Learning to Learn - 2nd Edition - Teacher Manual - Sample by The Examcraft Group

develop self-management and personal organisation skills including goal setting, study skills, coping skills and reflection skills.” - NCCA guidelines on Well-Being for the Junior Cycle

The Learning to Learn workbook provides a structured course for Junior Cycle students, equipping them with the essential skills to be successful in their academic life. The programme assists students in understanding themselves

Learning to Learn

Schools should provide a space for “learning opportunities designed to

TEACHER MANUAL

better, being more organised and confident as learners along with having a proven study system and assessment approach which will reduce their stress level and add to their sense of well-being. There is a key focus for each section accompanying students through the Junior Cycle:

 Section 1 – Transition and Study, supports students to quickly adapt to the new expectations placed upon them in their learning.  Section 2 – Goal Setting and Study, provides students with the

motivation and skills to become effective at learning and studying.  Section 3 – Study, Assessment Preparation and Developing Resilience, which supports students working towards success in their learning.  Section 4 – Study Journal which assists students in planning and recording their study and revision. Each chapter has key learning points with practical exercises taken from a

variety of Junior Cycle subjects, along with a reflective opportunity at the end

T N E D U T S D N A G IN N A LEAR T PROGRAMME SUPPOR

of the lesson where the students reflect on and record where they intend to

implement what they learned into their regular study.

”It is full of ideas, methods and techniques that will help busy teachers planning their course work if they wish to launch a short course in ‘How We Learn’. It’s a practical book and in my view an essential workbook for all students and an ideal book for teaching learning for their teacher, tutor and year head.“ - Patricia Atkins, Former Principal

TEACHER

Learning - Teacher Version 2 T: 01 808 1494 - F: to 01Learn 836 2739 - E:Workbook info@thesupergeneration.com

MANUAL



Edition

Written by Feidhlim Ó Seasnáin & Louise Platt

Section 1

Transitioning and Learning

Introduction The focus for this section is to assist

I. Managing Information: Listening

students in settling into their new school

and Reading

and to provide them with practical tips and techniques that will help them learn better. This section is broken up into three key areas:

Students take in a lot of information by listening to the teacher and others in their class. Listening is a skill which they can develop and practise. This chapter will help them to do just that,

1. Transitioning and settling in Chapters 1 and 2 will help the

what they need to learn. They will also learn here how to read

students settle more quickly into

so that they are paying attention to

with purpose, being able to identify

exploring their new subjects with

the information they need from a

them and how to become more

piece of text.

organised in their learning at

II. Managing Information: Thinking

their new school and routine by

school and at home.

2. What learning is all about The next two chapters will help students understand better

how they actually learn. They

will explore how their brain

works along with the skills and behaviours they can develop, which assists them in becoming

better learners.

In this chapter students begin to think about and understand more how information is arranged. Students will look at how to break down the information they have read by creating their own notes and use graphic organisers.

Students are given the opportunity to practise all of these new skills with some of the subjects they are studying for the Junior Cycle.

3. Managing information In secondary school, students

are presented with lots of new information in their various subjects. The key to being successful in their learning is to practise simple techniques that will help them manage all of this information. This last section is divided into four chapters, which are:

Section 1

Transitioning and Learning

Chapter 1

Settling In LESSON 1: New Beginnings ......................................................................................................... 24

LESSON 2: My Timetable .............................................................................................................. 28

Chapter 2

LESSON 3: Being Organised ......................................................................................................... 31

Subjects and Homework

LESSON 4: Subjects and Homework ......................................................................................... 35

LESSON 5: Completing Homework Assignments ................................................................... 39

Chapter 3

Getting Ready for Learning LESSON 6: Behaviours for Learning ........................................................................................ 43

LESSON 7: Characteristics of a Good Learner................................................................... 48

Chapter 4

My Brain and Learning LESSON 8: Growing Your Brain and Learning ......................................................................... 52

LESSON 9: Improving Your Learning ......................................................................................... 56

Chapter 5

LESSON 10: Paired and Group Learning ................................................................................... 58

Managing Information: Listening and Reading LESSON 11: Skills for Learning – Listening .............................................................................. 63 LESSON 12: Active Reading ...................................................................................................... 66

LESSON 13: Command Words and Curiosity ........................................................................... 71

Chapter 6

Managing Information: Thinking

LESSON 14: Graphic Organisers ................................................................................................ 75

LESSON 15: Writing Frames ................................................................................................... 78

Lesson 1

NEW BEGINNINGS

Chapter 1

Settling In Lesson 1

NEW BEGINNINGS

Aim Aim

To realise the importance of h a positive attitude to your new

Learning Point 1

progress in your learning journey.

As you will learn later on in this course, learning is affe if you can approach your learning and any possible ch outlook, then you will have a more positive outcome t

Aim Aim

As was stated in the introduction to this section, the s

To help students realise the importance of settle into your new school and regime, the sooner yo having a positive attitude to their new school

Learning Point 1

As was stated in the introduction to this section, the soonerNew a student settle bring into new challenges, which may b startscan always their new school and regime, the sooner they can begin to make progress in their learning journey.

very exciting.

Looking at the things that you are worried about, as w

As you are aware, learning is affected by feelings; so, if students can approach you are looking forward to, can help you to see that their learning and any possible challenges with a positive outlook, then there is the

positive opportunities and things into your life.

prospect of a more positive outcome to their efforts.

New starts always bring new challenges for students, which may cause concern and CISE

can also be a time of great excitement for the student.

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worry; however, the key is to try and change the focus so Rthat these new beginnings A good start

So, let’s begin by looking at what a good start in One way to change this focus is to engage the students in looking at not only the would look like for you. Take a minute, close yo things that they may be worried about, but also to turn their attention to what they yourself in a few weeks’ time, settled into your are looking forward to. This can help them see that change can bring new positive very happy. Notice the following things: what it opportunities and things into their lives. like, who is around you and, if possible, notice

Now, when you have that done and you open describe what you saw in your mind’s eye.

Chapter 1

Settling In

A good start

Lesson 1

NEW BEGINNINGS

The aim of this exercise is to explore the power

A good start to secondary school would l

of visualisation with students. By encouraging

Aim Aim

students to visualise what it is they wish to

To realise the importance of having a positive attitude to your new school

Learning Point 1

achieve is an important first step in making it a

As was stated in the introduction to this section, the sooner you as a student settle into your new school and regime, the sooner you begin to make progress in your learning journey.

reality.

As you will learn later on in this course, learning is affected by our feelings; so, if you can approach your learning and any possible challenges with a positive outlook, then you will have a more positive outcome to your efforts. New starts always bring new challenges, which may be worrying but is also very exciting. Looking at the things that you are worried about, as well as the things that you are looking forward to, can help you to see that change can bring new positive opportunities and things into your life.

Initially use Think, Pair, Share where the students describe what a good

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So, let’s begin by looking at what a good start in secondary school would look like for you. Take a minute, close your eyes, and imagine yourself in a few weeks’ time, settled into your new school and being very happy. Notice the following things: what it feels like, what it looks like, who is around you and, if possible, notice the sounds around you.

start would look like and then they can share

Now, when you have that done and you open your eyes, try to describe what you saw in your mind’s eye.

this with the person beside them.

A good start to secondary school would look like this:

A good start

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Excitements and worries The aim of this exercise is to begin to identify and name their feelings. Rather than burying their worries they can bring these out into the open and then by naming

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Excitements and worries

Now that you have a better unde might look like for you, let’s try an

Now that you have a better understanding of what a good beginning might look like for you, let’s try and make it a reality. In the box, using a bright-coloured pen, write down the things that excite you most about your new school.

In the box, using a bright-coloure excite you most about your2new Learning Point

tes m

Exci

what excites them they can also realise they don’t always have to focus on the potential

Have you ever noticed that you te ! or situations you notice th mebefore s e t i c x E of us have a habit of noticin Most notice what’s right. But you can tr focusing on the positive, especial

negative feelings. Initially use Think, Pair, Share, where the students share their answers with the person beside them. If students were comfortable enough, they can

Worries me!

