchical ‘us and them’ type approach. It starts with US! Here are some of my most powerful strategies that we can utilise to help our kids listen more effectively. I’ve listed these tips in the form of steps, as this is a simple yet highly effective way to help support our kids’ listening.

When making a request of kids, try the following approach:

“We are the ones who need to approach each interaction with our kids from a place of love and compassion, rather than a hierarchical ‘us and them’ type approach.”

Step 1: Check Your Timing - Is your child in the middle of

a TV episode or game? Don’t set yourself up for frustration and failure. Could you wait a minute until it’s finished or at a natural stopping point? If so, you’ll have a much higher chance of a successful outcome.

Step 2: Avoid Shouting - Instead of repeating yourself or shouting from the kitchen, go over to him or her and tap them on the shoulder or give their hair a ruffle. Get their attention in a loving way.

Step 3: Get Down to Their Level - Make eye contact and

THEN give your request in a way that you might with a friend or stranger. Many times, we make demands or give orders just because it’s our kids. Would we talk this way to another adult? No way!

Step 4: Find Common Ground - If there’s resistance, try

negotiating or coming to an agreement. Too often, we want things done our way - and we want it done immediately.

Step 5: Praise the Positives - Naturally and authentically

praise their behaviour. This isn’t a gushy, “Oh, you’re amazing. Thank you sooo much.” It’s an earnest, “Thanks for pausing the game, buddy. That really helped us get going on time.”

as possible. In the morning, let them know the day’s plans.

Half an hour before you need to leave or do a task, remind them gently. At five minutes to go, it’s an, “Alright guys, five more minutes, so have your last turn,” reminder. That way, they don’t feel the threat of something being sprung on them, and have a warning so they know to enjoy the last couple of minutes of whatever they’re doing. It is just so powerful to help prepare them like this.

Finally, I’ll end by mentioning how we can “strike whilst the iron’s cold.” This sounds counterintuitive, but I talk about using this strategy a LOT during my parent coaching and workshops. In the heat of the moment, or the midst of a meltdown - don’t try having a conversation about listening.

Or anything for that matter. Our kids are in their ‘right brain’ emotions, and not able to engage their ‘left brain’ logical thinking yet. Find another time when your little one is calm and then have a conversation that is a relaxed, casual chat and not an interrogation. This is the perfect time to plant seeds about listening and why it’s important.

Another key strategy I’m always reminding parents I coach about is to give your kids as much notice for a transition

Stephanie Pinto Stephanie Pinto is an Emotional Intelligence coach who specialises in helping parents to create an Emotionally Intelligent family culture at home. She is a certified Emotional Intelligence specialist, is a trained paediatric anxiety therapist, and practiced as a Speech Pathologist.

She supports parents in learning how to manage their emotions, frustrations and stress so that they are happier, calmer and connect more deeply with their kids.

Find out more at

stephaniepinto.com

59

JACQLIN RICHARDS

Stop Telling Your Kids What to Do! Teaching Children About CHOICE

I

didn’t even really know what the definition of a parent was. I mean, what is it that we are actually here to do?

After doing many years of ‘work’ around why I parented the way I did, I came to this end result.

I thought the role of control was my responsibility as a parent and I did it because I cared, until I realised they didn’t. Then I realised IT DIDN’T MATTER because it doesn’t matter - unless you MAKE it matter!

We are here to guide our children to know themselves.

To help them find out who they are by standing back and allowing them to live their life with full knowledge that we are right behind them to support them.

I suddenly realised that the reason my kids didn't listen to me with the stuff that ‘did’ matter was because I was controlling everything in their lives that ‘didn’t’ matter.

In my earlier years of being a parent, I wasn’t doing that. I had nose-dived into what I playfully call the #WeParentFromThePastTrap, repeating the patterns of exactly the way I was parented without even realising it! I still remember the day I woke up and realised I had turned into my mother!

I became a controlling, micro-managing, ‘over-parenter,’ which is the opposite of the ‘chilled-out’ parent I saw myself being through the rose tinted glasses I wore. As my kids got older I realised my ‘way’ of parenting was a pretty near constant stream of what to do and what not to do. I constantly told my kids what to do. Just like my mother constantly told me and her mother before her.

