TM by Mary Hester

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

TeachersMatter The Magazine of Spectrum Education

Classroom management or discipline? p. 26

From “problem” to solution p. 36

Connect with a blog p. 52

NZ$15 / AU$15

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 14

EVENT REVIEW BY KAREN BOYES

A bootcamp for the mind Teachers accepted – and excelled – the Habits of Mind challenge. 1

he NZ Habits of Mind Bootcamp was the biggest ever with 60 teachers and teacher trainees keen and eager to learn. The stage was set early with teams exploring the Habits of Mind and sharing their knowledge in creative ways. The Habits of Mind challenge was a true test of participants’ use of the 16 Habits of Mind. So what are these “Habits of Mind?” A Habit of Mind is knowing how to behave intelligently when you don’t know the answer or what to do. The 16 habits as identified by Dr Art Costa and Dr Bena Kallick are: • Persisting • Managing impulsivity • L i s t e n i n g w i t h u n d e r s t a n d i n g and empathy • Thinking flexibly • Thinking about thinking (metacognition) • Striving for accuracy • Questioning and posing problems • Thinking interdependently • A p p l y i n g p a s t k n o w l e d g e t o n e w situations • Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision • Gathering data through all senses • Creating, imagining, innovating • Responding with wonderment and awe • Taking responsible risks • Finding humour • Remaining open to continuous learning

2 With eight teams vying for the distinction of “Winners of the Bootcamp Challenge NZ 2011,” the energy was high and the competition fun. Each team was led by mentors Sandra Brace, Adrian Rennie and me sharing ideas, knowledge and strategies to use and apply the Habits of Mind (HOM) within the classroom. A special guest appearance was made by Dr Art Costa, the co-founder of Habits of Mind. Art shared wisdom and practical ways to make the habits come alive and taught some of the finer skills to listening and metacognition. We were all hanging onto each word and loved the stories and demonstrations of the Habits. Teams created posters, songs, lesson plans, and skits and participated in some personal and team challenges. The quality of what they produced raised the bar for the next bootcamp. The depth of understanding the value of the habits was fantastic. The winning team was the Number Jacks. Congratulations to them and to all those who survived another bootcamp: What a difference you will make to children’s lives while helping make the world a more thoughtful place.

1. Winning Team - Number Jacks 2. Breakout sessions 3. Sharing knowledge of the Habits 4. Team poster depicting Persistence 5. Dr Art Costa 6. Gorgeous piggys 7. Moving with the Habits 8. So you think you can dance 9. Participants :-)

3 4

EVENT REVIEW

CONTENTS

In this issue

Teachers as mediators of self-directed learning

Growing Gen Y emerging leaders

Use your influence

Living our language

Lovelies, roughies, and toughies

Brain research your classroom

Developing self management through homework

Defining success

The power of three

Teaching and living the Habits of Mind

It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it

If you reach me, you can teach me

Asked and answered

Connecting with kids

The alarm you’ll look forward to: iStudyAlarm

SPENCER KAGAN

DR ARTHUR COSTA

MICHAEL GRINDER

GLENN CAPELLI

Making problems smaller: Supporting today’s parents MICHAEL GROSE

DR MARVIN MARSHALL

DEBORAH BARCLAY

Teachers Matter

NGAHI BIDOIS

KAREN BOYES

DARLENE MATHIESON

JOHN SHACKLETON

ALLIE MOONEY

Helping Bill Gates create a smart phone ERIC FRAGENHEIM

SANDRA BRACE

Overcome bullying once and for all CHRISTINE KERR

ALAN COOPER

SIMON BREAKSPEAR

CAROLYN STUART

Are you the critic or the crticised? ROWENA McEVOY

TEACHERS RESOURCES AND LESSONS pages 72-76

Use blogs to support students and engage the community SIMON EVANS

From nurturing to empowering

YVONNE GODFREY

MAGAZINE CONTACTS

Teachers Matter Magazine Team

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Subscriptions Toll free (NZ) 0800 373 377 Toll free (Australia) 1800 249 727 Thanks to the educators, speakers and authors who contributed interviews, articles, photographs and letters. Teachers Matter magazine is registered with the National Library: ISSN 1178-6825 © Spectrum Education 2011 All rights reserved.

66 Colour tips for grounding yourself

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Time for an energy boost?

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

Winter comfort food

All Enquiries

To achieve more, do less

Maslow’s 4 Levels of Learning

Study skills: success and mistakes

Talking matters

Capturing the GenNext dividend

THELMA VAN DER WERFF

KAREN BOYES

KATE SOUTHCOMBE

WENDY SWEET

KEVIN MAYALL

The eight most powerful time tips ROBYN PEARCE

Asking and stating

BARBARA GRIFFITH AND TRICIA KENYON

KAREN TOBICH KAREN TOBICH

KAREN BOYES

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EDITOR’S NOTE

EDITOr’S NOTE

I looked in the rear-view mirror and could see his eyes looking up, ssue after issue, I’m in awe of how much I learn by reading our trying to figure out something. wonderful writers’ work. This time, I was particularly struck by Art Costa and Kate Southcombe’s articles. Art talks about being “Ask me my name,” he finally said. a mediator to help children learn and recommends, among other • suggests Let students shots (don’t ouldn’tand it be great if you could Kate I did,the and he replied: “Mr.be Flintstone, because I can make your bed rock.” things, paraphrasing then asking questions. that call scared; q u i c klot l y more s k i mand t h eallow c o nchildren t e n t s o to f figure adults listen a whole thingsread out.Simon Evans’ article) I snorted out a short laugh and then was struck with horror. Teachers Matter a nthat d s uhas d d estayed n l y with me for over I started wondering how an incident • Invest in solutions, not standards An 8-year-old was making sexual innuendos in my car, and become teacher everyifstudent’s, a year mightthe have goneof better I followedparent’s Art and Kate’s advice. (imagine the possibilities y I had tuned into was the catalyst. apparently thewith radioBarr station and principal’s dreams? Not possible, right? Musson) Here’s what happened: My car radio stopped playing Radio Disney, We know that the process of becoming an “I can make you better” was not the lyric after all. I also hadn’t which features sweet, innocent songs by the young Disney stars. I and map it me outMr. (Bena exceptional teacher takes openness, research, • Follow a GPS heard the “call Flintstone” part. don’t know if my antenna was broken, or the radio, or the station’s Kallick suggests that you take hints practice and commitment – in other words, a signal, but at first, I was happy. After more than five years of listening Gathering my composure, I simply said, “That’s not appropriate, S.F.” from technology to stay on track in the significant investment of time. to a kids’ station every time we hopped in the car, I was finally able classroom) After we dropped him off, my son yelled at me for “yelling” at his But into therea is something you can do right now to tune more adult station. friend. I argued back that I did not yell at all, and simply stated a to at least start the process. Here are some • Freeze the positivity (tips on keeping kids We all chose a new station that plays the newest songs, songs I’ll call fact in a polite way, which is my right to do in my car. quick teasers – a few words to summarise excited, compliments of Chris Kerr) “dance” songs, sort of pop and light hip-hop music. what the experts in this issue are sharing – Truth be told, I was happy to have my son scolding me, instead of • Be the community kind (how to go spark your interest. Take look at Onetoafternoon, I was driving oneaofdeeper my then 8-year-old son’s friends asking me what S.F. had been talking about. The sweet “huh?” my beyond a good student to a good citizen articles laterhad andthe then goon even further to atheir school event and radio as usual. He’s a good enough son had uttered when his friend delivered the pickup line reassured with advice from David Koutsoukis) reading more about aboutbeing theirhome techniques, boy,by always concerned by the time his mum sets, me that he still has some innocence in him. (At least until the next a class, trying techniques andtaking every time he talks to herthe on the phone, heand ends the conversation • Slip, Slop, Slap song (fromplays the master catchy on theof radio.) then eventually mastering Stepbig bypoints step, withphrases by saying, “I love you, Mum.” them. He earns me for –that, Glenn Capelli) But I should have talked with S.F. differently. I should have said, “So you’ll be on your way to occasionally communicating because I only hear those words from my little darling. • Get personal with your you’d like students to use the (Kevin line ‘I can make your bed rock?’” clearly, motivating your students and helping I have to say he’s a smart kid, too, with a strong ability to make Mayall tells you why) them develop a lifelong love of learning: I imagine he would have said, “Yes.” links between what he’s observing now and how it can be used in • If it’s not broken, still fix it (Martz Witty the future. But his smarts are possibly dangerous, as I learned as we And I then I could have asked who he would have liked to use keeps you improving) drove home. that line on – and what he thought it meant. I’m 99 percent sure • Share your “view” he didn’twith truly everyone know what it meant, and I would have felt more We were kind of quiet, and the song that was playing had been on (Ngahi Bidois uses an analogyabout to show comfortable my you son hanging out with him. But even if he many times before, but I never really listened to it. The main lyric was the rewards) did know the meaning, I could have then asked, “What do you “I can make you better.” think that girl you want to say it to would think about that?”and • If you’re ready, the “not-ready” child Or so I thought. gently placed a question mark in his head about what you do and might still grow (Maggie Dent explains don’t say. Who knows what else I might have learned – if only I had My son’s friend (who I’ll call S.F.) didn’t hear the same thing: Heright was teacher makes a difference.) how the listened more. quiet as the song played and didn’t speak until it was almost over.

Teachers Matter chers Matter

“Oh, oh,” I heard him say from the back seat, “I can use that line.” “Use that line” grabbed my attention. First, what 8-year-old thinks of “lines to use”? (Actually, what decent man thinks of “lines to use,” but that’s a topic for another day.) And what line was he talking about? “I can make you better” is a sweet sentiment, hardly a pick-up line, unless maybe you add a devious-sounding tone to your delivery. I had to ask – and soon regretted doing so. “Wait,” replied S.F., “just a minute.”

Kristen De Deyn Kirk

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CONTRIBUTORS

Adrian Rennie

With a sports psychology and sports coaching background, John now shows international business audiences techniques that exercise and improve the biggest, most powerful muscle in the body – the brain. His clients include Coca-Cola, Air New Zealand, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Sony and Renault. www.JohnShack.com

Christine Kerr

Alan Cooper is an educational consultant based in New Zealnd. 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.

Allison Mooney

Deborah Barclay

Alan Cooper

Allison is a passionate and endearing speaker who infuses a desire in her audience to significantly increase their performance as educators through identifying the behaviours and traits of others. Author of Pressing the Right Buttons, Allison has been twice awarded “Speaker of the Year” by the Auckland Chapter of NZ National Speakers Association. www.personalityplus.co.nz

Dr Arthur Costa Arthur is co-director of the Institute for Intelligent Behaviour and the creator of “Habits of Mind.” Actively concerned that there must be worldwide change in educational systems if we are to meet the needs of a global society, Arthur compels educators to create classrooms that are thoughtful places to learn. www.habits-of-mind.net

Barbara Griffith Teachers Matter

John Shackleton

Carolyn Stuart is the principal of Tawa Intermediate in Wellington. She is passionate about making a difference to the lives of children and educators.

Christine has 30 years experience in education, the last decade in school management. She facilitated a structured counselling service for her intermediate school students and is a qualified, professional life coach. Passionate about meeting young people’s needs for ongoing success, Christine created the Mighty Minds programmes. Using 21st-century research and mindset tools, she inspires young people to take leadership in their own lives, culminating in a total package for future reference throughout their lives. Post-programme support is available for participants through a range of media pathways and interactive funshops. Visit www.lifeseeker.co.nz

A successful classroom teacher, Adrian is passionate about excellence in teaching. He combines simple yet effective classroom techniques and Art Costa’s Habits Of Mind to create a culture of thinking.

Carolyn Stuart

Barbara has been a primary school teacher for 36 years. She has specialised in the teaching of literacy for more than 20 years and recently retired from a position as a Resource Teacher: Literacy, which she had held for the last 16 years.

Deborah has been a primary school teacher for 16 years and a deputy principal in an Auckland school for the past five years. Deborah has a special interest in behaviour management and delving into the deeper issues underlying children’s behaviour.

Eric Frangenheim Author of Reflections in Classroom Thinking Strategies and The Reconciliation of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Eric is also a director of ITC Publications Pty Ltd, producers of the Innovative Teacher Companion, a teacher diary containing hundreds of useful classroom teaching ideas. www.itcpublications.com

Glenn Capelli An author, songwriter, radio and television presenter and creator of the Dynamic Thinking course for Leadership, Glenn delivers a message of creativity, innovation and thinking smarter. He teaches people how to be a learner and thinker in today’s fastpaced and ever-changing world through the use of creative thinking, humour, enthusiasm and attitude. Glenn’s new book, Thinking Caps, is available from Spectrum. www.glenncapelli.com

Kate Southcombe Kate’s business, EPR Training, combines her passion for horses and her educational background by supplying online products to support people with behaviour management of horses and children. This novel approach is grounded in science and draws on the principles of applied behaviour analysis. Kate is an Early Childhood Education lecturer and private tutor.

Karen Boyes Karen Boyes is a leading authority on effective learning and teaching in Australasia and is founder and CEO of Spectrum Education. A highly skilled, enthusiastic and dynamic presenter with over 18 years experience in the education profession, she works with teachers, parents, students a n d c o r p o r a t e c l i e n t s i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y, unleashing their peak performance. www.spectrumeducation.com

Karen Tobich Karen is a food stylist who is passionate about living off the land and creating and presenting food. She believes that sharing food connects people and fosters quality relationships in so many ways. She shows you how to transform home and locally grown seasonal foods into delicious healthy and inspiring foods to make, to give, and to share.

Kevin Mayall Kevin works with individuals and families from around the world. As well as working in a private practice, Kevin is also the creator and founder of www.kevinmayall.com, which provides online coaching tools for teens, families and individuals around the world. www.kevinmayall.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Dr Marvin Marshall Marvin is an international staff developer and the author of the best-selling book, Discipline Without Stress, Punishments or Rewards: How Teachers and Parents Promote Responsibility & Learning. His approaches demonstrate how using internal motivation and non-coercion is far more effective and significantly less stressful than using threats, punishments, rewards, and other manipulations aimed at obedience. www.marvinmarshall.com

Michael Grinder Michael Grinder is the United States national director of NLP in Education. After teaching for 17 years on three education levels, he holds the record of having visited over 6,000 classrooms. Michael has pioneered the practice of using non-verbals to manage classrooms and create a safe learning environment based on influence instead of power.

Michael Grose Author, columnist and presenter Michael Grose currently supports over 1,100 schools in Australia, New Zealand and England in engaging and supporting their parent communities. He is also the director of Parentingideas, Australia’s leader in parenting education resources and support for schools. In 2010 Michael spoke at the prestigious Headmaster’s Conference in England, the British International Schools Conference in Madrid, and the Heads of Independent Schools Conference in Australia, showing school leadership teams how to move beyond partnership-building to create real parentschool communities. For bookings, parenting resources for schools and Michael’s famous Free Chores & Responsibilities Guide for Kids, go to www.parentingideas.com.au.

Ngahi Bidois Ngahihi o te ra is from Te Arawa and is an international speaker, author and consultant. His book is available at Mcleods book store and the Lakeside café in Rotorua. His website can be viewed at www.ngahibidois.com

Robyn Pearce Robyn Pearce, a Certified Public Speaker, is known around the world as the Time Queen, helping people discover new angles on time. Check the resources on her website, www. gettingagrip.com, including a free report for you: “How to Master Time in Only 90 Seconds.”

Rowena SzeszeranMcEvoy Rowena Szeszeran-McEvoy has a 23-year career in the fitness industry and is now serious about the business of education. She is the director of the Australian Institute of Massage and the National College of Business, after having served as the head lecturer in both the business and fitness colleges.

Sandra Brace Sandra has had a 20 year career in the performing arts which has driven her focus in education; using performing arts strategies to support learning of the Habits of Mind in the classroom.

SImon Breakspear Simon Breakspear is recognised internationally as a leading thinker on educational futures, innovation and change leadership. As an educational researcher, consultant and acclaimed keynote speaker, Simon works with school and system leaders to challenge the status quo, inspire fresh thinking and leverage new solutions to radically improve learning. Simon holds a first class honours degree in psychology, a bachelor of teaching and a master’s in comparative and international education from the University of Oxford, which he completed as a Commonwealth Scholar. He is currently a Gates Scholar at the University of Cambridge, UK.

Simon Evans Before joining CORE Education, Simon Evans worked with Breathe Technology as an Educational Technology Advisor and was a primary classroom teacher for 11 in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. He now works with schools and the relieving c o m m u n i t y. F o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n , call 0800 D9 TEACHER or sign onto www.educatingthedragon.blogspot.com

Thelma van der Werff Thelma van der Werff is a chartered colour therapist who has developed a fascinating new concept called “Colour Coaching. Colour Coaching uses the psychology of colour to determine someone’s talents and stumbling blocks and is a simple tool for practitioners and therapists in assessing and supporting their clients. Thelma has written two books:Why are you wearing those colours? and Dress to Impress. Thelma teaches her Colour Comfort method in New Zealand, Australia, The Netherlands, and Germany.

Tricia Kenyon Tricia has been involved in the field of literacy for 17 years, firstly as a Resource Teacher:Reading, then as a Resource Teacher:Literacy. She is passionate about books and reading, and feels privileged to be in a position where she can share that passion with students, their parents, and fellow teachers.

Wendy Sweet With over 25 years in the fitness industry, Wendy’s expertise in health, wellbeing and fitness is undisputed. She brought personal training into mainstream NZ by design and developed the Les Mills Personal Training programme in the early 1990s. She lectures at the University of Waikato and delivers workplace training. Her master’s thesis focused on successful personal trainers’ strategies in changing their client’s exercise and nutrition behaviour. Reach her at wsweet@xtra.co.nz.

Yvonne Godfrey Yvonne Godfrey is the founder of Miomo (Making it on my Own), a 10-day, live-in experience to equip 17- to 24-year-olds for a responsible, independent and successful adult life. www.miomo.co.nz

Dr Spencer Kagan Dr Spencer Kagan is an internationally acclaimed researcher, presenter and author of over 100 books, chapters, and scientific journal articles. He is the principal author of comprehensive books in four fields: cooperative learning, multiple intelligences, classroom discipline, and classroom energisers. www.kaganonline.com

DR ARTHUR COSTA

Teachers as mediators of self-directed learning The right words, at the right time, lead to the right learning

Being a mediator Based on the work of Reuven Feuerstein’s “Mediated Learning Experience,” (Feuerstein 2000) the mediator intervenes in such a way as to enhance the student’s selfdirected learning.

Teachers Matter

Feuerstein suggests that planning for and reflecting on learning experiences activates these knowledge structures. With mediation, existing knowledge structures can be made more complex through more connections. The structures also can be altered to accommodate new understandings, or they can be made obsolete because some new experience has caused the creation of a new knowledge structure. This sifting and winnowing of prior knowledge structures constitutes learning.

Mediators influence the intensity, flow, directionality, importance, excitement, and impact of information coming to the awareness of the learner. One way they do that is by posing questions that bring consciousness to the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic systems in which experiences are held. This activates the neural pathways of the original experience, and in looking back, recovers omitted and sometimes valuable information. For example, you might ask a student to recall the events of a lesson. Should the student report only what he/she remembered seeing, you might ask her to elaborate about what she also heard. Such

PHOTO: ALEX HINDS

eachers, with the clear intention of promoting students’ self-directedness, use certain verbal and nonverbal communication tools. The teacher becomes a “mediator”—facilitating the cognitive growth of students.

a mediated learning experience enhances the detail and quality of information necessary for self-assessment. Accuracy in self-assessment is a critical prerequisite to self-directed learning. As a mediator, you do not solve problems for students. Rather you help the student analyse a problem and develop his or her own problem-solving strategies. You help a student set up strategies for self-monitoring during the problem-solving process and, upon completion, you invite the student to reflect on and learn from the problem solving process to find applications in future challenges Thus, you help the student become more self-directed. What is meant by Self-Directedness? A self-directed person can be described as being: • Self-Managing: They approach tasks with clarity of outcomes, a strategic plan, and necessary data. They draw from past experiences, anticipate success indicators, and create alternatives for accomplishment. • Self-Monitoring: They establish metacognitive strategies to alert the perceptions for in-the-moment indicators of whether the strategic plan is working or

not and to assist in the decision-making processes of altering the plan. • Self-Modifying: They reflect on, evaluate, analyse, and construct meaning from the experience and apply the learning to future activities, tasks, and challenges (Costa and Garmston, 2001). Structured classroom conversations In any classroom there is a constant “din” of idle chitchat. This is not a criticism but rather realty. Such dialogue is what makes groups congenial: birthdays, sports, bad hair days, and humorous events. All essential for welding individual students into bonded groups. It is not necessarily, however, growth producing. We also need structured dialogue. Being conscious of their purpose to create self-directedness in others, mindful teachers seize opportunities, both planned and informal, to use their language tools deliberately to achieve these goals. For example, when a student or group of students is planning a project, you carefully construct and pose questions to engage the mental processes of self-management. Those questions are invitational, open ended, and cognitively complex, as shown by the examples in Table 1.

