TM Issue 22

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

TeachersMatter The Magazine of Spectrum Education

Below the surface what beliefs underlie your choices?

Oh, the Drama, The Drama are you a ham actor?

pg. 16

pg. 37

How to stretch time 24 hours is enough! pg. 70

NZ$15 / AU$15

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 22

BREAKING NEWS Use your property grants to ensure ALL your students can hear “The board of trustees can use the property grant to install classroom sound field systems. These systems distribute the teacher’s voice throughout the classroom (via speakers) and can benefit a number of students by improving the level of the teacher’s voice relative to background noise at the student’s location in the classroom.”

Reference: MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, SPECIAL EDUCATION INFORMATION SHEET, 13/1/13 Auditory Processing Disorder

Read more about how classroom soundfield systems can impact on learning achievement http://www.sitech.co.nz/vdb/document/316

The plug-and-play way to advanced intelligibility REDCAT, a single sound panel audio solution, uses exciter technology to effectively distribute the teacher’s voice throughout the classroom. Logically, it also happens to save tremendously on audio technology expenses. Installation of a traditional, cone-speaker based classroom audio system easily adds 30+% to the cost of equipment.

Installation required: none

With literally no cost of installation, REDCAT delivers maximum value for every technology dollar. Use it right out of the box. Just wear the comfortable, lightweight mic. Turn it on. And let your natural voice be heard. While the REDCAT’s footprint may be modest, the results are anything but.

Full access to teacher’s natural voice Exciter technology takes advantage of the teacher’s natural voice and sound reflection from walls, ceiling and floor.

Integrates wirelessly with other media Infrared wireless technology makes it easy to connect REDCAT to other audio sources (e.g., computers, DVD players).

The iRMC Media Connector

Get a FREE iRMC Media controller with your Redcat. Visit www.sitech.co.nz/redcat for more details $1395.00

Eliminate feedback, once and for all Microphone and sound panel system are so perfectly tuned they prevent feedback, no matter where teachers stand.

$320.00

Cost-saving, No installation Solution for Audio Integration The iRMC Media Connector is designed to integrate and amplify all classroom multimedia audio sources with ease.

Computers, DVD players, MP3 players, etc. can be connected to the compact device which wirelessly transmits the signal to a Lightspeed classroom audio system for crystal clear amplification.

Download this flyer at www.sitech.co.nz/flyers_and_catalogues

www.sitech.co.nz/redcat

Free Phone 0800 100 607

Free Fax 0800 300 607

Pricing excludes GST and freight - Sitech Systems terms and conditions apply. Visit www.sitech.co.nz for current pricing, online quotes and to place an order. Email sales@sitech.co.nz

The secret of getting ahead is getting started.

The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.

- Mark Twain

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CONTENTS

In this issue Cover illustration: Generation of Knowledge

by Volodymyr Grinko

2 1 3

14 3

Quote

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Editor’s letter

7 10

Teachers Matter

4

22

Responsive pedagogy: debunking three myths that limit 21st Century learning

Quote

CATHERINE NEIDHARDT AND ANGELA STENSNESS

HOM Bootcamp report

24

A vocabulary for teaching and learning Motivating students beyond carrot and stick

MARK TWAIN SARAH LINEHAN STACIA TAUSCHER KAREN BOYES

GLENN CAPELLI

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Facilitating learning through collaborative groups ALAN COOPER

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Strategies for internalising the Habits of Mind

MAGGIE DENT

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Letter by letter: F

ARTHUR L. COSTA AND BENA KALLICK

16

Below the surface

18

Formative and summative assessments

20

Five best practices for the flipped classroom

ANDREW MILLER

BETTE BLANCE

ALLIE MOONEY

KAREN BOYES

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DR MARVIN MARSHALL

34

Refsnart – reverse transfer of Habits of Mind

MATT ATKINSON

36

The “eyes” have it

Learning and relationships

MICHAEL GRINDER

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36 37

Oh, the drama! The drama!

PAT BOUNCRISTIANI

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A step toward removing the frustration from mathematics homework

SERENITY RICHARDS

40

Catering for all three crucial factors

STEVE FRANCIS

42

Behaviour management in the Classroom

44

Metacognition

48

Trade a feeling for another feeling

50

The secret of reading comprehension

TERRY SHEFFIELD TRUDY FRANCIS

YVONNE GODFREY

TERRY SMALL

Subscribe today

MAGAZINE CONTACTS

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

Teachers Matter Magazine Team Publisher, Sales and Advertising: Karen Boyes Editor: Sarah Linehan Graphic Design: Mary Hester / 2ndFloorDesign Printer Spectrum Print, Christchurch

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

Teachers Matter magazine is registered with the National Library: ISSN 1178-6825 © Spectrum Education 2013 All rights reserved.

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

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Why do I feel so bad?

64

Father and son road trip

CAMILLA WATSON

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Motivating students to learn

65

Jokes

56

The case for competition

66

The STUPID of all diets…

ROWENA SZESZERAN-MCEVOY

All Enquiries

1 hour to create a fabulous morning tea!

Spectrum Education Ltd

HEATH HENWOOD JOHN SHACKLETON

NGAHI BIDOIS

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

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Study skills for success KAREN BOYES

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Ethical Behaviour – It’s what you do that counts

MONICA WILLIAMS

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

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How to stretch time

KATE SOUTHCOMBE

ROBYN PEARCE

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

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What do students do when they don’t know what to do?

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Book Review Far, Far From Home

Fax: (NZ) +64 4 528 0969

BARBARA GRIFFITH & TRICIA KENYON

www.spectrumeducation.com

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Landing helicopter parents... without shooting them down

MICHAEL GROSE

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The last word: Learning through emotions

Postal Address: PO Box 340 Cessnock NSW 2325, Australia

KAREN BOYES

Phone: 61 2 4991 2874 or 1800 249 727

MAGGIE HOS-MCGRANE

Phone: (NZ) +64 4 528 9969 magazine@spectrumeducation.com

Lioncrest Education

info@lioncrest.com.au www.lioncrest.com.au

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Hello!

For many years I have read the words contained within the Teachers’ Matter magazine and have had my views broadened, my knowledge deepened and my eyes opened and so, it is with much excitement and a little trepidation that I take over its editorship.

I have worked within the New Zealand education system for over 20 years in a wide variety of schools and positions. I have a firm belief in the importance of developing students into lifelong learners and have no doubt that the ideas in this magazine give all educators a rich toolbox of ideas to help them in this quest.

Teachers Matter

As a parent helping a young son start to think about his actions,

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Trudy Francis’ article Metacognition has given me an incredibly useful skill – that of using Cogitare. This form of communication is helping me assist my son to think about his behaviour and make more conscious decisions. I can imagine this would also be very useful in the school environment in a number of situations, including dealing with student behaviour and thinking about the effectiveness of planning and assessment.

Have you ever given conscious thought to how your personality affects your approach to assessment? Allie Mooney’s article had me giggling while thinking about the personalities of various people I have worked with over the years and how we all approached our teaching so very differently.

Bette Blance’s article delves into this idea further by discussing how Collegial Coaching can help teachers uncover their beliefs about effective learning and teaching. She explores how these beliefs play an important role in our classrooms today.

These are a just few of the amazing topics covered in this issue, so find a comfy place, make yourself a cuppa and enjoy!

Live, laugh, play & learn,

“We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.”

-Stacia Tauscher

CONTRIBUTORS

and recently retired from a position as a Resource Teacher: Literacy, which she had held for the last 16 years.

Alan Cooper

Bette Blance

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. acooper@clear.net.nz

Allison Mooney 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

Andrew Miller Educational Consultant and Online Educator.

Andrew currently serves on the National Faculty for the Buck Institute for Education and ASCD, traveling nationally, training educators and presenting at conferences around his areas of expertise. He has taught both online and in the brick and mortar setting, both while implementing his core tenants including culturally responsive teaching, project-based learning, and gamebased learning. He presents and writes for a variety of organizations including the Huffington Post, National Council for Teachers of English, Edutopia, iNACOL, ISTE, ASCD and the National Association of Multicultural Education.

Angela Stensness As the Specialist Classroom Teacher at Papamoa College, Angela’s portfolio focuses on the pedagogical development of teachers and provision of resources to enhance teacher practice. She has authored a chapter in “Teaching Primary School Mathematics and Statistics: Evidence-based Practice.”

Teachers Matter

Dr Arthur Costa

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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 Barbara has been a primary school teacher for 36 years. She has specialised in the teaching of literacy for more than 20 years

As an educational consultant and instructor with The William Glasser Institute, Bette works with schools in New Zealand and Australia focusing on pedagogy and behaviour. She helps school staff, counsellors and community members who have the desire to learn more about how and why we behave the way we do.

Camilla Watson With a background as a Corporate Trainer, and with a Diploma in Social Services, Camilla now has twenty-five years experience as a trainer, counsellor and life coach. She is a stress management specialist and mind/ body therapist who has received several awards for Outstanding Adult Educator for her courses and is also licensed by Hay House Programmes as a ‘Heal Your Life®’ coach and workshop leader. She has worked in the classroom as a support person for children with emotional difficulties and also provides the Understanding Emotional Processing workshops for teaching staff to aid them in the classroom.

Catherine Neidhardt Catherine is a foundation Deputy Principal at Papamoa College which opened in 2011. She recently completed her Master of Educational Leadership and is currently enrolling in her PhD. Influenced by her international teaching experience, she has developed an interest in researching authentic learning contexts and their impact on student learning.

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

Heath Henwood Heath Henwood is a teacher and coach in Queensland. He has extensive experience working in private and government schools as a Teacher, Principal and Coach. Heath has studied widely, with a Masters in Leadership, and Post-Graduate qualifications in Science, Education, and ICTs. He sits on several boards and consults on Strategic Leadership, Educational Practices, Curriculum Development and Personal Development.

He is married with two teenage children. He is available for contact at Heath.Henwood@ bigpond.com

John Shackleton 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

Kate Southcombe Kate provides individually tailored professional development for Early Childhood Centres and schools on evidence-based behaviour management. Her key points of difference are that she is a fully qualified teacher who has lectured in Early Childhood, and she provides essential theory which is frequently missing in trendy packaged material. Kate also consults for parents of children with specific behaviour concerns. Kate is currently completing a Post Graduate course of study at Auckland University in Applied Behaviour Analysis. kate@eprtraining.co.nz

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 and corporate clients internationally, unleashing their peak performance. www.spectrumeducation.com

Maggie Dent Maggie Dent is an author, educator, speaker, and parenting and resilience expert with a special interest in the early years and adolescence. She is a passionate advocate for the healthy, commonsense raising of children in order to strengthen families and communities. Maggie has a broad perspective and range of experience that shapes her work, a slightly irreverent sense of humour and a depth of knowledge that she shares passionately in a commonsense way. Her finest achievements are her four adult sons, deep human connectedness and her five books. www.maggiedent.com

Maggie Hos-McGrane Maggie Hos-McGrane has been teaching for 30 years, 24 of these in international schools. Originally from the UK, Maggie is currently the Elementary Tech Coordinator at the American School of Bombay and is a member of ASB’s Research and Development Core Team. Maggie is a Google Certified Teacher and has presented at conferences in Europe, Asia, North and South America. www. maggiehosmcgrane.com/

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

Matt Atkinson Matt Atkinson is investigating whether students can achieve greater academic success by adapting Habits of Mind that they have used successfully in sporting contexts.

He believes that transferring prior experience into the classroom provides a positive, personal frame of reference for student application of the Habits of Mind. Schools interested in participating in this project can contact Matt at matkinson@bbc.qld.edu.au

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.

Monica Williams Monica is the owner and creator of the Delissimon blog, a baking and photography blog that started in 2008. She is a wife, mother to 3 children, baker, photographer, lover of chocolate and partial to a good wine. Based in the Bay of Plenty she is passionate about good food, happy children and all the fresh air you can get!

Ngahi Bidois Ngahihi o te ra is from Te Arawa and is an international speaker, author and consultant. His website can be viewed at www. ngahibidois.com

Pat Bouncristiani

Pat Bouncristiani is committed to the belief that learning how to think skillfully is the foundation for every successful learner.

She has extensive experience at primary, secondary and tertiary levels and continues to work with educators, parents and seniors in Australia and the U.S.A. Her focus is on the development of strategies that build creative, effective thinking and problem solving in the classroom and in the world. www.

ThinkingAndLearninginConcert.org

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

Rowena SzeszeranMcEvoy Rowena Szeszeran-McEvoy is the founder of The Max, a group of private, prestigious and exclusive international fitness businesses colleges in Australia and New Zealand. She is an internationally-requested speaker; is on the board of trustees of a not-for-profit medical College in New Zealand; has written 13 books, and is the editor of the MAXimum RESULTS health & fitness magazine. She ran her 14th marathon in 2012.

Serenity Richards Serenity Richards has been teaching for thirteen years in a primary school setting.

In recent years she have been working as a numeracy coach, working with teachers to improve pedagogy in classrooms.

Steve Francis Steve Francis understands the challenges and demands of being a principal. He has led a number of Queensland State Schools from a one-teacher school through to a large metropolitan school and was previously a member of QASSP Management Committee.