Here is an opportunity for you no confidence and realise your stren the positive things in your life. You more about the importance of ho strengths will build your confiden

share with the class group to see what they other.

Then, with a different-coloured pen, write in anything that might worry you.

as a group might have in common with each

Learning Point 2

We all have a tendency to notice negative things about ourselves or situations before we notice the positive. Well, it’s just the same for students. Most of us have a habit of noticing what’s wrong with things before we notice what is right. But we can train ourselves to be ISE RC

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more positive by focusing on the positive, especially when it comes to yourself.

The new positive me

It is important to create opportunities for students to grow their confidence and realise their strengths by recognising the positive things in their lives. Students will learn later on more about the importance of how recognising their strengths will build their confidence as a learner, see Chapter 7.

I can ask for help if I need it. I have good friends. I am funny.

SA 3

The new positive me

The aim of this exercise is to begin to think positively about themselves, to realise their

Learning Point 2

potential by identifying their strengths.

Here is an opportunity for you now to grow your confidence and realise your strengths by recognising the positive things in your life. You will learn later on more about the importance of how recognising your strengths will build your confidence as a learner.

This is a personal reflective exercise, so encourage students to complete this exercise individually and to read back over the

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The new positive me In each of the shapes, write in as many positive statements as you can think of. For example:

I can ask for help if I need it. I have good friends. I am funny.

answers to themselves when they are finished so that they can begin to absorb and accept these

I can ...

Have you ever noticed that you tend to notice negative things about yourself or situations before you notice the positive? Well, you are not alone there. Most of us have a habit of noticing what’s wrong with things before we notice what’s right. But you can train yourself to be more positive by focusing on the positive, especially when it comes to yourself.

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In each of the shapes, write i think of. For example:

I have ...

I can ...

positive personal attributes of themselves and not simply leave them as statements on the page.

I am ...

How did you get on? Was that easy? Yes

Did you write anything down that surprised you? What was it?

Learning Point 3

Now that the students have begun to recognise some of the positive aspects of

Now that you have recognised some of the positive thin you maythat realise that youthem also have some of the resource resources necessary to cope with some of the challenges might be worrying about starting in their new school. cope with some of the things that might be worrying you The best way to deal with anything that might beyour causing worry is to develop new school. themselves, they may be beginning to realise that they also have some of the

a strategy to cope with it. What people call ‘coping strategies’ are

The best way to deal with anything that might be worryin a strategy at how these can be used to better face what might be causingto cope with it. What people call ‘coping strate worry and deciding on what action you can take.a mixture of realising your own strengths and looking at these to better face what might be worrying you and de action you can take.

Coping strategies

CISE The aim of this exercise is to encourageRstudentsCoping to begin tostrategies think about

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simply a mixture of realisation of personal strengths and looking

strategies to help them in their learning and settling into their new school.

individually to go back to Exercise 2 and

Let’s go back to Exercise 2 and choose three of th might worry you. Then go back to Exercise 3 and the positive statements that you wrote about you these positive things – or, as I like to call them, ‘yo help you with any of your worries?

choose three of the things that might

Learning Point 3

Now that you have recognised some of the positive things about yourself, you may realise that you also have some of the resources necessary to cope with some of the things that might be worrying you about starting in your new school.

worry them. Now go back to Exercise 3 and re-read over some of the positive statements that they wrote about

themselves and ask them to reflect and identify which personal strengths they have that can potentially help them to

overcome what might be worrying them.

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Coping strategies

Here is a simple exercise that will help you begin to think about strategies to help you in your learning and settling into your new school. Let’s go back to Exercise 2 and choose three of the things that might worry you. Then go back to Exercise 3 and re-read some of the positive statements that you wrote about yourself. Can any of these positive things – or, as I like to call them, ‘your strengths’ help you with any of your worries?

Choose your worry, write it out, and then write out a simple strategy that will help you cope with that worry. For example:

Choose your worry, write it out, and then write ou that will help you cope with that worry. You might have written down that making new friends is a worry, yet when you came to your strengths you noticed that you wrote down ‘I am a friendly person’. So, your answer may be:

I am worried about making new friends, but I know I am a friendly person, so I am going to talk to the other students so I can get to know them.

Use Think, Pair, Share, where the

For example:

students share their answers with the

You might have written down that making new frie when you came to your strengths you noticed tha ‘I am a friendly person’. So, your answer may be:

person beside them. Then if students are comfortable enough with sharing with the class, encourage them to share with the class what they discussed in their pairs.

The best way to deal with anything that might be worrying you is to develop a strategy to cope with it. What people call ‘coping strategies’ are simply a mixture of realising your own strengths and looking at how you can use these to better face what might be worrying you and deciding on what action you can take.

EXE

Ask students

Here is a simple exercise that will help you begin to th strategies to help you in your learning and settling int

I am worried about making new friends, but I know I am so I am going to talk to the other students so I can get t

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Focusing on the positive

The aim of this exercise is simply to reinforce with students what excites them most about their new school and the new opportunities for learning.

Focusing on the positive 5 opportunity to introduce a Gallery This might be a good

As a quick recap on what excites you most about your new school Walk activity with the students, which and the new opportunities for learning, fill in as many bricks as encourages them to collectively work possible on the school wall below about what you like or find exciting together and share their thoughts. about your new school. You may wish to share this exercise with your friends to see what they wrote and include them on yours. ISE RC

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Focusing on the positive

As a quick recap on what excites you most about your new school and the new opportunities for learning, fill in as many bricks as possible on the school wall below about what you like or find exciting about your new school. You may wish to share this exercise with your friends to see what they wrote and include them on yours.

New friends

New subjects

New friends

PAUSE AND REFLECT

1. What have you learned in this lesson?

2. How did you learn this?

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

MENTAL NOTE

“

Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow. – Anthony J. D’Angelo

”

New subjects

PAUSE AND REFLECT PAUSE AND REFLECT

As outlined in the Introduction section, reflection is an essential element of putting student the centre of their ownlesson? learning. This will be new to What haveatyou learned in this 1. the students and in the beginning they might struggle with what they need to include, but with practice they will find that they will nearly automatically know what they should include here. The only danger is that they might simply repeat what they have previously written, so this needs to be somewhat monitored by the teacher.

2. How did you learn this?

Pause and Reflect is not simply about what they learned but also about how they learned something and how they can implement this learning throughout their studies at Junior Cycle.

MENTAL NOTE 3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study? Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you

“

”

will never cease to grow. – Anthony J. D’Angelo

MENTAL NOTE

Chapter 1

Settling In Lesson 2

MY TIMETABLE To help students learn how to effectively use their school timetable

Geo

Aim Aim

Learning Point 1

Mat

The school day can appear quite busy and confusing initially for the student, trying to

figure out where they are supposed to be and when. With a plethora of new subjects, in different classrooms with different teachers, confusion and anxiety can ensue.

One simple way to easily reduce some of the stress related to school and learning

is by being organised, helping the student in knowing what it is they have to do and

Sci

when. The brain likes to know what is happening and what it is supposed to be doing

at a particular time.

Learning Point 2

My Own Timetable

Most schools hand out timetables to students with abbreviations of the subject and teachers’ initials simply to fit everything in. Students may need assistance in trying to decipher these new codes and make sense of their timetable. This exercise will check with students how familiar they are already with their own timetable. It is not expected that they would know their timetable yet, so do not expect students to answer all the questions correctly, rather this is simply an exercise to draw students’ attention to their own timetable and familiarise them with their new routine.

Art

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K A E BRIME

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T ENGLISH CLASS STATS AT....

This activity familiarises pupils with possible abbreviations that may appear on post-primary timetables. The exercise may be completed in pairs. As this is the first paired work for the class, this is an opportunity to introduce the Learning

Partner. Each student can fill in the template in their own workbook. The teacher can then go through the results with the class group when all the students have filled in the exercise.

This exercise can be completed in pairs or small groups, with

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class discussion on the answers. Ask the students to cover their timetables and not look at them for the answers. Students can write their answers in their workbooks.

a. School begins at what time?

b. How many periods do you have each day? c. How long is each period?

d. How many times a week do you have English?

e. How many periods are there between the break time and lunchtime? f. Lunchtime begins at what time and finishes at what time?

g. How many periods of SPHE do you have each week? h. What classroom do you have Geography in? i. How many periods a week do you have for Geography? j

School finishes at what time?

k. What class do you have after lunch on a Wednesday? l. What subject do you have during the last period of the week?