DR ARTHUR COSTA Table 1: Mediator’s Questions for Self-Managing

Self-Managing People Approach Tasks With:

Examples of Teacher’s Mediational Questions

Clarity of outcomes

What specifically do you want to accomplish by doing this project?

A strategic plan

What is your plan or strategy for approaching and completing this project?

Necessary data

What information have you already gathered about this subject?

Knowledge drawn from past experiences

What effective strategies have you used before in projects like this?

Awareness of alternatives for accomplishment

What might be some alternative strategies you have in mind to accomplish these goals?

Anticipation of success indicators

How will you know that your project is successful?

Furthermore, you pose questions (see Table 2) so that during the event, the student will be alerted to cues that would indicate whether their strategic plan is working or not and to assist in the conscious application of metacognitive strategies for deciding to alter the plan and select alternatives. Table 2: Mediator’s Questions for Self-Monitoring

Self-Monitoring People:

Examples of Mediational Questions

Establish metacognitive strategies to alert the perceptions for in-the-moment indicators of whether the strategic plan is working or not and to assist in the decision-making processes of altering the plan

What will guide your decisions about . . .? What are some of your predictions about how this project will turn out? What will you be aware of to let you know that your strategy is working?

After the event, and if conditions are favorable, you may also invite reflection to maximise meaning-making from the experience (see Table 3). Meaning is made by analysing feelings and data, comparing results with expectations, finding causal factors, and projecting ahead to how the meaning may apply to future situations.

Table 3: Mediator’s Questions for Self-Modifying

Self-Modifying People:

Examples of Mediational Questions

Reflect on

As you reflect on your project, what feelings (or thoughts, or impressions) do you have about it?

Recall

What are you recalling that leads to those impressions

Evaluate

What is your sense of the project‘s effectiveness?

Analyse

What might be some factors that contributed to your success? How does your completed project compare with what you envisioned?

Construct meaning from the experience

As a result of working on this project, what insights or new learnings are you forming?

Apply the learning to future activities tasks and challenges

As you anticipate future assignments of this type, what big ideas will you carry forth to those situations?

DR ARTHUR COSTA

Teaching tools that build trust and rapport Trust is belief in and reliance on a teacher’s consistency, skills, and integrity developed over time. Mindful teachers know they cannot manipulate a student into a relationship of trust and rapport, but they can draw on specific nonverbal and verbal behaviors to nurture the relationship. For example, direct eye contact, a concerned voice and facial expression are better at conveying empathy than are words (Burgoon, Buller, & Woodall, 1996). In addition, the teacher’s matching of the student’s gestures, posture, or voice qualities contributes to rapport.

Teachers Matter

The safer the student feels, the greater the access to neocortical functioning. When students experience stress, there is an altered blood flow and changes in activity patterns in the brain. The body-mind functioning is minimised. The learner is less flexible and survival patterns override pattern-detection and problem solving. Students “lose their train of thought” and resourcefulness. The teacher knows that all communications are important and pays attention to physical signals.

Verbal response behaviors Pausing (Silence, Wait-Time). Using wait-time before responding to or asking a question allows time for more complex thinking, enhances dialogue, and improves decisionmaking. Pausing during the conversation allows the listener to breathe while the message is delivered. Breathing is essential for supporting cognition. When we hold our breath, the carbon dioxide levels in the blood increase. The body reacts to the carbon dioxide increase much in the same way that it responds to threat by releasing hormones that support the fight-or-flight response. In addition, the human brain is hardwired to detect threat, which results in decreasing blood flow to the frontal lobes and increasing flow to the brain stem. When we hold our breath or perceive a threat, thinking is negatively impacted (Zoller, 2005) Action, not thought, becomes the priority. Pausing in appropriate places during the delivery of content supports group breathing and establishes a lowthreat environment, thus allowing students to think more clearly and effectively (Garmston, 2005).

“ The success of an intervention depends on the inner condition of the intervener.” — Bill O’Brien

Paraphrasing. When people feel they are being understood, they breathe more deeply. Deeper breathing provides more oxygen to the brain. As stated earlier, oxygen is an essential resource for thinking. Empathic paraphrasing changes blood chemistry and helps the student maintain a resourceful state. Paraphrasing lets students know that you are listening, that you understand or are trying to understand them and that you care. Since a well-crafted paraphrase communicates, “I am trying to understand you—and therefore, I value what you have to say” and establishes a relationship between students and ideas, questions preceded by paraphrases will be perceived similarly. Questions by themselves, no matter how artfully constructed, put a degree of psychological distance between the asker and the asked. Paraphrasing creates a safe environment for thinking. To paraphrase effectively, mediators must: • Listen and observe carefully to understand the content and detect emotions of the student. • Signal their intention to paraphrase. This is done by modulating intonation with the use of an approachable voice and by opening with a reflective stem. Such stems put the focus and emphasis o n t h e s t u d e n t ’s i d e a s , n o t o n t h e teacher’s interpretation of those ideas. For example, reflective paraphrases should avoid the pronoun “I.” The phrase “What I think I hear you saying . . .” signals to many speakers that their thoughts no longer matter and that the paraphraser is now going to insert his or her own ideas into the conversation. Instead, the following paraphrase stems signal that a paraphrase is coming: “You’re suggesting . . .” “You’re proposing . . .” “So, what you’re wondering . . .”

“So, you are thinking . . .” “So, your hunch is . . .” Acknowledging. To acknowledge is not to agree but to signal, “I got your communication” or “I am understanding your view point.” In “Western” cultures, this is accomplished by nodding the head or using “subverbals” like the phrase “uh huh.” Not all cultures use these cues, however. Probing and Clarifying. Clarifying signals that you care enough to want to understand what a student is saying. Clarifying is not meant to be a devious way of redirecting what a student is thinking or feeling. It is not a subtle way of expressing criticism of something the student has done. The intent of probing and clarifying is to help you, the teacher, better understand the student’s ideas, feelings, and thought processes. However, clarifying not only a s s i s t s t h e t e a c h e r ’s u n d e r s t a n d i n g , it also sharpens the perceptions and understandings of the student. Structuring. A safe, trusting relationship exists when your students know what is expected. When expectations are unclear, students spend their energy and mental resources interpreting cues about what the teacher really wants and detecting any hidden agendas. With structuring, the teacher clearly and deliberately communicates criteria for excellent work, expectations about the purposes for and use of resources such as time, space, and materials. Structuring generates a common understanding of the purposes for the lesson, the roles that each student should play, time allotments, the placement of the teacher and the students in the classroom during the lesson, etc.

SIMON BREAKSPEAR

Growing Gen Y emerging leaders Trust your new leaders and open the door.

nextricably tying successful leadership to the work of talent development, in 2002 Michael Fullan presented a powerful challenge for educational leaders. Such a mindset has never been more important. Education systems across the OECD face a leadership succession crisis (Pont et al. 2008). Over the next five to 10 years, a large proportion of Australia’s current principals will retire (Anderson et al. 2007). Compounding this problem, there are indications of reduced interest in pursuing further leadership positions from current middle leaders, and continued high attrition of beginning teachers. We urgently need new systems and processes to ensure the future sustainability of our quality education system. Where will the next generation of educational leaders come from? Whose responsibility is it to develop them?

“ A school leader’s effectiveness in creating a culture of sustained change will be determined by the leaders he or she leaves behind.” - Michael Fullan

If developed and engaged, emerging leaders will become some of your strongest allies in driving improvements. Secondly, you need to develop emerging talent to retain them. Gen Y talent expect to be developed and professionally challenged in the early stages of their careers. They will not wait around for five years hoping “one day” to be given a chance to contribute if they “just do their time.” They know they have skills and ideas to offer, and are readily aware that other sectors are ready to provide new

opportunities. Almost 25 percent of our talented Gen Y educators leave the sector five years after beginning teaching. Many were waiting for a chance to lead and contribute. Thirdly, early leadership development is crucial to effective succession planning. By growing emerging talent you will build a strong “leadership bench” of internal candidates ready to fill strategic positions within your school. You begin the process of building a sustainable pipeline of leaders capable of ensuring the long-

Why develop the next generation? Firstly, emerging talent is one of your greatest untapped resources for organisational change and renewal. Gen Y emerging leaders are often innovative, entrepreneurial, energetic and technologically native. They are ready and willing to drive change when others in the common room may be resistant to new ideas.

PHOTO: DESIGNPICS

It is becoming increasingly clear that schools must begin to grow their own talent. Leadership development is not an optional luxury, but rather a strategic necessity. It is time for educational leaders to become obsessed with the attraction, retention and development of talented leaders.

SIMON BREAKSPEAR term sustainability of quality teaching and learning in your context. This is both a practical necessity and has the potential to leave a powerful legacy. Here are four initial steps to get you started in growing your own Gen Y emerging leaders.

Step 1: Identify talent early There are emerging and aspiring leaders within your staff team. It is time to identify them. Yet, what does talent look like? Don’t be fooled by the fallacy that emerging talent equates to a charismatic personality. It is often helpful to determine criteria to assess leadership potential. Best practice in leadership identification moves away from personality characteristics toward leadership capabilities such as: a capacity for teamwork; ability to plan and organize; and strong selfevaluation and problem-solving skills. Determine your criteria and identify your potential leaders. Spend five minutes thinking through your under 35 staff list. Consider who may have the potential and willingness to move forward in leadership development. Perhaps ask other senior staff for some feedback on the potential leadership. Of course this does not negate the need to develop all of your staff. But purposefully identifying high-potential emerging leaders is a critical component to an overall leadership development strategy.

Teachers Matter

Step 2: Ignite their leadership journey

leadership. This could involve photocopying an article on leadership, purchasing a few educational leadership books or passing on copies of an educational leadership periodical. Put it in their pigeon hole or on their desk with a brief note. Begin to resource them with the tools they need to begin their own leadership journey. Then encourage them to take responsibility for their own growth.

Innovation teams help emerging talent begin to think in “system” terms about the school as an organisation. It screams out that you value their skills and knowledge. It will likely offer you a new set of insightful strategies that you can both utilise and divide into leadership projects. C. Give them a role

Step 3: Distribute leadership Leadership is learnt through action. There is little doubt that theoretical models of leadership provide helpful frameworks to inform and guide practice, but the development of leadership capabilities is most effective through attempting to lead change within a specific context. If you want to develop your emerging leaders, you need to provide them with real-world leadership opportunities. Here are a few ideas: A. Offer a special assignment or project Projects are great because they provide opportunities for planning, action and reflection within a time frame. Define a project. Provide clarity about the objectives, resources available, and time frame, but give them autonomy over the process. There are two considerations with this. 1. Their natural strengths that can be utilised (e.g. Gen Y staff are most likely to be your most technologically native). Too often we force people to work on their weaknesses, rather than maximizing their strengths. 2. Design a project that is aligned with your core school strategy: It is critical that you do not distribute a meaningless side-project. Its completion should result in a significant benefit to you and the school.

Many emerging and aspiring leaders are waiting to be invited into leadership. The “do your time” culture of many schools results in many aspiring leaders stagnating in their own leadership development. They shrink back from leadership in formal and informal ways – whether applying for positions or sharing their own innovative ideas. It is time to “tap them on the shoulder” and ignite their leadership journey.

Meet with them before, during and after the project. If the project succeeds, provide public praise. If it fails to launch, help them reflect on core weaknesses and strategies that would be more effective in the future. Referencing experiences of positive and difficult leadership are critical in the formation of insightful and resilient leaders.

Have a conversation. There is nothing quite as powerful as one leader recognising the leadership potential in another. We need talented emerging leaders across the country to be instilled with a vision for their careers: educational transformation through leadership.

If you have a number of emerging leaders and limited time to invest, you could consider forming an Innovation Team. Draw together a team of aspirants, together with one mentoring-minded senior staff. Provide them with a key problem area that you require strategic advice on for the improvement of the school. Ask them to analyse the problem

Introduce them to the field of educational

and provide a series of recommendations.

B: Build an innovation team

Would you give a 24-year-old a middle management role in curriculum or pastoral care if they clearly had all of the leadership capabilities required? If not, why not? If your decision is influenced by an expected hierarchical response from the staffroom, it is time to seriously consider the type of culture you have operating. Is it one that supports and rewards leaders? Or one that bows to the power-games of non-leavers? If your emerging leaders are ready for a promotion and are the most capable person for the job, give it to them. Such bold action will rapidly brand your school as having a culture that is based on capabilities and performance. Your school will quickly become a magnet for talent where emerging leaders come to develop their careers.

Step 4: Connect them with the ‘Tribe’ Leadership is a lonely path. Change is hard. School organisational cultures can often be especially resistant to innovation and attempts towards reform and improvement. Emerging leaders must build resistance to such challenges. Yet, equally they should be given opportunities to connect with their “tribe” of change makers to build a support network of like-minded emerging leaders with a commitment to educational improvement within their school and the system as a whole. A movement At the heart of any commitment toward developing leadership lay two deep beliefs. Firstly, that the quality of your people, above all, will determine the quality of the teaching and learning delivered. Secondly, that true leadership has a responsibility to develop the next generation to carry on the work. Whilst pockets of educational leaders are beginning to awaken to the incredible potential for improving student learning, and ensuring sustainable organisational effectiveness, through developing their own talent, it is now time for strategic leadership development to become a system-wide movement.

Use your influence Set aside the power struggle, and you might find a better way to manage your class.

the Christmas holiday? How do you make the transition if they won’t respond? • Use your voice just above the volume of the class, and do so quickly. Your voice will shock or interrupt the class, and they will be more likely to hear you. • Having paced ahead of the class’ volume, you have reached a powerful point. You have a short time span to lead them into content and can choose between two effective techniques: 1. Drop your voice to a whisper 2. Step your voice down to a whisper

ducators have always been surrogate parents, but now for some students we are their only role model. Increasingly, students seek attention at any expense.

If you have enough auditory voice control, you can do a step-down. The step-down in some cases is your only salvation but the skill takes more discipline and control.

How does this affect the way we manage the class? More than ever the child needs to have consistent and fair parameters while the relationship between the teacher and student is preserved. In the past, a teacher could manage with power to set parameters, but an increasing proportion of our pupils will no longer be motivated to behave and learn if we operate in this old, authoritarian way. Instead we have to start building relationships based on influence.

Remember to bring your voice volume all the way down and then down to a whisper. The drop to a whisper will, for most teachers, be successful.

Getting their attention Opening your lesson is a critical time because you establish the tone and expectations. The traditional way of getting the class’ attention is for the teacher to indicate that it is time to begin. The actual wording varies based on the year group and the individual instructor’s style. Whatever words are used they verbally communicate, “stop and focus here.” Some non-verbal techniques that support the verbal level of “getting their attention” are: 1. Standing still (Freeze Body) 2. Being at the front of the room (the location of authority.) 3. Toes pointed ahead 4. Weight distributed evenly between both feet 5. Giving oral directions that are brief What happens if there is a discrepancy between the teacher’s verbal message of stop and the teacher’s non-verbal communication of move? • As you ask them to stop what they are doing, they will look up. If you are walking, they notice that you are non-verbally contradicting yourself by continuing to move, so they tend to go back to what they were doing. What about the class that is loud on right-brain days, such as the week before

In either case, either by a direct drop to a whisper or a step-down, make sure you elongate your sentences, slow your voice down and give it a softer timbre. By doing so you will put the class in a listening mode. Exit directions Evidence of how confusing the oral format of giving Exit Directions can be is demonstrated by the frequent stream of students coming up to the teacher and trying to find out specific details. The bewildered pupils often preface their queries with, “Did you say...?” or “In other words, you want us to...?” At times it is, “Where do we put this when we’ve finished?” Sometimes we feel like screaming the answer because the information the student is seeking is so obvious to us. This is especially true when the instructor has used the same routines since the start of the year. The solution is to write the Exit Directions on the board so that there is a stable visual representation of what was said. Visual Exit Directions both increase the clarity of the message and double the length of the memory. This, of course, frees the teacher from having to be a parrot repeating what was said. The instructor can now assist students one-onone during the taskwork segment of the lesson. Kinaesthetic students The kinaesthetic student often has a high degree of distractibility during seatwork and may need one-on-one attention to stay on task. As a result, teachers often feel as if they need to stand next to the student for him or her to remain productive. Usually a classroom has two to six students who fit such a description. On some days a teacher literally has to race from one of these students to the next putting them back on task.

MICHAEL GRINDER

On the surface it looks as if this type of student is either on task or off task, but a closer examination reveals that there is a third mental state: Neutral. This is important because as the teacher races around with octopus arms trying to put off-task students back on task, he or she is probably just putting them from off to neutral. It is like the gears of a car: We really don’t shift from one mental state/gear to another without going through neutral. Through trial and error instructors have learnt that kinaesthetic students often don’t hear or see particularly well so that teachers have to touch them or, at the very least, be near them to get their attention. By the time certain students reach Year 4, they respond to a teacher’s presence with guilt. This makes them hold their breath. Therefore it is recommended that the teacher approaches the student in a slow manner and stays until the student finally begins to breathe and goes back on task. The influence approach The teacher who uses power gives the sense of feeling personally threatened by the student and consequently the intervention is “confrontational.” The teacher who uses influence separates the student as a person from the student’s behaviour. The focus is on the work. Does the Power Approach work? In many cases it does because there is an increasing number of students who don’t have a lot of human contact with adults at home. We know that students much prefer to have positive contact, but their second preference is to have any contact rather than no contact at all. This population of students is unconsciously willing to get into trouble to have adult contact. The influence technique is designed to break the “negative reinforcement syndrome.” The liability of the Power Approach is that the teacher has to physically remain in order for the student to comply. There is no self-motivation. How would a teacher increase her influence on the student being on task during seatwork? Since it is often the teacher’s proximity to the kinaesthetic student that puts that student on task, the teacher could move into the student’s area indirectly. The farther the instructor is from the student, and yet is still able to manage, the more the student tends to believe that he is on task because of his own efforts instead of the teacher’s presence. This action truly is influence.

CAROLYN STUART

Living our language

PHOTO: KAI CHIANG

PHOTO: EDYTA PAWLOWSKA

Agreeing to structure communication leads to success.

mother used to threaten my sister and me with having our mouths washed out with soap if we used inappropriate language. My mum’s one of those great mothers who never made an idle threat. There came a day when my older sister used inappropriate language and Mum set about applying soap. I watched the action from the safety of the bathroom door. Unfortunately for Mum, my sister did not take the punishment passively, instead she bit down, resulting in her ingesting far more soap than my mother intended and then retching to the point of giving my mother a huge guilt attack. The threat of soap and water was taken off the table. I can say I’ve found better ways of managing and controlling the language of

others. It is a perennial problem for leaders particularly for those committed to building and working within collaborative cultures. My first act as principal of my current school was to introduce Joan Dalton and David Anderson’s Dialogue Covenant, an agreed way to talk and listen to each other. Initially we adopted the covenant found on Plot PD and then adapted it into our own school’s version a couple of years later. Aspects of the covenant include listening to understand, listening without interrupting, and allowing time to think. I believe all organisations benefit greatly from co-constructing agreed ways of working together. In lots of ways that is the easy part. Living it every day, in every conversation is the challenge. To

achieve this takes commitment from every community member to not only try their hardest but to speak up when others forget and to insist on it being upheld in every situation, every day. We took a hard look at our meetings through the lens of our dialogue covenant. I’m sure they were no different to those being held in organisations throughout the world – dominated by those that over contribute, loathed by those who need time to think before contributing and populated by participants wanting their say with limited attention being given to the thoughts and ideas of others.

CAROLYN STUART

We transformed our meetings by:

Using an observer One person is rostered into the role of observer at each meeting. The first agenda item is to reflect on our previous meeting, consider the dialogue covenant and then identify the next area of focus for the group. We started off with simple things such as the number of times people built on the ideas of others and moved onto more challenging observations such as counting the number of contributions each person made or how often we interrupted when someone else was speaking. The data was always fed back to the group at the end of the meeting in a non-judgmental way. We have found the use of an observer powerful to extinguish unhelpful behaviour and brilliant to foster the types of input that improved our collaboration. Differentiating between dialogue and discussion Professor Robert Gamston differentiates between dialogue that is used to build understanding and discussion that is used to decide. We are committed to labelling anything brought up at a meeting as being either dialogue or discussion. We promise staff that we will not make any decisions without signalling a move from dialogue to discussion. An amazing thing has happened. Once people realised that we were having a dialogue about something and that a decision was not about to happen they stopped focussing on getting their own opinion heard (before the axe of decision fell) and started listening to others’ thoughts and ideas. We now take longer to make a decision, but we benefit from

“ I believe all organisations benefit greatly from co-constructing agreed ways of working together. In lots of ways that is the easy part. Living it every day, in every conversation, is the challenge.”