Teachers Matter

Can you see the broken record that is the ‘way’ we parent?

It’s pretty clear that when we choose to lift away the old glasses and look with fresh eyes. I realised I didn’t ‘like’ being told what to do - even as an adult. I prefer to be able to work things out on my own, come to my own solutions and conclusions and ask for help if I need it. Our kids are exactly the same, given half the chance.

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Do you consistently invite or give your kids the opportunity to do stuff on their own and ASK for help when they need it? Or like the old me, do you do it all for them and end up a depleted ball of resentment? If you are a bit telling-themwhat-to-do-all-the-time-ish and more than a smidge doingit-all-for-them, your kids will feel like they have no choice, say or empowerment in their lives.

If they feel like you have all the power and they have none, they are more likely to react in an undesirable way and you might have a wee bit of trouble getting them to listen, respond and do what you’ve asked. You may have kids that avoid telling you what's really going on for them because there is a recipe of control playing out that so many of us inherited from our parents' way of parenting.

So what can we do to change this outdated recipe of control?

We can: •

Stop using the old ingredients and get some new ones.

•

Stop telling them what to do and share from our own experience instead. This is the key ingredient for empowered parenting to provide a way that equips our kids from our ‘grey hair’ experience to live in the world we’re in and not the one we came from.

•

Model the behaviour we want to see. Kids learn from what we DO as parents, not what we SAY. Bugger!

•

Teach our kids about choice.

Then, when it's mum or dad's choice, they listen, they respond and they actually WANT to do what you've asked.

“The reason my kids didn’t listen to me with the stuff that ‘did’ matter was because I was controlling everything in their lives that ‘didn’t’ matter.”

My Choice — Your Choice.

Parent Choice — Kid Choice.

I'm not talking about whether you have macaroni or mince for dinner. I'm talking about who's choice it is and how we can let go of a huge number of battles simply by bringing our over-parenting to an end and teaching our kids about choice.

Teach them it’s Your choice, or the Kid’s choice for things like the clothes they wear, the haircut they have, whether they wear matching socks or pajamas to school (as long as that fits with the school’s choice). It can also be a Kid Choice on how they keep their room - as long as there’s no moldy food in there - then it becomes a Parent Choice to implement a rule like, “No food in your room.”

When you say, “Mum's choice. Time to get in the car,” they get in the car!!! No battle, no whining, no issue...because they have power in other areas of their lives...all because they have a choice over the other stuff.

Choice. You get the idea.

It’s a game changer!

Jacqlin Richards at Your Parent Journey Aka The FREEDOM Finder for Parents, Jacqlin is a Mother of 2, Parent Empowerment Mentor, Speaker, Facilitator and Author who is deeply passionate about bringing greater awareness to the way we raise our children and teens. Raising empowered kids takes empowered Parents and Jacqlin loves to walk alongside Men and Women as they empower themselves through her Mentorship and Programs into a very different way of being a Parent.

Find out more at:

www.yourparentjourney.com

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LESLEY JOHNSON

Questioning is Key to Learning Children’s Literature that Supports Questioning

W

e often hear the saying, “Garbage in, garbage out.”

This popular truth is applicable to many situations, even to questioning. If you ask the wrong question, you will probably not get the response you are looking for from a student.

Asking the right question is a basic skill of effective communication and exchange of information.

The more effective your questioning skills...

•

the better the information gathered.

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the more learned.

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the stronger relationships enabled.

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the more observation is heightened.

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the more students have heightened reflection.

Teachers Matter

Katie Daynes, author of the wonderful, lift the flap questions and answers books published by Usborne has this to say about questioning:

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Children are innately curious, questioning the world around them and their role within it. By encouraging them to keep asking questions, we can support them in being active learners.

As parents, carers or teachers, we won’t always have the answers, but that’s OK. It’s important for children to knwo that there’s still so much more to find out, that their opinions matter and that by asking the right questions, they can become the scientists, inventors and problem-solvers of the future.”

— Katie Daynes Journalist and author Warren Berger, who has written several books with questioning as the focus, encourages parents and teachers to provide an environment that will help children become better questioners.