T ENGLISH CLASS STATS AT....

Learning Point 3

My own timetable

How familiar are you already with your own timetable?

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Learning Point 3

Cover your timetable and do not look at it for the answers. Try and answer as many of the following questions as possible. How many did you get right? a. School begins at what time?

My own t

How familiar are you already with your own

b. How many periods do you have each day?

c. How long is each period?

d. How many times a week do you have English?

e. How many periods are there between the break time and lunchtime?

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GEOGRASPHY CLAS

T ENGLISH CLASS STATS AT....

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SPHE

K A E BRIME

BRIEME

Cover your timetable and do no Try and answer as many of the f possible. How many did you get

f. Lunchtime begins at what time and finishes at what time?

g. How many periods of SPHE do you have each week?

SPHE GEOGRAPHY CLASS

h. What classroom do you have Geography in?

How many periods a week do you have for Geography?

School finishes at what time?

a. School begins at what time?

k. What class do you have after lunch on a Wednesday?

What subject do you have last period of the week?

b. How many periods do you have 29

c. How long is each period?

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Let’s take a look at how you use your time outsides of school. You are responsible for how you use your time in the evenings and at weekends. Try filling in this weekly timetable to record how you make use of this time. Don’t forget to include everything you do, the things you have to do, they things you like to do and make sure you make time for your homework and study. It's just as important being organised outside of school.

fri

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Time wed Time thu Time

The aim of this exercise is to encourage students to reflect on and take responsibility for effectively using their free time in the evenings and

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should be completed individually as

fri tue

Time wed Time thu Time

normal week timetable

Time mon Time

PAUSE AND REFLECT

1. What have you learned in this lesson?

Time mon Time

time is unique.

tue

each student's own personal free

This exercise

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normal week timetable

weekends.

2. How did you learn this?

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

PAUSE AND REFLECT

1. What have you learned in this lesson?

2. How did you learn this?

PAUSE AND REFLECT 3. How can use what you learned in your on schoolwork/study? Finish by you asking students to reflect individually their learning.

Chapter 1

Settling In Lesson 3

BEING ORGANISED

To help students organise themselves both in school and at home to do their homework and study

Aim Aim

Learning Point 1

With so many new things going on, needing to be in various locations at different times with

different equipment, the students need to be organised; knowing what books to bring home,

what books to leave in your locker etc. can all become a major distraction and cause of anxiety for many students. The student journal will greatly help the student organise themselves, but before the student can begin to complete their journal effectively, they should explore the various elements of the day and what organisation is needed at each point.

Being on time questionnaire

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One skill that students can learn here and will be of great value to them throughout life is time management. This is a quick checklist for students to reflect on how good they are at timekeeping.

Each student completes the questionnaire themselves, followed by

a short class discussion on what results students got. One way that the conversation may be started is by using Placemats, where students working in groups of 3 or 4 write out their suggestions before sharing with the rest of the group.

c. Can you remember a time that you had to wait for someone or something that was late? Yes No If yes, how did you feel and what happened?

d. Do you find it hard to get up in the morning?

Yes

k. How many of these excuses have you used and how often?

e. How do you feel when you wake up in the morning?

l. f. Out of 10, how would you rate yourself for being on time for school? 1

What would help you to improve your time keeping for school or class?

g. What happens when other students are late for school?

m. Having answered these questions, do you think you are a good time keeper or time manager? Yes No Give reasons for your answer. h. Out of 10, how would you rate yourself for being on time for class? 1

What do you do if you are late for a class?

What excuses are given when people are late for class? Write down as many as you can think of.

n. If you are not good at managing time, write down three things you think you can do in the future to improve. 1. 2. 3.

Learning Point 2

Equipment

If a student is coming home without the correct textbook they won’t be able to do their homework/study. If they have the wrong equipment with them in class then they cannot participate fully. If they don’t have a proper space for homework/study at home then they will become increasingly distracted from their work. Being organised is a key skill that leads to effective study behaviour, and the sooner the student takes responsibility for organising themselves the better the outcomes for their time spent learning both in school and at home.

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My school locker, My school bag, My desk at home This exercise helps students to think about what various pieces of equipment skill of becoming more organised.

Students working

they need each day and where they should store them, and to develop the

with their Learning Partner or in smaller groups of 3 or 4 may work collaboratively on completing

the template for each location. The

teacher may then ask various groups

what they placed in each location. A key question for students at the

end is to determine if some confusion was caused by the same materials/

equipment maybe being able to go in

different places, e.g. certain textbooks could be in the locker during the day

but need to be in the schoolbag to be brought home at night.

As a Think, Pair and Share exercise ask students to consider what they could do to help solve this.

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Checklists Sometimes it helps students to be more organised if they have a checklist to remind them of what to bring with them, to help them remember, just like we create shopping lists when we go shopping. Once they start doing this every day it will become habit and they will not need the checklist. Working with their Learning Partner or in small groups of 3 or 4, ask students to complete the templates given to design their own checklist, which they can then cut out and stick somewhere they can see it,

MORNING CHECKLIST

EVENING CHECKLIST

Full uniform, tie, school jacket, shoes? Do I have my locker key and swipe card? Have I done all my homework for tomorrow’s class? Do I need my PE gear, ingredients, Art pack?

Full uniform, tie, school jacket, shoes? Do I have my locker key and swipe card? Do I have all my books/zip files for class? Do I need my PE gear, ingredients, Art pack? Is my schoolbag packed and ready, lunch?

e.g., inside their locker or on their desk at home.

Learning Point 3

The student journal tends to be the main means of communication between school and home but also serves several other important functions such as record of homework given, important information about the school such as policies and codes of behaviour, support information for the student, class timetable and daily diary. Each school tends to customise their own school journal to reflect their particular ethos and include valuable information for their students. Sometimes students simply flick through these sections, not spending any real time reflecting on what is contained in their journal and simply focus on the daily homework diary section. It is good to give time to the students to explore their journal, understand what it contains and be able to make effective use of all the resources within.

Learning Point 4

Good Homework Journal Usage

Sometimes students have a tendency to simply write the minimum without giving any real thought to what they are writing down, so that when they go home and take out their journal they can be confused about exactly what is needed to be done. This section of the journal is also a good place to not only record what homework the student has to do that night but also record what they have covered that day in class. Even if they have no homework in a particular subject they still have a record to show their parents and to remind themselves of what was covered on a particular day in class.

Good journal entries The aim of this exercise is to help students identify the difference between examples

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of good journal usage and examples of a journal not being used as effectively.

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Now over to you: a. Using what you have just learned, create a good journal entry based on your last entry.

Now over to you: a. Using what you have just learned, creat

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to create a good journal entry for the

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Ask the students

Subject

Homework/learning outcomes

previous day and ask them to contrast this with what they had originally in their journal.

Subject

Teacher’s comment:

Homew

Parent’s signature:

This exercise may be completed

individually and the students can then

Explain the difference:

share with their Learning Partner what they filled in, or alternatively completed

in pairs followed by a short presentation

from various pairs to the rest of the class.

Geography

b. Does your journal entry look different from what you have been filling in up until now? Yes No

PauSE aNd rEFLECT

English

1. What have you learned in this lesson?

2. How did you learn this?

Maths Irish

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

MENTaL NoTE

“

French

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. – Nelson Mandela

”

Teacher’s comment:

Parent’s signature:

b. Does your journal entry look different from Yes No Explain the difference:

PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

PauSE aNd rEFLECT

1. What have you learned in this le 34

Section 2

Motivation and Learning

Introduction This section is ideally aimed at second year students as they engage more fully

2. Goals and motivation for learning

in studying throughout the Junior Cycle.

These lessons will look at how

During the first section students learned

students can use their learning

about how they learn and the skills for

strengths to set and achieve their

learning, along with exploring various

own goals for learning by using the

strategies which they can use to help them

SUPER system. They will also explore

in their learning. This new section will build

their motivations for achieving their

on what students have already covered

learning goals.