Creating descriptive agendas We use our shared school calendar to create our agendas. Anyone is able to contribute and the agenda closes 24 hours before a meeting. The agenda item is recorded, stating whether it is a dialogue or a discussion and writing a description about what or why they want it brought up at the meeting. They also record their name beside the item that means others can seek clarification prior the meeting. We do not allow agenda items to be sprung on a meeting. The staff members who need time to think are grateful for this process and are now able to fully contribute in a timely manner to all meetings. It has been a couple of years since we transformed our meetings. We no longer make regular use of an observer but will nominate one if our adherences to the covenant slips. We have fewer meetings because the changes outlined above seem to have increased our efficiency, and we now only meet if there is a requirement.

PHOTO: KAI CHIANG

Rotating the position of chair Each group member takes a turn at chairing meetings. I have found it really liberating not to be in the chair all the time and I love the freedom of being able to focus on the purpose of the meeting rather than focussing on running the meeting. In fact I now find it quite frustrating when it is my turn to be the chair.

greater ownership and understanding of decisions made.

GLENN CAPELLI

Lovelies, roughies, and toughies Be put on the spot – and figure out what you’re thinking.

love folks who live long lives and continue to learn as they do. I call these folks “Learning Heroes” and encourage you to discover and acknowledge the Learning Heroes in your lives and in your communities. Sir Peter Ustinov is one of my many Learning Heroes, lasting into his eighties and continuing to learn, speak, act, write, provoke and evoke over all his years. I heard him speak at a conference a year or two prior to his death in 2004, listening and laughing as he shared his sharp, humorous mind. One of his lines really stuck in my head and heart. He said “I love being interviewed because I find out what I think.” Pure magic.

PHOTO: RICHARD THOMAS

Some folks don’t know what’s inside until they are asked and then do their thinking in response. Maybe it’s my mixture of the love of the Democratic with the love of the Socratic but it ties me back to the origin of

the word ‘educate’ deriving from the Latin educare to “bring up” relating to eduere “to bring forth.” Interviews, conversations and questions (Socratic or otherwise) have always been a way of learning and teaching for me. Evocative questions that bring forth what is known and remembered, provocative questions that irritate folks to leap to some other place. That’s why I love doing radio. For years I wrote radio pieces for the ABC in Australia. They would air and then lead to listeners calling in with their thoughts. These Thinking Caps pieces have led to the Thinking Caps book – 40 pieces, each with five evocative/provocative questions to explore through conversation. These days my radio work is on 3AW in Melbourne with the magnificent Denis Walter, the man with the deep, resonate singing voice (and a top bloke as well). We call our afternoon segment Thinking Caps Reverse Talkback. Regular talkback radio means that there is a topic and you are invited to call in and share your thoughts, vent your spleen, fire your ire, on the topic. Reverse talkback is when you call in and you don’t know what the topic is until we give you one. Then you think on your feet and from the top of your neo-cortex, sharing what you know or think

GLENN CAPELLI

“ So, what are the lovelies, roughies and toughies you will be asking around the staffroom or in your classrooms?”

or feel. Or, in some cases, you do the Sir Peter Ustinov and discover what you think as you respond. Such methodology has led to much magic. People have “gold” inside them, and sometimes it just takes a little Reverse Talkback to uncover it. Yesterday on radio I titled our Thinking Caps Session “Lovelies, Roughies and Toughies.” Callers got to choose what kind of topic they would like from the three.

Lovelies Lovelies are seemingly gentle topics of evocation. Yesterday’s first caller went for it and I reminded her of the old Burt Bacharach/Hal David song What the World Needs Now is Love, Sweet Love and asked our caller what love she had been spreading lately. Quick as a lovely blink she responded with talk of her children and conversations with her own mum. Beautiful. Later a chap thought Lovelies would be lovely, only to be asked “If you could receive a kiss from anyone in the World on one part of your body other than your lips, who would you want to kiss you, and where?” He fired back that of course he would choose to me! Thankfully, he suggested a kiss on the hand.

Roughies Roughies are the roughly/generally questions. Our first roughie choice was asked roughly/generally how many Australian prime ministers he could name. Six was his total. I explained that I was speaking at a Conference in the United States many years ago and was asked how many presidents I could name. This led me to wondering if Australians could name more presidents than prime ministers or if Kiwis could do likewise. And this led me to writing a song naming all the Prime Ministers of Australia. The original version is still on iTunes sung by my co-writer Keith MacDonald. When we wrote it there had been 25, now we’re up to 27 and still counting. Such a song, such a question, could lead us into history and from hindsight into foresight. I finished by asking him what qualities did he think made or a good PM? And then, of course, why did he think so.

Toughies Some people’s roughie or lovelie is another folks toughie and some folks toughies aren’t tough at all. The first caller who asked for a toughie was asked “What is your aboutness in life? What is the thing you are most about?”

It was like he had anticipated this question for his whole life and answered “I’m about Family and Integrity.” Then he explained what these things meant to him. Of course, we then linked his toughie back to the former roughie and asked what role family and integrity played in government. He responded thoughtfully and with a wisdom that had our heads nodding; cometh the question, cometh the response, cometh the wisdom (and/or humour). I based one question on a chapter in the Thinking Caps book called The Condom Ritual and asked a more senior caller what advice she would have given to a teenager in the 1970s who wanted to buy his first packet of condoms. The radio producer held her breath, Denis looked on in wonder and our caller responded “Well, I would have told the young lad to think positive and… buy lots!” You gotta love that. So, what are the lovelies, roughies and toughies you will be asking around the staffroom or in your classrooms? Maybe you will get to discuss “what is your school about?” What legacy do you wish to leave? What imprint do you want to inspire? Hopefully, by doing so, you will help create more Learning Heroes for their long and wondrous journeys.

MICHAEL GROSE

Making problems smaller: Supporting today’s parents Turn your class into parenting support central. “Poor parenting alarms schools”

his headline in Melbourne’s The Age recently caught my attention. It was reported that several principals complained that poor parenting was threatening the wellbeing of many students and contributing to growing disciplinary problems in schools. A study out of the United Kingdom at the same time noted that while family structure and family income levels influenced learning levels, it was parenting that had the greatest impact on outcomes for kids. The report from UK think tank Demos found that authoritative (tough love) parenting was twice as likely to develop character traits for success in school, including application, empathy and self-discipline, compared to disengaged parenting. Focusing on parenting styles, the study found that most parents were able to provide their kids with the softer side of parenting (warmth, nurturance and relationship-building) adequately. It was on the firmer side (boundary-setting, accountability and discipline) of parenting where there was the greatest variance. In short, parents struggled with discipline more than any other aspects of parenting. After reading the study, I spoke about “tough love” parenting during my fortnightly radio half hour on ABC radio 774. The reaction was the biggest I’ve had in the segment’s three-year history. The immediacy and strength of the reaction to the segment confirmed what I’ve thought for some time: Parents are now desperate for direction, as well as strategy, in the area of discipline. Teachers bear the brunt It’s teachers, principals and other frontline professionals who are bearing the brunt of this lack of parenting confidence. I n c r e a s i n g l y, t h e y a r e s p e n d i n g a n extraordinary amount of time dealing with

disciplinary issues that should be either handled at home or prevented through a tougher parenting approach. It’s obvious that schools are increasingly becoming the centres of parenting advice and education in their communities. In many ways, this has occurred through default as families become disconnected, more people work, and links to community and church decline. Their child’s school is increasing the one constant connection for many parents. This new direction requires schools to be pro-active, rather than reactive, in their approach and provide strong leadership for their parent communities. Schools take up the challenge Already many schools are developing a range of strategies to support their parents, including providing regular parenting information and education through various channels; skilling teachers up to assist parents informally; and building strong links with extended community services. While supporting parents is not the core job of schools, it now must be given a high priority if educational outcomes for all are to be maximised. Six ways to help parents Here are six simple ideas that you can easily implement to help make your school, or class, a hub of parenting support:

Look for educative moments: Teachers are the masters of the teachable moment. You use it all the time within your classroom. You can apply the same principle to parents. During interviews, meets or casual conversations with parents, there are plenty of opportunities to reinforce good parenting practice, inform parents about developmental issues and pass on some knowledge or advice about behaviour management, confidence-building or dealing with problems like anxiety.

“While family structure and family income levels influenced learning levels, it was parenting that had the greatest impact on outcomes for kids.”

Have tips sheets on hand to help with specific problems: When I began as a parent educator I was often bamboozled with parents’ problems. I didn’t have children of my own so I found it hard to come up with instant answers. I solved this problem by carrying a set of tip sheets offering simple ideas to parents about common problems such as getting kids out of bed, school refusers, kids who won’t do homework and the like.

Establish a parenting column in your school’s newsletter: This is a no brainer. Parents routinely read their school’s newsletter. It’s an established, go-to piece of communication for parents. Establish a principal’s parenting column, or you can use an established writer to produce columns.

Conduct parenting forums and meetings on topical issues: Te a c h e r s c a n r u n s u c c e s s f u l forums and workshops on many issues that are pertinent to parents, including behaviour management. Even if you don’t run forums, you can still address parenting issues at your regular parent information

PHOTO: CECILE AGULLO

MICHAEL GROSE

nights. For instance, at the start-of-the-year information evening, pre-empt some of the issues they may face by talking about typical problems that parents of that age group face. This will prepare them for some developmental issues they may face.

Attach a parenting blog to your school’s website: Many schools have experienced the benefits of attaching a reputable parenting blog to their website. The content can be supplied commercially, or by a number of local providers. The content should be topical and also invite comment, and further tips and advice from parents. (Check out my blog that Parentingideas School Members attach to their school’s website. Visit www. parentingideas.com.au for blog and contact details.)

Build up parenting resources: Think about the common issues that parents face and then begin to build classroom and school resources around these issues. For instance, if your class has twins then consider having at least one book about twins sitting on your shelf so you can pass it on to parents. What about ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome and managing children’s behaviours? Every school or class should have resources around these topics. My experience working with schools shows that there are additional benefits in terms of relationship-building when schools develop a coherent parent support strategy. Generally, parent-teachers relationships get a real shot in the arm when schools take up the challenge of supporting parents.

SPENCER KAGAN

Brain research your classroom Choose teaching strategies that will keep their young minds learning and developing

Teachers Matter

A number of principles of brain-based learning have been derived, and educators are attempting to align practice with these principles. It turns out, though, that we do not have to reinvent the wheel. Teaching practices undergo a natural selection process: those that work best survive, those that do not drop away. Effective teaching practices are effective precisely because they are brain-based. Kagan structures represent one such case. To a remarkable degree, systematic use of Kagan structures implements the most important principles of brain-based learning. Without going into a detailed analysis of the underlying brain structures and functions, in this article I point out how Kagan Structures are aligned with important principles of brain-based learning:

I. Brains need nourishment Brains are small; they weigh about three pounds and are approximately the size of your two fists put together. Although they account for only about two percent of our body weight, they consume about 25 percent of the body’s oxygen and about 25 percent of the blood glucose. Anything that increases the supply of oxygen and blood to the brain will increase alertness, healthy functioning, and learning. In the Kagan approach, we encourage teachers to

use an active structure on the average about every 10 to 15 minutes. Teachers using the Kagan structures regularly do not experience low energy level dips that are inevitable if students sit quietly for prolonged periods. Kagan structures are active. Kagan structures include movement, interaction among students, and hands-on manipulatives. The classbuilding structures all have students get out of their seats and move in the classroom. The Silly Sports and Goofy Games are even more active. The movement and interaction, which are characteristic of Kagan structures, increases breathing rate and heart rate which in turn increases blood and oxygen supply to the brain. Thus the Kagan structures actually nourish the brain. II. Brains are social organs In a remarkable book, Friday’s Footprint: How Society Shapes the Human Mind, Leslie Brothers makes the case that our brains have evolved to selectively attend to social stimuli. For example, babies at nine

minutes of age are much more likely to turn their heads and eyes to follow a black and white picture if the parts are arranged to resemble a human face than if the same parts are arranged randomly. Single neurons of primates respond selectively and preferentially to social stimuli. Some neurons do not respond to an inanimate object moving, but do respond to a person moving; others do not respond to a geometric form, but do respond to a form resembling a hand, and the more the form resembles a hand, the more they respond. In Mapping the Mind, Rita Carter displays results of active brain imaging studies that show that brains are far more active learning in interaction with others than when alone, reading or listening to a lecture. Opiate-like substances are released in mammalian brains during care-giving and play, explaining why these activities are so rewarding. Our brains, to a remarkable extent, are social organisms If we naturally attend far more to social stimuli, it makes sense to have students

PHOTO: FRANCESCO RIDOLFI

here is an explosion of research and theory that is dramatically increasing our understanding of the brain. Although some have warned that it is too early at this point to make valid inferences about teaching methods based on brain science, many are making the attempt to build bridges from theory to practice, and educators are being urged to make classrooms “brain-compatible.”

SPENCER KAGAN

“A brain-compatible classroom is one in which emotions are not avoided, but rather elicited in service of learning. Various Kagan structures help teachers link emotions to the academic content and help students understand and deal effectively with their own emotions and those of others.” interact regularly over academic content — ha v i ng t h em d i s c u s s , d e b a t e , a n d work together on the content. And Kagan structures do exactly that. For example, if rather than turning to a text to seek an answer, students are allowed to use Find Someone Who, they are more engaged and enjoy the learning more. If they use Numbered Heads Together rather than responding alone to a teacher’s question, they are far more engaged. Thus, because they involve so much social interaction, Kagan structures actually provide the kind of stimuli that brains crave. III. Brains seek safety Higher-level thinking occurs best when we are in a state of relaxed alertness. Our brains have evolved to help us survive. When we are frightened, primitive fight-orflight-defense alarm systems kick in. The limbic system in the brain, seat of emotions, becomes highly activated and we downshift into primitive modes of functioning that have evolved to give us a survival advantage, but that are incompatible with higher-order cerebral functioning. We cannot do mental math accurately if we are hearing fire engine sirens blaring, see people running in panic, hear people screaming fire, and smell smoke. Higher-level thinking occurs best when we are in a state of relaxed alertness. When we feel safe, our primitive reptilian brain is quiescent and our cerebral cortex is free to function uninterrupted. Anything that creates anxiety or threat creates downshifting and decreases the probability of learning. Kagan structures create a sense of security because they are step-by-step, repeatable routines. Predictability creates a sense of security. Once students have mastered the steps of Numbered Heads Together, for example, they feel comfortable. They know the rules of the game. In addition, Kagan teambuilding and classbuilding structures are designed explicitly to create social safety. The

classbuilding and teambuilding structures allow students to know and support each other and to accept individual differences. Because of the teambuilding and classbuilding structures, students drop their fear of social rejection and their worry about social acceptance. They are free to focus more on the academic content. The Kagan communication building structures also create a safe context for learning. The Kagan communication building structures teach students to express understanding and concern for each other’s ideas. No longer fearing rejection of their ideas, students are freer to share and get feedback; the communication building structures create a safe context in which to think and learn. For example, during Paraphrase Passport, every student knows his/her ideas will be listened to and validated, creating a caring, safe context for the exchange of ideas. Thus through teambuilding, classbuilding, and communication building, the Kagan structures actually reduce the risk of downshifting, freeing the brain for higherlevel cerebral functioning. IV. Brains are emotional Brains are exquisitely designed to respond to emotion. One of the primary ways brains respond to emotions is through the receptors on the cell walls of neurons. Each receptor is a single very large, complex amino acid chain molecule. Some approach 3,000 times the size of a water molecule. Seventy types of receptors have been identified to date, and each responds to only one type of chemical. For example, some receptors respond to endorphins (which make us feel euphoric), others respond to cortisol (which makes us feel stressed and anxious). A neuron may have millions of receptors on its surface, different numbers of different types — perhaps 10,000 of one type of receptor and 100,000 of another. Thus a particular neuron may be quite sensitive to one type of chemical, but not another. Just as our eyes and ears sense different types of stimuli in the external world, our receptors sense

different types of stimuli in the internal world of our bodies — emotional stimuli. Candace Pert aptly calls these receptors “Molecules of Emotions.” Why is sensitivity to emotions so crucial to brain functioning? Emotions are the primitive signals that keep us alive by motivating us to flee from being bitten or eaten, care for and protect our progeny, and hunt for a tasty morsel. It is elegantly argued by Antonio Damasio that the very origin of consciousness resides in the brain’s capacity for emotion. Awareness of and memory for emotions is adaptive because ability to respond to and remember what produces pain, fear, and pleasure keeps us alive. We pay huge sums to keep our emotional reactions in tune, if only by exercising them vicariously through spectator movies, sports, and drama. Our brains are structured so that which makes us feel is remembered. Take a moment to try this experiment: Close your eyes and remember an incident from your childhood. Odds are strong that it is an incident linked to emotions. Kagan structures are aligned with the simple fact that our brains are emotional; they are fine tuned to selectively respond to and remember any stimuli associated with emotion. A brain-compatible classroom is one in which emotions are not avoided, but rather elicited in service of learning. Various Kagan structures help teachers link emotions to the academic content and help students understand and deal effectively with their own emotions and those of others. In AgreeDisagree Line Ups, for example, students learn to take a stance depending on their feelings about an issue, and to listen with respect to opinions of other students who hold different feelings about the issue. In the constructive controversy that results, students find the content more memorable, and also learn to understand better their own emotions and those of others. Similar outcomes occur in Agreement Circles, Corners, and Proactive Prioritizing, and Paraphrase Passport. Anything that elicits and lets students deal effectively with their own emotions and those of others promotes emotional literacy and emotional intelligence while making the academic content more memorable. Kagan structures are aligned with the simple fact that our brains are emotional: They are fine-tuned to selectively respond to and remember any stimuli associated with emotion.

ALAN COOPER

Developing self management through homework Understand “urgent” and “important” and get it all done.

he homework wars continue, yet with homework there is a huge opportunity for teachers and students to develop time management skills, understand how learning occurs and experience a payoff when effort is exerted. The catalyst is developing self management. The business world has many examples of self management. The educational world tends to be skeptical of these selfmanagement practices, but provided they are adapted, rather than just adopted, they can be a boon.

Stephen Covey explores the relationship of the importance and the urgency with which tasks need doing. He uses four quadrants with an axis of importance and an axis of urgency (see below). Quadrant one, where the urgent and the important meet, contains items that need dealing with immediately. These items cannot be put off or delayed. Quadrant two, where the not urgent and the important meet, contains items that can and should be planned for even though they are not urgent. Here the focus is for long-term goals for which time is needed.

Urgent Important

Deadlines leading to out-of-control crisis management:  stress  Impulsivity. Result:  victimised,  not in control,  anti school, and anti authority.

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Not important

Distractions:  texting friends  watching TV  hanging out Result is that events take control so that goals and plans are worthless  impulsivity overrides persistence

It is this quadrant that Covey believes we should organise ourselves to concentrate on. Quadrant three, where the not important and urgent meet, contains items that should be minimised or eliminated. Answering the phone is urgent because it only rings for so long, but it is not important to answer it: They will ring again. Quadrant four, where the not important and the not urgent meet, contains items that should be eliminated.

Not Urgent Has a realistic plan for spending quality time on the task.  Sufficient and quality time is scheduled  Providing for persistence and decreasing impulsivity  joy of learning. Result in control:  feel empowered  positive relationship building with teacher and parents/care givers. Busywork/Trivia: Focus on unimportant “busy” work e.g. getting the barbed wire exact for a cover page on the holocaust.  lots of effort for no tangible reward Result is events not completed. Reputation for:  being unreliable  a poor students,  disorganised, or even lazy

ALAN COOPER

“ Through such lessons, based on authentic experience and the Covey quadrants, students become fully aware of what they are doing and why.” Working in Quadrant One: Urgent and important It is 11 p.m. on Thursday and the homework project set some weeks ago to be handed in tomorrow is still not complete. From after school until now there has been a desperate sprint to get the work done with mother and daughter working as a makeshift production team. As time goes on, the team becomes more and more grumpy. Relations between mother and daughter are near breakdown. Stress rules. The blame game develops with the everincreasing poor mouthing of the teacher, the principal and the school in general. There is breakdown developing here, too, but this time between the family and the school. Worse, with all this emotional loading, in all probability what has been learned is that school work is nasty, and the teacher a tyrant. The chances of any of the project work being remembered are low. This is a typical quadrant one scenario, the one that Covey advocates avoiding if at all possible. So the question must be asked, and answered, as to how the homework ended up like this, in the worst sort of crisis management situation? Moreover, the mother’s help suggests that this question needs asking: Whose homework is it? Answering this question, using the Covey quadrant as a reference, in a for mal classroom metacognitive reflection lesson, will throw up negatives rather than positives but recognising the problem is a requirement for solving it. If this is not done, students’ behaviour remains beneath the radar for both them and their teacher. Until there is a map to fly by, they are being short-changed and required to fly blind, just blundering on. The students will have to be taught to turn such negatives into positives. Thus where the student says as a negative, “I was lazy and left it to the last minute,” the self-managing student would learn to adjust this to state positively, “I need to plan in bite-size chunks to continually progress the project.”