This can include: •

Form questions with a buddy/as a group.

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Phone a friend (discuss with friend but form own question).

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Provide questions starters.

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Have an “all questions are good questions” policy.

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Frequently refer to questions asked by ‘champions’.

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Reflect on possible questions of ‘heroes’.

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In current events – talk about who would ask questions.

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Interview ‘experts’.

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Encourage ‘green hat’ thinking/questions.

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Use questions to grow the inquiry or challenge.

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Take a statement and reflect on the questions that might have been asked.

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Use an inquiry approach

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Have question dice available (what, where, when, who, how, why).

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Foster curiosity using STEM activities.

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Celebrate outcomes and habits associated with good questioning.

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Encourage reflection.

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Celebrate observations.

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Question their and other assumptions.

LESLEY JOHNSON Katie Daynes’ lift-the-flap books are a great place to start when encouraging and celebrating the value of questioning. She has written on a wonderful variety of topics. Children will engage with questions such as:

Where do my ideas come from?

What are stars made of?

Why do stars twinkle?

How to planets stay in space?

What is poo?

Where does poo go?

What can you do with poo?

Why do I look pale when I am ill?

Do we all dream at night?

Lift-the-flap Questions and Answers About Dinosaurs Author: Katie Daynes Illustrator: Marie-Eve Tremblay Designer: Suzie Harrison Dinosaur Expert: Ed Drewitt Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd ISBN: 978-1-4095-8214-4

Activity Suggestions: 1. Give groups different Question and Answer books.

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List the question starters in your book.

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Which question do you find the most interesting? Why? Agree on the three most interesting questions.

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Share your selected questions with the class.

Collate questions. Are there any patterns with the question starters? Can you suggest a reason why/why not?

“Asking the right question is a basic skill of effective communication and exchange of information.”

2. True or False •

Create a false answer for each of the question flaps.

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From your book, hand out a list of the questions. (Keeping them in page/question starter order will help.)

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Classmates take turns at asking questions. Book team give an answer (true or false).

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Class marks each question on their sheet with a T or F.

Objective: Winner is the person who has the greatest number of correct responses.

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

HELEN MACDONALD

The “Three A” Method Creating the Best Possible Results

T

he definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expect different results. If you want better results from your students, your classes and your school, then you’ll need to DO something different!

particular time. How contagious are your good moods?

How about your negative ones? What are the triggers that can take you down? What are your ‘helium balloons’ that are guaranteed to give you a lift?

I don’t believe that we can change our outcomes just by thinking positively. We need less positive thinking and more positive doing! Don’t misunderstand – attitude is vital to our success. The key here is the application of ‘optimism,’ rather than ‘positivity.’ The word comes from the Latin ‘optimus’ which means, “best or most favourable.” The Oxford Dictionary describes optimism as, “a tendency or disposition to look for the most favourable outcome.” In my definition, there is also a critical aspect that includes taking action - doing something about it.

It’s also about recognising that there are peaks & troughs in a day, in a week or in a semester. Sometimes you should just take it easy because things are not going so well. When you are aware of your attitude, you can take absolute advantage of when you are feeling 100% full of energy and get the most from your efforts!

Three critical elements need to come together to create and deliver optimal results in your career and your life. They help you build and maintain an optimistic approach – what I call being in the “OZone.” Working on the three key activities in each element gives you the ability to identify opportunities, maximise your opportunities and create better outcomes.

1. Attitude Awareness The focus in the first piece is to recognise that ‘best possible’ results don’t come from just having a positive attitude. It’s about having an awareness of what your attitude is at any

Looking at the rhythm of the school year, and the seasonal impact of the semesters on everyone’s attitude, can also create better outcomes for you and your students.

“Be careful not to get so caught up in what’s the right thing to do that you end up in analysis paralysis: “I don’t know whether to do this thing or that thing.” Here’s my suggestion – do something.”

Teachers Matter

2. Activity Management

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Piece number two is about understanding exactly what it is that you need to do, then turning up ready to do the right activity at the right time. It’s also about making sure that you measure and monitor the things that you need to track. There are many elements that make up a successful school year, so it’s important to prioritise and manage tasks, projects and curriculum development and delivery.