3. Memory and study

by looking more closely at the student

as a learner, how they should set goals

for their Junior Cycle and, finally, provide

students with a simple study system that

learn all about how memory works and here they are provided with

will support them throughout the Junior

The final section is where students

Cycle and beyond.

some simple strategies to aid their memory. As study is key to helping students recall and apply what they

learning to studying, where the skills and

need for assessments, they will also

motivation for study are explored.

look at what is involved in study

A lot of the time students do not engage

and be introduced to an effective

effectively with study for various reasons,

study system where they will learn

such as:

all about planning, doing, and

This section looks at moving from

 Lack of motivation

 Unsure of how to study

 Not having a study system. Section 2 is broken into three components:

1. Your learning strengths Here students will build on the skills and behaviours for learning by developing their own intelligence profile, which will identify their strengths as a learner.

reviewing what they have studied. As part of this section students will learn about and practise POKER, an effective and proven study system.

Section 2

Motivation and Learning

Chapter 7

Your Learning Strengths LESSON 16: Intelligence Profiles 1 ....................................................................................... 84 LESSON 17: Intelligence Profiles 2 ......................................................................................... 86

Chapter 8

Setting my Goals

LESSON 18: Working to my Strengths ...................................................................................... 90

LESSON 19: Creating Goals to Succeed .................................................................................... 92 LESSON 20: The Super System ................................................................................................ 95

Chapter 9

Motivation

LESSON 21: Exploring Motivation .......................................................................................... 102

LESSON 22: Believing in Yourself ............................................................................................ 106

Chapter 10

Memory

LESSON 23: Memory and the Forgetting Curve .............................................................. 111 LESSON 24: Memory Techniques ............................................................................................ 114

Chapter 11

Plan it!

LESSON 25: Barriers to Study .................................................................................................. 117

LESSON 26: Planning your Study ............................................................................................. 119

Chapter 12

Do it!

LESSON 27: Introducing POKER ............................................................................................. 123 LESSON 28: POKER 2 .................................................................................................................. 126 LESSON 29: Mind Mapping ........................................................................................................ 128

LESSON 30: POKER 3 ................................................................................................................. 131

Chapter 13

POKER Practice

LESSON 31: Studying English ....................................................................................................... 133

LESSON 32: Studying Languages ................................................................................................ 134

LESSON 33: POKER Practice ...................................................................................................... 136

Chapter 14

Review It!

LESSON 34: Planning and Executing Revision .......................................................................137 LESSON 35: Your Approach to Revision ................................................................................. 140

Chapter 9

Motivation Lesson 21

EXPLORING MOTIVATION To help students explore the concepts of motivation and resilience

Learning Point 1

Aim Aim

In the last two lessons students looked at setting goals for themselves and how using

the SUPER system can help them achieve these goals.

(Goals + Focus) x Action = Success

It was also previously mentioned that students will undoubtedly meet obstacles along the way which can throw them off course for a bit. It is at these times that they need to stay motivated and develop a skill that is called resilience.

Resilience is the ability to bounce back in the face of adversity and setbacks. Students will look at developing resilience further in section 3.

Learning Point 2

Motivation can simply be defined as the ‘why’ behind students doing or achieving something. In terms of their goals, they would already have explored some of the reasons behind choosing those goals. These are their motivations. Motivations can be divided into two main types: a.

Extrinsic motivations are those that exist outside of yourself such as rewards, trophies, praise from others, money.

Intrinsic motivations are those that arise inside yourself such as personal gratification, feeling better about yourself, boosting your own confidence.

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Your motivations This exercise draws the students’ attention to what is motivating them in each of their learning goals. Students can

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Your motivations Go back to your goals and look at what you wrote down for ‘Understanding’ each goal. Now, for each why or reason you wrote, can you decide whether the motivation is extrinsic or intrinsic? You may even have both for the one goal. For each, write the motivation/s and after each one state whether it is extrinsic or intrinsic.

individually write down their motivation for each goal and identify which type of

Goal 1 - Motivation:

motivation it is. Teachers can then use Goal 2 - Motivation:

Pair and Share for this short exercise,

Goal 3 - Motivation:

followed by a brief class discussion on

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Your motivations Go back to your goals and look at what you wrote dow ‘Understanding’ each goal. Now, for each why or reaso can you decide whether the motivation is extrinsic or i Your motivations You may have bothfor for the one goal. For each, w Go back to your goals and look at what youeven wrote down motivation/s and after each one state whether it is ext ‘Understanding’ each goal. now for each why or reason you wrote intrinsic.

the various answers students wrote

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How motivated are you? Use the star rating to rate how motivated you are in the following areas:

Not Motivated At All Fairly Motivated Motivated

Extremely Motivated

Rate your motivation

Do well in my school Get a job

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Event

Go to college

Be a healthy person Do well at a hobby Be a good person

Complete all homework

can you decide whether the motivation is extrinsic or intrinsic. You may even have both for the one goal. write the motivation/s GoalFor 1 - each Motivation: and after each one state whether it is extrinsic or intrinsic. Remember all materials for school

Be a good friend

Be on time

Try to listen

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How motivated are Goal 1 - Motivation: a.you?

Goal 2 - Motivation: This is another short exercise for students to reflect on their own levels

of motivation.

Each student completes the exercise individually and can Goal 2 - Motivation: Goal 3 - Motivation: then share their responses with their Learning Partner or class.

Rate your motivation

Goalin3my - Motivation: Do well school

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Event

Get a job

Go to college

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How motivated are you? Use the star rating to rate how motivated you are in the following areas:

Be a healthy personAre You? How Motivated Use the star rating to rate Do well at a hobby how motivated you are in the following areas: Be a good person

Fairly Motivated Event

Go to college

Rate your mot

Rate your motivation Be a healthy person

Do well in my school Be on time

Do well at a hobby

Get a job

Be a good person

Go to college

Complete all homework

Be a healthy person

Extrem

Do well in my school

Remember all materials for school

Try to listen

Motiva

Motivated

Extremely Motivated Get a job

event

Fairly M

Not Motivated at all

Complete all homework

Be a good friend

Not Mo

Remember all materials for school Be a good friend

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Learning Point 3 From the previous exercise students might realise that there are some areas in which they might not necessarily be as motivated as they could be. Here are 5 simple tips that might help students increase their motivation.

What's in it for me? Students ask themselves how they can benefit from putting in the extra effort. If they cannot understand what it has to do with them then it will become a struggle for them. So simply encourage them to reflect on

Introduce a challenge

what’s in it for them.

If students find something too easy then they can get bored very easily and give up. Giving them small challenges can be a great motivator

as they can feel a sense of accomplishment when they overcome the

challenge. Be careful not to overdo it though, if something becomes too

difficult it can equally become a de-motivator.

Take control

Students can feel more motivated when they feel like they have more

control over what is going to happen. The key is to focus on what they can do in a situation, not what others can do.

Focus on the journey

And not on the outcome. Remember their action steps? Well focus on these, acknowledge achieving each one. This makes the goal feel more achievable and closer to attain, not something way out in the distance. You are giving students a sense of accomplishment along the way.

Make it fun No matter what age students are they can always have fun. If you can introduce an element of fun or enjoyment into what they are doing, this will greatly add to their motivation.

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Increasing your motivation Here students are encouraged to take responsibility for their own self-motivation. This exercise can be completed using Think, Pair

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Increasing your motivation Go back to the previous exercise, entitled ‘How motivated are you?’ Pick out your two lowest scores for motivation and using the five tips above, think of ways you could increase your motivation.

and Share.

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PAUSE AND REFLECT

Increasing your motivation Go back to the previous exercise, entitled ‘How mot

Pick out your two lowest scores for motivation and above, think of ways you could increase your motiva

1. What have you learned in this lesson?

2. How did you learn this?

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

MENTAL NOTE

“ When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal. You do not change your decision to get there.” – Zig Ziglar

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PAUSE AND REFLECT 1. What have you learned in this lesson?