Through such lessons, based on authentic experience and the Covey quadrants, students become fully aware of what they are doing and why. Thus the K e y C o m p e t e n c y, Managing Self, in the New Zealand Curriculum is taught meaningfully and efficiently by enabling the students to develop clear learning intentions. Working in Quadrant Two: Not Urgent and Important Each Monday this class is given a research list of current affairs questions with the answers to be handed in on Friday. Immediately on getting home this student sits down and starts to do the work. It is, however, about much more than being diligent and obedient. She knows that her week is full, but Monday, after school, is a period where she has quality time available to break the back of the week’s homework. Later she will have quadrant one activities to attend to, such as fixed sports practice times, visiting the library with her father, and more. There is deliberate planning here and in so doing the ability of the student’s brain’s executive function to plan and prioritise is being primed. An authoritarian parent or teacher who demands homework being done at a set time is, to be blunt, robbing the students of this opportunity to grow this executive function that is crucial to full development. However, Monday after school, although available, may not necessarily be the quality time for all. Flexibility according to individual situations is needed. One size does not fit all. Learning styles theory tells us that some individuals have a strong preference for when they work. I well remember a 14-year-old being on the verge of giving up learning the flute because the after-school time being set aside by her parents for practice was not working. She skimped and skipped and ended with little practice. When I suggested that she alter her practice to a different time of day, in this case before breakfast, practice flowed. That was the quality time for her to practice. Eventually she played with her school orchestra at their concert in the Sydney Opera House.

It is important that the students are in control, making them feel empowered and positive about what they are doing. Learning then becomes joyful, and positive relations develop between parent and child, teacher and child, school and home. This then establishes a culture of persistence, leading to ongoing continuous improvement. Working in Quadrant Three: Urgent and Not Important Carrying out quadrant three activities is not all bad. There will be times when an urgent text may need to be attended to immediately. However, in general, these activities are not OK if they have been eventdriven. Thus if quality time for homework has been set aside straight after school and a friend sends a text message that the student reads and replies to, the event (the text message) is taking control. It is better to turn the cell phone, iPad or whatever off or leave it in another room. Urgency may require action but it needs to be rational action, not just an automatic unthinking response. Working in Quadrant Four: Not Urgent and Not Important Don’t! However, it is easy for students to drift unintentionally into this quadrant if they are not aware of this aspect of the quadrant. None of the above will happen without mindful teacher facilitation, where the students are guided to collaboratively reflect on what they and others are doing to solve the problems associated with having homework to do. Such metacognitive reflection will provide data for students’ decision making, but just as important, for the teacher, too. All will grow their personal intelligences. The challenge for the teacher is to set homework in such a way that, with the teacher’s aid, these important self management skills – the priming of the brain’s executive function – can be learned and practiced authentically. To set homework that belongs to quadrant three or four robs them of this learning opportunity.

DR MARVIN MARSHALL

Defining success Understand these words and become an even better teacher.

“T

he Brilliant Inventiveness of S t u d e n t M i s b e h a v i o u r : Te s t Your Classroom Management Skills” was an article in a well-respected educational journal. The article had some good suggestions. However, the article had nothing to do with classroom management; it was entirely about discipline.

PHOTO: CATHY YEULET

Teachers Matter

Confused?

DR MARVIN MARSHALL

So are many educators, even college professors. When speaking at an international conference on character education, a college professor said to me, “I don’t like the word ‘discipline’; it’s too harsh, so I use the term ‘classroom management’ instead.” This teacher of teachers had not a clue as to the differences. I was honoured as the Distinguished Lecturer at a conference of the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE). The membership of this USA association is primarily composed of university professors who teach methods and other educational courses. At my bequest, the name of the Special Interest Group (SIG) was changed from “Classroom Management” to “Classroom Management and Discipline.” Although related, these are distinctly different topics and should not be lumped together as if they were synonymous. Classroom management deals with how things are done. It has to do with procedures, routines, and structure, sometimes to the point of becoming rituals. Classroom management i s t h e t e a c h e r ’s r e s p o n s i b i l i t y a n d i s enhanced when procedures are: 1. Modelled 2. Explained 3. Practiced 4. Reinforced by periodically practicing again. When procedures are learned, routines are established. Routines give order and structure to instruction. Perhaps the greatest error teachers make is assuming students know what to do without first implementing steps one to four above. Good classroom management is essential for efficient teaching and learning. Chances are that when you walk into a room, you do not pay much attention to the floor. But if it were missing you would. The same is true for classroom management. Anytime students do something that irritates the teacher, the first thought should be, “What procedure can I teach so that this doesn’t happen again?” Discipline, in contrast to management, is the student’s responsibility and has to do with behaviour — not procedures. It is about acting responsibly, managing impulse, and having self-control.

A totally non-coercive (but not permissive) approach to discipline that prompts a desire to behave responsibly and does not use a stimulus-response approach is described in the Discipline Without Stress Teaching Model at http://www.marvinmarshall.com/ teaching_model.html.

sharing with one other person, 100 percent of the students participate, even shy students. Learning, in contrast to teaching, pertains to what students do to learn. A fellow proudly announces that he has taught his dog to whistle. The dog cannot whistle but, nevertheless, the owner taught the dog. Point: Teaching and learning are two distinct activities — one pertains to the teacher and the other pertains to the learner.

“ Good classroom management is essential for efficient teaching and learning. Chances are that when you walk into a room, you do not pay much attention to the floor. But if it were missing you would. The same is true for classroom management.”

Classroom management and discipline are two of the four distinctive concepts necessary for effective teaching. The other two concepts are curriculum and instruction. Curriculum refers to the subject matter and skills being taught. The curriculum is determined by departments of education, boards of education, the “federal agenda,” professional associations, the community— and, more recently, corporate performance accountability models for learning. It is the teacher’s responsibility to make the curriculum relevant, interesting, meaningful, and/or enjoyable. Instruction has two components: 1. teaching and 2. learning. The former refers to what the teacher does, the latter to what students do.

I f y o u h a v e a n unsuccessful lesson, here are the essential questions to ask yourself: • Was it the curriculum? • (I just didn’t make it appealing, interesting, relevant, enjoyable, meaningful or prompt curiosity.) or

• Was it instruction? (I • had a wonderful lesson p lla a n n e d, b ut I did all the work; the students were not involved enough in learning activities.) or

• Was it poor classroom management? (I had a wonderful lesson, but it took 10 minutes to get the material organized.) or • Was it a discipline problem? (I prompted curiosity, taught a good lesson with meaningful student activities, had ever ything implemented efficiently, but a few students still behaved inappropriately.) Reflecting on these questions enhances a clear understanding of the differences between curriculum, instruction, classroom management, and discipline.

Good teaching of a lesson has three parts: 1. grabbing interest; 2. the actual presentation of the material (and if a skill, practice), and 3. student reflection for enhanced understanding, reinforcement, and retention. A major mistake teachers make is not spending a few minutes at the end of each lesson having students share with one other person what they have learned. By

PHOTO:TIERO

SANDRA BRACE

Teaching and living the Habits of Mind You can learn as much as your students.

Teachers Matter

he joy of teaching has been a part of my life for over 25 years. For the past seven, I have taught the Habits of Mind. The “Habits” have transformed the purpose and practice of my teaching, and the student achievement that I have witnessed as a result has been no less than extraordinary. Also, I have found that teaching the HOMs offers the opportunity to live the HOMs -- and this might be the most important piece of all. I wonder if far above and beyond the scope of what we teach as teachers it is who we are as teachers that impact out students most.

Teaching and living the Habits means that we value thoughtfulness, collaboration, l e a r n i n g a n d j o y. I t m e a n s t h a t t h e focus of our day, regardless of what we are doing, is also a framework to order and process the events of the day in a thoughtful way. It means that we are in agreement with the notion that there are identifiable behaviours and characteristics of successful people, and that we can cultivate these in our own selves. For me, and those around me, this has meant a lot more “happy.” As I work toward improving my practice as a teacher, I am continually impressed by how a HOM focus impacts my own day-to-day life challenges. Both living and teaching can be incredibly stressful experiences at

times, and we want to be successful in what we are doing. Teaching and living the HOMs creates a structure where we can mindfully address life’s challenges within a structure for success. No wonder it works so well in the classroom. Teachers are wonderfully diverse and we choose to teach for a variety of reasons. Whatever they may be, teachers value thinking and learning. Teachers value the art of teaching and learning, and we value each other. We value the work we are doing, and are aware of its importance. When we reflect throughout the day on what we are doing, and where it is aligning with successful behaviour, we are working the Habits. We set up a structure

SANDRA BRACE

for success for ourselves and those around us and we are able to replace some of our existing habits that aren’t working for us with some that do. Within this thoughtful structure, our passion can be preserved. We don’t experience burn-out in the same way when we are actively working on ourselves,

Teaching and living the Habits of Mind is ver y much about exploration, new understanding, and joy. When the focus is thoughtfulness, relationships are valued and strengthened. Teaching includes a variety of complex interactions with people and structures daily, and the learning

“ Teaching and living the Habits means that we value thoughtfulness, collaboration, learning and joy. ”

and really engaged, and finding our joy. The most significant difference living the HOMs has made in my life is the peace of mind and being that has come with it. Te a c h i n g c a n b e a h a r d j o b . I n m y experience, the job of teaching has become much more intrinsically meaningful to me by teaching the Habits. It has served me as an unfailing structure by which to identify personal growth and achievement, and provided a language that if adhered to will have a “win-win” solution. We are inspired by our successes, inspired to refine our practice, and the focus of thoughtfulness brings deeper meaning to the job. All thinkers and lear ners respond positively to environments that are shaped by thoughtfulness. Students want to be listened to, and understood, and challenged and allowed partnership in their learning. As teachers we have to meet our students where they are, and the HOMs always apply. A student must first and foremost be his own success story, and the HOMs provide a flexible structure toward this for every student in the class. It is success in learning that inspires a lifelong learner, and this is our purpose for student and teacher alike. There is greater meaning for all. Teachers will go the extra mile for what is meaningful to them. Teachers frequently go the extra hundred.

community becomes increasingly diverse. In teaching the Habits we model the construction of a language and system of assessing what is going on around us with the intention of thoughtfully dealing with it. It is an invaluable system for difficult situations or decisions. Often in teaching, it is a challenge not to take things personally, especially when our plans are derailed. With a constant focus on where the pieces of what we are experiencing are connected to the HOMs, we bring the situation, problem or event to a still point of thoughtfulness; and the results are always more positive, harmonious, and peaceful - even in the most challenging settings, if given the opportunity. As teachers we deal with fluctuating schedules, expectations and demands; diverse personalities, conflicts of ideas and opinions, unforeseen circumstances, and problems that require difficult resolutions. Teaching and living the Habits provide a structure and a system to navigate the complex journey of our lives, both personally and professionally.

Even though I am a teacher/author/ speaker by profession, I am first and foremost a mum, and have been blessed with two wonderful children. My son was in his late teens and out of the house before I learned about the HOMs, but my daughter has enjoyed the benefits of my new learning for the last seven years. I often wish my son had been a part of my “mindful” parenting, I know it would have been very useful to both of us - especially in his early teens. The work of parenting can be very challenging, and very often parents are hard pressed to feel “successful” in this role. Adopting the HOMs can set up a structure in our personal lives that supports our ability to identify where we are succeeding - even in the most challenging situations. Living the Habits means that we value the HOMs in every part of our lives that require thought, decision making, management and coping. We have committed to a more thoughtful way of “being,” that soon becomes who we “are.” In my experience this has meant greater understanding, better communication, and much more harmony at home. Whatever comes up in the course of a day, I try to find a way to connect with the Habits. I may not be able to “fix” it, but even the worst day can have opportunities to experience success. In the same way that students are inspired to work harder once they are experiencing success, we are thus inspired at home. Everyone does better coming from a place of strength, and harmony in the home is one of the most important “successes” we can enjoy as teachers, and indeed, as people. I was almost 20 years into teaching before I introduced the HOMs. The transformation that has occurred as a result has been life-changing for me as a teacher and as a person. I experience success in my daily life in a whole new way. My perceptions and understanding of the world at work around me have changed. I certainly haven’t “figured it all out,” but I am much more excited and far less intimidated by the process of “getting there.” I am more positive, more focused, more understanding and compassionate, more thoughtful - and most important, happier.

ALLIE MOONEY

If you reach me, you can teach me Here’s how to match your planning with your students’ personalities.

good reminder when lesson planning: Think about the students that we are teaching and what they would need out of a lesson to engage in the learning. As Marilyn Ferguson says, “The greatest learning disability is ‘pattern’ blindness, the inability to see relationships or detect meaning.” One pattern is identifying the personality of a student (reading them) so we can connect with them. Remember, great minds do not think alike. We think differently and as educators how we go about “reading patterns of behaviour” will make our jobs much easier in the classroom. No longer do we teach by random chance, but more by strategic focus. As we are wired differently, we might consider who we have in our classroom. Each personality type has different motivations and needs. If we knew how to meet those needs, there is a better chance of student engagement and effective learning.

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Basic needs and motivations of the four personalities are shown here in this chart.

Playful – outgoing, talker, enthusiastic, imaginative, energetic.

Powerful “take charge” types! Commanding, Problem solvers. Natural- born leadership traits.

needs • Attentive listeners • Affection • Approval • Acceptance • People and fun

needs • Appreciation for all achievements • Opportunity for leadership • Participation in family decisions • Something to control

Peaceful – relaxed, good listeners and pleasing personality.

Precise good student, deliberate, organised, tidy and talented.

needs • Peace and relaxation • Time to observe and think • Praise, being valued and respected • Gentle encouragement • No pressure.

needs • Satisfaction from quality achievement • Sensitivity • Space to call their own • Security and stability • Separation from noise • Supportive Teachers that say “I believe in You”

ILLUSTRATION: IONUT DAN POPESCU

Have a look at this lesson plan and consider the four primary personalities when planning your day:

Playful

ALLIE MOONEY

Peaceful

Precise

Needs: fun, activity.

Needs: A peaceful environment

Needs: Structure.

Choice, choice and more choice!

Time to think and work.

To use cause/effect reasoning.

Shared Assignments.

To observe & remember specifics.

Variety, Flexibility.

To exercise curiosity.

Reward with opportunity to speak.

Limited choice plus an overview.

Opportunity to work with others.

Individual assignments.

Step by step.

Let them verbalise their learning

Praise for being adaptable.

Smaller assignments.

Harmony.

Time for reflection and processing.

If you don’t know what a Playful wants, it’s because they’ve changed their mind!

• • • • Learning OPPORTUNITIES / EXPERIENCE

• • • •

Powerful You will always know what a Powerful wants!

It’s very difficult to know what a Peaceful wants. They don’t express it.

Ongoing feedback. Reflection.

If you don’t know what a precise wants – you haven’t asked!

Clear directions. Clearly defined expectations.

To communicate by writing. To have plans and timeframes shared.

• • • •

Peaceful OPPORTUNITIES / EXPERIENCE Structure OPPORTUNITIES / EXPERIENCE

• • • •

Needs: Control. To know the big picture. To be hands on. Concepts and possibilities included. Opportunities to solve problems. Leadership opportunity. Stimulating fast paced program.

• • • •

“ Remember, great minds do not think alike. We think differently and as educators how we go about “reading patterns of behaviour” will make our jobs much easier in the classroom.”

Leadership OPPORTUNITIES / EXPERIENCE

• • • •

DEBORAH BARCLAY

Connecting with kids Resolve conflict by resolving to listen.

Today teachers face an ever-increasing amount of difficult children. With funding and support being reduced, it has become the school’s responsibility to deal with more and more of the difficult issues themselves.

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When you put more than 100 children together in a playground, it is inevitable that

conflict of some kind occurs. And of course, children come from a variety of different backgrounds, responding and reacting differently to each other. When I was new to the job it became evident that nothing would ever be resolved unless I delved deeper into the children’s way of thinking. I was literally putting out fires and waiting for the next one, without getting to the core of the issue. Many teachers deal with children involved in one-off incidents day to day, however it is the children who seem to be in the middle of conflict frequently that we need to focus on.

I believe that one of the key elements to dealing with children involved in ongoing conflict is to develop a connection with that child. This applies to whether they are the victim or the offender. Connecting is all about taking the time to show that child that you care, that you will listen and that you value what they have to say. This is pivotal to achieving an honest and authentic response from children. When dealing with kids, I know that: • Until proven otherwise, they need to know that you believe what they are saying

PHOTO: DANIEL KORZENIEWSKI

hen I first began my role five years ago as a deputy principal in a primary school I had no idea just how often I would be called on to leave my actual job of curriculum development and leading teaching to resolve conflict among children.

DEBORAH BARCLAY

“ Many teachers deal with children involved in one-off incidents day to day; however it is the children who seem to be in the middle of conflict frequently that we need to focus on. “

• They deserve a chance to speak and be heard

minutes getting to know them better before I start unpacking an incident.

• They need to trust that you will be fair and reasonable

As with any mediation, both parties are heard, without any interruption from the other and I pay special attention to the speaker, letting them know that I have heard what they have said.

• Unless you treat them with a degree of respect, they will not open up to you In my experience, having a connection with children can bring about an honest response, and they can be quite reflective about their behaviour. They feel safe and supported enough to be open and upfront. I empathise with them if necessary and if relevant, I affirm good decision making. With children that have a pattern of getting involved in conflict overtime, I try to go out of my way to build a relationship or connection with the child. This may be a chat in the playground when I am on duty or a positive comment if I am passing through their room. I let them know that I am interested in what they are doing and that my door is open if they need to come and talk. I try to find out what they are interested in and make a special effort to refer to it when the opportunity arises. Humour works wonders and something as small as a pat on the back can work with even the “toughest” exteriors. I almost always ensure a decent amount of time has passed from the time of the incident to the time I sit and talk with them about it. This ensures they have cooled down and have also had some time to think about their actions. If I am dealing with a child I don’t know well, I will spend a few

I think that children who are repeatedly involved in conflict need to experience how it feels to be kind toward others. I have never been convinced that paperwork or time-out forms have any long lasting impact on behavioural change, but an act of goodwill can be powerful. In a classroom, lack of good social skills can impact on quality learning time. I think our responsibility as teachers is to instil a level of self confidence in children so that they will have some skills to deal with conflict themselves when it arises. Although the details of behavioural incidents vary widely, the actual cause of all conflict is almost always the same: children not having a good sense of themselves. It is all about teaching children to:

Children intuitively know when they have acted out of turn or have done something wrong and they expect a consequence. I find that most of the time, when asked, children come up with their own consequence that is fair and reasonable. This enables them to take responsibility and ownership of their actions. I believe it is important for a child that has hurt another to really see the impact their actions have had. Part of their consequence is to listen to the other child and see and feel the emotional impact they have had on them.

• Really like who they are and owning their unique qualities

As with any conflict, there are always two sides to every story, and often the child claiming to be the victim is more often than not the instigator.

Although it takes times to deal with conflict effectively, it does pay off long term. I think you can have all the great policies, paperwork, and procedures in place with behaviour issues, but unless you connect with a child and genuinely care about them, little progress will be made in modifying negative behaviour long term.

Once time-out forms are filled out, where they have reflected on their actions and thought about what they would do differently next time, at my request, they set about fulfilling one act of kindness toward the child they have hurt or offended. A positive act is so much more powerful than a negative one, and it is so rewarding to talk to kids later about how good it feels to be kind as opposed to being upset or angry. I usually touch base the next day to see what it was that they chose to do and what happened as a result.

• Be firm and assertive when needed • Be confident in saying “No” • Be aware that not everybody will like them and that is OK. • Realise that sometimes the people we want to be friends with aren’t necessarily the right people to hang out with. • Walk away if you don’t like something.

CHRISTINE KERR

Overcome bullying once and for all It all starts inside.

ullying has been around for such a long time; we accept it as part of human nature. However, isn’t how we respond to the challenge the key? If we keep on doing what we have always done, won’t we achieve the same results? We must take alternative actions to overcome it. We can do a few things each day with our students and fellow colleagues (adults bully, too) that could have a huge effect on people’s attitudes toward bullying in our workplace or community.