Be careful not to get so caught up in what’s the right thing to do that you end up in analysis paralysis: “I don’t know whether to do this thing or that thing.” Here’s my

suggestion – do something. Get into action and the universe will give you feedback. You will sense if you did a great thing and should continue or if it didn’t work out or needs to change direction. Get into activity and then measure the bits that work and do more of those.

3. Achievement Focus How well do you see the big vision that you are headed towards? How do you find success for yourself, your students or your department or school?

Make sure that you have clearly articulated where you want to go and what you want to achieve: First for yourself and then for other stakeholders involved with the school.

It’s also important to identify the things that might distract you from this focus. Work out how to remove, reduce or limit their impact.

To improve your success rate, create visual reminders of the goal that will help keep you on track. Monitor and reward your progress, as well as completion of tasks or projects to stay motivated!

Helen MacDonald As a thought leader in Optimising Outcomes, Helen Mac has delivered hundreds of keynotes, seminars & training sessions to thousands of people around the Asia-Pacific rim, over the past three decades. She has written & contributed to six books and is passionate about raising the Optimism levels on the planet, to create ‘best possible’ results for individuals, businesses, organisations and communities of all shapes & sizes. Her work as a coach, with owners of micro to small businesses, focuses on a customised program to support her clients to create a business that works for them, not the other way around!

Find out more at:

www.helenmac.com

Balancing the “Three A’s” will deliver great results, for your personal and professional life. A practical way to approach this is to assess your current level of activation in each area, then consciously choose to take action in the areas that need some extra attention. More optimism creates more opportunities to create ‘best possible’ outcomes for all the parts of your world!

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KAREN TUI BOYES

Ditch Self-Esteem and Focus on Self-Control How Hard Work and Effort Grow Us

M

aya Angelou said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

Anyone growing up in the eighties (and beyond) will have grown up in the self-esteem era. In the 1980s, psychologists showed that high self-esteem equated to high grades at school and students with lower self-esteem tended to struggle in school. These same psychologists started a movement to raise self-esteem because they believed that virtually all the world’s problems traced back to low selfesteem. So began the participation ribbons, everyone gets a prize (think of the childhood party game, “Pass the Parcel”) and lavish praise of insignificant achievements.

The flaw in this movement was two-fold. Firstly, self-esteem comes from within, not from what others tell or give you.

Being given a ribbon for just entering a contest fosters no real internal sense of satisfaction or confidence. Secondly, self-esteem comes from putting in the effort - trying, iterating, failing, trying again and succeeding.

Our school system reflects these flaws strongly. Children were (and still are in many places) told to go to school and learn – because ‘learning is fun.’ Learning is complex, messy, challenging, uncomfortable and something you have

to work at. If children believe it should be fun, and it’s not, then why even bother?

I see this echoed in the teens I work with whom are told to study for a test or an exam. They focus on what they already know because this makes them feel good. The internal dialogue says, “I’ve got this,” or, “I’m so smart.” Going over what you know sends the feel-good chemicals into the brain.

If you are a list writer, have you ever completed a task, gone to cross it off the list and to find the task was not on the list?

What do you do? Write the task on the list just so you can cross it off! There is no logical reasoning for this behaviour, however, there is a physiological explanation. When crossing off a completed task, endorphins such as dopamine flood the brain, making you feel good. This is why students continue to practise, rehearse and go over what they can already do. This, however, is not learning. To learn you need to learn what you don’t know. The challenge here is the internal dialogue changes to, “This is hard.”

“What if they find out I’m not as smart as they tell me I am?”

“What if I fail?”

These phrases are challenging to any of us and can cause students to back off and go back to what they know as it feels better. I spend much of my time in schools explaining, “Everything is hard before it is easy,” and, “The struggle makes you strong.”

Teachers Matter

Furthermore, most students believe the way to succeed at school is to be intelligent, smart and clever. The reality is far from this – to succeed in school (pass the tests and exams), you need to know techniques and strategies for learning, memory recall, test-taking and how your brain works.

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“Researchers and psychologists now suggest that having self-control is a better precursor of success.”