2. How did you learn this?

3. How can you use what you learned in your scho

PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning. MENTAL NOTE

MENTAL NOTE

“ When obstacles arise, you change your direction goal. You do not change your decision to get there

“When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal. You do not change your decision to get there. – Zig Ziglar ” 132

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Chapter 9

Motivation Lesson 22

BELIEVING IN YOURSELF

To help students to begin to develop a sense of self-belief

Aim Aim

Learning Point 1

To be successful in life, students must believe in themselves. Self-belief is linked directly

to confidence. Confidence is all about believing in themselves. They have been

introduced to the practical tools needed for success, including behaviours for success,

developing good routines to improve motivation and working on resilience as a key tool.

Without self-belief, however, students may never realise their goals or begin to put the behaviours required into place. Self-belief is something that you should try to instil in

all students, even the most difficult. As educators, we have to believe that all students

have the potential to do well in life. It may take some longer than others, but lessons

like these can impact students for a lifetime as they work through these formative years.

What does confidence look and sound like? This exercise brings students’ awareness to how confident students appear

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Plan A

to others.

Plan B

Plan A

Using Jigsaw, give each initial group a different scenario

to work with, then when they merge into the new groups students can

Plan Plan A B

Plan B

collectively discuss each scenario. This can be followed up with a short class discussion about what was noticed byPlan the students during the lesson. B

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Learning Point 2 Self-belief relies on others as much as ourselves. In the last lesson students looked at who was available to them in their Resilience Parachute. These same people impact self-belief. It is therefore important to work on filling the parachute with worthy people. Another way of doing this is to form a ‘Believer Network’. This network of people may cross over with the Parachute, but its function is different and the numbers are limited. The network’s job is to provide wisdom, advice and affirmation. The Believers can come from anywhere the student chooses and they should be people the student respects and admires, people whose advice they can trust. People on the ‘Believer Network’ can be famous or not, living or past. The point of this exercise is to work on creating a sense of self-belief through others in their network, a ‘Believer Network’. By having people who believe in them and

provide good counsel to them, students begin to become believers in themselves.

Learning Point 2

Did you know that self-belief relies on others too? You can take in the messages others give you and turn those messages Positive network into beliefs, particularly negative ones! To help you work on This exercise will help students to begin to think about who they would like self-belief, you need to surround yourself with people who in their own 'Believer Network', who they would choose towill sitbuild down with andpositive messages. These will boost your you up with confidence and self-belief. seek advice from.

Some people create an imaginary ‘Positive Network’ for themselves The network’s job is to provide wisdom, advice and affirmation to y

As this is a personal and reflective exercise, students

can take time to complete their own

Learning Point 2

'Believer Network', which they can then

share with their Learning Partner or

Some people create an imaginary ‘Positive Network’ for themselves. The network’s job is to provide wisdom, advice and affirmation to you.

The people in this network should be people you respect, admire and trust. They should also know you and support you with positive affirmation. The point of this exercise is to create your own ‘Positive Network’. By having people who believe in you, you become a believer in yourself.

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as part of a class discussion.

The people in this network should be people you respect, admire They should also know you and support you with positive affirmati point of this exercise is to create your own ‘Positive Network’. By h people who believe in you, you become a believer in yourself.

Did you know that self-belief relies on others too? You can take in the messages others give you and turn those messages into beliefs, particularly negative ones! To help you work on self-belief, you need to surround yourself with people who will build you up with positive messages. These will boost your confidence and self-belief.

Positive network Name five people that you would have in your network and give a reason why you are choosing each person.

Name:

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Positive network Name five people that you would have in your network and reason why you are choosing each person.

Reason:

Name: Reason:

Name:

Name: Reason:

Reason:

Name: Reason:

Name:

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Reason:

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The Beliefs Name:

As this is a personal exercise students can 3simply write in the bubbles the affirming comments that people on the BelieverReason: Network would share with them. 4

Name: Reason:

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Learning Point 3 There is something self-fulfilling in the way we speak to ourselves internally, teachers, students, all of us. Beliefs can become so engrained that they define everything we do and everything we don’t! Students have the capacity to adapt, change and expand their belief systems throughout their lives. Beliefs are based on interpretations of the

past, therefore their validity or whether they are helping or be questioned. Students need to acquire an understanding of how to challenge beliefs. Students can begin by reflecting on the beliefs they may have about themselves.

Thoughts define feelings

hindering progress in life may rarely

you think you can’t, you

Results reinforce thinking

are right.” Henry Ford.

“If you think you can or

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What do I believe about myself? This exercise will challenge students to begin to think positively about themselves and challenge some of the negative thinking that might be going on. As this is a personal reflective exercise, students should

complete individually.

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Emotions determine actions

3 Actions govern results

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Negatives into positives This exercise will again challenge the students to change their perspectives of themselves. Here they will consciously change negative self-beliefs into more empowering positive comments about themselves. As this is a personal reflective exercise, students should complete it individually.

When I get to Know people I am a good friend.

Learning Point 4

I’m shy.

The subconscious mind is like an app running in the background, all the time. We are

thinking, planning, making decisions all the time with the conscious mind. This is the part we are aware of. However, we are not often aware that our feelings and other parts of

our subconscious impacts everything we do consciously. For example: We plan a trip to the zoo. This is a conscious decision, we pack the picnic, buy tickets, work out bus times etc. Subconsciously we are excited, we desire to go to the zoo, we have fond memories of the zoo as a child. Everything in the subconscious drives the conscious, whether we realise it

or not! Our beliefs therefore are linked strongly to our subconscious. We may not even KNOW consciously that we feel a certain way about something, we just DO.

10%

Your conscious mind is responsible for:

90%

Your Subconscious mind is responsible for:

Analysis

Thinking and planning

Short-term memory.

Long-term memory

Emotions and feelings

Habit patterns, relationship patterns, addictions

Involuntary bodily functions

Creativity

Developmental stages.

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Jen’s beliefs This exercise will allow students to begin to identify that different people may have different outlooks or beliefs due to their own backgrounds. Divide the class up into groups of 3 or 4 and ask them to read through the case study. Then using the various roles of teamwork ask them to try and answer all of the questions. At the end, each group will be asked to feed back their answers to the whole class. Jen’s beliefs Case Study:

Jen is 14 years old. She adores playing soccer and has played since she was 5 years old. Jen lives with her grandparents. They are not very interested in her soccer playing as they believe succeeding in school is much more important for her to succeed in life.

Her grandparents never completed secondary school, they believe it is the most important thing she can do. Jen believes the only way she will ever be happy is by playing soccer and earning lots of money from doing so!

Your beliefs

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This exercise will now move the

Your beliefs Now, let’s explore some of your beliefs and how well they are serving you. Write in one belief under each heading, and answer the key questions on each belief.

Beliefs About School

students on to exploring their own

beliefs, where they come from and student well.

reflective exercise, students should

Should I change this belief? Why?

Yes

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Partner for discussion and feedback.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

PAUSE AND REFLECT 1. What have you learned in this lesson?

complete individually. They may then wish to share with their Learning

Why?

Beliefs About Me

Is this a helpful belief?

As this is a personal

Yes

Should I change this belief? Why?

whether or not they are serving the

Is this a helpful belief?

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She is a good student, but she doesn’t believe she should try any harder than she already does. She is happy to just pass her assessments once she is staying out of trouble and playing soccer.

2. How did you learn this?

Your beliefs Now, let’s explore some of your beliefs and how well the you. Write in one belief under each heading, and answe questions on each belief. Beliefs About School

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

MENTAL NOTE

Is this a helpful belief?

“Never stop dreaming, never stop believing, never give up, never stop trying, and never stop learning.” – Roy T. Bennett

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Yes

Why?

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Should I change this belief? Why?

Beliefs About Me

Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

MENTAL NOTE

Is this a helpful belief?

“Never stop dreaming, never stop believing, never give up, Should I change never stop trying, and never stop learning.” – Roy T. Bennett this belief? Why?