After 18 years of successful principalship, Steve ventured with his family to Hong Kong as the principal of an international school for four great years. He returned to Queensland to start a new business venture supporting leaders to reach their potential, write three books, A Gr8 Life…Live it now!, Time Management For Teachers and First Semester Can Make Or Break You, and develop the Gr8 People educational resources and the Happy School articles. He is conducting a one day workshop ‘Establishing a Feedback Culture’ for QASSP members. Further details are on the QASSP website and www.stevefrancis.net.au

CONTRIBUTORS

Terry Sheffield Currently an RTLB, Greymouth, Terry is a passionate advocate of both student centred learning and teachers who make learning a collaborative strategy. Based on over 40 years teaching experience, influenced by students and colleagues he has worked, it is a combination which he believes encourages the students to start thinking about and taking responsibility for their own learning and which has positive influences on the manner in which they behave.

Terry Small Terry Small, B.Ed., M.A., is a master teacher and learning skills specialist. He has presented on the brain for over 30 years to schools and organisations around the world. His knowledge, warmth, humour and dynamic presentation style have made him a much sought-after speaker at workshops and conferences. Terry is often on television, the radio and in the press. He has presented his ideas to over 200,000 people.

Terry believes, “Anyone can learn how to learn easier, better, faster, and that learning to learn is the most important skill a person can acquire.”

Terry’s wealth of teaching experience and extensive involvement in applied neuroscience and make him an outstanding resource of the business and educational communities. He resides in Vancouver, Canada. Terry Small’s Philosophy is simple: “Success is a skill anyone can learn.”

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.

Trudy Francis Trudy is recognised in Australasia as a leader in Curriculum Integration, HigherOrder Thinking, the Key Competencies and Habits of Mind. She is in demand as a speaker and workshop facilitator. In 2007 Trudy was appointed by four schools in the Fitzherbert Cluster to facilitate their Extending High Standards across Schools project (Ministry of Education NZ). c21learning@kol.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

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BOOTCAMP REVIEW: KAREN BOYES

Habits of Mind Bootcamp review 2013

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his year’s Bootcamp was possibly the best ever with ideas, creativity and mindfulness in an abundant supply. Teachers were heads down, tails up from the start; throwing themselves into all activities and reflecting on their use of the Habits and how they would embed them in the classroom.

The 16 Habits of Mind, developed by Prof Art Costa and Dr Bena Kallick are the characteristics found in independent, self directing learners. They offer a structure for learners of all ages to decide how they can behave intelligently when facing many choices, when stuck, when planning a complex task, when working collaboratively or when needing to tackle a new challenge. They provide a framework or compass for students to refer to when needing to direct the next steps in their learning. They remove dependency on the teacher and over time become internalised, habituated approaches to taking the lead in one’s own learning even when the way forward is not clear or is in unfamiliar territory.

Art Costa states, “Habits of Mind are the characteristics of what intelligent people do when they are confronted with problems, the resolutions of which are not immediately apparent.”

The Habits of Mind • Persisting • Managing Impulsivity • Listening With Understanding and Empathy • Thinking Flexibly • Thinking About Thinking (Metacognition) • Striving For Accuracy and Precision • Questioning and Posing Problems • Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations • Thinking and Communicating with Clarity and Precision • Gathering Data through All Senses • Creating, Imagining, and Innovating • Responding with Wonderment and Awe • Taking Responsible Risks.

• Finding Humour • Thinking Interdependently • Remaining Open to Continuous Learning

The Habits of Mind give learners of all ages and all stages a framework for autonomous, lifelong learning. They show us how to behave intelligently, independently and reflectively.

The 4 day Habits of Mind Bootcamp was lead by Karen Boyes, Associate Director of the Institute for Habits of Mind. It is designed to immerse participants in the Habits through workshops, activities, team tasks and personal challenges.

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1. Charlie and his pal arriving at Bootcamp 2. The winning team “Tepu Rua” with Mentors Karen Boyes (left) and Wendy Sheridan-Smith (right) 3. Bootcamp participants doing the “WOW”

Mentors, direct from the classroom, also worked with the teachers. Adrian Rennie (DP from Northcote School) showed participants how to activate the language of the Habits, as well as sharing a plethora of ideas about how to engage students with the Habits. Wendy Sheriden-Smith (AP at Rowandale School) shared her school’s journey with the Habits from the beginning to their International Habits of Mind Certification and how they are sustaining the Habits throughout the school.

As always, there was a group challenge and the winning team (by one point) was Team Tepu Rua. Thanks to all the wonderful teachers from both New Zealand and Australia who attended and are continuing to make thinking happen in their classrooms.

If you are interested in attending a Bootcamp – please contact us on info@spectrumeducation. com for the 2014 dates.

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From the 2013 Teachers Matter Conferences At the three 2013 Teachers Matter January conferences held in Sydney, Invercargill and the Bay of Islands, I asked teachers to share their wisdom. The topic was Creating An Effective Learning Environment and speakers spoke from the stage about their perspectives. Teachers were then invited to share their thoughts.

This book is a collection of those ideas, summarised and distilled down to the key concepts. If you were one of the teachers at the conference — thanks for your wisdom. If not, you too will benefit from the ideas. Whichever category you fit into, if you gain some ideas from this e-book, or can add to it, please share these ideas with your colleagues.

Teachers make every other profession possible —our job is to prepare students not just for tests, but for the test of life. The environment you create within your classroom and school is vital.

Please download the book with my compliments and share it with others. :-)

“Use inclusive language”

- Karen Boyes

“Model the values you teach”

“Children should have more questions at the end of a unit than at the start”

“Allow students to share ideas”

Go to www.SpectrumEducation.com to download the book.

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ALAN COOPER

Facilitating learning through collaborative groups By talking with, and listening to their peers, students not only reflect and deepen their understanding but also have better retention.

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mall group cooperative lear ning has a proven record of providing an environment which enhances teaching and learning. The student centric nature of this is also highly motivational. However, laissez-faire, form the groups any old how and let them at it, has the potential for disaster. Mindful process is needed.

The importance of group size

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Groups work most efficiently when there is a free flowing on- task conversation in which all group members seamlessly participate.

Like much of teaching and learning, this won’t just happen. It has to be made to happen by providing classroom processes that achieve this. These processes need to move over time from a formal teacher driven student centric process, to a student driven student centric one.

Novice stage The teacher establishes the rule that no one may speak in the group until all have had an initial turn. The teacher controls this by nominating the first person to speak either randomly by naming that person, or partially democratically by asking the group to select the person with the longest hair (or some other acceptable idiosyncrasy), or eventually fully democratically giving the

choice to the group to choose their own first responder. Then the group can work either clockwise or anti clockwise until this first round is completed, with all having had their say. No other speaker can break the rotation unless the next speaker takes the pass option.

The pass option allows a group member to defer their contribution until the others have spoken. This ploy is to protect the reflective learners, the introverts. They need time to work things through in their head before responding. From the outset it needs to be made clear that the pass option is not a ploy to avoid participation. These pass students automatically return as active participators when they respond immediately after the last person in the circle has spoken.

Once the first round has been completed general discussion will follow, but using the same strict rotation format. It will seem stilted, and may well stifle, but establishing a rotation ritual pays dividends later.

It is constant interaction provided through the flow of conversation, to and fro, that is the essence of collaborative learning: of group work. If students have to wait before they have the opportunity to restate their case, rebut what another says, add new information, or change their position, the discussion may have moved on and the critical moment lost. The larger the group the more likely this is to happen: the more likely a dominant member to appear and defeat the purpose of collaboration.

However, size also needs to be balanced against the value of diversity. Therefore the question must be asked as to whether a group of two restricts this diversity too much.

A group of four is often the right balance.

PHOTO: DESIGNPICS

Teachers Matter

Group size has a significant impact on how much active interaction will occur. In a given time a group of two, provided the time is divided evenly, will get 50% of that time for listening and 50% of that time for speaking. In a group of four, the time halves to 25% for speaking and increases to 75% for listening. A group of six gets about 16% speaking time and about 84% listening time.

Thus, the larger the group gets, the easier it is for group members to become redundant rather than being actively occupied which successful collaborative learning requires.

Group processes

ALAN COOPER

Middle Stage

“collaborative learning will increase general a c a d e m i c performance because it increases the depth of academic conversations.”

Students are ready for this more student controlled rotation stage when the stage one ritual has become routine and the concept of having all participate through rotation is embedded in automatic memory.

This stage is typified by such as the familiar circle and the passing of a Kush ball from the previous speaker to the next again with a clear understanding that all must be part of a rotation.

Adult Stages Finally, when the middle stage is working smoothly, the “adult” version is moved to, where participation is controlled by the students themselves. When a student wants to participate in the conversation they indicate by a subtle signal such as a partially raised hand to indicate to the group leader that they have something to say. If more than one hand is thus raised they are called in order of who was first, second etc.

Rotation is still mandatory to a degree. The group leader has the responsibility to ensure that all participate equally.

Beyond that is the superior adult level where the group is leaderless. Here the student desiring to speak waits until they perceive the opportunity to seamlessly join the conversation. At this level the group will be able to develop an awareness of anyone who is not participating in the conversation and invite them to put forward their view, thus making the group a communal enterprise. This can be done quite blatantly by addressing a question to the silent one, “What do you think Alan?”

Rubrics

Rubrics are an important strand in providing the environment for learning. They are an efficient way of; on the one hand, providing clear objectives and expectations, while on the o t h e r, p r o v i d i n g for criterion based feedback. Their purpose is to indicate quality of performance in a sequential and incremental way, rather than give a score. Therefore at each stage of the process they show examples of what performance at that level looks like.

This requires authentic examples of work for each of the four levels: Novice, Middle stage, Adult and Advanced Adult. At each level there would need to be two columns: one headed, “What you hear,” and the other, “What you see.” Initially these could be filled in by the teacher, but as the work progresses authentic examples from the day to day work of the class would be included as extras or substituted for the original.

Teacher role The teacher role is to cruise the room coaching and mentoring through providing formative feedback. While attention needs to be on what the individual or the group is getting right (the positives) at the same time incorrect practices and/or attitudes cannot be ignored. Whether correcting or praising, feedback must specifically indicate where to go next.

Feedback such as, “This is a smart group,” or to an individual, “Good to see you leading the way”, that focuses on the student is to be avoided. Such focussing on the individual leads to a fixed mindset.

As Dweck’s research shows such a mindset leads to a counter-productive reliance on an innate ability leading to failure when effort is needed. Comment that focuses on the action does the opposite. It leads

to students coming to understand that what is important is not natural ability but effort.

Developing interpersonal intelligence, the intelligence that enables students to work effectively in the group, is of major importance in this coaching mentoring role. This will be centred around developing specific social skills that build both rapport and manage the relationships within the group. An example would be explaining that saying, “I disagree,” is blunt and cold or “You are wrong” is confrontational.

Once the group has progressed to an “On the other hand….,” or “There is another side….,” when having a different viewpoint, teacher feedback that acknowledges the effort will not only cement these more empathetic words in place but encourage a search for continuous improvement. A comment such as, “It is great to see this group taking the time and making the effort to build on what the other group members have said by expanding to look for other aspects,” gives the stamp of approval for searching far and wide for information: for effort.

At the advanced level the teacher feedback may include something along the lines of, “What is the impact of adding, possibly to your introduction and saying, there is possibly another side, rather than just there is another side?” This would then lead into a discussion about the importance of vocabulary and the subtle variation that just one word can make.

This advanced adult level is also where specific teaching may be required about both how to time entry into a group and how the group as a whole watches and makes way for a new speaker.

Although the focus in this article is on social and emotional learning, there is a good deal of robust research that indicates this will increase general academic performance because it increases the depth of academic conversations. It provides the right environment for learning..

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ARTHUR L. COSTA AND BENA KALLICK

Strategies for internalising the Habits of Mind How to develop the internal compass that will help guide your decisions

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fter using profanities and pounding on the computer keyboard with his fist because he couldn’t get it “unfrozen,” Tommy stated that he “Should have inhibited his impulse and found an alternative, more productive response.”

While he used the correct label for the Habit of Mind, Tommy’s response was in the past tense; reactive—what he should have done.

We want students to employ the Habits of Mind proactively—in the future tense—how they will employ these dispositions.

Dispositions may take many years to become internalised. For some, it’s a lifetime endeavour. For others they are born with the inclination, for still others dispositions are used only when reminded and for some it is a life-long but elusive quest. When students use the Habits of Mind proactively, it is an indication that the disposition has become “internalised.”

This article offers some strategies of helping students “interiorise” the Habits of Mind.

Teachers Matter

Strategies to “Interiorise” the Habits of Mind

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To be successful, students must come to “own” the dispositions. Strategies teachers can use to cause students to internalise dispositions include: 1) Consistent Vocabulary: Developing a common and consistent vocabular y throughout the culture of the school and classroom. Names and labels of dispositions provide conceptual tools for students and staff with which they can communicate, operationalise, define and categorise behaviours. The names are heard across all disciplines, on the playground, at home and in the cafeteria.

2) Disposition Density: Repeated and frequent hearing about and focussing on the disposition over time. “Yes, we are going to focus on listening with understanding and empathy again during our class meeting today. I know we did this during our last class meeting as well, but we agreed that listening without interrupting was difficult and you said that several times you forgot and responded impulsively without thinking. Today, let’s become even more aware of our listening and pay attention to what we tell ourselves when we are tempted to interrupt.”