KAREN TUI BOYES “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” – Bill Gates While the self-esteem research initially showed those with higher self-esteem received higher grades in school, subsequent research now indicates it is the other way around. Success and receiving good grades in school raises your self-esteem. The challenge for many is they don’t know what they did or how they achieved success in school – it just happened ‘by magic.’

told that if they waited while the researcher left the room for about 15 minutes, they could have two marshmallows.

If they ate the marshmallow, there were no more. The study attributed the ability to wait to delay gratification to higher education and life achievements. In New Zealand, the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Study, from 1972 to the current day, also reflects these findings.

“Trophies should go to the winners. Self-esteem does not lead to success in life. Self-discipline and self-control do.” – Roy Baumeister

The key to success for the children who waited was to divert their attention elsewhere. Continually staring or looking at the marshmallow meant that at any moment, they were more likely to have a lapse of willpower and the marshmallow was gone. Those who could divert their attention to another task or focus were more likely to receive the second marshmallow.

Researchers and psychologists now suggest that having self-control is a better precursor of success. This starts at a young age. The famous marshmallow experiment conducted

by Stanford University professor and psychologist Walter Mischel in 1972 studied delaying gratification. Children, aged between three and six, were taken into a room and shown one marshmallow on a plate. The children were

The same is true for me. When I crave chocolate, my willpower is low when I see it in the fridge - and I eat it! If, however, I can distract myself for ten or more minutes, I get absorbed in another task, the craving goes away and I forget!

(No, I don’t get twice as much for waiting - my reward is a healthier, stronger body.) I feel better about myself, and my self-esteem, self-worth and self-love quotient goes up!

Focus on self-control

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KAREN TUI BOYES Lessons from Brazil It is usual for children to be impulsive and not manage their self-control. At a school in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where I mentored and coached the teachers, Milena, taught threeyear-olds to wait and manage themselves.

Firstly, she wrapped small gifts for each child. On day one, the gifts were placed in front of each child and they were asked to wait thirty seconds before opening the gift.

This was repeated on day two and three, with wait times extended to sixty and ninety seconds. As you can imagine, this was very challenging for the children. They then discussed strategies for waiting and ways to make it easier.

Three simple techniques emerged.

1. Count to ten in your head.

2. Focus on your breath as you breathe in and out.

3. Drum your fingers on the desk while you wait.

These techniques and explicit teaching were a precursor to students learning to take turns, share and sit still in class and with self-control comes success and self-esteem.

Teachers Matter

In what ways might you explicitly teach students to manage their self-control in your classroom?

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Karen Tui Boyes Karen Tui Boyes is a champion for Lifelong Learning across nations, industries and organisations. Winner of the NZ Educator of the Year 2017 and 2014 and the NZ Speaker of the Year award in 2013 & 2019, Karen is a sought after speaker who continually gets rave reviews from audiences around the world. Her dynamic style and highly informative content—which turns the latest educational research into easy-to-implement strategies and techniques — sets her apart from others in her field.

Find out more at:

www.spectrumeducation.com

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By Karen Tui Boyes

ROOTS AND WINGS is a book packed full of stories, ideas, practical tips and parenting tools to provide stability for your children while also raising them to be independent. It’s about creating deep roots of confidence and consistency whilst giving your child wings so they can fly and experience life.

Within the pages of ROOTS AND WINGS, you’ll discover: • Strategies to encourage your children tobe more independent • The importance of teaching & reinforcing responsibility • Fun ways to create family traditions • Solutions to survive the school holidays with fun challenges • Ways to set boundaries, expectations & rewards for success • The keys to self-care and staying balanced • Suggestions to maintain a solid and loving relationship with your partner • PLUS 2 bonus chapters to support your teens with study & exams Karen shares her highs and lows with an open heart in the hope that something might spark you to add more fun and joy into your parenting journey, maintain (or redefine) your identity and purpose, and create harmony in your life that brings you great happiness and delight each day.

Whether youhave toddlers, young children, tweens or teens, there is something for you in this book.

r Get you ! day o t y p o c

Download a FREE chapter and get more information at www.spectrumeducation.com/roots-and-wings 72