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Yes

Section 3

Resilience and Learning

Introduction Assessment Preparation

2. Chapter 17

In this last section of the programme

Along with looking at the variety of

students will explore some of the

key skills students will develop in

strategies that will enable them to achieve

Junior Cycle, they will also explore

and succeed. Hopefully at this stage in

how assessments can be of benefit

the programme they will have realised

to learning by providing feedback

that the road to success is based upon

not only on what has been learned

being prepared and having a structured

but also on how learning may be

approach to whatever it is they are doing.

improved going forward.

students for assessments. They will

3. Finally, Chapter 18

This section focuses on preparing

explore the purpose and different types

properly for any examination, by taking another look at their revision

of assessments. Some people find that

looks at how students can prepare

simply being assessed and having to do assessments can be quite stressful and even upsetting. In this section students will explore simple strategies that will

help them to cope with this pressure and, finally, look at some other simple tips

which they can use to help them prepare for any assessment or exam.

This section may be broken down into three key areas:

1. Chapters 15 and 16

look at how students can develop

resilience as a learner, become more confident, along with exploring some strategies to help them cope with the stress of learning and assessments.

practices and sharing with them tips that may help them in the days before, the day of and in the examination itself

To conclude the section and the course, there is an end-of-section reflection for the students to reflect on the key skills that they developed throughout the course and to look at how these can be introduced into their learning going forward.

Section 3

Resilience and Learning

Chapter 15

Resilience LESSON 36: Emotional Memory and Failure ........................................................................ 146

LESSON 37: Emotions and Resilience .................................................................................... 149

Chapter 16

LESSON 38: Growth Mindset .................................................................................................. 154

Coping with Stress

LESSON 39: What is Stress? .................................................................................................... 157 LESSON 40: Coping with Stress ............................................................................................ 161

LESSON 41: A Balanced, Healthy You ..................................................................................... 166

Chapter 17

Key Skills and Feedback LESSON 42: Key Skills for Junior Cycle ...................................................................................... 169

LESSON 43: Assessment - What is it All About? ....................................................................... 172 LESSON 44: Self-Assessment and Peer Assessment ......................................................... 175

Chapter 18

Preparation for Assessment LESSON 45: Revision Revisited ................................................................................................. 177

LESSON 46: Past Exam Papers .................................................................................................. 180 LESSON 47: Flash Cards .............................................................................................................. 182

LESSON 48: Final Preparation and the Exam .......................................................................... 185

Key Skills Reflection and Evaluation

188

Chapter 15

Resilience Lesson 36

EMOTIONAL MEMORY AND FAILURE

To explore with students how emotions can affect performance

Aim Aim

Learning Point 1

In this lesson, students explore some of the emotions that students might have

around doing assessments. In lesson 22 on changing beliefs, students learned how their thoughts and emotions can affect their actions and therefore their outcomes. As previously learned, our emotions can be very powerful and so they can impact

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Emotions

performance, especially when it comes to assessment time.

The aim of this exercise is to bring the students’ attention to some of the possible feelings/emotions that they might be experiencing at different times. It is easier

for students to cope with their emotions if they are able to identify them. This simple exercise may be completed using Think, Pair

and Share.

Motivated, annoyed, angry, worried, stressed, nervous, excited, bored, peaceful, surprised, tired, confident, hyper, lazy, frustrated, confused, scared, happy

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How are you feeling? This exercise is an extension of the previous one, where students are encouraged to identify the feelings they might have around assessments. Working in the Learning Squares, ask the groups to complete the exercise. Ask each group to consider why they chose a particular picture for each feeling; encourage them to think about how we recognise how people are feeling by their expressions. Encourage groups in their feedback to

Peaceful

Unhappy

Scared

Worried

describe the expression you would expect to see for each feeling.

Confused

Happy

Confident

Excited

Learning Point 2 Two of the most common emotions students have around failure are being scared and worried. One of the reasons students might be scared or worried is because they are afraid of failure. Nobody likes to fail at anything, it’s not a nice feeling, but this is because most people don’t look at failure properly. People tend to see failure as an end point, that once they fail at something that’s it, nothing more can be done. But remember this is not a reality, instead:

Failure is not an end point but rather an event on the road to success – it is only a temporary state. 147

In life, everybody fails at things in many ways. Failure must be seen as an opportunity for growth. Just think of some of these famous failures: 

JK Rowling’s manuscript for Harry 

Thomas Edison’s teacher told him

Potter was turned down by 30

he was too stupid to learn anything

different publishers.

at school.



Bill Gates was a Harvard dropout.



Walt Disney was fired from

Dr Seuss was rejected by 27 publishers.

a newspaper for having no 

 

Michael Jordan was cut from

imagination and no original ideas.

his high school team and went

Steve Jobs, at age 30, was sacked

home to his room to cry.

from the company he founded. Failure is not ideal; it is not what the students might have strived for but it

happens and they need to learn how to deal with it. The most important part of

a conversation around failure is what they DID about it. What did they learn from

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Successful failures

the situation and how could they avoid it happening again?

This exercise is a reflection on what was covered in Learning Point 2. It is

vitally important for students to begin to think differently about what failure means and to adopt a different perspective from the norm on failure.

Discussion is important here to elicit how

the students might perceive failure. Teachers could use the

Agreements method here to begin the class discussion, or if the teacher wished to have some movement they could use the Agree/Disagree method, where they might use the

following statements or something similar: 

You should give up once you fail.



Nobody of any significance ever failed.



Failure is only a stepping stone to achieving something better. Etc.

Learning Point 3

One of the key skills that is really important to learn in today’s world is the ability to keep going, to try again, to bounce back after failure. This is what is called resilience and students will learn all about it in the coming lessons.

PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

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Chapter 15

Resilience Lesson 37

EMOTIONS AND RESILIENCE To explore the concept of resilience

Aim Aim

Learning Point 1

In the last lesson students learned that failure is an important step on the road to

success. Unfortunately a lot of people give up on the first hurdle or obstacle they

meet. This may be because they haven’t developed resilience. If students wish to be successful in their learning journey then they too need to learn to develop resilience. It is also something that will be really important for them throughout life.

Learning Point 2

Resilience is simply their ability to bounce back and continue after they have met an obstacle or setback, like a failure in a test or low score on an essay. It is having the ability of not giving up but continuing on their journey to reach their goals that counts.

BOUNCE is a simple acronym that might help students remember the key elements of what resilience is about.

B O U N C E

Bad things and times happen but things do get better. Others are there to help you but you need to let them know. Unhelpful thoughts don’t make things better. Nobody is perfect.

Concentrate on the good things in your life, it’s not all bad. Everybody has setbacks or struggles. You are not on your own here.

During this lesson students will explore five simple things that they can include in their life to help them build their resilience. These are:

Express yourself

Nourish yourself

Sunny side up

Identifyrengths your st

Relax 149

Learning Point 3 Express yourself: Don’t bottle things up, express your emotions. Remind students about when they previously explored how powerful their emotions are. Along with having people who they can talk things through with, students could also express their emotions by keeping a diary, by painting, or even music.

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Everybody needs somebody This exercise looks at the support structures that each student has around themselves that they can turn to when in need. Sometimes students might not be as aware as they could be of the various people who are available to them simply

Students initially work individually to complete their own template and if they wish they can then turn to their Learning Partner to

share with them what they wrote down.

to talk things through with or for more formal support if needed.

Teachers may wish to have a short class discussion on this exercise using the

Talking Stick/Ball activity and asking some simple questions like: 

Was anybody surprised by the

number of people around them to support them? 

Did anybody include somebody

that they might not necessarily have thought about before?

Learning Point 4

Nourish yourself: The Romans used to have a saying about a healthy mind in a healthy body. To be effective in their learning and to feel positive means living a healthy, balanced life, getting the required amount of sleep, eating properly and exercising. There is a lesson further on which will look at all of these.

Learning Point 5 Sunny side up: In lesson 22 students looked at beliefs and self-beliefs. When people meet obstacles on their journey, negative thinking can creep in. It is important for students, especially around times that they might be stressed, to check their thinking. Are they thinking negative or positive thoughts? Positive thinking will give them the motivation to keep

going so they need to be aware of some simple strategies that can refocus their thinking and perspective to being more balanced and positive, like having an attitude of gratitude.