3) Attention to Intention. Drawing attention to and finding the disposition in many settings, in varied circumstances,

contexts and situations. Martinez says that “Besides thinking interdependently in the weight room, when and where else might it be important to think interdependently?”

4) Dispositional Dialogues. Discussing what the disposition means, and having students generate lists of attributes, and envisioning mental pictures of what the disposition looks like and sounds like. “So, while you are working through this problem together, what might it look like and sound like if you are thinking interdependently?”

5) Cognitive Questions. Teachers ask a myriad questions many of which are behavioural. To interiorise the Habits the questions must engage the mind (rather than behaviour). For example:

QUESTIONS THAT INVITE BEHAVIOURAL RESPONSES

QUESTIONS THAT INVITE COGNITIVE RESPONSES

“Why did you do that?”

“What were you thinking when you decided to do that”

“What did the author mean when…..?”

“What cues were you aware of….?”

“What are your plans for……?”

“As you envision…..”

“When will you start….?”

“How will you decide when to start…..?”

“Was that a good choice?”

“What criteria did you have in mind to make that choice?”

ARTHUR L. COSTA AND BENA KALLICK

6) Spectators of their Own Thinking.

If teachers pose questions that deliberately engage students’ cognitive processing, and let students know why the questions are being posed in this way, it is more likely that students will become aware of and engage their own mental processes. They become spectators of their own thinking.

For example: • What was going on in your head when…..?

• What were the benefits of…..?

• As you evaluate the effects of…?

• By what criteria are you judging?

• What will you be aware of next time…?

Students also become spectators of their own thinking when they are invited to monitor and make explicit the internal dialogue that accompanies the dispositions. For example, “What goes on in your head when you think creatively?” Or, “What did you hear yourself saying inside your brain when you were tempted to talk but your job was to listen?”

7) Establishing Expectations. Students are expected to behave in a manner consistent with the disposition and positive feedback (not praise) is given when it is observed. An example from Dweck is, “Your persistence paid off! You stuck with it until you completed your task. You really remained focussed!”

These are some of the powerful strategies that get the disposition inside of the brain: otherwise known as “interiorising.”

In summary, internalisation means that these dispositions or mental disciplines serve, as an internal compass that guides decisions when human beings

are confronted with dilemmas, enigmas, problems, conflicts or ambiguities. When confronted with problematic situations, students, parents and teachers might habitually employ one or more of these thinking dispositions by asking themselves, “What is the most intelligent thing I can do right now?”

How can I learn from this, what are my resources, how can I draw on my past successes with problems like this, what do I already know about the problem, what resources do I have available or need to generate?

How can I approach this problem flexibly?

How might I look at the situation in another way, how can I draw upon my repertoire of problem solving strategies; how can I look at this problem from a fresh perspective?

How can I illuminate this problem to make it clearer, more precise? Do I need to check out my data sources? How might I break this problem down into its component parts and develop a strategy for understanding and accomplishing each step?

What do I know or not know; what questions do I need to ask, what strategies are in my mind now, what am I aware of in terms of my own beliefs, values and goals with this problem? What feelings or emotions am I aware of which might be blocking or enhancing my progress?

The interdependent thinker might turn to others for help. They might ask how this problem affects others; how can we solve it together and what can I learn from others that would help me become a better problem solver?

PHOTO: MARK FAIREY

“We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.”

- Peter F. Drucker

These dispositions transcend all subject matters commonly taught in school. They are characteristic of peak performers whether they are in homes, schools, athletic fields, organisations, the military, governments, churches or corporations.

They are what make marriages successful, learning continual, workplaces productive and democracies enduring.

The learner’s brain continually sculpts itself, (other wise, neuro-scientifically known as “auto-plasticity ”) . Because dispositions are never fully mastered, as maybe understanding content and concepts are mastered, the purposes of teaching them to students is to monitor themselves, confront themselves with self-generated data and reveal to others how well they have learned to cope with adverse situations and challenging problems. It means setting goals for themselves to constantly improve their decisions and actions and making commitments to pursue those goals in future situations.

It means being alert to feedback by self -observation, seeking feedback from others and modifying their actions to become even more efficient in the execution of their dispositions. It means self-modification - building your own new neural pathways.

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BETTE BLANCE

Below the surface What beliefs underlie the choices that teachers make?

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Teachers Matter

eachers become teachers for many different reasons. The style of teacher they want to be may also vary. Some want a classroom that is quiet and orderly while others love to have lots of interaction.

If you ask a teacher why they want their classroom to be like that, the answers will be many and varied. Some will be able to tell you about their values and beliefs as they relate to teaching and learning. Others will relate experiences they had as learners and how they want the same for their classroom.

Still others will say what they don’t want and strive to match the opposing picture.

These pictures of what teachers want drive teacher behaviours in the classroom.

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When we talk with teachers about what they do in the classroom; what is behind the choice of what they do, many have not considered this. Like an iceberg, there is much more below the surface. Teachers will often be able to describe what they do on the behavioural level, but investigating the beliefs that lie beneath the choice in behaviour, can be a new experience for many.

The process of investigating beliefs about how learning occurs best in the classroom is not simple. It requires time, and some well crafted questions, to draw out the reason behind that choice. In doing this, a teacher is able to identify and explain the reasons behind choices made to enable themes to emerge.

A teacher in a classroom of eight and nine year olds may have planned a lesson that involves learners engaging in a mathematics activity to develop the key concept of place value. The activity requires each student to write a three digit numeral between 100 and 999 on a ‘Post-it note’. As a class they mingle and form groups of three or four with other learners who have numerals they identify as having some similarities.

In answering the following question about this particular activity, the beliefs can be more easily uncovered.

“You would have considered many ways to develop an understanding about the concept of place value. What is behind your choice of doing it this way?”

BETTE BLANCE

• b e p r o v i d e d w i t h o p p o r t u n i t i e s for interaction as a motivator for engagement that results in learning.

“I want students to really consider numerals in a way that engages their ability to compare and contrast and evaluate them. I want to have them using language such as more and less, and hundreds and tens and ones from the perspective of understanding place value rather than just looking at a number and saying this is the hundreds, this is the tens and this is the ones. “

When teachers articulate these beliefs, they usually become more conscious of them and can be more aware of them in action in the classroom.

Focussing on emerging themes, this discussion can be synthesised to some agreed upon belief statements for this teacher. In this lesson, the collaboratively agreed-to beliefs included: • engage in higher levels of thinking to develop deep understanding of complex concepts; • discuss concepts with others to think out loud on these higher levels;

This process of uncovering what is below the surface for the teacher is very powerful.

Collegial Coaching is a tool that uses a reciprocal process where a teacher plays both roles; coach and inviting teacher.

Having a Collegial Coach who facilitates this professional dialogue encourages reflection and self-evaluation by the inviting teacher, thus resulting in continuous improvement.

A Collegial Coach can not only help the teacher uncover her beliefs about effective learning and teaching but can also gather data to facilitate the self evaluation process.

Once he or she has clarity about the driving motivations, the Collegial Coach can act

as a ‘mirror’ in the classroom to enable the teacher to see how closely they matched the pictures with the reality of classroom practice.

This becomes ‘reflection-on-action’, keeping the control in the teacher’s own hands. The process takes coaching out of the realm of supervision and evaluation to one of self evaluation and continuous improvement.

We are all motivated by how we want to feel.

Over a period of thirty years, many hundreds of teachers in Queensland have experienced Collegial Coaching both as a coach and as an ‘inviting’ teacher. As a needs satisfying activity, teachers really buy into it.

Teachers want to feel competent and confident. Like learners in the classroom, by being in control of their own learning, by having their personal beliefs accepted and valued by others, they will continue to be inspired to have classrooms where students want to learn.

PHOTO: RUTH HAALLAM

When considering this, the teacher is able to explore her choices in terms of her beliefs.

The teacher might say things like,

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ALLIE MOONEY

Formative and summative assessments How our approach can be driven by personality type.

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e all respond and react to different tasks most often according to our personalities. The four dominant personalities can be so clearly identified when approaching a situation or challenge.

Take for instance the two types of Assessments we use in our classrooms;

“ Let’s appreciate our different styles, because in the middle of them all is wisdom.”

1. Personality Responses to Keeping up with Formative Assessments.

Teachers Matter

The Playful type

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Strengths

Weaknesses

• Inspiring, encouraging, positive • Optimistic • Will try new ways of doing things

• Great starter, but can get distracted by social opportunities, and not write everything down • Would rather articulate, than spend time writing up the records • Too wordy

The Powerful type

• Focussed • Determined • Has the ability to stay on top of this • Probably keeps more in their head than on paper, and has a good recall

• Gets annoyed with other team members that haven’t done their part

The Precise type

• Love recording • Best at keeping records • Will stay back to keep this up to date

• Too much information • Can get behind with wanting to record every single detail • Would rather do it themselves knowing that their job would be thorough

The Peaceful type

• Consistently consistent • Will co-operate with what needs to be done • Happy to oblige as part of their work criteria

• Can procrastinate • Find it hard to be creative with their reporting

PHOTO: AUREMAR

ALLIE MOONEY

2. Personality Responses to Keeping up with Summative Assessments.

When it comes to the Summative Assessment (Test driven assessments) I have heard comments in the staff room from different teachers and clearly they respond or react to them differently.

Playfuls “So much to do – so little time.” “This work is keeping me from being in the classroom” Powerfuls “I can see clearly how the child needs to be developed more” “I don’t see the necessity for all this” “If you are a fully engaged teacher the testing shouldn’t be required.”

Peacefuls “I have been working for 17 years as a teacher and all these assessments that have been brought in over the years have just added more work but not impacted hugely.

I am a professional, and continue to do the very best for the child.

Precise “I welcome these testings. I can monitor from the results and this helps me to be more efficient.”

You can see how we can get irritated with each other when working in teams as we respond (positively) or react (negatively) to what is required in our work.

Looking at the teaching time from the perspective of the personality it could look like this: Playful teachers have a tendency to make sure that every student is happy and content that they have been heard. They will explain a theory or learning through storytelling - probably sharing way beyond the time required.

The Precise teacher will go over the concept through varied and different ways so that the student has well understood it. They are known to be thorough in their approach.

They have a tendency to expect the very best out of each child.

The Peaceful teacher is very relaxed and will revisit a concept if someone is not sure and patient when the student doesn’t grasp it first time. They are the most gentle in their approach to others.

Whatever personality we have been given (this comes in our DNA) we all look at things from that perspective and lens view of that personality. Let’s appreciate our different styles, because in the middle of them all is wisdom.

Powerful teachers have a tendency to make sure everyone has understood the concept of what is required by them. (Sometime children find this type intimidating, especially a Peaceful student - they can feel overwhelmed by their strong presence).

Powerful teachers can see the potential in each child and finds it frustrating when the student can’t see this.

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ANDREW MILLER

Five best practices for the flipped classroom Some things to think about and consider if you are thinking about or already using the flipped classroom model.

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I’ll be honest. I get very nervous when I hear education reformists and politicians tout how “incredible” the flipped classroom model is, or how it will “solve” many of the problems of education. It doesn’t solve anything. It is however, a great first step in reframing the role of the teacher in the classroom.

Teachers Matter

It fosters the “guide on the side” mentality and role, rather than that of the “sage of the stage.” It helps move a classroom culture towards student construction of knowledge rather than the teacher having to tell the knowledge to students. Even Salman Khan says that the teacher is now “liberated to communicate with [their students].”

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It also creates the opportunity for differentiated roles to meet the needs of students through a variety of instructional activities. But again, just because I “free” someone, doesn’t mean that he/she will know what to do next, nor how to do it effectively. This is where the work must occur, as the conversation of the flipped classroom moves forward and becomes more mainstream in public and private education. We must first focus on creating the engagement and then look at structures, like the flipped classroom, that can support it. So educators, here are some things to think about and consider if you are thinking about or already using the flipped classroom model.

Need to Know How are you creating a need to know the content that is recorded? Just because

I record something, or use a recorded material, does not mean that my students will want to watch, nor see the relevance in watching it. I mean, it is still a lecture.

Example: Master design, assessment, and management of PBL; and then look at how you can use the flipped classroom to support the process. Perhaps it is a great

“ The flipped classroom model fosters the “guide on the side” mentality and role for the teacher, rather than that of the “sage of the stage.”

Also, this “need to know” is not “because it is on the test,” or “because it will help you when you graduate.” While that may be a reality, these reasons do not engage the students who are already struggling to find meaning and relevance in school.

If the flipped classroom is truly to become innovative, then it must be paired with a transparent and/or embedded reason to know the content.

Engaging Models One of the best ways to create the “need to know” is to use a pedagogical model that demands this. Whether project-based lear ning (PBL), game-based lear ning (GBL), Understanding by Design (UbD), or authentic literacy, find an effective model to institute in your classroom. Become a master of those models first, and then use the flipped classroom to support the learning.

way to differentiate instruction, or support students who need another lesson in a different mode. Perhaps students present you with a “need to know,” and you answer with a recorded piece to support them. This will help you master your role as “guide on the side.”