The dilemma We may state our school environment has a “zero tolerance” for bullying. We currently may discuss why bullies conduct themselves the way they do, and how we can “fix” them, and for the victims, we suggest what they could be doing to help themselves.

A different approach I have visited a school where bullying is almost non-existent. The students: • Really want to be there, really! • C o m e f r o m a w i d e r a n g e o f s o c i o economic backgrounds

PHOTO: CATHY YEULEET

Teachers Matter

If you have been a victim of bullying yourself, you will know there are over whelming personal feelings and thoughts of despair, a sense of “no way out,” isolation and hopelessness. Schools attempt a number of interventions, spending hours supporting the victim and working alongside the bully to improve the relationships involved. Restorative practices have been successful in some schools. Unfortunately, though, because of the victim’s personal negative neuro associations in their mind (their thought patterns which have become habits), the situation may never totally go away.

CHRISTINE KERR

• Strive for excellence in their studies • Treat each other and their teachers with awesome respect • Maintain focus during class and stay totally engaged in class discussions • Demonstrate superior social skills towards visitors The staff: • Really want to be there, truly! • Are totally committed to the vision of the school, and collectively share the same philosophy for education there (part of the job description) • Have total dedication to their students and their teaching craft • Have high expectations of their students in academia, all in-school relationships and personal self-management • C r e a t e h i g h l y e f f e c t i v e t h i n k i n g environments in their classrooms • Demonstrate genuine caring relationships with their students – a major key

exactly how they do on the website videos. You will experience the sense of commitment and purpose so they will achieve their huge target of 2020 college graduates by the year 2020. I visited working classrooms, the Principal’s Grade 12 assembly (he knew every student’s name!) and the school cafeteria during lunch break. I spent time with staff and students, discussing why their school is successful, and why the students are so engaged, raising the achievement bar high. I was inspired. They all: • Are so grateful to be at Noble Street • Accept nothing less than their best efforts • Focus on what they have, not on what they don’t have • Are prepared to do whatever it takes to have the students succeed • Daily promote and live the “7 Habits for Highly Effective Teens” based on Sean Covey’s book.

“ If we are aware of this, we can help young people reverse their negative thoughts. For example, instead of focusing on the one thing they did wrong today, we can remind them of the many things they did right. ”

This may all sound too good to be true, especially when we know that all staff and students manage this in an environment which:

The solution for us A child with a healthy, positive self-belief cannot be bullied or be a bully. It’s that simple. What determines this self-belief? For every single child, wherever they come from, it is their minds that hold the key, the belief systems they hold of themselves. This helps explain why some children never get bullied, while others are constant targets of bullying b e h a v i o u r. M o r e a n d m o r e e v i d e n c e indicates that our thoughts control how everything happens to us. If we are aware of this, we can help young people reverse their negative thoughts. For example, instead of focusing on the one thing they did wrong today, we can remind them of the many things they did right. Just as valuable as the 7 Habits at Noble Street, the NZ curriculum provides five key competencies as a foundation tool to support ourselves and our students. These are the beginning of self-awareness. Concentrated programmes to further build confidence could lead to sustained, positive self-belief for all children; the younger they are exposed to this the better. This is because 95 percent of their belief systems are embedded in their minds before they reach 20 years of age. Actions we can take every day: • Praise students for who they are as people, and have them praise themselves. • Commit to build unconditional, positive relationships with our students, one day at a time. • Students state gratitude for what they have, rather than focus on what they do not have. • Serve others. • Provide programmes that build and support students’ positive self-belief; these can begin as soon as they start school.

• Is cramped within a four-storey building

• Laugh with our students.

• Limits everyone indoors during the winter months

By the way, we don’t need to visit schools overseas; there are schools that have overcome bullying in New Zealand. Together, everyone will achieve more.

• Is lacking in funding The school is Noble Street College Prep in Chicago, Illinois. I invite you to check out the amazing website. I was personally greeted by the students in their classes,

ERIC FRAGENHEIM

Helping Bill Gates create a smart phone A process to solve any “problem”

October 2010, I spent two days at Central Queensland University’s Bundaberg campus through an invitation from my friend, Dr Rosie Thrupp, who lectures pre-service teachers. Rosie Thrupp and her small group of colleagues offered a stimulating and innovative program for about 500 students. I was asked to deliver something on creative and cooperative thinking; I’m sharing my presentation here because I know that any teacher can either use the lesson as it stands now or modify the content but retain the process. The account of the lesson that follows is accompanied by a Power Point that you can download from our web site at www.itcpublications.com.au/Powerpoints/ Gateswayphone.

2. Structure of thinking We t h e n s p e n t f i v e t o e i g h t m i n u t e s becoming familiar with Bloom’s taxonomy (cognitive domain) by explaining the relationship of the icons to the levels of Bloom. (See graphic left.) Next we agreed that all the students were proficient in the Remember, Understand and Apply skills in terms of their familiarity with mobile and smart phones and therefore any teaching on my part was superfluous, which meant we could move on directly toward the higher-order thinking skills. We also agreed that to generate improvements, one needs to be aware of the weaknesses or faults of the current phones.

The lesson is titled “Helping Bill Gates.”

1. Opening

Teachers Matter

I showed a picture of Bill Gates (see the Powerpoint) and played a recorded message from him to me. Though my American accent is not up to scratch, I am sure that every student thought it was him speaking to me. In essence, it said “Hi Eric. I hear that you are going to the MIST (Math, ICTs, Science, Technology) Enrichment Days at CQU.

Listen, Eric. I am in trouble. Apple is killing us with their iPhone. I don’t have one yet and people are calling me a ‘has-been.’ I need your help. I need your students to analyse and evaluate all the existing smart phones and then I need them to generate special ideas for me to incorporate into my planned phone, which I will call the Gatesway Phone. I want them to help me design a revolutionary new phone, so please hurry! Send me all their great ideas.”

3. Analysing and evaluating existing phones With the Thomas Edison idea in mind, students were asked to place their phones on their tables and, working in groups of four, they were given an A3 sized Extended Pros, Cons and Questions sheet. We used a Think Pair Four Share to generate as many aspects (perspectives) as possible of currently available phones which we could examine. (Think:Pair:Four:Share – In teams of four, each student “Thinks” on their own for 10 to 60 seconds and writes down some ideas. Then, on a signal from the teacher, the students form into pairs and tell each other their ideas and attempt to think of more ideas. After one minute or more, on the teacher’s signal, pairs now merge into a group of four and tell each other their ideas and make one list, eliminating duplicate ideas. Then students Share this with the teacher who writes these ideas on the whiteboard).

“ This has real substance when applied toward the end of the unit once students have a good body of knowledge on the topic. ”

ERIC FRAGENHEIM

Each group then decides which of these aspects of phones they will examine and will enter up to six of these ideas in the column marked Perspectives. Note that not each group will have the same list. Some of the aspects or perspectives were key board, battery, emails, SMS, strength/ weakness of screen, security, ease of losing or leaving behind, phone function, camera, and many more. I invited the group to offer pros, cons and questions for a few of these aspects and then each team was given about six minutes to analyse and evaluate as many of the aspects or perspectives as possible. Students were encouraged to concentrate on the cons and questions column as that would help most in the final step.

4. Thinking of designing creative ideas for Bill Gates Still in groups of four, students were now tasked with generating or designing seven ideas each by using the co-operative design tool, 1:4:P:C:R. or 1:4:Publish, Circle, Refine Step 1. (1) Each student examines the PCQ and on a separate piece of paper, they record up to seven great ideas. No talking takes place. When each member of the group has completed their list (not all will think of seven ideas), they put down their pen, signaling to the other three that they are ready for Step 2. Step 2. (4) Each member of the group now takes a turn to tell the other three their ideas as well as explaining these ideas. This can lead to animated discussion and clarification. Step 3. (Publish) Each group is given a larger sheet of paper (A3) and a permanent marker. Their job is to determine the top

seven ideas from all the ideas generated. This can also lead to animated discussion because several of the ideas will be rejected in the pursuit of finding the “best” seven ideas. Analysis, persuasion, evaluation, justification, attribute listing and many more skills are evident in this step. The focus is on the group and not any one person. Results can be displayed as dot points, brief sentences, icons, graphic organizers -- any way that each group chooses. When ready, each group posts their sheet on the wall at head height. One member of the group is selected to stand next to the sheet as the “Explainer” or “Defender.” Step 4. (Circle) The remaining three members of each group move in a clockwise direction and visit all the Explainers or Defenders and their sheets of seven ideas in turn to see what they can learn as they circle the room. One member of each group should carry a pen and paper to make a note of any good idea that may be noticed. The visiting groups can ask the explainer for clarification or even challenge the Explainer

on certain points if they wish. Once they have finished their visit, they move on to the next sheet of ideas until they have visited all Explainers. Step 5. (Return and Refine) Each group now returns to their home base with their Explainer and their sheet of ideas. Those who circled the room show the great ideas they picked up, and the Explainer reports back on any points that may have been perceived to be either excellent or even weak. A discussion follows and each team can decide whether they wish to retain their original list of seven ideas or whether they wish to delete certain ideas, replacing them with ideas noticed at other groups. Ideas can be rewritten, edited, tightened and refined in any way the group feels is suitable. As a final step, each group presents their ideas to the whole class. If the sheets are also posted at the front of the room, it is possible to detect certain common ideas from the various groups, and a final class list can possibly be designed.

ERIC FRAGENHEIM

Innovations Some of the innovations were remarkable, many of these coming from primary students who made up the bulk of the participants. 1. Because it is easy to leave behind, program the phone so that it recognizes the owner and when the owner inadvertently leaves without the phone, the phone emits a wailing or crying or a bleating s o u n d t o a t t r a c t t h e o w n e r ’s attention. 2. Because of battery problems, have a small solar panel that augments the battery when in sunlight. 3. If the phone is stolen, the new owner receives a shock every time it is used and the location is sent to the owner’s computer. 4. This was as a result of a talk on anaphylactic attacks the previous week in a school. If someone is prone to an anaphylactic attack, the phone is programmed with that person’s skin touch and medical condition. The phone has a small needle with adrenalin, which can only be activated if such an attack were to occur. The sufferer than has to hold the phone to their chest. This would activate the phone, allowing the needle to protrude and the sufferer would then stick the needle into a part of the body where it is needed, injecting a small dose of adrenalin. At the same time, the ambulance, doctor, parent and school office is alerted and a GPS would show the exact location of the student. This can be modified for many types of medical conditions.

There were dozens of other ideas, and maybe I should have sent these to Bill Gates?

budget or an itinerary, plan a response to a problem, design logos, mottos, house plans, design clothing and much more.

Observation

An interesting exercise is to attempt to list all the cognitive, affective and social skills that are being displayed by the students during this process. This is easy to accomplish since the teacher is not really involved apart from ensuring that the process is clearly understood and explained. To obtain a free copy of the PowerPoint presentation that accompanies this lesson plan, please go to www/rodineducation. com.au/downloads.

This is a wonderful strategy for the session after lunch as there is considerable physical movement and a great deal of student-centred learning with high engagement. This has real substance when applied toward the end of the unit once students have a good body of knowledge on the topic. It can last anywhere from 25 to 90 minutes or more and can even be adapted as a longer investigation over several weeks, but will require modification for teacher input at certain times. Teachers can apply this process to determine a strong opening or closing paragraph, establish classroom rules or considerations, design a

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FEATURED PRODUCT BY DARLENE MATHIESON

The power of three Women coming together to help teachers and students

hat happens when an individual goal becomes a common goal? Amazing things, and great opportunities. Individual passions for literacy have brought three women, including me, together in spirit across three generations and a lifetime. We are: Mary Andrew – a primary school teacher, who wanted to help children in her classes who were struggling, and would otherwise have fallen through the cracks. Her determination to empower these children led to her developing a literacy programme that gave individual assistance to a learner, no matter what level they were at. Barbara Griffith – a literacy resource teacher, who wanted to be able to help many more children than the ones she could work with herself. Her passion for books and helping children learn how to read sparked her to look for new opportunities to develop resources.

Me, Darlene Mathieson - a graphic artist and copy writer who noticed that my friends’ lack of literacy skills and confidence were limiting their career choices after high

school. My passion for books, art, learning and children led me to research learning styles and work in remedial reading. All of us as individuals wanted to create something that would greatly benefit children and leave a legacy that would continue long after their own lifetime. This has indeed come to pass, as the initial programme developed by Mary in 1967, before I was even born, has now been developed even further after Mary’s death. Parents, tutors and teachers have been s u c c e s s f u l l y u s i n g M a r y ’s o r i g i n a l Simplistikit programme for over 30 years in New Zealand and Australia. Reading and spelling difficulties are approached by focusing on the sound and letter patterns of English. This emphasis on word patterns doesn’t mean spelling is more important than reading, it means reading improvement for many people will be slow unless they study and observe the written and spoken forms of words, too. The word study programme is broken down into 12 steps, which begin with easier patterns and graduate to more

difficult ones, relating them to both reading and writing. There were huge benefits in revising and updating the red manual, which had become outdated. Two major changes were made by splitting the original 170-page manual into four separate books, and creating full-colour illustrations and activity diagrams to make the programme easier and more fun to use for both learners and their teachers. Instructions are written in everyday language with full explanations, which gives parents confidence to use it with their own children. Tutors and teachers will also find the quick teaching tips and extra notes useful. Barbara and I are also developing new resources and additional activities to supplement the existing programme, and looking ahead to creating electronic books and educational games in the future. We’re excited that our combined passions have come together to provide educators with resources that will improve the skill levels, and create better opportunities in the futures of the children they work with.

JOHN SHACKLETON

It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it

Teachers Matter

ILLUSTRATION: ANTON BRAND

Use your whole body to communicate your true message.

will come as no surprise to those of you who work with children that my kids are a great source of inspiration to me. When my eldest son Luke was about 19 months old he had a repertoire of six or seven words that include Ta, Daddy, Quack, Moo, but I was absolutely amazed how much he understood me and my wife.

you want to go to your room?” he would change his behaviour. I knew he didn’t really understand the question because he was too young, and we didn’t always use the same words, but he usually got the message and unless he was having a really bad day, we got the behaviour change we were looking for.

We adopted the “time out” approach to bad behaviour and on most occasions when he heard us say something like “Do

When I started to see this happening, it took me back to the rapport work I did when studying neuro-linguistic

programming, and the excitement for me started with the following question: What percentage of our communication comes from the words we use and what percentage is non-verbal? Now if you don’t already know the answer to this question, then stop and have a guess. This has been scientifically studied: Words produce an influence score of only seven percent, our voice quality 38 percent and our physiology or body language 55

JOHN SHACKLETON

I’ve tried my own rather non scientific experiments with this and found the same sort of results. Try this when you are in a conversation with a friend. At an appropriate time in the conversation say the following words, “You really are a stupid idiot, aren’t you?”, but say them, while touching the person on the arm, have a smile on your face, laughing (with them, not at them), using a friendly tone to your voice and when you’ve finished the sentence, hug them. The words are rather negative but they are only seven percent of your communication and 93 percent of what you said is positive, friendly and loving. It’s pretty certain that you’ll get a positive response even though you’ve said some rather nasty words. You can try it the other way around if you like but don’t blame me if you lose a friend. Say the words “I really like you” but have everything about your voice and physiology say the opposite. Shout the words in a short, blunt way, put a sarcastic tone to your voice, look them directly in the eye in an aggressive manner, turn or even move away from them while you say it. You might end up with a black eye! In both of these examples the other person will pick up on the incongruence in your communication and make a decision about the meaning of what you said based on conflicting evidence. They’ll be influenced more by your physiology than anything else which means that they’ll pick up on your mood as your physiology will change according to the mood you are

ILLUSTRATION: ANTON BRAND

percent. This explains why your mum always knew when you were lying and that old adage that she used to say to you was true: It’s not what you said, it’s how you said it. Only seven percent of the comprehension of the other person is influenced by what we say, 93 percent of the influence is from the way in which we say it. So it really goes to show that our choice of actual words doesn’t really m a t t e r m u c h b e c a u s e i t ’s o u r v o i c e qualities, tone, volume, intonation and our body language that are giving the message to the other person.

in. It’s impossible to stand upright, with powerful confident body posture, strong deep breathing and a stupid grin on your face when you are depressed. So you can tell people you feel wonderful with the intention of tricking them into believing you, but unless you pay attention to your physiology they will almost certainly not be convinced. This congruence is so important if you are teaching because if you are trying to communicate a lesson to your pupils a n d d o n ’t h a v e a lot of enthusiasm for that particular subject, or don’t feel confident that you are remembering everything correctly as you pass it on,

“ Words produce an influence score of only seven percent, our voice quality 38 percent and our physiology or body language 55 percent.”

they’ll pick up on it, and could lose interest in an important part of the curriculum. Your voice quality and body physiology will be giving one message so your words will become irrelevant as they are not what the children will focus on. This means that you have to have confidence in what you are teaching. And that is why you can also pick up on how your pupils are feeling and their levels of understanding even when their v e rb a l m es s ag e is that ever ything is fine.

look at my documents and then said, “Sir can I ask you a quick question before you board?” “Certainly,” I replied as politely as possible. Yep she did; she asked, “Did that hurt?”

NGAHI BIDOIS

When I got to my seat, I ended up between these huge guys and the stewardess took pity on me. She took me to another section of the plane where I had a whole row of seats to myself and as I thanked her she said, “You are most welcome, sir. Just before I go I hope you don’t mind if I ask you a question.” I can hear you saying no way…well yes way…she asked the question: “Did that hurt?”

Asked and answered Be open to questions – and you’ll learn how to help people.

am writing this article in my room on the 7th floor of the Park Royal Hotel which used to be called the Hilton. I will be a keynote speaker here tomorrow morning. The hotel is located opposite terminal 2 at the Melbourne International airport. My curtain is wide open, it has just turned evening, and I am watching planes line up like street lights as they fly in from all over the world or return home. It has reminded me of the time I flew out of the Air NZ terminal 2 in Los Angeles (LAX). The first stage of departure from LAX: You put your bags on an x-ray machine and watch to make sure they go through okay. I was watching my bags when a big guy comes over and says in a deep Barry White voice “Excuse me, sir.” I turned to look at him, thinking my bags had gone through okay and wondered why he was wanting to talk to me, when he said, “Did that

? ??

hurt?”

Teachers Matter

H e w a s referring to the process of receiving my ta moko on my f a c e . “ Ye s i t d i d actually – but you prepare

for the pain because that is a part of the experience of receiving a gift from your ancestors.” We talked for a few more moments before I left him to go to the second stage, which is below some stairs where you hand the person your boarding pass and passport. She took one look at my documents and said, “Sir, is it okay if I ask you a question?” I remember thinking, well actually you just did ask a question before replying “Certainly.” She then asked, “Did that hurt?” I couldn’t believe she had just asked the same question. After several more minutes of polite conversation I went upstairs to the x-ray machines where I had to take off my shoes and remove my laptop from my bag before stepping through. As I stepped through the machine, it did not make a

sound. I thought, “great we are out of here,” when the young lady stopped me and said, “Sir I need to ask you a question before you proceed.” I remember thinking, “but the machine did not make a noise,” when she asked, “Did that hurt?” I was dumbfounded. After more polite conversation, I went and did some shopping before returning to the departure lounge where I had to hand the person my passport and boarding pass again before going down the tunnel to the plane. She had a quick

So what questions do people ask you? What question are you asked most often? How do you reply? I must admit that I invite people into my world to ask questions by always trying to smile and be nice to them. My purpose is people, so I want people to feel they can approach me and ask questions. I even have some well thought-out answers now, too. This is how it ought to be in business. All businesses exist to invite and answer questions, and my work with leaders indicates that they ask the best questions of all. Remember: “Ko te kai o te rangatira ko te korero, ko te purini o te korero ko te patai.” The food of chiefs is discussion and the questions are the pudding. I hope people feel free to ask you questions and even more important, I hope you have thought about the answers. Questions are a bit like the planes I am watching landing and taking off.

They bring people to a destination to enjoy the answers before flying off again to ask questions elsewhere.

ILLUSTRATION: MICHAEL BROWN

KAREN BOYES

The alarm you’ll look forward to: iStudyAlarm The iStudyAlarm is now available from the Apple itunes store.

tudying for a class, mid term or final exam just got easier with iStudyAlarm. Staying focused while studying can often be a challenge, and the iStudyAlarm is designed to help exam students of all ages. Research shows that studying in 20-minute intervals and taking a five-minute brain break is highly beneficial for learning and memory. Studying is supposed to get you ahead in life, not make you a nervous wreck. Plus studying for too long causes your brain to get tired and forget key information.