150

means living a healthy, balanced life, getting the r eating properly and exercising. There is a further l

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Learning Point 5

Attitude of gratitude

Sunny side up: In lesson 22, you looked at beliefs a One key easy way of changing negative thinking into positive thinking is by people meet obstacles on their journey, negative thi developing what is called an attitude of gratitude. This exercise simply means It is important to check your thinking to see whether y reminding yourself of the good things in your life. What’s going well for you? positive thoughts. Positive thinking will give you the m What should you be grateful for?

Give the students five that they should be grateful for. Time them

Learning Point 5 Sunny side up: In lesson 22, you looked at beliefs and self-beliefs. When people meet obstacles on their journey, negative thinking can creep in. It is important to check your thinking to see whether you are thinking negative or positive thoughts. Positive thinking will give you the motivation to keep going. ISE RC

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answers with their Learning Partner

Nourish yourself: The Romans used to have a saying about a healthy mind in a healthy body. To be effective in your learning and to feel positive means living a healthy, balanced life, getting the required amount of sleep, eating properly and exercising. There is a further lesson to look at these.

closely and make them stop when five minutes are up. Students can share their

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minutes to think of 20 things in their lives

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Learning Point 4

Attitude of gratitude One easy way of changing your negative thinking into positive thinking is by developing what is called an attitude of gratitude. This simply means reminding yourself of the good things in your life. What’s going well for you? What are you grateful for?

Talking Stick/Ball method the teacher

Check in with yourself to see how positive you are about your life. In the box that follows, write in 20 things that you are grateful for here and now.

can encourage students to share what they wrote. Gauge from the students how

Check in with yourself to see how positive y the box that follows, write in 20 things that and now.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

10.

20.

a. Did 2. you find it easy to write in 20 things? Yes No 3.

many were able to think of 20 things, how difficult or easy the task was, why it might be difficult to think of 20 things.

Explain:

Draw the students’ attention to the fact

that people have a tendency to focus on

213

the negative and it’s important to keep

things in perspective.

Healthy

mind One IN Aeasy way of changing your negative th healthy thinking is by developing what is called an a body This simply means reminding yourself of th What’s going well for you? What are you gr

to see what the other wrote. Using the

Attitude of gratitude

Learning Point 6

8. Learning Point 6

Identify your strengths: The students learned previously on the course that 9. strengths: Everybody has their own p Identify your everybody has their own particular set of strengths. By working to their learning strengths. By working to your strengths, you will expe strengths students will experience success. By experiencing success, when things go 10. build your confidence by experiencing success and w wrong students will have the confidence to pick themselves up and try again. you will have the confidence to pick up and try again. Your strengths

This quick exercise is aimed at reminding

a. Did you find it easy to write in 20 things? Yes No

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the students of their strengths, which

Explain:

they identified earlier in the course. Students quickly fill in their identified learning strengths and if they wish can share some of these either

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Your strengths

Can you remember your learning strengths, which Section 2? Fill in your top three below.

Learning Point 6

Identify your strengths: Everybody has their own particular set of strengths. By working to your strengths, you will experience success. You build your confidence by experiencing success and when things go wrong you will have the confidence to pick up and try again.

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with their Learning Partner or class.

Your strengths

Can you remember your learning strengths, which you identified in Section 2? Fill in your top three below. 1. 2. 3.

Learning Point 7 Relax: It is important to take time out, to relax and unwind. Focusing all the time on your learning and studying is not good for you. It is important that you take regular breaks from your study and you have a variety of ways of switching off or winding down, which is what relaxing is about. One powerful relaxation tool is mindfulness. This is a technique of bringing your attention to the present by focusing on what is around you and not letting it wander off worrying about other things. It might be something that you could investigate further and learn more about. In today’s hectic world, more and more people are turning to mindfulness exercises.

Learning Point 7

214

Relax: It is important to take time out, to relax and un Focusing all the time on your learning and studying is not good for you. It is important that you take regular 151 your study and you have a variety of ways of switching

Learning Point 7 Relax: It is important to take time out, to relax and unwind. Focusing all the time on learning and studying is not good for students and can lead to burnout. It is important that they learn to take regular breaks from their study and that they have a variety of ways of switching off or winding down, which is what relaxing is about. One powerful relaxation tool is mindfulness. This is a simple technique of bringing their attention to the present by focusing on what is around them and not letting it wander off worrying about other things. It might be something that they could investigate further and learn more about. In today’s hectic world more and more people are

Relaxation

This exercise identifies the variety of ways in which students can relax. Use Think, Pair

Relaxation

Everyone has their own way of winding down and relaxing. What are your favourite ways of relaxing? Write down three ways you relax and explain why you enjoy doing these things.

and Share to look at the variety of ways

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in which students relax; these can then

be shared with the class.

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Quick recap

As a quick recap on the lesson, fill in the five things you can do to build your resilience and give one example of what you could do for each one. 1. 2. 3.

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turning to mindfulness exercises.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

4. 5.

Relaxation

Everyone has their own way of winding down and re your favourite ways of relaxing? Write down three w explain why you enjoy doing these things.

1. What have you learned in this lesson?

2. How did you learn this?

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

2. MENTAL NOTE

“The distinguishing feature of geniuses is their passion and dedication to

3.”

their craft, and particularly the way in which they identify, confront, and

take pains to remedy their weaknesses. – Good, Rattan, & Dweck (2008) 215

Class relaxation exercise

EXE

ISE Purpose: Introduce students to mindfulness as an effective,RCwidely practised Quick recap 5 activity that can reduce stress. As a quick recap on the lesson, fill in the five things you your resilience and give one example of what you coul Approach: Introduce students to the activity by talking about the widespread

practice of mindfulness throughout the world. Check in with students1.by show of

hands how many have done mindfulness activities or meditation before. Explain to students that through this activity they will calm their body, mind 2. and spirit. 1.

4. 5.

Begin by sitting comfortably, balanced and relaxed (if seated3.in a chair, feet on the ground). Breathe easy and from the abdomen/”belly breathing” (not chest breathing).

Practise a few deep breaths with the group.

Rotate the head in easy, slow circles; change direction and rotate in easy, slow circles.

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PAUSE AND REFLECT 1. What have you learned in this lesson?

Look up; tilt your head way back. Look down; put your chin on your chest.

Drop your arms and hands to the side and shake them gently and easily. 2. How did you learn this?

Raise your feet off the floor and gently and easily shake the knees.

Straighten your spine while being present in the moment. Practise (repeat two times).

This is done SILENTLY.

When teacher says, “Close your eyes”, close your eyes. (Once your eyes are closed, simply relax the mind and do not make an effort to think about anything; slowly the mind will clear and relax.) When teacher says, “Open your eyes”, open your eyes.

10.

Now, sit straight up, relaxed and balanced.

11.

“Close your eyes.” (two minutes elapse)

12.

“Open your eyes.”

13.

Check in with students: how was that? (Students may give thumbs up or

Healthy mind

IN A

healthy body

thumbs down.) Now everyone practise it again. 14.

Repeat exercise: “Close your eyes”… two minutes elapse … “Open your eyes” (Optional: take heart rate and compare to heart rate before meditation).

15.

Check in with students.

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R Relaxation Extension: Encourage students to practise meditation on their own to develop 4 the has their own way of winding do habit of using meditation for stress reduction and overall health. Have students Everyone teach your favourite ways of relaxing? Write dow this method to a friend or family member. explain why you enjoy doing these things.

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that was covered in the class, teachers

their Learning Partners.

Everyone has their own way of winding down and relaxing. What are your favourite ways of relaxing? Write down three ways you relax and explain why you enjoy doing these things. 1.

can introduce the Teach – okay!

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EXE

exercise, with students working with

Relaxation

Quick recap As a quick recap on the lesson, fill in the five things you can do to build your resilience and give one example of what you could do for each one. 1.