Technology What technology do you have to support the flipped classroom? What technology gaps exist that might hinder it? Since the flipped classroom is about recorded video, then obviously students would need the technology to do this. There are many things to consider here. Will you demand that all students watch the video, or is it a way to differentiate and allow choice? Will you allow or rely on mobile learning for students to watch it? Again, these are just some of the questions to consider in terms of technology.

PHOTO: MARCIN SADLOWSKI

ANDREW MILLER

Lack of technology doesn’t necessarily close the door to the flipped classroom model, but it might require some intentional planning and differentiation.

Reflection Every time you have students watch a video, just like you would with any instructional activity, you must build in reflective activities to have students think about what they learned, how it will help them, its relevance, and more. If reflection is not a regular part of your classroom culture, then implementing the flipped classroom will not be as effective. Students need metacognition to connect content to

objectives, whether that is progress in a GBL unit, or work towards an authentic product in a PBL project.

Time and Place Do you have structures to support this? When and where will the learning occur? I believe it unfair to demand that students watch the video outside of the class time for various reasons. If you have a blended learning environment, that of course provides a natural time and place to watch the videos, but it will be difficult to ensure all students watch a video as homework. In addition, do not make epic videos that last hours. Keep the learning within the videos manageable for students.

This will help you formatively assess to ensure learning, and it will feel doable to students.

I know I may have “upset the apple cart” for those who love the flipped classroom. My intent is not to say that the flipped classroom is bad. Rather, it is only a start. The focus should be on teacher practice, then tools and structures. The flipped classroom is one way to help move teachers toward better teaching but does not ensure it. Like the ideas above, focus on ways to improve your instruction before choosing to use the “flipped classroom.”

This article was originally run on Edutopia on the 24 February 2012.

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CATHERINE NEIDHARDT AND ANGELA STENSNESS

Responsive pedagogy: debunking three myths that limit 21st Century learning Teachers may feel more confident in designing learning programmes for 21st Century learners after exploring these myths.

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s educators in the 21st Century, we often discuss the need to raise our student’s engagement levels, prepare students for an evolving workforce and to use technology to ensure student success. However, the challenge of guiding students through this dynamic educational landscape can seem overwhelming at times.

By addressing some of the misconceived obstacles associated with 21st Century learning, perhaps teachers may feel more confident in designing effective learning programmes that respond to the needs of 21st Century learners.

to arrange furniture to suit their learning, select their collaborative partners and decide on how to share their learning with a variety of stakeholders. The teacher now locates themselves amongst the learning, becoming accessible to respond to the specific needs of students.

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PHOTO: NATALI ANTOSCHENKO

Teachers Matter

Myth #1: Modern Learning Makes Teachers Obsolete

In the traditional teaching model, there is a perception of control and discipline whereby the locus of control lies with t h e t e a c h e r. T h e s o l e requirement of the student is to seat themselves at a desk with the appropriate equipment and silently await teacher direction. Students engage with learning in the way prescribed by the teacher, therefore all learning is solely dependent upon the teacher.

This pedagogical approach is in direct contrast to the 21st Century classroom, where the locus of control lies more solidly with the students. Students may be encouraged

Consequently, the role of the teacher changes to one of being a facilitator of learning. Teachers provide purposeful learning experiences that draw upon real life scenarios and problems. Emphasis is placed upon pair/small group work and regular conferencing with students becomes a crucial component of the programme.

Conferencing with students holds them accountable for their learning choices, as well as allowing for the teacher to provide individualised next steps. Workshops are planned to meet shared needs amongst groups of students. Whole class teaching is employed to introduce general concepts or skills. The majority of teaching is needsbased and is delivered in small group or individual settings.

Despite some misconceptions, teacher input increases in a 21st Century learning environment. Although the traditional presence at the front of the class is reduced, the 21st Century teacher is far from obsolete as they are re-positioned as the facilitator of the learning that is taking place, as opposed to being the beholder of all knowledge. Teachers may now focus on the individual needs of students which results in both increased student engagement and achievement levels.

CATHERINE NEIDHARDT AND ANGELA STENSNESS

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Myth #2: Modern Learning Demands Specialised Spaces and Resources The idea that traditional classrooms are not suitable spaces for 21st Century learning to occur is a misconception. While purpose-built collaborative learning spaces do offer more flexibility and potential for group interaction, they are not essential. It is teacher practice that determines whether or not a lesson is responsive to the needs of 21st Century learners.

By using an inquiry learning approach and including authentic contexts for learning experiences, classrooms are just one venue in which learning can occur. Students are encouraged to source information from local, national and global resources. This may include the use of telephones, email, letters and Skype which are all authentic and legitimate methods of accessing information. Within a traditional classroom, single desks can be moved together for collaborative pair/group options. Exploring other spaces such as areas around the school and outside of classrooms is an engaging and innovative option for encouraging collaborative work.

The advent of smart devices such as tablets, phones and iPods has increased the potential for students to access more material than ever befor e. How eve r, technology still acts as a tool, not the main vehicle for learning. By selectively and purposefully using technology, teachers can use devices to enhance a learning process or outcome. Authentic outcomes can still be achieved through the use of the National Library, DVDs and whiteboards. Contrary to popular misconceptions, 21st Century

“ As Jukes, McCain and Crockett state, “If we continue to teach the same old way, we will completely miss connecting with our students.” After all, aren’t connections what teaching is all about? ”

learning is not solely dependent upon Google. Teaching students how to critically evaluate information is more important than simply sourcing the information. It is not the amount of information students locate, but rather what they do with it.

be adapted. Teachers can impart knowledge and skills through teaching via: workshops, “Flipped” lessons, problem-based tasks, field trips and expert knowledge.

By contextualising the learning, students are provided with a real-life application of knowledge which is essential, because the need for student knowledge and skill acquisition will never become extinct. The combination of sound content knowledge, infused into an authentic context, promotes a sense of ownership, deeper understandings and engagement for the students.

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Modern physical spaces and resources alone do not guarantee effective learning. It is the willingness of teachers to explore different pedagogical approaches that creatively use resources and spaces that will provide the environment for effective 21st Century learning to occur.

Myth #3: Modern Learning Means Lack of Content and Knowledge

Wi t h i n t h e 2 1 s t C e n t u r y c l a s s r o o m it is important that learning contexts are authentic, relevant and purposeful. However, engaging learning contexts do not supercede the need for knowledge or skill development. Acquisition of new knowledge is essential and is situated in context rather than being taught as isolated skills and facts.

Having students create a business plan to rejuvenate a small company impacted by the sinking of the Rena off Tauranga, that could be presented to Tauranga Chamber of Commerce, is adding a purposeful and authentic context to essential curriculum-based knowledge. It is still crucial that students are taught the skills and content necessary to complete the task.

The side-loading of information and skills are still the responsibility of the teacher, yet is it is “how” the teaching is delivered that can

To sum up, 21st Century learning is more about how we teach and how our students learn, than it is about the learning spaces or technology available to us. It is about how the content is delivered and the critical thinking skills our students are employing, in order to prepare themselves for success in the 21st century. Being open to thinking about teaching in innovative and creative ways is the first step to responsive pedagogy.

As Jukes, McCain and Crockett state, “If we continue to teach the same old way, we will completely miss connecting with our students.” After all, aren’t connections what teaching is all about?

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GLENN CAPELLI

A vocabulary for teaching and learning May your vocab flourish!

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here are certain words and phrases that I think should be part of our life and learning, our talking and teaching. Let’s start with three:

Quiddity As a teacher my first Principal was Glynn Watkins. The year was 1979 and I taught English and Social Sciences at Wanneroo Senior High School. Even though WSHS was a Government school, it was a state experiment in Western Australia that all potential staff had to go through a series of interviews in order to be accepted to teach.

As part of the interviews Glynn asked me, “What was my philosophy of life and my philosophy as a teacher?” I was 21. I’m not sure what or how I answered but he then asked me to continue to think on this question because all of his first year teachers would be sharing their philosophies with the staff at the beginning of the fourth term. By age 22 I had to be able to express my philosophy of life and education.

Many years later I was able to interview Glynn and record his thoughts on life, learning and leading. One of the final things he said was, “You must have a philosophy about learning and teaching.

You have got to have a philosophy about how children learn.”

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Years later still, I discovered the word quiddity: meaning ‘your essence, your essential about-ness’. What is it you are about? What is it you stand for? The second layer of the word is that it can sometimes refer to your oddness, your uniqueness.

I love this. What is your classroom, what is your school and what is your teaching most about? Bring your essential uniqueness to your essential belief as an educator. As you teach, help each pupil/student discover their quiddity – their essential driving force, their own unique about-ness.

Cheong

It was an honour to speak at the 50 th .

Former students from all years gathered for the reunion of all reunions. We sat in year groups at round tables and sipped wine or drank beer. We all remembered sitting in the grassed quadrangle of the school grounds munching sandwiches.

“ Knowing when a person needs to be taught and when to be guided is part of the art, science and craft of teaching..”

I was invited to speak at the 50th Birthday of my student days High School. Churchlands Senior High (now College) was my school from 1970 ‘til graduating Year 12 (then 5th Year) in 1974.

Churchlands was a government school and is now a government independent school.

It is now also a special music scholarship school and has a pool, two theatres, a gymnasium… oh the list goes on.

When I was at Churchlands the motto was (and remains) Aim High. For the Churchlands founders that motto may have been an affirmation, for me it was more of a seed of an idea that gradually grew over time.

When I spoke I introduced my Churchlands mob to a word I first heard in South Korea – cheong. Cheong; the effect of spending a lot of time or living through an experience with others.

I later read of cheong in a column by Mia Freedman and I quote her as saying that cheong is about the fact that “Even if you’re not on exactly the same wavelength with these people, you’re connected together, because you’ve travelled through some significant life together.”

GLENN CAPELLI

Think about it and act upon it: what is the climate you are creating? Will your students have a positive feeling of we-ness, a positive cheong to last a lifetime?

Pupil/Student Have you ever thought about the difference between being a pupil and being a student? If you haven’t, please ponder.

One way to look at it is that a pupil requires tuition, needs teaching. Being a pupil is about getting the basics, the foundations, in place. It requires a bit of rigour and a touch of rote. It requires learning something and demonstrating you have learned it. You pass a test, you go through a stage; you transition a rite of passage.

Being a student requires guidance and mentoring. It also requires that the student takes some flight alone and broadens their personal scope, deepens their knowledge base, checking back with their mentor/ teacher as they flow and grow.

In their paper The Socio-emotional Grammar of Koreans, Sang Chin Choi and Soo Hyang Choi go on to say that cheong embodies the emotional links among individuals connected to each other by feelings of we-ness and exhibiting the humanistic side of their selves.

When I started teaching at WSHS Glynn Watkins said, “There is a mysterious thing in a school, a mysterious thing in a classroom, called a climate. It is something you feel.”

Cheong is a climate. Your students will have the cheong of your classroom and school for years and decades. It is the thing that will have some of them returning to reunions and the thing that will have others stay away.

Perhaps each of us is both pupil and student pending the situation and context.

Knowing when a person needs to be taught and when to be guided is part of the art, science and craft of teaching. Perhaps it is also a big part of wisdom.

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Dare to Be an Exceptional Teacher

NE W E BO OK F ROM MAG G IE D ENT

This ebook based on Maggie Dent’s popular presentation of the same name is a 46-page guide for busy teachers to help them become even more effective, competent and exceptional. Maggie draws on her experience as a former teacher and counsellor, and on her research and work as an author and speaker, to identify the qualities of exceptional teachers and offers loads of practical tips for climate building in the classroom.

The book investigates: • the six keys to exceptional teaching • understanding the amazing brain and unconscious and how they impact on learning • emotional states • building connectedness in the classroom • why movement matters in our classrooms • life-enhancing communication • the invisible power of expectation & focus • changing negative core concepts without pain • creative visualisation • fabulous feedback and much more.

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Maggie Dent quietly improving lives

MAGGIE DENT

Motivating students beyond carrot and stick How stickers and certificates can undermine students’ self-direction and motivation.

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ffective teaching i s t h e b a s i s o f successful learning. Effective teaching identifies and builds on prior knowledge, makes real-life connections, develops deep understanding, and monitors and reflects on learning.

So what role does motivation have in all this?

Teachers routinely attest to the importance of motivating students, lamenting how easily students memorise unending rap songs despite needing a truckload of teaching tricks to help them remember instructions for a simple assignment.

In today’s worried world it seems like many children get stickers for simply breathing in an effort to keep them motivated! It seems the negative effects of the warm fuzzy selfesteem movement from the US many years ago have confused our parents and teachers.

Have you noticed that children don’t need to be given a reward for sitting down to watch a much-anticipated movie or to eat ice cream or chocolate? These are activities that come with a built-in reward, the immediate reward of positive emotion.

When I studied as an undergraduate at The University of Western Australia (UWA), I did Psychology 101. As part of our study into human behaviour we undertook a lab experiment where we used rewards to teach a cute white rat to get food by touching a lever.

The idea was that when the rat touched the lever it got food (and it was rewarded) and if it didn’t touch the lever it went without.

After two weeks I found my rat dead — he never learnt about how to get the food.

Everyone else’s rats were doing great or were overeating. I was quite upset at this death

and on reflection decided to give up psychology. I also decided that using rewards to change behaviour was not something I valued.