How the iStudyAlarm works When you are ready to study, simply tap the start button. The timer will go off after 20 minutes and prompt you to spend two minutes revising what you have just learned. Next the alarm will time your five-minute brain break.

Brain break ideas What you do during a break can be as important as when you are actually studying. This menu provides quick brain-friendly break ideas.

Exam tips Ideas of what to do before, during and after an exam. Tips include questionanswering advice, what to do if you can’t remember and hints about what examiners are looking for. Each tip can be expanded to find out more information.

Motivate me Provides quick ideas to help keep you on track and focused. There are also links to short Youtube clips about effective study techniques.

Library mode If you are working in a quiet environment, you can simply switch the alarm to vibrate mode and still stay focused without disturbing others.

Features include: Study tips:

The iStudy alarm is designed exclusively for use on iPhone 4, iPod Touch. iPhone 3G/3GS and iPad. It is now available from the Apple itunes Store.

Practical tips to keep you on track and studying in a brain friendly and effective way. Tips include setting up your study environment, memory and recall strategies, brain food and note making ideas. Each tip can be expanded to learn more.

PHOTO: ALEXARANDA

Teachers Matter ROWENA McEVOY

ROWENA McEVOY

Are you the critic or the criticised? Strive to be neither by being nice.

ver y minute we spend gossiping, pulling people down or criticising another person is 60 seconds we are not becoming a better person. And worse, the time spent pointing out faults will make us a more bitter, nasty and miserable person: Grow up and be logical; being a nasty person will never make you a better person.

And why do people gossip, criticise and find fault? Nice people don’t do it, so it must be because you are not a nice person -- and why not? Perhaps you don’t like who you are very much, so rather than tell the truth, sort the challenges you have with yourself and become a better person, it is easier to find the faults you have in other people with the goal to feel better because if other people are yucky, it can’t be that bad? A logical person understands that you cannot change another person and certainly not by criticising them or their actions behind their back. If you really do have a challenge with another person’s behaviour or actions, be brave, be courageous and do the right thing: Tell him to his face. A solution is not found by talking about a person to another person. And worse, with the new era of “Social Networking” (more like social nastiness), emailing, blogging, Face-booking and Tweeting your nasty opinion or criticism will now reveal the real you to the world. A person who does not have the maturity or the courage to sort their own challenges in private is not one to be respected, trusted or worse for you, employed.

So easy to post a nasty comment, not so easy to talk to the person face-to-face. Savvy employers are no longer reading your resume/CV for the information. All we need is your name and Google/Facebook will give us all the information we need to find out who you really are -- including the way you treat people, the way you dress when there is no standard, what you get up to in your free time and who is in your circle of influence. They are the folks who usually determine who you really are. And access to what you think is private, deleted or personal is a simple computer mission by a clued-in programmer. The nasty note you post about a poor cu s t ome r s e r v i c e e x p e ri e n c e w i ll n o t change the experience or the business; it will just leave a permanent mark on your history as a person who can’t handle pressure with maturity.

“ Treat all businesses and the people who work in them with respect, not because they deserve it or not, but because you are a respectful person.”

And asking publicly on Facebook or Twitter for the opinion of others? How many great experiences, restaurants, hotels, products could you miss out on experiencing because you took the advice or believed the opinion of a stranger? Ask the folks you trust, not the world wide web of whiners!!

Solution: Be a nice person, all the time. Live a life you would be proud to have e x p o s e d t o t h e w o r l d . Tr e a t e v e r y conversation as one that is filmed and could be broadcast on YouTube. Treat all businesses and the people who work in them with respect, not because they deserve it or not, but because you are a respectful person. Be the example of logic, maturity and integrity.

GRO

ays s alw ng? i d r ro t wo Wha ounced w pron ng. d? e g ro n say a A: W light et ch c g fi f s a e tr frog ” id th d re do k room. t ging! e a n h h a W ? a h a r W e in I’m c e ca a cro t hid to th n’t look, n A: In a h ll elep etba k : “Do n s A a a s ad b doe red! gs b i Howrr y tree? toenails p g e e? ys ho che hy ar ? g a s its t a W w l n i h a a rs y p ldfis A: It playe ause the a go e k c a ‘g’. um A: Be all. n o yo away its d b wma e w ? o f h f t n g u Ho s r and takin all a for d ou c A: By y e r o u c ? td best Wha a sun tan e h t s ti with uddle. ith Wha ness. ey in n p o og w d l A d m a : a B s A i A: ive ut h an p you g g m o ! d e h s th at t thin a h s d c i e W d d b ? he W h yf r e e z e r ? c o l d h a r fever up. It’s t a d e t the h n tc e wa A: Ke hot dog! a A: H m o et fr for a ou g ? y o w td Wha pered co . pam iled milk o A: Sp

ANE

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S E K

S E L D D I R

Q: Mr Robinson wanted a house where the windows in all of the rooms faced south. How did he manage this? A: He built a house on the north pole, so that all four windows faced south. Q: When asked who a certain photograph was of, the owner replied “I have neither sister nor brother, but my mother’s daughter is the man’s mother.” Who was in the photograph? A: It was the owner’s son.

Q: Which would burn longer, a short fat blue candle or a long thin spirally yellow one? A: Neither - candles burn shorter. Q: An electric train is traveling north from Newcastle to Edinburgh, a journey of around 100 miles, at a speed of 75 miles an hour. The wind is blowing from the east at 40 miles an hour. In what direction will the smoke from the train blow? A: It won’t, electric trains don’t produce smoke.

Q: Jenny works at a grocery store. She only Q: On the table is a carton containing six eggs. If weighed 6 pounds when she was born, but six people each take one egg, how can it be that now aged 18, she is 5 foot 10 inches tall with one egg is left in the carton? measurements of 38” 36”. What does she weigh? A: The last person took the last egg, still in the carton. A: Fruit and vegetables. Q: A carrot, a football scarf and five buttons were found in a field. If nobody placed them there, how did they get there? A: They are the remains of a snowman, after a thaw.

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SIMON EVANS

Use blogs to support students and engage the community Make the connection with technology.

F PHOTO: IMAGERYMAJESTIC

ollowing the GPS to find Hinuera School proved more difficult than I thought. I heard the “you have reached your destination,” so I pulled in. With a railway line on my left and farmland as far as the eye could see on my right, surely something was amiss. With a due sense of skepticism and caution, I continued farther down the road. The rolling farmland continued for sometime. I finally pulled past the tall protective line of conifers to discover Hinuera School, which is every bit the country school, situated a little south of Matamata on State Highway 29. Its students are a testament to quality teaching and learning as many parents choose to transport their children from Matamata township.

Teachers Matter

Development of class blogs has been a focus for Hinuera School as part of their ICT PD contract. Every class has a blog, linked to the school web site for easy access for parents. And even with the contract coming to an end, staff, parents and students are keen to continue the blogging.

Each class uses a blog for a variety of purposes. Some teachers post the upcoming events on the blog, replacing the newsletter format. Others have students sharing their learning, writing posts as a celebration of achievement. Still others are having students writing reflections and inviting comment. There are many ways to use a blog in the classroom, all of them valid so long as the teacher is explicit in its use. The impact upon classroom life is significant: It can engage students, enthuse them in their writing and increase motivation.

As part of the literacy time, and other areas of the curriculum, students are required to produce a blog post reflecting their learning. They are encouraged to include whatever media best suits their needs. Some embed Powerpoints; others use video or embed documents using Scribd. This post is then published some time prior to three-way conferencing, giving parents a window into their child’s learning and an opportunity for students to share their school progress at home. Pages can be created in the blog, quite separate from the “diary entry” format. Below is a transcript of a homework activity set by the teacher. The expectation was that everyone view the material and participate in the discussion:

Kylie said... Hi Miss Clement I think it shouldn’t be compulsory because there are some small adults under 148cm and I don’t see why they would need a booster seat. But... that is my opinion. Jonathan said... Hi Miss Clement I don’t think it should be compulsory because in my car even though i am a bit less than 148 cm the seat belt is not on my neck but in the proper position and i can sit fully back with my feet still touching the ground. For the other comments, please visit the class blog: http://room7hinuera2011. blogspot.com/p/homework-term-2.html

It takes time and energy for students to write quality comments and posts. Many think that technology need n o t b e e x p l i c it l y t a u g ht . H o w e v e r, j u s t a s w r i t i n g complete sentences, laying out a formal letter or writing an explanation needs teaching so does creating a quality blog post. Teaching posting requires: •

Time at the computers

• T i m e w o r k i n g c o l l e c t i v e l y, w i t h d i r e c t teacher input • Directing students to making short posts and encourage comment and feedback from others • Adding complexity in a scaffold manner such as using embed code.

SIMON EVANS

The profile of the class blog needs to be emphasized within the school and its wider community. The class blogs are used as a focal point in assemblies for students to share their learning to the wider school; specific posts are highlighted and particular students are selected to talk about their experiences. The parental community is directed to their child’s blog as the first point of contact for finding out about class events and news. The expectation is participation, by the staff, the students, the parents and the wider community. But it does not come naturally, it takes effort on everyone’s part. Staff have identified some key ideas to ensure the use of Web2.0 tools continues to be successful within the school: • A strong senior management focus, ‘leading from the front’, encourages and supports staff as they develop the class blog. • Blogs are viewed by staff as a genuine ex tension to th e cla s s r oo m, w he r e

Suggested Software to use: ALMAGAMI

But having well trained students is only part of the solution to sustaining the class blog. The students need to sense ownership of their blog. To do this at Hinuera, students create a new blog every year. The students have input on the focus of the blog, making suggestions for colour, widgets and page types.

follow their children within the online environment.

ILLUSTRATION:

Students can help each other: Directing and teaching a number of “student trainers”’ means that a core group of students, well versed in the use of the blog, are available to support classmates during school time.

students’ comments, posts, and reflections have value and purpose. • Students are keen to view the blog because the information contained is created for them, by them, and is relevant to their learning and contribution to the wider school community. • Parents and caregivers see the blogs as a way of engaging with the school, viewing their children’s work, and commenting and encouraging them in their learning. • Each syndicate and year group sends a notice home periodically throughout the year with the blog address, encouraging their parents to participate. It has been identified that approximately 84 percent of Hinuera students have access to the Internet at home. For those students and parents who do not have internet access; time before, during and after school is set aside for access to the computers in school to view their work, write posts, and share comments. Parent opening evenings are used to direct and teach parents where to find the blog, how to post a comment, and

Blogger - is a free, online blogging tool that is particularly useful for inexperienced or first-time users because of its ease of use. Scribd - is a document-sharing website that allows users to post documents of various formats and embed them into a web page. Youtube - is a video networking or videosharing website, allowing anyone to upload and share videos they produce, copy, or find. Teachertube - is a video -networking or –sharing site specifically tailored for teacher and student use. Slideshare - is a site where you can host your presentations and share them with others by embedding them into your class blog or website. For more information and practical ideas about using blogging in the classroom check out the following links: Blogger: Snapshot of Learning - http://softwareforlearning. tki.org.nz/Snapshots/Blogger Class Blogmeister: Snapshot of Learning -http://softwareforlearning. tki.org.nz/Snapshots/Class-Blogmeister Other blogging tools http:// softwareforlearning.tki.org.nz/BrowseSoftware/%28type%29/blogging

YVONNE GODFREY

From nurturing to empowering Small steps can help young adults – and you – prepare for the future.

When do young people begin emerging as adults?

Answer: When the parent or employee stops treating them like a child and starts expecting adult behaviour. If maturation is a process, how can parents and bosses ensure that they are not stunting their young adult’s progress? Just getting out of the way is a great start.

Teachers Matter

Babies and small children need total caregiving because they are not yet

equipped to assess situations to make decisions and take appropriate action. But as the child grows, he becomes more capable of looking after himself. The relationship between the adult and child is constantly changing so that the balance of control/ power diminishes over time as the young person gains the knowledge and skills to take over. In a co-dependent relationship, the adult does not recognize the opportunities to allow the young person to grow up. Long after the appropriate time, this parent is still nurturing (as in caregiving) instead

of equipping and empowering the young person to be independent. Talk the talk Lift your expectations to change your dialogue. No more baby-talk, nagging or negative conversations about the past. Use positive affirmations: Parent: “I am excited about you going flatting and taking care of yourself.” Boss: “It’s time you ran that machine on your own. I reckon you will do a great job.”

PHOTO: LISA YOUNG

uestion:

YVONNE GODFREY

Talk up their dreams It is not for the parent or the boss to judge the validity of the young adult’s dream. Dreams are fragile; they don’t take much to destroy. Instead, be a sounding board for what needs to take place to make it happen. An unrealistic dream usually becomes obvious as being unattainable in good time. Let your young adult discover that for herself. Let them do it Doing something for your young adult that he can do will weaken him, stunting his skill development and confidence. It is also a form of control on the part of parents and bosses. When people feel controlled, they may respond with rebellion or worse still with passive aggression. Ramp up social responsibility Stop writing the thank you card for the gifts they receive from grandparents. This is between the grandparent and grandchild, and none of your business. Don’t you buy the birthday gift for their friend; make them plan this into their time and budget. Expect her to manage her own health Time to stop telling your child what to eat: You won’t be with her in the flat. Rather, make sure there are good food choices in the house and be the example. Stop being responsible for her medication, too. When Mum administers the meds, the young adult is physically and emotionally tied to her. She will grow to hate the very help she has been happy to receive and to resent the person giving it. Since resentment and gratitude cannot co-exist in the same heart-space, eventually resentment wins. The parent feels confused and unappreciated while the young adult feels claustrophobic and distrusted.

“ L i f t y o u r expectations to change your dialogue. No more baby-talk, nagging or negative conversations about the past. ”

Recognise and take responsibility for what you are doing for your young adult that keeps you in a co-dependent relationship. Your young adult won’t take leadership if she thinks you are going to have a meltdown about letting go. Note about passive aggression: Rebellion is obvious but passive aggression is far more insidious because the perpetrator usually doesn’t understand how she is doing it. Passive aggression can be resistance to following through on a promise. It can be the refusal to accept much needed help. It is the ultimate self-sabotage, and it leaves its victims bamboozled because it is hard to pinpoint. The root of passive aggression lays in lack of relationship intimacy and by nature causes the aggressor to withdraw and isolate. Passive aggression often leads to depression.

feel firsthand the consequences of a mistake or bad behaviour, or to think through the long-term outcome of a decision. Moving from consumption to contribution We are all selfish until we understand that success and happiness comes from contribution and not consumption. Take your young adult out of silo thinking where it’s all about them and expect her to contribute to the family. Vacuum the whole house and not just her room. Cook a meal for the whole family and not just for him. Recognise and celebrate all progress It’s one thing to teach, it’s another thing to expect results. However, seek progress and not perfection. Small wins give us confidence. Think about what John Maxwell says, “Leadership is developed daily, not in a day.” It is important to acknowledge these wins immediately to stimulate a repeat performance. Look inside Look for ways that you may be slowing down the maturity of your young adult. Discover the pay off of why you are babying him or her. Are you afraid that you won’t be needed or loved if you stop nurturing? Have confidence in yourself and in your young adult. Love them enough to lead them enough so that you can let go.

Help your young adult grow in character The ability to handle difficulties is directly related to the strength of one’s character. Character is like muscle and can only be built by the owner. Let your young adult sort out his own issues. Sure, you may help him with advice on how to handle the situation, but let him face it alone. This is also a good way of ensuring that the young adult gets to

KAREN BOYES

Study skills: success and mistakes It all starts in the mind

here are several factors that successful people use to ensure continued success. One is their posture or physiology. Successful people also understand to be successful they will make mistakes. Let’s look at both:

Physiology (body language)

Teachers Matter

What you do with your body, or physiology, makes a huge difference to your ability to learn and be successful. If I told you that were about to meet a highly depressed person, what kind of person would you imagine? If I said you were about to meet a highly successful, motivated person, who would you imagine? The first person might have his head and shoulders down, be dragging his feet and sighing, and the second person might have an upright posture, make lots of eye contact and be breathing deeply. Your physiology can determine how you actually feel.

Communication is more than just words. In fact, it is made up of three key components: Your words, tonality and physiology. Often, it’s not what you say, but how you say it. If a person is slouched in his chair and, talking in a slow monotone voice, says, “I’m really excited about my new assignment,” the listener picks up the real message from the tonality and physiology, rather than from the words. When you are in a positive physiology, such as sitting up smiling, chemicals called endorphins are released in the brain. (Robbins, 1986) Endorphins make you feel good. Exercise and chocolate send the same chemicals through your brain making you feel great. When you are in poor physiology, slouching or depressed, your body releases cortisol, which is a stress hormone, making you feel worse. Cortisol is linked to many major illnesses.

There are times when you will sit down to study, and it is the last place you want to be. In fact, throughout your life you will be required to do many things you don’t wish to do. If you sit there and sigh, slouch and feel bad, it will be hard to do it again, with the necessary corrections. This is a major key to learning from mistakes. Recognise where you went wrong and correct it. A six-year-old once explained this to me as a maze: “When you come to a dead end, you go back and find out where you went wrong and take another path.”

Fear of failure Many people are scared of failing, and do not attempt new tasks and activities for fear of not getting it right. This is crazy. You learn from making mistakes. Often people use excuses to stop them from experiencing failure. Have you ever heard yourself (or people around you) saying something like this? “Why should I study, I’m going to fail anyway.”

“ Just because you f a i l e d l a s t y e a r, yesterday, or two minutes ago does not mean you will fail today, tomorrow or on your next attempt. “

back to the present and then worry or get fearful about what might happen. It is a false expectation that you created in your head and then have made it seem real. Anthony Robbins says, “The past does not equal the future.”

“That teacher doesn’t like me. He’ll fail me no matter what I do.” “Why should I do anything my Mum wants? She thinks everything I do is wrong no matter what.”

Just because you failed last year, yesterday, or two minutes ago does not mean you will fail today, tomorrow or on your next attempt.

This negative self-talk is not success talk. People who talk like this often sound tough and act as though they have everything under control. On the inside, their self confidence is usually really low. In Mark Victor Hansen’s book, The One Minute Millionaire, he discusses a SNAP technique for eliminating negative self- talk. Simply put a rubber band around your wrist. Every time you catch yourself having a negative thought, simply snap the rubber band. Ouch! He suggests you wear the band for 30 days, 24 hours a day. Give it a go. It works! FEAR stands for False Expectations Appearing Real. It is when you think forward to a situation in your mind and see a negative outcome and bring this image

Fear of success Sometimes people fear being successful. What will people think? What if my friends don’t like or accept me anymore? It’s called the Tall Poppy Syndrome, and it’s very common in New Zealand and Australia. Success may be risky, and it’s also very exciting.

PHOTO: BENIS ARAPOVIC

PHOTO:

KAREN BOYES

KATE SOUTHCOMBE

Talking matters

Often, biting your tongue leads to less pain.

Teachers Matter

I had given a clicker to three children 8, 12 and 14 years old. Prior to this, the children had spent a brief session with me training my horses. This was a liberating experience for the children as these horses can be trained over a safety barrier completely at liberty, and these young trainers were confidently able to cue the horses to perform some fun behaviours without an adult. I took the opportunity to take their training experience a step further when visiting them later the next day. I explained to them how to use the clicker – that it marks the desired behaviour and gives the animal or person feedback on their behaviour. We then “trained” my husband using the clicker to walk into the room turn around and pick something up off the table. They were all very excited and eager to have a go at training each other. They organised who would be the trainer and who would be the trainee. What was so interesting for me as a teacher

and trainer was how quickly they picked up the technique – how silently focused they became as they “clicked” to guide the person in the right direction. It was magic to watch. Not a word was spoken. Each child had a go as a trainer, and became silent in concentration as they looked for what the other person was doing right and slowly shaped the desired behaviour. Then the bubble suddenly burst. The magic was gone as their parents came in on the scene and unable to keep quiet, started telling the children “no, don’t do that,” “stop moving so quickly!: I smiled to myself and began pondering:

A s a t e a c h e r, l e c t u r e r a n d t r a i n e r, I have discovered my experience using a bridge signal or clicker to train horses has helped me to talk less, and do more. When training horses, the bridge signal identifies the required behaviour and bridges the gap between the behaviour and the trainer’s ability to reward the animal. The reduction in talking helps to clarify the cues and feedback, and makes the bridge signal easier to hear. Of course dealing with children we can clearly mark the behaviour we want by using language or body language, but we still need to consider what and how much we say. When interacting with young children, by focusing on talking less, listening to the children and taking more action to set up and arrange the environment to meet their needs, we may actually discover more about them. When we are dealing with unwanted behaviour, rather than talking about it or drawing attention to it, I consider changing the environment or changing my own behaviour in order to achieve a result. When I do talk I speak clearly, giving clear cues and my aim is to eliminate as much as possible any emotional content in my requests – such as sighing, or using an angry agitated

PHOTO: VIOREL SIMA

noted an interesting play experience recently with three children that clearly demonstrated adults frequently talk too much. This experience prompted me to consider the connections between my work with horses and children and the effective use of language.