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EXE

As a quick recap of all

EXE

Quick recap

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Quick recap

1. What have you learned in this lesson?

As a quick recap on the lesson, fill in the five your resilience and give one example of wha

2. How did you learn this?

PAUSE AND REFLECT

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

MENTAL NOTE

“The distinguishing feature of geniuses is their passion and dedication to their craft, and particularly the way in which they identify, confront, and

”

take pains to remedy their weaknesses. – Good, Rattan, & Dweck (2008) 215

PAUSE AND REFLECT

PAUSE AND REFLECT Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

1. What have you learned in this le

MENTAL NOTE The distinguishing feature of geniuses is their passion and dedication to 2. How did you learn this? “ their craft, and particularly the way in which they identify, confront, and take

”

pains to remedy their weaknesses. – Good, Rattan, & Dweck (2008).

3. How can you 153 use what you learn

Chapter 15

Resilience Lesson 38

GROWTH MINDSET To explore the concepts of growth and fixed mindsets

Aim Aim

Learning Point 1

Most people who are resilient also have what is called a growth mindset. Most people

tend to believe that they are born with a limit to their intelligence and ability. However,

students will have already learned that most people have multiple intelligences that they use and that by having goals and focus and putting them into action they can succeed.

So they already have an awareness that there is not a limit to their intelligence or ability. This is what is called having a growth mindset. Students with a growth mindset believe that intelligence can be developed. These students focus on learning over just looking

smart, see effort as the key to success, and thrive in the face of a challenge. This theory was researched and developed by Professor Carol Dweck of Stanford University. Mindset is about the attitude or approach that people take to success, especially when it comes to their learning. The two types of mindset are growth and fixed

mindset. Here is an explanation of both: What kind of mindset do you have?

The Growth Mindset

The Fixed Mindset

I can learn anything I want to.

I’m either good at it, or I’m not.

When I’m frustrated, I persevere.

When I’m frustrated, I give up.

I want to challenge myself.

I don’t like to be challenged.

When I fail, I learn.

When I fail, I’m no good.

Tell me I try hard.

Tell me I’m smart.

If you succeed, I’m inspired.

If you succeed, I feel threatened.

My efforts and attitude

My abilities determine everything.

determine everything. 154

EXE

ISE RC

Now work out your score: Stephave? 1: Check which statements are growth mindset or fixed Which mindset do you

mindset statements and write either F or G beside each one.

The purpose of this exercise is to provide an opportunity for students to 11 = Fixed 22 = Growth 33 = Fixed 44 = Growth 55 = Fixed explore what type of mindset they might have. 66 = Growth

77 = Fixed

88 = Growth

9 = Growth

10 = Fixed

Students initially need to complete this exercise individually Step 2: For growth statements, give yourself the following scores:

and then using Think, Pair and Share they can share and discuss their 41 = Agree

answers with each other.

22 = Maybe

03 = Disagree

For fixed statements, give yourself the following scores: Now work out your score: Step 1: Check which statements are growth mindset or fixed mindset statements and write either F or G beside each one.

11 = Fixed 66 = Growth

22 = Growth 77 = Fixed

33 = Fixed

44 = Growth

88 = Growth

9 = Growth

01 = Agree

22 = Maybe

43 = Disagree

55 = Fixed 10 = Fixed Then add up your total score for the exercise.

Step 3: Your results

Step 2: For growth statements, give yourself the following scores:

41 = Agree

22 = Maybe

03 = Disagree

For fixed statements, give yourself the following scores: 01 = Agree

22 = Maybe

Strong fixed mindset

43 = Disagree

Then add up your total score for the exercise.

Fixed mindset with some growth ideas

Growth mindset with some fixed ideas

Strong growth mindset

Strong fixed mindset

Growth mindset with some fixed ideas

a. So, what mindset do you have?

a. So, what mindset do you have? b. Are you surprised?

Strong growth mindset

Yes

b. Are you surprised?

c. Why? Developing and nurturing a growth mindset towards life and learning can provide you with positive outcomes.

Learning Point 2

Yes

Fixed mindset with some growth ideas

Step 3: Your results

c. Why?

Success is not all about attitude but also about effort and strategy. Einstein once said that if you keep doing the same thing in the same way, you will keep on getting the same results. So if you are doing something wrong, no matter how hard you try you will still end up getting it wrong. A key element of having a growth mindset is the ability to reflect on what you are doing and if it is not working to readjust and try doing it a different way. You are not giving up; you are simply taking a different approach or strategy.

Developing and nurturing a growth mindset towards life and learning can provide you with positive outcomes.

Learning Point 2

218

Learning Point 2

It is important to remember that success is simply not all about attitude but also about

effort and strategy. Einstein once 218said that if you keep doing the same thing in the same way you will keep on getting the same results. So if students find themselves doing something in the wrong way, no matter how hard they try they will still end up getting it wrong. A key element of having a growth mindset is about the ability to reflect on what you are doing and if it is not working to readjust and try doing it a different way. Remember, you are not giving up, you are simply taking a different approach or strategy. This is one of the key mistakes teachers make when teaching about a growth mindset – they forget the need to reflect on progress and students end up feeling frustrated because they feel they are not making any progress.

155

EXE

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Mindset strategies The aim here is for students to think about how they can begin to apply what they know about growth mindsets.

ideally students should engage in

Think, Pair and Share and then move into Learning Squares,

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EXE

For this exercise

Mindset strategies For the following situations, using a growth mindset, can you think of strategies for improving the situation? a. You put a lot of effort into passing an assessment yet you failed.

The Growth Mindset

b. You practise a lot as a basketball team yet you keep losing games.

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EXE

where they can explore as many

The Fixed Mindset

Mindset strategies For the following situations, using a growth m The The Fixed Growth think you Mindset of strategies for improving the situ Mindset

c. You get stuck on a maths problem and feel you are no good at maths.

options as possible.

d. You are not putting any effort into class yet you are still passing.

a. You put a lot of effort into passing an a you failed.

PAUSE AND REFLECT 1. What have you learned in this lesson?

2. How did you learn this?

3. How can you use what you learned in your schoolwork/study?

219

b. You practise a lot as a basketball team losing games.

The The Growth Growth Mindset Mindset

c. You get stuck on a maths problem and no good at maths.

You are not putting any effort into clas The FixedThed. Fixed still passing. Mindset Mindset

PAUSE AND REFLECT PAUSE AND REFLECT

1. What have you learned in this lesson

Finish by asking students to reflect individually on their learning.

156

2. How did you learn this?

KEY SKILLS REFLECTION AND EVALUATION Congratulate the students on completing the Learning to Learn programme!

Now that the students have completed the third and final section of this

programme, pause and reflect on all that they have learned. In this part they reflect:

 On the Junior Cycle Key Skills which they developed  On what they enjoyed most or least and why studies

 On identifying how they used what they learned in other areas of their  On identifying possible areas they would like to focus on in the future.

This section may aid class tutors or form teachers in relation to the formative

assessment of the students’ progress.

It is envisaged that the students at this stage are more

confident learners and more connected to their learning, being able to articulate and communicate to others all that they have learned.

BEING LITERATE COMMUNICATING

WORKING WITH OTHERS

MANAGING MYSELF

KEY SKILLS

BEING CREATIVE

MANAGING INFORMATION & THINKING BEING NUMERATE

188

STAYING WELL

develop self-management and personal organisation skills including goal setting, study skills, coping skills and reflection skills.” - NCCA guidelines on Well-Being for the Junior Cycle

Learning to Learn

Schools should provide a space for “learning opportunities designed to

TEACHER MANUAL

 Section 1 – Transition and Study, supports students to quickly adapt to the new expectations placed upon them in their learning.

 Section 2 – Goal Setting and Study, provides students with the

motivation and skills to become effective at learning and studying.

 Section 3 – Study, Assessment Preparation and Developing Resilience, which supports students working towards success in their learning.  Section 4 – Study Journal which assists students in planning and recording their study and revision.

Each chapter has key learning points with practical exercises taken from a

variety of Junior Cycle subjects, along with a reflective opportunity at the end

T N E D U T S D N A G IN N A LEAR T PROGRAMME SUPPOR

of the lesson where the students reflect on and record where they intend to

implement what they learned into their regular study.

- Patricia Atkins, Former Principal

TEACHER

Learning - Teacher Version 2 T: 01 808 1494 - F: to 01Learn 836 2739 - E:Workbook info@thesupergeneration.com

MANUAL



Edition

Written by Feidhlim Ó Seasnáin & Louise Platt