Fast-forward to my teaching career and my own parenting and I now realise I unconsciously avoided using external or extrinsic rewards —deeply scarred by my rat experiment, no doubt.

However, teachers and parents often encourage less desirable activities with extrinsic rewards that offer the immediate positive emotion lacking in the task. Of course this is not what we want — and that’s why it is important to set the record straight. We give children chocolate and toys for contributing to housework, stickers for sitting quietly in class and grade ‘A’s for handing in wellwritten reports. However successful this type of extrinsic motivation may appear in the short-term, it presents a number of significant inhibitors to a love of life-long learning.

The downside of rewards I recently spoke at the 2013 Positive Schools conferences throughout Australia and was inspired by the National Australian Positive Schools Initiative’s Applied Social Psychologist Helen Street’s presentation on Rewards, Punishments and Motivation.

“Children who are continually motivated by the immediate positive emotion associated with extrinsic rewards tend to hold a limited one-dimensional idea of wellbeing,” Dr Street, who is also an honorary research fellow at UWA, said, “They may also feel punished when rewards are not forthcoming. Teachers are left handing out

increasingly verbose praise until we have not only lowered the standards by which we judge our children; we have made sure that high marks are almost obligatory. ‘A’ becomes the first letter of average.”

Research shows quite clearly that giving stamps and stickers to reward nice behaviour towards others actually increases the opposite behaviour. It decreases sympathy and empathy and makes children mean.

Dr Street likens this to the yearning for “fame, fortune” and other forms of public celebration. It can drive individuals towards those extrinsic rewards while they may secretly hate what they are doing.

The use of rewards also increases compliance and obedience, which at first sight may seem like a great idea in the classroom. Sadly in the long-term the increase in extrinsic rewards deprives individuals of their ability for selfdetermination.

Maybe this is why there is such massive disengagement in high school? Hormones, growth spurts, mental chaos, emotional roller coaster rides and no more stickers?

What, no more stickers?

While as a teacher I seldom used extrinsic rewards, there was certainly a place for some rewards — the unexpected acknowledgment, the “thank you” note, the well-done lolly jar. I also confess to bribing and coercing my sons with the

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MAGGIE DENT

“ Above all, we must remember that truly effective teaching is the basis of successful learning … and that is where the real reward lies.” promise of chocolate, ice cream and lollies and it worked a treat. However, it was occasional and not every day.

When recently discussing the issue of rewards with two of my sons, now adults, they disagreed and said they loved extrinsic rewards and like to be rewarded for exceptional effort with more money — who doesn’t? I wonder how much temperament has to do with this: the higher-energy, bolder ‘roosters’ value winning and being first much more than our more introverted ‘lambs’, so maybe this is another thing to consider in the mix?

Andrew Martin, author of How to Motivate your Child for School and Beyond, agrees. He writes that rewards can sometimes be used effectively with young children. They can be helpful in getting disengaged students engaged and also can be useful to sustain kids’ interest in school work until the work becomes more personally interesting or enjoyable. Once a child is interested it may be best to back off the reward and offer encouragement instead.

Teachers Matter

The distinction needs to be made about inner and outer motivation with students.

The art of building the “inner locus of control” for students is about lighting the fire within them rather than under them.

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Essentially, kids will need bigger and bigger rewards to do what we would like them to do if they don’t have an inner locus of control that gives them an intrinsic sense of positive emotion.

This is where powerful morphic fields, positive intentionality from the teacher, safe classrooms for risk-taking, and enormous amounts of enthusiasm are essential in building both overt and inherent motivation.

Author of How Students Learn, Barbara McCombs states that “almost everything [teachers] do in the classroom has a motivational influence on students — either positive or negative. This includes the way information is presented, the kinds of activities teachers’ use, the ways teachers interact with students, the amount of choice and control given to students, and opportunities for students to work alone or in groups. Students react to who teachers are, what they do, and how comfortable they feel in the classroom”.

Based on research, we now know that motivation depends on the extent to which teachers are able to satisfy students’ needs: • to feel in control of their learning • to feel competent, and • to feel connected with others.

Giving students influence Being able to influence their own learning means students have significant input into the selection of learning goals and activities and of classroom policies and procedures. It helps students feel in control. Knowing that students need to have significant input into decisions about their learning situation does not, however, simplify the task of meshing what, when, how and where students want to learn with mandated content and objectives, the school’s schedule, and the teacher’s room assignment.

Fortunately, research suggests that students feel some ownership of a decision if they agree with it, so getting students to accept the reasons some aspects of a course are not negotiable is probably a worthwhile endeavour. Then, whenever possible, students should be allowed to determine class rules and procedures, set learning goals, select learning activities and assignments, and decide whether to work in groups or independently.

In addition, while inconsistent with best practice in cooperative learning, allowing students to select learning partners has been shown to improve their motivation to learn. With this, as with other instructional issues, the teacher must continually weigh the benefits of making the “preferred” instructional decision against the motivational benefits of giving students choices among appropriate alternatives.

The other side to changing behaviour is definitely discouraging what we don’t want and helping our kids to become emotionally buoyant when things don’t go their way.

Children and adolescents can and need to learn about setbacks — disappointment is an emotional state we all dislike and yet we can learn to deal with it.

So it seems the carrot and stick method of motivation has limited use in our schools or home — if you do X you will get Y! However we must not throw the baby out with the bathwater. The important message is that constant rewards can de-motivate rather than motivate.

So in a nutshell, if you give positive acknowledgement to students, you give it to all. If you give lollies — everyone gets them. That way we build that essential “belonging” while not increasing the chance of turning our students into performing monkeys. And above all, we must remember that truly effective teaching is the basis of successful learning … and that is where the real reward lies.

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

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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: 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.

You can download the iStudy Alarm for Apple and Android products at the Apple itunes store and Google Play.

NOW n ble o a va i l a i d Andro

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Ff

ABCDEFGHIJKLMN KAREN BOYES

Letter by letter: F

A by-the-letter guide – with one letter in each issue Fears

Feedback

Flexible Thinking

There are 3 main fears students have in a learning environment; firstly, the class will be boring, secondly they won’t learn anything and thirdly they will not be treated fairly.

Eric Jensen, one of the world experts on the brain has been quoted as saying, “Never confuse feedback with assessment… schools have far too many tests and offer far too little feedback for learners.”

Make your classes interesting – connect with your students, have fun and make the time pass quickly. Engage students with relevant stories and artifacts to illustrate your key messages.

Provide hands on activities that have students challenged to think and questioning.

One way to give clear feedback is to provide clear and concise criteria in the form of a checklist, rubric or instructions. The more specific the criteria, the easier it is to give meaningful feedback. You may also consider re-naming tests to quizzes or feedback loops. It is important to note that students need to be clear that getting answers incorrect is part of the learning experience and feedback from these errors may be crucial to success. When a student scores 7 out of 10 in a quiz, the most important element of this score is the 3 they got wrong. It is the three that tells them what they must learn to improve next time.

An amazing discovery about the brain is its neuroplasticity, or ability to ‘re-wire’. Carol Dweck has been instrumental in the notion that intelligence is not fixed at birth, understanding the brain changes and having a growth mindset creates higher motivation and productivity.

Edward deBono says, “If you never change your mind, why have one?” Flexible thinking requires looking at problems from alternative points of view and being able to deal with several sources of information simultaneously. Dr Art Costa suggests flexible thinkers are able to look down on a situation to see the themes and patterns. They also display confidence in their intuition, are able to tolerate confusion and ambiguity.

Make your content relevant to students’ lives and link new learning with previous content.

Start each class with a clear lear ning intention and hook learners with a reason to learn the information. Change your language from “I will teach you…” to “You’ll learn…”

Teachers Matter

Treat students fairly by having a clear set of boundaries and sticking to these. It is also imperative to follow up on your promises so students know that your word is your bond.

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Ff

ABCDEFGHIJKLMN

F f

NOPQRSTUVWXYZ KAREN BOYES

Food for the brain

Forgetting

Frontal Lobe

There is no denying it, the brain needs great food to operate at its best. There are several great foods that have been proven to aid memory, learning and brain health.

Research on how and why the brain forgets has been continuing since the late 1800’s. Items that don’t make sense are often forgotten first - within the first 24 hours of the initial learning.

Conversely, traumatic and vivid experiences are rarely forgotten.

If students are confused, stressed or lacking of sleep there is a higher correlation to forgetting information compared to those that are not. It seems that the brain screens out the unimportant to make room for the meaningful.

At the front of the brain are the frontal lobes, and the part lying just behind the forehead is called the prefrontal cortex. These lobes deal with planning and thinking.

They are made up of the rational and executive control centre of the brain and monitor higher order thinking. It is also where your personality, or self-will, is housed. The frontal lobe matures slowly and is still continuing to mature in early adulthood. As the rational system is slow to develop in adolescents, teens are more likely to submit to their emotions.

One of the last parts of the frontal to develop is empathy.

Blueberries: have been found to help protect the brain from oxidative stress and may reduce the effects of age-related conditions such as Alzheimer’s.

Nuts & seeds: are good sources of vitamin E, especially walnuts, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flax seed, and unhydrogenated nut butters such as almond butter and tahini.

Fish: in particular oily fish such as salmon and tuna have been found to be rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids, which are essential for brain function.

Whole grains: such as oatmeal, whole-grain breads, and brown rice promotes cardiovascular health, which helps to encourage great blood flow to the brain, helping with enhanced thinking and learning.

Foods to avoid, especially when you want your brain to be at its best, include processed sugars, caffeine and artificial sweeteners.

The brain does remember more readily the first time something is experienced, as well as recent learning and anything that is repeated over and over. To avoid forgetting, make important information stand out by making it novel, funny or strange. Forgetting also occurs when the brain has an overload of information, so chunk information into small ‘bite-sized’ amounts.

“ The more specific

the criteria, the easier it is to give meaningful feedback. ”

NOPQRSTUVWXYZ

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PHOTO: ZLATAN DURAKOVIC

DR MARVIN MARSHALL

Learning and relationships

How to engender feelings that are conducive to learning

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ow we feel affects and even directs how we behave and learn. As you have heard time and time again with a great deal of truth - students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Teachers Matter

Trust is the foundation of any relationship. With people, trust also carries with it an implicit message that the other person has your own best interests in mind. That is why we can accept criticism and even anger from those whom we trust. We know, deep down, that they really mean to help us.

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Trust is an interesting quality because, once it is lost, it is hard to recapture. Many a relationship gasped its last breath on the words, “I just do not trust you anymore.”

To have optimum relationships, all parties must feel a sense of trust, a sense safety.

The feeling must be that harm will not be forthcoming - physically, emotionally, or psychologically.

Likeability also has a direct influence on behavior and learning.

In a class visitation, I observed the teacher having great difficulty getting students to behave responsibly. The teacher continually raised her voice commanding the students.

In private, I inter viewed a number of students who gave the teacher trouble and I asked them the reasons for their irresponsible behavior. All gave me the same response: they felt that the teacher did not like them. The relationship became reciprocal and resulted in the students’ trying to sabotage whatever the teacher wanted them to do.

When students’ feelings are so negative about a teacher, they rebel against what the teacher wants them to do. And this is exactly what the students were doing each time they were given an order.

When students harbour a visceral dislike, then teaching and learning suffer. Here are a few tips to engender feelings that are conducive to learning: Plan procedures before content. For example, be sure you have an efficient attention-getting technique to obtain all your students’ attention within five (5) seconds. If the procedure takes any longer, let your students know you are confident that they can give you their attention in less time. (This is a challenge; students love challenges.) Reinforce the attention-getting technique by practicing it again - and sometimes again and again.

(My favourite is, “Give me five” - raising my hand with five fingers apart representing two ears listening, two eyes watching, and one mouth closed.)

DR MARVIN MARSHALL

Rather than raise your voice, lower it.

The most effective teachers I have seen, Kindergarten through Year 13, never used loud volume to talk to students. More often than not, a quieter than usual voice was used. Using these first two approaches will greatly increase the effectiveness and pleasantness of a classroom.

Use the pause. Just wait. Speaking when you do not have the attention of the class is fruitless. Dare not count how often you do it. On the other hand, when you become conscious of how often you speak without the full attention of the class, you should quickly stop the practice.

Influence by persuasion - rather than by coercion. No one likes to be told what to do. Just think of your own experiences of how you felt when someone told you to do something. Telling conjures up negative feelings. Instead, think of sharing. When your mindset is to share information, you will notice an immediate release of stress and a much more joyful approach to teaching - which, in turn, will have a significant effect on students’ learning.

Encourage. Encouragement is often the spark that ignites motivation. “The teacher believed in me ” is a comment that researchers have heard time and time again by students. Remember that a word of encouragement after a failure is worth more than a whole book of praise after a success. A comment such as, “I have seen how capable you are; I know you can do it,” is a good starter.

Empower. Empowerment is a close cousin of encouragement. Encouragement is usually vocal - something you say to someone.

Empowerment may be vocal, but it need not be. For example, giving the student a responsibility can be very empowering.

In my own case, my Year 8 social studies

teacher gave me the assignment of being the class secretary. That responsibility empowered me in such a way that I began

Use positivity. Before saying anything, ask yourself, “Will this communication be perceived negatively or positively?” If it will

“ Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

to participate in school government. My co-curricular activities gave me experiences and values that played a significant role in my development.