KATE SOUTHCOMBE

“ When we are dealing with unwanted behaviour, rather than talking about it or drawing attention to it, I consider changing the environment or changing my own behaviour in order to achieve a result. ”

voice. This may sound clinical and cold; however it allows us to communicate more effectively and to be a better listener a n d o b s e r v e r, able to respond appropriately. There is a place for an emotional response – after the behaviour or task has been completed. We can then respond with as much emotion as appropriate, reflecting back to the child their sense of achievement or frustration, whichever it may be, helping them to deal with this emotion by modeling the appropriate action or behaviour. Much of what we say is often not only unnecessary it can also limit our success as teachers or parents because we miss opportunities for helping our children develop their own skills. We often fail to recognise just how much we talk and how often this talk can also become destructive for children’s learning experiences. Not only do we talk too much; our focus is on what we don’t want! Is this hard wired into humans? Why do we feel the need to say “don’t do that?” I have struggled with this issue as a coach and as a teacher. I aim to focus people’s attention on the desired response, getting them to identify it and comment on it especially when dealing with young children. This strategy helps the child to identify the desired behaviour and the reinforcement or praise encourages them to repeat the behaviour. From a scientific perspective, this is based on applied behaviour analysis: the technique is positive reinforcement that increases the likelihood of a behaviour. As parents and

teachers we can use this information to our advantage by praising our children more. We then need to look at what we can do to help children learn from their experiences. Here are some key points to help you focus on what you want and to talk less, whether you’re a parent or a teacher: • Clearly identify what it is you want the children to do, especially if you are “looking after” a group of children. Have an activity or game in mind.

This last point is difficult for us as we are prone to waiting until the unwanted behaviour surfaces and then we try to deal with it. My approach is to act before that happens. Prevention is so much better than cure. Set them up to be successful by manipulating the environment – if the room is crowded and noisy, asking children to sit still and be quiet is not setting them up to succeed. Using labels such as “good” or “naughty” doesn’t help children know what to do. I encourage people to look at the tiniest step towards the final behavior: If the child is trying to do the right thing, reward this effort. Don’t wait until they have grown exhausted or frustrated trying to complete the behaviour.

• Clearly describe the behaviour to the children when giving feedback: “I like the way you are listening, or talking, or washing your hands.” • Give the children time to figure things out before you move in to “sort them out:” Give them time to explore options. • Remain supportive, giving non-verbal encouraging feedback – smiling or nodding. • Redirect children rather than correcting them. Give them a new focus. Ask them to do something for you to direct them away from an unwanted behavior. • Ignore as much as possible unwanted behaviour – and catch them doing what you want.

KEVIN MAYALL

Capturing the GenNext dividend Role models can lift up our children

very human being is born with their own unique talent, a talent that can be used to positively contribute to the world. It is my belief that we as a society need to find a way to capture and enhance those talents. Our planet’s economic and social well-being depends on it. Currently we do this by an education system designed and delivered to pass on knowledge. Get good grades so you can get a good job.

Teachers Matter

But is just teaching our kids academic qualifications enough anymore? Our economy needs educated, motivated young adults entering the work force. Yet youth unemployment remains a problem along with a myriad of related issues. There is also the widening gap between opportunities for lower-decile children to succeed compared to kids from more privileged backgrounds. Teachers do a fabulous job passing on the knowledge to gain qualifications, but who is passing on the life skills needed? There is a significant gap in the curriculum in this area.

Answer this question: Why do most people live within 50 kilometres of where they were born? The answer is that we are socially imprinted to accept and surround ourselves with what we consider “normal.” It makes sense to our brain to surround ourselves with what we consider normal because it’s all we know. Here in lies the crux of the problem. Some kids (the “haves”) receive positive resourceful imprinting whilst others (“have nots”) miss out. This is a critical area that needs addressing in our education curriculum.

Here are two key areas that need to be added to our children’s education: Mindset: A study of people who lead resourceful, purposeful and happy lives shows us that they have inherited social conditioning that says it’s normal to make positive choices and have daily habits that support success. But what if you haven’t had this social conditioning? If no one gives you the tools, in this case mindset, then how will you ever achieve? The children of people like Sir Peter Leach (The Mad Butcher) have had a prosperity mindset instilled in them from day one. It is this mindset that creates the tools, thoughts and beliefs and habits to create economic opportunity. If kids don’t have access to this mindset, then how will they ever know how to achieve, or for that matter, what achieving even looks like? You only know what you know until someone teaches you otherwise. Networks: The “Haves” have networks where they conduct their business. It is these networks that give them the opportunity to express their qualifications and personal attributes. The network provides economic prosperity for the students who have access to it. We often hear the term “old boys’ network”. So how do kids in a lower socioeconomic group get into these networks? How will they ever get that same opportunity? The answer: Everyone knows “what goes around comes round” or “Give and you shall receive.” It’s the concept of karma. I advocate our prosperous sections of society

spend time in our less prosperous areas and simply spread the word. We do this by getting our kids alongside positive people who show them how they have achieved and pass on all of their knowledge, contacts, thoughts and beliefs and habits. Most people who are wealthy haven’t had it all handed it to them. Most have battled and scraped their way over coming many obstacles. Pass on this information. Pass on your networks. Pass on the entrepreneurship and life skills. Teach our children innovation and learn how to create money. Students of entrepreneurship would learn management, finance, sales, marketing, negotiating, statistics and even design. And not just the business side of things; they’d learn about lifestyle choices, personal habits, family and giving back. Teach our children how to be good social citizens. The education our kids receive would be infinitely different if students were surrounded by successful business people, caring community workers, high-performing athletes and successful recording artists. Our kids would be learning positive thought beliefs and habits that would help them make good lifestyle choices and encourage and empower them to be all that they can be. GenNext are an amazing generation, and every day I work with them they never cease to amaze me. They see the world in a completely different way to other generations. Other generations have been programmed to climb the ladder, waiting for their success later on in life. Not GenNext. They want it now, and they want to use their success, gifts and talents for good social causes. They want the world to be a better place. We can do this by giving them an education system that supports their vision of the world so we can capture the GenNext dividend.

ph: 03 365 0946 • spectrum@spectrumprint.co.nz www.spectrumprint.co.nz

• Study • Less • Achieve • More •

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ROBYN PEARCE

The eight most powerful time tips Steps to being a more effective teacher.

was talking to a busy principal at a local school recently. He wanted some advice on how his time-pressed teachers could use the middle of the year and the onset of winter as an opportunity to reassess how they manage their work day. Hopefully the following eight quick and easy-to-apply tips might be useful to you, too:

“No” is your most powerful time management tool. When we know what our values are, and when we have a clear set of goals in all areas of our lives, we’re in a much stronger position to politely and appropriately say “no” to potential time-stealers and less relevant activities.

Every week, block in a few important non-urgent actions. It’s too easy to get caught up in the momentum of the school day and week. Change that emphasis by making appointments with yourself, written into your diary or organiser, to work on one or two activities per week of longterm and long-lasting value. Not sure what you could do? Think of the big tasks put off until you “have time.” Almost certainly they can be broken down into small chunks.

3 Teachers Matter

Constantly ask, “What is my highest priority right now?” This is a great focusing question. When applied, we find it easier to stay on task with activities that really make a difference. We’re also less likely at the end of the day to find we’ve not dealt with our highest priorities.

“How can I do this task more efficiently?” Become a “walking question mark.” There are always better ways to do things. Every time you do a task, look for a shortcut, a way to trim a few seconds or a minute off the task. They mount up to a surprising total over a week. How do you manage your paperwork? Do you put things away when finished with them? How many unnecessary steps do you take in a day? Notice how often you say in

frustration, “Bother it. I forgot to get (or do) .....”Time-saving efficiencies are all around us, but most people don’t go looking for them. Instead, they just complain about lack of time.

Block in regular sanity gaps. Why be wonderfully efficient if we don’t take time to enjoy life and the amazing world we live in? When did you last take a complete weekend off - no email, no marking, no responsibilities other than the people you’re with? Many of us know it’s important to clean out old files and regularly defrag our computers; it’s a housekeeping process that helps them run better. Think of taking regular time off as a defrag of your brain. You’ll come back fresher and you’ll also produce better results (just like the computer.) Give your conscious and subconscious time to talk to each other - you’ll be amazed at the results.

Manage your energy well and time looks after itself. Around the world I’m hearing the phrase “energy management” more and more. Think of your energy levels as your filter or indicator as to whether you’re doing the right things. Sluggish energy is a powerful clue: If something isn’t flowing smoothly there are almost always ways to either change activity or improve things. A good filter question: “What’s blocking my energy here? What can I do about it?”

Eliminate clutter in all areas of your life. This links in part with the previous point. When you walk into a clean tidy environment, how do you feel? The more you’re connected to that environment, the more impact it will have on you. Someone else’s messy and untidy space may or may not have an obvious effect on you, but I guarantee you’ll virtually never want to linger. Some people only sort out possessions and “stuff” when they move houses; others do it every spring. Run a constant “clutter filter” on yourself. Make it part of your daily

routine and it’s never a “big’ job.” Instead of saying “I’ll just put it here while I think about it,” get into the habit of completing it at the time. The reality is, even if you do think about it again, why would you want to? Old “stuff” is seldom used again by you. Why not recycle it and let someone else have the chance to get value. Imagine every item you hang on to has an invisible silver thread connecting you to it. Does it energise you or pull you down?

Don’t make email the first thing of the day. This point is more relevant for non-teaching staff. If you’re a classroom teacher you probably can’t do email very often in the day anyway, but if you do get computer time before class, try to be very minimal and swift with the email. However, if you’re non-teaching staff you’ve got every chance of being seduced into an email ping-pong session all day long. Problem is, email is addictive. And if we’re answering emails, guess who’s in charge of our priorities? Yep – not us! Instead, you take control of your day. Spend time on the most important tasks for the day, and (unless it’s truly vital) don’t look at email until at least mid-morning, and then only for a defined chunk of time. Have two or three email slots through the day and you’ll keep on top of most of it, with the occasional bigger catch up session. If people rely on email for urgent information, they’re using it wrong. A phone is still almost always the best way to alert someone that there’s something urgent waiting. Communication is only what’s received, not what is sent. How do you know someone has read your urgent email unless you’ve spoken to them?

PHOTO: VALERIY LEBEDEV

PHOTO:STEPHEN COBURN

ROBYN PEARCE

THE GENTAL GIANT

BARBARA GRIFFITH AND TRICIA KENYON

Author Michael Morpurgo Illustrator Michael Foreman

Asking and stating

Published by Harper Collins October 2003 ISBN-10:0007111924

An old story made new.

ichael Morpurgo wrote his version of the traditional story of Beauty and the Beast and called it The Gentle Giant, illustrated by Michael Foreman. He weaves a tale of compassion, and love, and introduces the issues of bullying and pollution which have extraordinary relevance to our own world today.

Story Map Draw a “bird’s eye view” map of the Ballyloch area, including the lake.

Crea te symbols Story Map

On a small island way out in the middle of a silver lake there once lived a young man who was sad because he had grown up into a big, strong, frightening giant of a man. His only friends were the wild creatures that lived all around him.

to identify places of importance on the map and then create a legend with s the map. Drawto a!gobird! eye view! map of the

Ballyloch area, including the lake. Create symbols to identify places of importance eon the map and then create a legend to go with the map. Sociogram Choose a particular point in the story to complete the sociogram: Example

Then one day, he saves a girl from drowning, a girl in a wide-brimmed straw hat and he is then involved in a series of events that will change his life forever.

Sociogram Choose a particular point in the story to complete the sociogram,. Example Giant

Hero, misunderstood, gentle

Villagers

Miranda Charmed by him, and fooled

Teachers Matter

Gullible, easily swayed

Illustrations How did the illustrator Michael Foreman create mood throughout the story? Using the last full page picture in the book, identify the symbolism used in this illustration to show the future of Miranda and the Gentle Giant.

Smiling stranger

Locked her in her room, worried about giant.

Father

BARBARA GRIFFITH AND TRICIA KENYON

Themes

Statement or Question

Pollution

Students need to be aware of the difference between questions and statements.

What gave the giant the idea on how to save the lake? How was the lake saved? Do some further research into using straw matting to clean polluted water? Have any other products been made into mat shapes to clean pollution from water? List possible causes of water pollution.

A statement offers information that may be true or false. Statements - True or false Students use information from the story to make justified decisions as to whether the statement is true or false: “How do you know that?”

Identify the bullying that takes place at the beginning of the story. Why does this take place? How does the giant react to this bullying? What caused the villagers change in attitude? Discuss generally,” judging people by their appearance”, and apply this to the story in terms of the giant and the smiling stranger.

Questioning begins at the simpler level of “who, what, where, when, how, why.”

Question Dice At a point in the story, the dice is rolled and the question starter is used to make up a question for the story. E.G.

Where

The teacher should create the first model and then encourage students to make their own to exchange with others.

True or False F

Bullying

Creating questions is a skill that needs to be taught.

When

Where did the giant live?

Statement The giant made fish soup for Miranda The villagers sprinkled magic stardust over the lake.

Questioning progresses to a more complex, deeper level such as “why did, what if, how would, do you think.”

Activity Role Play Using this activity offers the opportunity for discussion and teaching of higher level questioning. Some questions are prepared in advance as examples. Students can them make up their own questions to ask the panel. Ask some students from the class to role play the story’s characters in a panel discussion. The role players sit at the front of the room wearing a name tag. All the others in the class are the audience and ask questions of the characters. Those playing the characters answer the way they think their character would have answered. For Example: Questioning Miranda What did you think when you first saw the giant appear in the water above you? Giant

Why is it that you never learned to talk?

Villagers How do you feel about being taken in by the smiling stranger?

THELMA VAN DER WERFF

Colour tips for grounding yourself Let nature lead the way.

owadays, computers are a big part of everyone’s life. Most businesses have a website that promotes and sells their products or services. Computers are now being used to process all company administration as well. The computer also plays a big part in our private lives: We communicate with our friends by email, Skype, Facebook and other social media. Most of us spend our days behind the computer and use our mobile phones excessively for texting to keep in contact with friends and family. The symbolic colour for the computer era is turquoise. The opposite of this colour in the Colour Comfort method is brown. It’s the colour of the earth, wood, bricks, nurturing and home. I believe that there are no good or bad colours, but we need to find balance with all colours. We need to be grounded, go back to basics (brown) and not lose ourselves in cyberspace (turquoise).

your diet. Eat foods like raw nuts, almonds, walnuts, and Brazil nuts. Chocolate has great healthy properties if it is a high-quality chocolate without sugar. My tip for a healthy hot chocolate: combine two teaspoons of 100 percent pure organic cacao, some cinnamon a n d o n e teaspoon of Manuka honey; pour in hot water and stir. It’s a fantastic pickme-up, and you will have no cravings for sweets. For more information you can visit: http://www.youtube.com/wa tch?v=XumPQLTzPWI&feature=rel ated

PHOTO: AARON AMAT

Grounding ourselves is necessary, and this can be done by connecting to nature, Mother Earth. Walk barefoot on grass, beach or soil for an hour at least once a day, and this will not only clear your head, but can help you feel more energized and healthy. You can also start to feel more grounded by wearing the colour brown, either camel or chocolate brown, and including brown in

PHOTO: YMUL

THELMA VAN DER WERFF

PHOTO: ALEKSANDR MARKIN

WENDY SWEET

Time for an energy boost? Caffeine might not be the answer.

Teachers Matter

or a substance that is naturally produced by plants as a pesticide toward insects, caffeine has certainly found its place in society. Consumption of coffee and energy drinks is on the rise. With the interest in caffeine as an energy booster, there is also an interest in caffeine as an ergogenic potential in sports performance. It’s an accepted ergogenic aid by the International Olympic Committee and athletes have used it for years to enhance performance. So with winter sports already in full flight, it seems timely to remind PE teachers and coaches of not only its mechanisms in exercise performance but also its risks. Caffeine as a performance aid Caffeine enhances endurance performance. It very simply stimulates the central nervous system (CNS) and in technical terms acts as

an adenosine-receptor antagonist throughout the body. Although studies are not entirely clear on the exact mechanism of caffeine as an ergogenic aid, the general consensus is that caffeine stimulates a number of different actions and re-actions at the cellular level. The intake of caffeine triggers an increase in blood circulation, heart rate, urine output, gastric secretions and causes a decrease in glucose metabolism. How does all this happen? Well, as caffeine is metabolised in the liver, it stimulates the release of the adrenal hormone, adrenaline, into the blood-stream. Adrenaline (or epinephrine), helps to “un-lock” fat stored in adipose tissue and/or skeletal muscle, releasing these stored triglycerides out to the general circulation. This process is known as “lipolysis.” Subsequent break-down of these triglycerides means that Free Fatty Acid (FFA) levels are increased in the circulation. These circulating

FFA’s become available as a source for energy production in the early phase of exercise, thus “sparing” the use of glycogen stored in muscles. This “glycogen-sparing” effect of caffeine is critical in sports performance as it helps delay the early onset of fatigue. In endurance-related cardiovascular activities of 30 to 60 minutes, caffeine intake may well reduce the need to use muscle carbohydrate (glycogen). Its effects haven’t been replicated in short-term, high-intensity exercise or in recreational athletes, especially females. On a further note, taking caffeine pills to support weight loss has not been confirmed in any research studies. Most interestingly for athletes, though, is the research identifying caffeine as having analgesic properties. In the context of sports and exercise, it may help to ameliorate pain. Although this isn’t a good thing to

WENDY SWEET

encourage in young athletes, the secondary effects of caffeine consumption may well be related to increasing their pain tolerance during sporting activities. Caffeine and hydration Coffee, tea and caffeine are regularly described as diuretics. It was therefore always thought that despite the known ergogenic properties of caffeine, this could well be negated by the effect caffeine has on hydration before, during and after exercise. More recent studies, though, don’t support this acute diuretic effect. In fact some studies show quite the opposite. During exercise of 70 to 80 minutes or more, intake of caffeinated beverages (including those containing carbohydrate and electrolytes), have re-hydrating effects almost identical to non-caffeinated beverages. How much caffeine and when? Caffeine is rapidly absorbed and most studies show that plasma concentrations reach maximal level in about one hour. After that, it takes around three to four to catabolise (break-down) caffeine so the exact timing of caffeine ingestion before sports performance has not really been clarified. Although the performance-enhancing benefits of caffeine depend on people’s tolerance and habitual intake of the substance as well as the size of the individual, some studies indicate that 3mg/kg was effective for increasing endurance in prolonged exercise.

Ethical issues Despite the number of teens drinking caffeine-containing energy drinks and coffee and tea, the ingestion of caffeine as a sports enhancement strategy is a difficult one to resolve. In competition, caffeine isn’t illegal. It is also, for some athletes, a powerful tool to increase exercise capacity in both training and competition. In this regard, it must also be stated that unlike sports drinks or vitamin/ mineral supplementation, an athlete knowingly taking high doses of caffeine for the express purpose of gaining a competitive advantage pushes them into the “unethical” category. It may well lead them to make similar decisions around trying other stimulants, so teachers and coaches are advised to monitor the intake of caffeine beverages in their young athletes and instead steer them toward a nutritious, energy-rich diet with adequate intake of water to replace fluid lost in training and competition.

“For some athletes, though, the risks of caffeine consumption outweigh the benefits. High consumption of caffeine must not be endorsed. In some individuals it has been linked to cardiac arrhythmias and high blood pressure.”

PHOTO: ELEN

For some athletes, though, the risks of caffeine consumption outweigh the benefits. High consumption of caffeine must not be endorsed. In some individuals it has been linked to cardiac arrhythmias and high blood pressure (hypertension), so caution must be taken in any athletes, no matter the age, who are on clinical medication and/ or have a known cardiac history. Intake of high amounts of caffeinated drinks for these athletes prior to sports or exercise could literally be deadly.

KAREN TOBICH

Winter comfort food Warm up bite by bite.

the days get shorter and cold wind, rain and snow transform our landscape, our bodies crave warmth, and our focus on food is directed to comfort foods. Nothing seems better than a fire, good nourishing comfort food and a favourite movie or a good book. Here are some ideas to get you through the long, chilly nights.