Find the student’s interest and build on it. Everyone has something that he or she likes to do. An easy way to determine this is to find out what students do during their leisure time when alone. A good way to start is to have students share their interests in small groups. Then have students complete a small card with their names and one or two favourite activities. Make yourself a list of possible interests - art, writing, reading, volunteering, mechanical things, etc., then classify the students into one of the categories. Refer to it when planning differentiated lessons.

Ask for help. For a student who is particularly bothersome, let the student know that you have a problem and the only person who can help you is that student.

(Of course, the problem is the student.)

Machiavelli knew the effectiveness of this approach when he told the “Prince” that he would gain as much loyalty by having his subjects do something for him as when the prince would do something for them. There is something almost genetic in young people that, when given the opportunity to help someone else, they rise to the occasion.

be interpreted in a negative way, change it so the statement will be interpreted in a positive way. “Don’t do that!” vs. “Can you find a more appropriate or better way?” “You are not standing in line as you should!” vs. “Show me how you should stand in line.” “Put that down!” vs. “How should that be handled?” Superior teachers avoid stimulating students to have negative feelings toward them. This is not to be confused with having high expectations and giving quality assignments.

Develop procedures to help students help themselves. For example, if a student is hyperactive, elicit - perhaps with a suggestion or two from you - some procedure(s) that would redirect his energy.

The student may tap his thigh; stretch; take a long, deep breath; hold his sternum high for better body alignment and more efficient breathing (and thereby learning); or some other technique in which the student can engage that is not bothersome to you or disruptive to other students.

You can be rigorous and expect quality work. Just don’t do it in a demanding way.

A simple way to assess your relationships with students is to ask the reflective question, “If I were a student, would I want me as a teacher?”

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MATT ATKINSON

RefsnarT – reverse transfer of Habits of Mind Experiences are vital to students successfully applying the Habits of Mind ‘All students can learn and succeed, but not on the same day in the same way.’ William G. Spady

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Teachers Matter

uccess for students is the primar y aim of educators, and we are obliged to investigate all possible methods of attaining this goal. The above quote suggests that students are not all on the same page with their academic progress and that a differentiated approach to curriculum content and performance tasks may be necessary to support students who lack the tools and/or motivation to achieve success in their classes. Helping students to develop positive attitudes towards their academic requirements is essential, as is the facilitation of strategies aimed at helping students to achieve success in their immediate academic environment. Further, it is vital to develop in students the ability to transfer knowledge and skills into other areas to achieve success.

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Costa and Kallick’s Habits of Mind is a proven framework for thoughtful practice.

Teachers encourage students to develop mindful dispositions, which act as an internal compass to guide students in their thinking and behaviour when they encounter difficult situations within the classroom environment. Habits of Mind are applied by students on a task-specific basis to overcome obstacles and (hopefully) help them to achieve success in their academic pursuits. With the above quote in mind however, this success is dependent on an individual’s disposition toward acting intelligently in a given situation and utilising Habits of Mind (as appropriate) to solve problems. Some students are more able to recognise situations where the application

of Habits of Mind, either alone or in concert, can be beneficial. As an advocate of the Habits of Mind and a friend of Art Costa, I support the development of these mindful behaviours for academic success, and also the need to teach for transfer with the aim of enabling those in our care to become lifelong learners.

However, rather than concentrating on what happens AFTER Habits of Mind are introduced and developed in classrooms and how they can be transferred to what Anderson describes as ‘new and novel situations’, I believe we need to investigate the influence of students’ experiential learning BEFORE the Habits of Mind are introduced. refsnarT (transfer in reverse) is my theory of reverse transfer of Habits of Mind. In contrast to the current principle and practice of transferring use of Habits of Mind to situations outside the classroom as a result of what they have learned about Habits of Mind in class (transferring out), ‘refsnarT’ suggests there is greater potential for student success through their exploring the knowledge and skill sets gained from the range of ‘novel’ situations they experienced outside the classroom environment before being introduced to the Habits of Mind (transferring in). These experiences can be vital to students successfully applying Habits of Mind, both now and in their lives beyond the school gates.

“ BEFORE the Habits of Mind are introduced, we need to investigate the influence of students’ experiential learning or Participation means success is possible” This theor y of reverse transfer can be illustrated in the Habits of Mind curriculum model (right) through the addition of a sixth dimension, that of experiential learning.

As previously intimated, content mastery by students is the focus of schools, and the current model indicates that many components are brought to bear, beginning with thinking skills. Performance tasks are designed to apply thinking skills. Habits of Mind are introduced and utilised as necessary, framed by the individual’s values and philosophies. I do not believe, however, that you can simply apply a Habit, or know about a Habit of Mind based on your values alone. The model lacks a physical context necessary to validate an individual’s grasp

MATT ATKINSON

of the Habits of Mind. When we introduce a Habit of Mind into the classroom we typically ask our students to recognise other people using it in order to develop a frame of reference about what its use might ‘look, sound and feel like’. When a Habit of Mind is introduced, I believe students must be able to develop a frame of reference using their own experiential learning. This needs to be a personal physical context such as an action or activity which is undertaken in order for a Habit of Mind to be explored fully, allowing learners to gain personally meaningful understanding which will then guide their application in classroom performance tasks.

Such experiential learning can influence future decision making and can become a frame of reference for overcoming difficult situations, both similar and abstract.

Spady’s quote is quite relevant here. All students are capable of success, but will not achieve it in the same way or on the same day. The question is how do we provide the support (and the tools) for all students to achieve success with the Habits of Mind?

Take a typical classroom. There will be some who are naturally academically inclined (and capable), those who battle away each day and find their own varying levels of success, and those who would rather be anywhere else. Logically, the latter don’t have the same expectation of academic

success as those who are more motivated.

Or perhaps they are motivated, and simply lack the right tools for the job (or are unable to recognise when to use them). However, as disparate as they may seem, all of these students have some form of previous experience to draw from when trying to overcome difficult situations in class.

Wiggins and McTighe espouse ‘beginning with the end in mind’ – what do we want students to know and be able to do as a result of the performance task? However I suggest beginning with the beginning in mind – what did students know and what were they able to do prior to the performance task that they might be able to call on in order to achieve success in said task (transferring in)? What experiential learning could be used as a basis for the application of the Habits of Mind to a performance task?

From the day they were born, kids have accumulated experiences, many of which they learned from and then applied that wisdom when they encountered subsequent, similar situations. Sporting experiences are a perfect example.

Feltz and Magyar consider the role of sport and physical activity participation as a powerful source of efficacy beliefs and subsequent achievement related behaviours.

Almost all kids have played sport, have thrown any number of balls, sticks and

siblings’ toys at various targets, kicked, jumped, climbed, and played strategy games alone and in groups. And they were doing these things long before they heard of the Habits of Mind. Trial and error, failure, reflection, practice and success all came from participation. Lack of participation meant lack of success was guaranteed.

Participation meant success was possible.

The same concept applies in the classroom.

If kids can make positive connections with this sort of physical experiential learning when they explore the Habits of Mind in class they can identify the Habits of Mind that they have used in those experiences.

Therefore when they encounter difficult situations in class they are more easily able to make links between the task and the experiential learning and, by default, they are more able to recognise this task as an opportunity to apply an appropriate Habit of Mind strategy. At the very least they will be able to trial a response and reflect on its level of success. By participating, they have a greater chance of achieving success, which is what educators are striving for.

Before our students can truly demonstrate mindfulness both at school and in the future, they need to be mindful of their previous experiences and be able to use them as a frame of reference for their intelligent consideration and application of the Habits of Mind in order to achieve success. Importantly, it will be incumbent upon us as teachers to ‘invite’ transfer from students’ experiential learning to the current learning environment.

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MICHAEL GRINDER

The “eyes” have it How to use 3 point communication to deliver negative news

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ne evening, a colleague of mine came to me after a grueling week doing parent conferences. She had to give some negative feedback to one of her student’s parents and she was upset with how personally the parent took the news. She said to me, “I just talked to him about some things his child needed to change, but he really doesn’t take criticism very well.” While that could be the case, it is likely that the problem was actually in the delivery.

Teachers Matter

Two-point Communication

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When a teacher is communicating with a parent, the parent will most likely look where you are looking. When the teacher looks at the parent, the parent will likely make eye contact back.

Eye contact is referred to as two-point communication because there are two parties involved: the teacher and the parent. Two-point communication is interpersonal in that the relationship between the parties is accessed. Twopoint communication increases the emotions inside the parties who are l o o k i n g a t e a c h o t h e r. T h i s i s t r u e whether the emotions are positive or negative and whether the teacher is sharing positive or negative news.

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We can be as tactful as possible with what we say verbally, but if we are not using the correct non-verbal communication, there’s a high likelihood that our delivery will foster high emotions in the other person, and they will take the negative message personally. So what can we do to ensure that the listener is able to tackle negative news with less emotion and that we are able to evoke positive emotions when it helps our message? The secret is all in the eye contact.

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Three-point Communication Since the parent follows the teacher’s eyes, once the teacher has the parent’s attention, the parent will look where the teacher directs her eyes. If the teacher looks at a paper or a grade book, the parent will follow her lead and look at the paper also. Since the two parties, namely the teacher and the parent, are looking at a third point, the communication is referred to as a three-point communication. Three-point communication is not as personal as two-point communication and is also less emotional than two-point communication because the focus is on the issue level of the communication instead of the relationship level.

As educators, we have been over trained in direct eye contact (two points). It’s time to branch out and become a master of three-point communication as well! If the interaction you’re having is positive, it’s okay to make eye contact; if it’s negative, it’s better to employ a third point. So the next time you have to deliver negative news or talk about an issue that’s occurring, try using threepoint communication. You’ll be surprised at how receptive your parent becomes and relieved at the lack of defensiveness that is fostered by this handy trick!

PAT BUONCRISTIANI

ILLUSTRATION: HOLY MOLY

k c i k ’s Let p a it u h notc ! kids

Oh, The Drama! The Drama!

The benefits of being a ham actor

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eing both an Aussie and an American (not to mention a Brit) can feel a bit schizophrenic sometimes. I can get caught up in altogether too many dramas.

In Australia and New Zealand our politicians serve us up a new plate of dramas almost every morning, in the USA we have been getting our panties in a knot about North Korea and the whole world is aghast at the violence in Syria and most recently a street in London.

I seem to wake up every morning and head for the headlines – what’s the drama today?

We hope and pray for no more violence, but a battle of words between political leaders, a new scandal that hasn’t resolved itself yet or a ‘Breaking News’ headline all have us reaching for our coffee and settling down for the details. And if there isn’t one, well, it’s a bit of a letdown.

We seem to thrive on drama. We love the sense of teetering on a brink, wondering what the next exciting episode will be.

That’s why we get hooked on TV series.

That’s why when I get a favourite on DVD or Netflix I can’t stop at one episode. It’s the excitement that propels us forward, fills us

with anticipation, and the adrenaline stirs the juices.

How can we use this love of drama in the classroom?

Turn the drama up for the learning and down for the behavior.

I have seen too many teachers escalate the drama when a kid misbehaves and then wonder why things seem to spin out of control even more. We love drama. We crave it. Add drama to behaviour and the kids just want more.

I have also seen the power of lowering the voice, employing the quietly insistent water torture drip of repeated directions and the refusal to buy into the drama. By refusing to get caught up in a kid’s drama the teacher has a good chance of lowering the excitement and deflating the situation.

But learning is a different matter. Add a bit of drama there. Raise excitement and leave questions unanswered until the next

lesson. Pose puzzles and conundrums. Find characters and ways to let kids connect to them. I remember a lesson about the war of independence and the burning of the White House where the teacher asked the children, “If your house was on fire and you had ten minutes to get out, what would you take?” before talking about what Dolly Madison took.

Good drama needs more than just an interesting plot and a good script. It needs to be performed well. Every good teacher benefits from being a bit of a ham actor.

Knowing how to use your voice well, to vary volume, pacing and pitch should be tools of your trade. You teach with your body too. Children are drawn to the drama of the enthusiast. They see it in the stance, the arms, the hands, the facial expressions.

How do you demonstrate your enthusiasm for the subject you are teaching? Because if you can’t demonstrate enthusiasm you shouldn’t be teaching it. At the very least, learn how to fake it!

We are drawn to drama.

Turn it up for the learning.

Turn it down for the behaviour.

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SERENITY RICHARDS

A step toward removing the frustration from mathematics homework Parents can now actively help their children with mathematics homework while using the same language teachers at school are using.

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athematics homework! The parents can’t do it; the children can’t always remember the strategy correctly. Tears from the children, screaming from the parents, frustration all round…. Perhaps the biggest problem we have with mathematics homework is that the parents don’t understand how 21st Century learners, the students of today, learn and work through maths problems.

To endeavour to rectify this problem, I have been running classes for the parents before school, taking them back to their school days and teaching them the ‘new’, 21st Century way of teaching and learning.

Parents have embraced the sessions quite well, enjoying the light-bulb moments. They now want more.

Teachers Matter

In a further attempt to draw the parents and wider community in, we have been publishing ‘Maths @ Home bookmarks’ in our school newsletter. Each week there is a ‘bookmark’ on a different topic, outlining a maths concept. Each one includes an explanation of the concept or mathematics term, examples and possible activities parents (or any caregiver) can do with the children to extend or consolidate their skills outside of school.