Chunky Tomato & Chorizo Soup

Lamb Shanks in Mushroom Sauce

You will need: 500ml of beef stock 2 cans of chopped tomatoes 2 - 3 smoked chorizo sausages 2 large brown onions chopped 2 - 3 garlic cloves crushed 1 tsp smoked paprika 1 bunch of fresh coriander salt + pepper 4 sourdough buns

You will need: 4 Lamb Shanks 2 brown onions finely chopped 2 cloves of garlic 3 - 4 tablespoons of tomato paste 500g small button mushrooms halved (or sliced) 500ml beef stock 2 tablespoons of corn flour 100ml cream salt + pepper olive oil puff pastry 1 egg yolk

served in a Sourdough Bun

Slice the chorizo into ½ cm slices and sauté in a saucepan until brown and crisp. Remove sausages from saucepan and add onions and garlic. Sauté over low heat until translucent and soft. Add the smoked paprika first and then the tomatoes and the beef stock. Simmer for at least 15 to 20 minutes until the soup is thick and chunky. Add sausages and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cut the top of the buns and remove the soft centre until you have a bowl and the outside of your bun is about 1 – 1 ½ cm thick. Chop the coriander. Leave a bit to serve and stir the rest into the soup. Ladle the soup into the bun. Garnish with coriander and serve immediately.

Teachers Matter

Chocolate Mocha Cups

You will need: 2 free range eggs 500ml vanilla soymilk 2 tablespoons of sugar 2 tablespoons of corn flour 50g butter 2 teaspoons of instant coffee powder 100g of 70% dark chocolate 50ml of chocolate or coffee Liqueur (optional) 120g mascarpone 50g dark chocolate Wisk eggs, sugar and flour in a heavy base saucepan, slowly add the vanilla soy milk, whisking continuously so no lumps form. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring continuously. Add the butter, pieces of chocolate and coffee powder and keep stirring to ensure a smooth and velvety texture. This process will take about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in the liqueur at this stage and stir for another minute or so before pouring mixture into teacups. Cool at room temperature. Grate the chocolate very finely and mix into the mascarpone. Spoon a dollop onto each cup and refrigerate for a good 3 hours (or overnight). Sprinkle with extra grated chocolate. For extra indulgence, serve with a chocolate spoon.

To serve: Serve with rice and vegetables of your choice Brown the lamb shanks in olive oil in a fry pan. Once browned, set shanks aside and sauté the onions and garlic for a few minutes, add the mushrooms and the tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper and sauté for a further 10 minutes. Mix the corn flour with 3 tablespoons of cold stock and set aside. Add the remainder of the stock to the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the corn flour mixture and add the cream. Take of the heat. Stand each lamb shank up in a mug, Spoon the mushroom mixture in leaving about 1-2 cm room at the top. Wrap the bone that sticks out in a bit of tinfoil and place the mugs into a hot oven at 150 degrees C for 1 ½ to 2 hours. Cut out rounds of the puff pastry to fit the diameter of the mug. Cut a hole in the centre of each pastry round a bit bigger than the shank bone and place pastry over the shank after it had its initial 1 ½ to 2 hours in the oven. Increase the oven heat to 200 degrees. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg yolk and bake in the oven for a further 15 minutes or until pastry is golden and puffed. Remove the tinfoil from the bone and serve with rice and your favourite vegetables. Tip: You can cook the lamb shanks in the crock pot the day before and then place in single serve mugs with puff pastry and finish it off in the oven until the pastry is puffed and golden.

KAREN TOBICH

To achieve more, do less The key to success is focus.

Sure, you’ve heard that we pay a price in high blood pressure or stress or whatever, but I’m talking about two much more specific (and ironic!) costs we all pay for our too-often-too-frantic pace of life. First, we rob ourselves of results. You read that correctly. I am convinced that often our eagerness to achieve actually robs us of the success we desire. How can that be? Too often the pace of life leads to mistakes, to over-sights and carelessness, and that costs us. You may have heard how the rush to stay on schedule contributed to the Challenger and Columbia shuttle tragedies. And, in our own lives, we all have smaller examples of that. In rushing to get to work, I forget my diary. In dashing to an appointment, I fail to read the message telling me the meeting is cancelled. In our frantic attempts to “multi-task,” nothing gets done well, and sometimes accidents happen, and that costs everyone. Secondly, we confuse action with results. We are so eager, so ambitious and so full of adrenalin that we spin our wheels, create lots of noise and smoke and confusion, but do not necessarily produce the results we need. Typically, that’s because of poor planning. We are so eager to get started that we skip the instructions. We use brute force or sheer determination instead of developing a smart, simple, elegant strategy for results. We confuse effort with productivity, and in the long run, that is deadly.

ILL U CHR STRA IST TION OS : GEO RG H

IOU

are a society of doers, particularly the highly motivated ones are likely to be up and doing stuff, creating, selling, promoting, building and working to achieve goals and make their dreams c o m e t r u e . We a r e o n t h e r o a d . We have meetings and activities and calls to make. We do too much, and too often, we pay a high price.

High achievers don’t work that hard. I am convinced that the most successful people in life take it slow. They plan and they execute with wisdom and focus and leverage. Yes, of course they work hard, but everyone does that. Extraordinary outcomes require a superior strategy, and that requires thought and p a t i e n c e a n d c a r e a n d p r e c i s i o n . To achieve more, sit down. To win big in the game of life, think and read, plan and strategise. Manage yourself. Talk with successful people. Follow directions, use your head, stay calm and do the “smart” thing rather than making all the noise and dust and confusion of your competitors. The big winners in life work hard, but more important, their work produces extraordinary results. Never use brute force or will-power or muscles or crude, rude energy when a simple plan, elegantly executed will produce more and better results, faster and with less cost. And, let’s be honest, being smart is a heck of a lot more fun. Do you need time and space and tools to collect your thoughts and develop great strategies? The first and most important strategy is to manage yourself. Time is a very precious resource. The fact is that regardless of how well you manage your time, at the end of the day, each and every one of us only has 24 hours in each day. You (or your staff) don’t need to learn to manage your time, but you need to learn how to manage yourself. By learning how to manage your time, you might get things done faster, but what is the use of going

faster if it turns out that you are going in the wrong direction? After all we are “human beings,” not “human doings.” Self management is the core of everything you will ever achieve. In future issues of Teachers Matter, I will write about: How to make time your ally: The key is to use your time efficiently and eliminating time wasters from your day. Your attitudes and behaviours affect how you use your time. Time does not have to be your enemy. How to simplify your life and get rid of chaos and complexity to make room for more awareness, more possibility, more hope for tomorrow and ultimately more money. We often make life much more complicated than it needs to be and somehow we have convinced ourselves that our lives must be filled to the max. We over schedule our lives, and then wonder why we feel dissatisfied. How to de-clutter your life and create clarity. You find the capacity of abundance in clarity. If your life is filled to the max with activities and stuff, you need to create clarity in your life. It requires clearing a path through the clutter and chaos in all aspects of your life. How to apply the power of focus. You won’t need determination: You won’t need willpower; it’s simply about locking into our natural talents and putting them to use in the right place.

Teachers Resources & Lessons

by Adrian Rennie

Thinking About Thinking Many people just react to situations instead of really thinking hard about them. Ask yourself why you are Life has a way of challenging us with many problems. Every day we have to choose reacting the way you are. between right and wrong. But who is to say what is right and wrong? Here are Be aware of whatÕ s going Think of the bestproblems things about you.toWhich Habits Mind are youanswers with some troublesome for you wrestle with.ofRecord your on in your head. reallyon good applying Thinking About Thinking: reasons the at blank lines.to problems which are hard to solve. Are you really persistent? Or perhaps you are accurate and precise. Metacognition Be aware of the good things inside of you. What Imagine you could putaccidentally your best qualities inside a jarof and sell itboxes. to In the supermarket, you knock over a pile cereal No one sees you. Do you stop and quality thinking happens inside your brain. Are whoDo need experience more success in their lives. tidy others them up? youtojust walk away? you aware of it when it happens?

_______________________________________________________________________________ It might look something like this: _______________________________________________________________________________ Questioning And Problem Posing Ask yourself HabitDo of Mind your best. Friends are visiting you. Right after they leave you find a $20 note where they were which sitting. youisreturn it?

Ask yourself what it is you do that makes you so

_______________________________________________________________________________ successful at it. Ask yourself how could you set out your bottle page so that people would want to _______________________________________________________________________________ buy it?

You are visiting friends. You accidentally leave a tap on and cause a flood. Do you offer to pay for the damages? Do you need some

_______________________________________________________________________________ stickability? _______________________________________________________________________________

Give up when it gets hard? Thinking _____________________________________________________________ Interdependently Hardly ever finish Wait a minute. Others will _____________________________________________________________ have some good ideas _____________________________________________________________ things? about these problems. Maybe you could Would you like tospend some time solving these Your best friend has got terrible bad breath. Do you tell them? wham every problem tough situations with a _____________________________________________________________ thinking buddy. that comes along? _____________________________________________________________ Need to turn that _____________________________________________________________ frustrated feeling into Waiting at a bus stop in a rain storm you notice a blind person trying to cross the street. You are in a hurry. persistence? Do you stop to help them? Your teacher has a big blob of food stuck to his chin. Do you tell him?

Stick to it juice, keep going berries, don’t _______________________________________________________________________________ Well! give up sugar, wham the job _______________________________________________________________________________ preservatives, hardly ever stop jelly.

A homeless person asks you for $1. You think they will probably spend it on alcohol. Do you give it to them?

_______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________

is for you. A

You pick up the phone to make a call and hear two people talking. ItÕ s a crossed line. Do you listen in?

_____________________________________________________________ Managing spoon full Impulsivity a day _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ and think! There is will keepStopfailure

Only 3 easy of $39.95 sixyou take a spot in There is a long line atpayments the movies. A friend near thefor frontalets frontmonth of them causing many to start complaining. What do you do? supply. It’sbehind so easy!

_____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 72 28

more than one way to solve these problems. Think of several alternatives and then ask yourself, Ò WhatÕ s the most intelligent thing to do in this situation?Ó

away.

Teachers Resources & Lessons

by Adrian Rennie

Thinking About Thinking Many people just react to situations instead of really thinking hard about them. Life has a way of challenging us with many problems. Every day we have to choose Ask yourself why you are between right and wrong. But who is to say what is right and wrong? Here are reacting the way you are. Think of the best things about you. Which Habits of Mind are you some troublesome problems for you to wrestle with. Record your answers with Be aware of whatÕ s going really good at applying to problems which are hard to solve. Are Thinking About Thinking: on in your head. reasons on the blank lines. you really persistent? Or perhaps you are accurate and precise. Metacognition aware of the good things inside of you. What Imagine youyou could put your insidereally a jar and it to CDs.Be Your friend asks if they can best copyqualities one of your coolsell music You know itÕ s illegal. Do you let quality thinking happens inside your brain. Are others who need to experience more success in their lives. them do it? you aware of it when it happens?

Ask yourself which Habit Mind is your best. You are at a sports game with your younger brother or sister. An overexcited fan behind youof starts to swear yourself or whatnot? it is you do that makes you so and yell at the players using very bad language. Do you ask them to toneAsk it down successful at it. Ask yourself how could you set

_______________________________________________________________________________ out your bottle page so that people would want to buy it? _______________________________________________________________________________ You are playing a game of basketball and manage to score the winning basket after stepping over the you some sideline. The referee didnÕ t see it but your opposing player did. Do you ownDo up and sayneed you were out?

stickability? _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ Give up when it gets Your beloved older sister is in love with a man who you know is very bad news. Do hard? Thinking you try to tell her he is no good before she marries him? Hardly ever finish Interdependently

Wait a minute. Others will _____________________________________________________________things? have some good ideas _____________________________________________________________ about these to problems. Would you like _____________________________________________________________ Maybe you could spend

wham every problem some time solving these tough situations with a After getting back from the store you realize your baby brother has taken that comes along? thinking buddy. something from the shelves. What do you do about it? Anything? Need to turn that _____________________________________________________________ frustrated feeling into _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ persistence? Stick to it juice, keep going berries, don’t give up sugar, wham the job walking out with their fly undone. What do you do about After using the public toilets you notice a stranger hardly stop jelly.malfunction? it? Should you warnpreservatives, them that they haveever a wardrobe

Well!

_______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ You are riding your bicycle at night and come to a red light. There are no cars anywhere near. Do you just ride through it or obey the law?

is for you. A full Impulsivity aManaging day and think! There is will keepStop failure more than one way to Your parents box of chocolates from thefor cupboard Only 3discover easy apayments of $39.95 a sixhas been half eaten. away. solve these problems. Think of several You know it was your babysitter. They are asking you if you did it. You love being _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ spoon _____________________________________________________________

month supply. It’s so easy!

minded by her, sheÕ s a cool person. Do you tell on her? She could get fired.

_____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________

Teachers Resources & Lessons

Angela drew this doodle shape for Mark. Mark took it and changed it Think of the best things about you.aWhich Habits of Mind are you something creative and interesting, golf course! really good at applying to problems which are hard to solve. Are you really persistent? Or perhaps you are accurate and precise. Imagine you could put your best qualities inside a jar and sell it to others who need to experience more success in their lives. It might look something like this:

Try changing these shapes into creative and interesting drawings:

Teachers Matter

Stick to it juice, keep going berries, don’t give up sugar, wham the job preservatives, hardly ever stop jelly.

74 28

Only 3 easy payments of $39.95 for a six month supply. It’s so easy!

by Adrian Rennie

Creating, Imagining and Innovating The trick is to visualize an image that can be made from the scribble. You need to think fast and into change the scribble into a new image. Thinking About Thinking: Metacognition Past Be aware of the good thingsApplying inside of you. What Knowledge quality thinking happens inside your brain. Are Whenityou are faced with a you aware of it when happens? scribble and have to change it into something else you must draw on Questioning And Problem Posing your past knowledge. Ask yourself which Habit of Mind is your best. Remember all of the Ask yourself what it is you do that makes you so drawings, pictures and successful at it. Ask yourself how could you set images you can remember out your bottle page so that people would want to buyand it? choose one that will suit.

Do you need some stickability? Give up when it gets hard? Hardly ever finish things? Would you like to wham every problem that comes along? Need to turn that frustrated feeling into persistence?

Well!

is for you. A spoon full a day will keep failure Thinking Flexibly away. Each time you come up

Now pair up with a thinking buddy and take turns drawing doodle scribbles for each other to change into interesting and creative pictures. Challenge yourself and your friends to come up with neat creations.

Teachers Resources & Lessons

Here is a yucky, fun recipe where two of the ingredients are horrible and another two donÕ t even exist! ItÕ s meant to be a fun, nonsense Think of the best things about you. Which Habits of Mind are you recipe. really good at applying to problems which are hard to solve. Are you really persistent? Or perhaps you are accurate and precise. Imagine you could put your best qualities inside a jar and sell it to OLD SOCK SO UP others who need to experience more success in their lives. Ingredients: 1 pair of smellylike old this: socks It might look something 1 litre of muddy water a pinch of salt the foot of a snake a tin of north west wind

by Adrian Rennie

Creating, Imagining and Innovating YouÕ ll have to be creative to invent 2 nonsense ingredients for your recipe.

Thinking and Thinking About Thinking: Communicating With Metacognition Clarity and ofPrecision Be aware of the good things inside you. What YouÕ inside ll haveyour to write quality thinking happens brain.clear Are you awareinstructions of it when it that happens? make sense so that the reader can appreciate and enjoy your yucky recipe.

Questioning And Problem Posing Ask yourself which Habit of Mind is your best. Ask yourself whatCreating, it is you do that makes you so Imagining and successful at it. Ask yourself how could you set out your bottle page so that Innovating people would want to Instructions: Stopit?and think. What cool buy ingredients would make the 1. Wear the socks for 3 weeks without washing. most interesting recipe? 2. Combine the water, salt and north west wind by stirring Brainstorm a list of cool, yucky with a snake foot until smooth. possibilities to throw in the pot 3. Drop in the socks and simmer for 30 mins. before you start. Select the best 4. Serve hot with a side order of mould fries. ones for your recipe.

Do you need some stickability? Give up when it gets hard? Now create your own yucky recipe. Include 2 yucky ingredients and 2 Hardly nonsense ever finish ingredients. Write clear instructions that are easy to follow. things? Would you like to wham every problem that comes along? Ingredients: Need to turn that _____________________________________________________________________ frustrated feeling into persistence? _____________________________________________________________________

Stick to it juice, keep going berries, don’t give up sugar, wham the job _____________________________________________________________________ preservatives, hardly ever stop jelly.

Well!

_____________________________________________________________________

Instructions: 1.

_____________________________________________________________________

is for you. A spoon full a day 3. _____________________________________________________________________ will keep failure 4. _____________________________________________________________________ Only 3 easy payments of $39.95 for a six away. 2.

_____________________________________________________________________

month supply. It’s so easy!

Teachers Resources & Lessons

Think ofhas the had bestathings Which Habits of Mind are you Everyone Ò bestabout everÓ you. teacher. A special person who reallythem goodlots at applying to problems which hard that to solve. taught and looked after them well.are Maybe greatAre you really Or perhaps are accurate and precise. teacher was persistent? really inspirational andyou helped their students to be Imagine youSo could yourmakes best qualities inside a jar and sell it to outstanding. whatput is that a teacher special? others who need to experience more success in their lives.

MyIt might bestlook teacher was ________________________ something like this:

Cool teachers are people whoÉ

Teachers Matter

Stick to it juice, keep going berries, don’t give up sugar, wham the job preservatives, hardly ever stop jelly.

76 28

by Adrian Rennie

Applying Past Knowledge Remember all of theAbout great teachers you have had Thinking Thinking: in the past. Remember all of the great things Metacognition they did. Be aware of the good things inside of you. What quality thinking happens inside your brain. Are you aware of it when it happens? Questionong And Problem Posing Ask yourself what it was about those teachers that made them great. Was it their personality? Questioning Problem Posingfor the Perhaps it was the And activities they designed Ask yourself which Habit of Mind is your class or maybe it was the way they got best. on with Ask yourself what it is you do that makes you so you. successful at it. Ask yourself how could you set out your bottle page so that people would want to buy it?

Do you need some stickability? Give up when it gets hard? Hardly ever finish things? Would you like to wham every problem that comes along? Need to turn that frustrated feeling into persistence?

Well!

is for you. A Compare your ideas on what makes a great teacher with those of your thinking buddies. Perhaps they have spoon full a day an idea or two that you can add to your collection. The top three attributes of a great teacher are: will keep failure 3 easy payments of $39.95 for a six 1. Only _________________________________________________________________ away. 2. 3.

month supply. It’s so easy!

_________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ ©A.Rennie 2010 ©A.Rennie 2010

THE LAST WORD: KAREN BOYES

Maslow’s 4 Levels of Learning Watch your students learn, step by step

ow do you know when a student has learned a new skill? Is it when the information is first taught? When the box on your checklist is ticked? Maybe after the information has been recalled during a test or is it when your students can use and apply the information to real-life situations? Learning is like making a track to the top of a bush-clad hill. The first time the path is difficult and confusing as you slash through the obstacles and come across natural barriers all while you are maintaining your sense of balance and direction. The fourth time you begin to head for the top of your hill, the track is a little easier, only having to shift debris and branches that have fallen on your path. Eventually after 100 trips up the hill, your path is now a four-lane highway and your journey is effortless and little thought goes into it.

Reaching this level of Unconscious Competence is when learning has taken place. So how does a student get from level one to four? Practice, perseverance and encouragement. By making mistakes, learning from them and correcting them. Allow your students to go through these levels. Provide them with many opportunities for experimentation, practice and time to think about each step. Each student will work through these levels at their own rate.

It is suggested that it can take about two to three weeks of practice to move from one level to another. This of course depends on the quality and frequency of practice and any prior knowledge bought to the learning situation. Also the more reason a student has to learn a new skill the easier and faster it will be to master. Create interest and excitement about a topic by giving real practical applications so student are more focused about learning new skills..

This is reflected in Maslow’s Levels of Learning. Level 1: Unconscious Competency when your students don’t know they don’t know. For example, when they were little they did not know they did not know how to tie a shoe lace or they may not know that they don’t know how to do simple quadratic equations. Level 2: Conscious Incompetency - your students know they don’t know how to do it. That is they know they don’t know how to tie a shoe lace and they realise they don’t know how to solve quadratic equations.

Level 4 - Unconscious Competency Your students don’t have to think about the process anymore; they can perform the skill without thinking of the individual parts. So now they can tie a shoelace without thinking about it, and they can solve simple equations as fast as they know their timetables.

PHOTO: VIKTOR CAP

Level 3: Conscious Competency - Your students process each step individually. For example to tie a shoe lace - left over right, and under ... and pull... and maths equations are worked out step by step slowly and methodically.

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Articles inside

Winter comfort food

The alarm you’ll look forward to: iStudyAlarm

Use your influence

Time for an energy boost?

Teachers as mediators of self-directed learning

Teaching and living the Habits of Mind

Connecting with kids

Capturing the GenNext dividend

The power of three