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Now that we have started the printing of ‘Maths @ Home’ into the newsletter, there have been all sorts of requests from parents in prep, wanting ideas to help struggling learners, all the way to year seven parents wanting clarification and understanding of terminology and concepts they haven’t used in twenty years. Parents can now actively help their children with mathematics homework while using the same language teachers at school are using, while making sense of the strategies their children are trying to explain. Maths @ Home has been an all-round winner. The only frustration now is having to wait a whole week to read the next bookmark and hoping it is going to be the topic that they requested.

The ‘Maths @ Home’ topics of choice mainly focus on basic number and mental computation strategies, the building blocks students need to continue progressing through the curriculum and through the year levels. With our newfound school – home – community partnership, it is hoped our students will be able to build a strong foundation of the basics of number from which to build the rest of their education.

We all know that learning maths is not a race and no child learns at the same pace as another. Students requiring a little longer on one concept or strategy are able to get additional help and practice at home now there is someone outside school who understands the learning path and can use the same language students hear at school.

As well as printing the ‘Maths @ Home’ bookmarks in the school newsletter, they have been very useful to send home as bookmarks, particularly as a new focus or topic is being taught. For those students struggling, some very basic bookmarks have been written to assist parents with

ideas for learning experiences to actively engage their children in activities to help them understand a concept or strategy. The activities on the bookmarks are mostly fun, many can be done in the car, while playing at the park, even while doing the grocery shopping. As educators, we want maths to be fun; we want students to want to do maths, to want to learn. If your students aren’t having fun while learning, something needs to change. It probably means you, as a teacher, aren’t having fun either.

One of the most important messages we need to get across to parents is, through the use of mental computation strategies, the goal is to remove the need to use fingers for counting. If we can remove the strong need to use fingers early on, students will enjoy maths so much more as they move through the curriculum.

Here are some of the ‘Maths @ Home bookmarks’ I have written. Give it a go; write some for your school. Remove the frustration and increase the common mathematics language.

SERENITY RICHARDS

Maths at Home #1

Maths at Home #2

Topic: odd and even numbers

Topic: subitising

NOTES: Odd and even numbers start out fairly easy for most students as long as they are dealing with single digits. Common mistakes occur when students begin dealing with double and larger digits. A great rhyme to help students remember is two, four, six, eight, who do we appreciate? Evens! Evens!

NOTES: When you look at a small group of objects, you may not need to count at all; you just know how many are there. This is subitising. As you look at the group, you suddenly know how many objects there are. It is thought that people can subitise up to nine objects. So the groups of objects used need only be one digit numbers.

I like to give students a few crazy long numbers to help make this point. For example, 999, 777,555, 332 is still an even number because there is a two in the ones place.

ACTIVITY:  Show your children regular arrangements of objects to help them learn to subitise. Start off rolling a standard die or drawing a playing card with the digits whited out – can your child subitise the correct number – which number is the biggest, yours or theirs?

Smarties are great to use too and very tasty.  Before you read to your child each night.

Read a counting book together. Is your child able to subitise the number of objects on each page? Can you?

ACTIVITY: This may sound very basic but is the key for many children – put it into a real life context. There are odd and even numbers all around us. Start asking these questions:  Did I buy an even or odd number of apples?  Is Granny’s letterbox number even or odd?  Is the price for bread even or odd?  Is that number plate odd or even?

Maths at Home #4 Topic: Partitioning NOTES: Also called number splitting, partitioning is a way of working out problems that involve large numbers by splitting them into smaller units so they’re easier to work with, making the problem more manageable. Students are generally taught to use standard place value partitioning to start with, for example 45 is 4 tens and 5 ones or 40 + 5. A non-standard partition could be 20 + 25 or 31 + 14.

Children are taught this method before they learn to add numbers in columns. Partitioning gives children a different way of visualising maths problems and helps children work out large sums in their head.

Partitioning can be applied to numbers with decimals as well.

ACTIVITY: The important thing to remember is that there is no one correct way, they are all right.

So having the flexibility with mental computation strategies allows your child to select a method that works for them in each particular situation.  Practice how many ways can you add two numbers? For example: 35 + 88

  

35 + (5 + 60+ 23) = 40 + 60 + 23 88 + (2 + 10 + 23) = 90 + 10 + 23 35 + ( 35 + 3 + 50) = 70 + 50 + 3

Partitioning helps you ‘see’ the answer. How many different ways can you partition the same numbers?

Maths at Home #5 Topic: Mathematics Language NOTES: It is important to talk mathematics language with your children, as well as having them write it and understand it. There is a lot of language in the early years as children learn strategies to assist them in solving increasingly more complex problems. Ann Baker, a mathematical researcher and educator uses the language of the ‘Secret Code’.

Ann Baker’s SECRET CODE: CO – Counting On (only 1, 2 or 3). Students learn the counting sequence can start anywhere.

Eg. 7 + 2 or 24 + 3.

CB – Counting Back (only 1, 2 or 3.) This allows children to learn the number sequence backwards and what comes before.

TA – Turn-Arounds. Children learn it is more efficient to begin with the larger number. 26 + 12 is the turn-around for 12 + 26.

D – Doubles. Important for + and x. 4 + 4 leads to 40 + 40, 400 + 400 and 2x facts.

ND – Near Doubles. It literally means two numbers are close to a double. 4 + 5, you could double 5 - 1 or double 4 + 1.

RF – Rainbow Facts. In brief, they are pairs of numbers that add together to make 10. 4 + 6, 7 + 3, 9 + 1 are some.

FN – Friendly Numbers. These numbers end in a 0. It is easy to add these numbers, as only the tens digit changes.

40 + 6 = 46, 40 + 16 = 56, 100 + 7 = 107.

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ILLUSTRATION: JANA GUOTHOVA

STEVE FRANCIS

. . . this one is just right!

Catering for all - three crucial factors Teachers Matter

Students don’t care how much the teacher knows, until they know how much the teacher cares!

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S

tudent engagement is obviously one of the key goals of effective teachers. If students aren’t engaged, then learning will be minimal. Whilst what the teacher does is important, it won’t matter what the teacher does, if the students are not engaged.

One of the key factors in student engagement is the relationship between the student and

the teacher. Students don’t care how much the teacher knows, until they know how much the teacher cares!

Whilst I am certain that you have heard this saying before, I am also certain that it is true.

The better we can connect with our students, the better they will be able to learn. Making a connection by showing you care is vital!

In providing opportunities for all students to learn, it is essential that teachers build rapport and make a connection with all students. Often the most difficult students to connect with are the students who find learning the most difficult.

I love the term used by behaviour management guru Bill Rogers, “Warm,

STEVE FRANCIS

“ When true learning takes place, the student feels slightly uncomfortable.”

Ye t D e m a n d i n g ! ” Rogers argues that our interactions with students should be characterised by a balance between the ‘warmth’ that shows that we care about them as individuals and the ‘demanding’ that shows we have expectations of them and their behaviour. I find it helpful to see this as a continuum.

Some teachers are too far to one end of the spectrum. Whilst it might seem contradictory, I believe some teachers are ‘too warm’. They are clearly very keen to be friends with their students and work very hard at building rapport. At times it has appeared that the teacher was afraid to do anything that would jeopardise the friendship and the students ‘liking’ them. To them, retaining the friendship seemed to be the highest priority. In that situation the student is setting the tone. The teacher therefore had very limited control.

I have also worked with colleagues who are ‘too demanding’. I’m sure you know the “Don’t smile until Easter!” approach. Teachers at this end of the spectrum display an attitude which could be described as harsh. There is no warmth displayed or any effort to build rapport with the students. They are very demanding, have very high expectations of students and could be seen as aloof. Whilst they make their expectations explicit to students, they are at risk of being unrealistic and disconnected from their students.

The ideal situation is an appropriate balance between warmth and demanding. The warmth is necessary to connect with students, have a good rapport and a relationship where students know you care about them and their learning. In this situation the student is more likely to respond by doing their best. Being demanding is also important as students need clear expectations and boundaries so that they know what is expected of them and rise to those expectations.

Schools can be tough places, filled with negativity and failure, especially for students who find learning difficult. Often they develop self-protection strategies to defend their self-esteem. This presents as “Too Cool for School” behaviour.

Whilst very challenging, these are the students who would most benefit from a warm – demanding approach. They need clear boundaries and

consistent expectations but they also need to feel their teacher is interested in helping them and cares about them.

As the adult in the situation, I believe i t i s t h e t e a c h e r ’s professional responsibility to do whatever they can to maximise every student’s engagement.

Identifying and addressing barriers to student engagement is a professional responsibility.

Have you ever thought about asking students for feedback on what is helping their learning (and what isn’t!)?

I’m currently working with a number of schools to refine a survey instrument for gathering feedback to teachers from upper primar y and secondar y students. The feedback is designed to be formative to help the teacher refine their practice and increase student engagement.

The second crucial factor in maximizing learning opportunities for all students is Starting From Where They Are. It is essential that teachers identify what each student can already do, knows and understands. This should be the starting point in catering for individual differences.

The ideal environment for learning is when the student is engaged in tasks that are sufficiently challenging to be a little difficult but not so challenging that they are insurmountable. It’s a little like Goldilocks and the three beds – one bed was too soft, one bed was too hard but one bed was just right.

The Russian psychologist, Vygotsky developed the concept of the zone of proximal development. Explained simply, this is the range of performance within which a student can function if they have support.

Easy tasks that a child can perform independently, build their confidence and familiarity so that they can become ‘automated’ but are not sufficiently challenging that they stretch the student (too soft!). Too many tasks at this level and the student will quickly become bored and will disengage. Tasks that are too difficult for the student, without support, are likely to lead to frustration, lowered self-esteem and disengagement (too hard!). The Learning Zone or in Vygotsky’s terminology, the zone of proximal development, is the zone where

true learning takes place.

To ensure that we cater for all students, it is important that we aim to maximise the amount of time each student spends in their Learning Zone (just right!). Optimising the learning of every student comes from undertaking activities that challenge them but don’t frustrate them. This is one of the keys to engaging and motivating students.

The Learning Zone will be different for each student. It is imperative that we start from where students are, by identifying what they can already do, know and understand, without support. We then need to provide the necessary support to stretch the student into their Learning Zone.

I believe that when true learning takes place, the student feels slightly uncomfortable.

Their status quo is challenged as they move to a higher level of understanding and skill.

This is the true Learning Zone and where we need to provide the necessary support.

The explicit teaching model of “I”, “We” and “You” is based on the transition through the Learning Zone by initially providing support through a demonstration and then a shared experience before completing the task independently.

The third crucial factor in catering for all students is that Success Breeds Success. It is vital that students build their confidence and self-esteem through seeing themselves as successful learners. Starting from where they are and maximising their time genuinely in the Learning Zone is the key to their success.

Whilst students are acutely aware of their strengths and weaknesses relative to their peers, it is vital that students experience success and see themselves making progress and being successful learners.

The more success that students experience, the more that they will see themselves as learners.

However the success must come from being challenged in their Learning Zone, not on tasks that they see as too easy or ‘dumbed down’.

Student engagement, success, behaviour and self-esteem are inter-twined. All come from connecting with students, starting from where they are and scaffolding the support necessary for them to successful overcome the challenges that are present when true learning occurs.

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TERRY SHEFFIELD

Behaviour management in the classroom A strategy to help students develop individual and collective responsibility

P

lacing control back in to the teacher’s armoury and promoting the idea of students accepting responsibility for their behaviour is behind the Good Kid Voucher system, which can also be utilised to encourage the development of collective responsibility.

It is a pro-active, cost effective idea that and clearly understood is predetermined

by students. There is an explanation of the system, but no negotiation around behaviour or compliance (something which is often about students saying, “What’s in it for me?”). Once the system is established, the teacher simply selects at random when, where and who to award a voucher to, and announces what for. For collective

responsibility, award a class voucher.

The make or break for this approach is the teacher’s commitment to being consistent, accepting student indiscretions matter-offactly and being able to move on. It works on the truism: Success breeds success (don’t be overly frugal).

Teachers Matter

The Positive The Positive The Positive Consequence Yellow/Red Card System Consequence Yellow/Red Card System Consequence Yellow/Red Card System Vouchers Vouchers Vouchers

All expectations All expectations When the teacher chooses, vouchers can be awarded for behaviours When the teacher chooses, vouchers can be awarded for behaviours When the teacher chooses, vouchers can be awarded for behaviours and and processes are are discussed a calm All and expectations discussed during a calm processes are processes discussed during a during calm classroom classroom classroom that reflect: that reflect: that reflect: time.

They may even even be modelled, rehearsed, time.

They may be modelled, rehearsed, and the time.

They may even be modelled, rehearsed, and the and the speaking part of the strategy should be scripted. speaking part of the strategy should be scripted. speaking part of the strategy should be scripted.

Class/school values e.g. e.g. courtesy, tidiness, respect, Class/school values courtesy, tidiness, respect, Class/school values e.g. courtesy, tidiness, respect,

responsibility, reliability, . . . responsibility, reliability, . . . responsibility, reliability, . . .

This This This Good social skills e.g. e.g. collaborative strategies, helping Good social skills collaborative strategies, helping Good social skills e.g. collaborative strategies, helping consequence process provides a multi‐sensory of of consequence process provides a multi‐sensory consequence process provides a multi‐sensory reminder reminder of reminder what is expected: it is a tactile, visual and oral signal which requires what is expected: it is a tactile, visual and oral signal which requires what is expected: it is a tactile, visual and oral signal which requires other students, . . . other students, . . . other students, . . . the to noise Good work habits e.g. resourcing, starting, resourcing, focus, Good work habits e.g. starting, resourcing, focus, Good work habits e.g. starting, focus, noise student to appropriately respond appropriately at the correct time time (after the student to respond appropriately at time the (after correct (after the noise student respond at the correct some thinking time). some thinking time). some thinking time). level, . . . level, . . . level, . . .

Task Completion/finishing work on time . . .

Task Completion/finishing work on time . . .

Task Completion/finishing work on time . . . transgression When When a

When a transgression of class values occurs, cards are out out a of transgression of occurs, class values occurs, cards are given class values cards are given out given with with a simple, The random use of positive vouchers ensures control of behaviour The random use of positive vouchers ensures control of behaviour The random use of positive vouchers ensures control of behaviour with a simple, unadorned, direct reminder of the for for a simple, unadorned, direct reminder of expectation the expectation unadorned, direct reminder of the expectation for the class e.g. “In room 33 we listen when others are talking, here is the class e.g. “In room 33 we listen when others are talking, here is the class e.g. “In room 33 we listen when others are talking, here is management and task engagement remains firmly with the teacher. management and task engagement remains firmly with the teacher. management and task engagement remains firmly with the teacher. a (yellow) card.” No more ‘nagging’. Many students turn off when a (yellow) card.” No more ‘nagging’. Many students turn off when a (yellow) card.” No more ‘nagging’. Many students turn off when Feedback is important at the time of drawing, it reminds the rest of Feedback is important at the time of drawing, it reminds the rest of Feedback is important at the time of drawing, it reminds the rest of the teacher misses the boat and ‘crows on and on’ about what the the teacher misses the boat and ‘crows on and on’ about what the the teacher misses the boat and ‘crows on and on’ about what the the class what is being celebrated, and increases the likelihood of it the class what is being celebrated, and increases the likelihood of it the class what is being celebrated, and increases the likelihood of it student has done wrong. student has done wrong. student has done wrong. re‐occurring. re‐occurring. re‐occurring.

There are two cards ‐ There are two cards ‐ There are two cards ‐

Yellow Yellow

Positive vouchers come in two forms: Positive vouchers come in two forms: Positive vouchers come in two forms: Yellow This card stays with the student until the teacher chooses to take it This card stays with the student until the teacher chooses to take it This card stays with the student until the teacher chooses to take it Individual vouchers: when a desired behaviour is observed and in Individual vouchers: when a desired behaviour is observed and in Individual vouchers: when a desired behaviour is observed and in back. (usually after 2—3 minutes: What we want is for students to back. (usually after 2—3 minutes: What we want is for students to back. (usually after 2—3 minutes: What we want is for students to need of reward a voucher is given out. This could perhaps be 2 to 3 need of reward a voucher is given out. This could perhaps be 2 to 3 need of reward a voucher is given out. This could perhaps be 2 to 3 comply so we can focus on teaching and learning. comply so we can focus on teaching and learning. comply so we can focus on teaching and learning. random times a day as a maximum and even to several students at random times a day as a maximum and even to several students at random times a day as a maximum and even to several students at

The teacher should say, after compliance is observed

the same time. There may be days when the vouchers are not given the same time. There may be days when the vouchers are not given the same time. There may be days when the vouchers are not given The teacher should say, after compliance is observed The teacher should say, after compliance is observed

something like: Thank you xxx, you are listening carefully now.

out. These vouchers allow certain privileges to be awarded out. These vouchers allow certain privileges to be awarded out. These vouchers allow certain privileges to be awarded something like: Thank you xxx, you are listening carefully now. something like: Thank you xxx, you are listening carefully now.

I would like to take back the yellow card, good xxxx.

randomly. Students are expected to behave appropriately when randomly. Students are expected to behave appropriately when randomly. Students are expected to behave appropriately when I would like to take back the yellow card, good xxxx.

I would like to take back the yellow card, good xxxx.

Red

accepting a random voucher which is an interesting discussion when accepting a random voucher which is an interesting discussion when accepting a random voucher which is an interesting discussion when Red Red If, within If, within setting up the process. setting up the process. setting up the process. the 2‐3 minutes of receiving a the ‘Yellow’ the re‐ student re‐ re‐ minutes receiving a student ‘Yellow’ the student If, the of 2‐3 the 2‐3 within minutes receiving a of ‘Yellow’ offends in some way a red card is given in the same manner. This offends in some way a red card is given in the same manner. This may note of caution: awarding many vouchers As a note of caution: too many may As a note As of a caution: awarding too awarding many too vouchers may vouchers offends in some way a red card is given in the same manner. This indicates indicates indicates not only devalue the system but could involve the teacher not only devalue the system but could involve the teacher not only devalue the system but could involve the teacher that that the moves student the ‘in time out area’. the student to time the class ‘in time out area’. that the student to moves the moves ‘in to class out class area’.

2‐3 Within make in a in plethora of management blips blips as students plethora of management as students make in a plethora of a management blips as students make Within 2‐3 (no minutes (no the moves teacher to out the out out 2‐3 more) minutes (no more) the teacher to time the time Within minutes the more) teacher to moves the moves time area, area, area, gets incessant demands on time and place. I would err on the incessant demands on time and place. I would err on the incessant demands on time and place. I would err on the gets down to the and asks what did you down to student’s the and what did do you do down to gets the student’s level student’s and level asks level what did asks you do and what can ‘we’ do to make it better. If the student answers both and what can ‘we’ do to make it better. If the student answers both side of prudence without being overly stingy. side of prudence without being overly stingy. and what can ‘we’ do to make it better. If the student answers both side of prudence without being overly stingy. correctly the cards are returned and the student returns to work. correctly the cards are returned and the student returns to work. correctly the cards are returned and the student returns to work.

Class vouchers: drawn perhaps once a week as a consequence of Class vouchers: drawn perhaps once a week as a consequence of Class vouchers: drawn perhaps once a week as a consequence of

good class compliance during a random period of ‘feel good’ time, or good class compliance during a random period of ‘feel good’ time, or good class compliance during a random period of ‘feel good’ time, or student when the class is on a roll, perhaps daily for 2 or 3 days. when the class is on a roll, perhaps daily for 2 or 3 days. Go to the when the class is on a roll, perhaps daily for 2 or 3 days.

Go to student talk talk Avoid strenuously the the Go the to and the student and quietly.

Avoid strenuously talk and quietly. quietly.

Avoid strenuously the to temptation temptation It is It important to remember that if easy, it’s easy, it it temptation is to remember that if too it’s easy, It is important to important remember that if it’s too it too to across call across the room to the student in ‘time to out call out across the student room to in the student in ‘time call out the room to the ‘time out’, it, too, is a loser for the teacher in the longer term. out’, it, too, is a loser for the teacher in the longer term. up out’, it, too, is a loser for the teacher in the longer term. has little value.

Teachers need to the talk the probably has little value.

Teachers need to talk up the probably probably has little value.

Teachers need to talk up

value of good choices and opportunities to celebrate. value of good choices and opportunities to celebrate. value of good choices and opportunities to celebrate. as Initially, Initially,

Initially, as the begins, lots of consequence may may as programme the programme lots of cards consequence the programme begins, lots of begins, consequence may cards cards be given. be given. are drawn It is important to avoid negotiating when the vouchers are drawn It to is avoid important to avoid negotiating when the vouchers It is important negotiating when the vouchers are drawn be given.

All of the students know that: Three reds in a week = letter home.

All of the students know that: Three reds in a week = letter home.

All of the students know that: Three reds in a week = letter home. as negotiation allowing negotiation and/or voucher redraw puts the control as allowing negotiation and/or voucher redraw puts the control as allowing and/or voucher redraw puts the control Another level of consequence explained at the start. The three Red Another level of consequence explained at the start. The three Red Another level of consequence explained at the start. The three Red back in the students’ domain. A wry sense of appropriate humour back in the students’ domain. A wry sense of appropriate humour back in the students’ domain. A wry sense of appropriate humour Cards Cards system at this time helps. at this time helps. at this time helps.

Cards system allows opportunity the the student to take system allows opportunity for student to take allows opportunity for the for student to take responsibility before things get out of hand.

I responsibility before things get out of hand.

Avoid, too, too, the following from from a “If student: “If I I “If …., have a a responsibility before things get out of hand.

Avoid, the following a I student: I can …., have Avoid, too, the following from a student: …., can have a I can

voucher?” This too is a loser for the teacher. voucher?” This too is a loser for the teacher. voucher?” This too is a loser for the teacher.

42

TERRY SHEFFIELD

So, unfortunately you gave three reds

to a student for this week. ook Choice the What follows is a letter that the student Class writes which is posted home. It is posted, not emailed, to • allow the student time to tell mum/dad it’s coming, • give the student reflective time through

This voucher entitles programmed time delay, e bearer to select a book to • formalise the process and provide a ‘paper e read to the class by the trail’ teacher.

NB: It is important that the next week is a clean start!!

(Don’t be seen to be the one to “carry a grudge”, model good behaviour expectations)

Visit another Class

Each teacher/school can develop a standard form letter which the student copies in his/her own handwriting. The letter has blanks which the student completes with The bearer of this an explanation of what the last (third) can,transgression at a time was. agreed by students this For junior may be avisit form letter filled in by the teacher teachers, another and acknowledged by the student writing for 30 minutes. Visitors their name at the end.

rd he ass re expected to behave well If the student refuses to write the letter, it nd take partposted in the lesson. is still home with a covering letter

explaining the circumstances of the refusal.

This is indicated to the student at the time.

Completing the Partnership:

Library Pass

The letters include a request for the parent to make a telephone call to the school plus, sign and return the letter upon receipt.

• If three letters are posted home in one term the parents may be requested to meet with the Principal, the board or both at the schools behest.

The bearer of

• Each term is a new beginning if the last this voucher can agree 30 half of the previous term was ‘clean’ (a nutes class time tochoice). use the discretionary

Library.

Examples of some paragraphs that you may wish for inclusion in the letter follow:

to support the teaching and learning environment so that all students may fulfil their potential for learning.

Game with the

Unfortunately I messed up today and received a third red card for the week.

This means that I have interfered with the learning of all students in my class for a third time in the space of five days. I did this by “use an exact description and/or The bearer of this voucher the words used by the student and ensure can agree time play a the student agrees a (with thetodescription/ words.

Stand firm,the if they did it, they game with teacher fordid15it) ” (Fighting , refusal to comply, calling out...).

Book Choice for the Class

Teacher

minutes.

I should have (a thoughtful and reasonable explanation which compels the student to state desired behaviour).

If I. student name, receive three letters this term you, my parents/caregiver, may be required to meet with the Principal and/or BoT to discuss my behaviour.

Photocopying

This is essentially a classroom process to improve learning and teaching opportunities.

Voucher

The bearer of this voucher is

In the Playground?

If the behaviour entitled to be photocopier for is in the playground or some other school the strategies day anddecided do anybyclass site, similar staff and copying for the explained to students canteacher be put inand place (e.g. for intervalsstudents. if your name is entered three times in the duty book in a week.)

Get Out of Jail

Free

This voucher entitles the bearer to cancel one punishment for minor behaviour. It may be kept until required.

This voucher entitles the bearer to select a book to be read to the class by the teacher.

Visit another Class The bearer of this card can, at a time agreed by the teachers, visit another class for 30 minutes. Visitors are expected to behave well and take part in the lesson.

Library Pass The bearer of this voucher can agree 30 minutes class time to use the Library.

At _Name__ School we encourage students

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TRUDY FRANCIS

METACOGNITION

An education isn’t how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It’s being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don’t.

FOR TEACHERS

M

etacognition is thinking about our thinking. In a nutshell it is knowing what we know and what we don’t know. It is our ability to plan a strategy for producing the information we need and to be conscious of the steps and strategies we are using as we go. It is our ability to reflect and evaluate on the productiveness of our thinking. So, the major components of metacognition are: developing a plan of action; maintaining that plan in-mind over time and then reflecting on and evaluating the plan on completion. As metacognition becomes habitual we become increasingly aware of how our thoughts influence our actions and the effects of our actions on others and the environment.

Teachers Matter

Metacognitive people question themselves as they search for answers, develop mental maps and plans, mentally rehearse before acting and monitor plans as they are being used, this monitoring leads to selfmodifying behaviours when things are not going according to the plan. Time to be metacognitive is very important.

Research has shown that adults may not use metacognition or give themselves time to do so, even though this capacity begins to develop from the age of five. The formal thought process of metacognition is mature by the age of 11.

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Making our thinking visible is also important because unless we know what to attribute our success or failure to it is difficult to modify what we do next, therefore our ability to be successful is impeded. Costa and Kallick discuss the idea that questions such as, “How did you solve that problem? Or what strategy did you have in mind?” should elicit from your students a clear explanation.

The ‘Numeracy Project’ is one curriculum area that tends to use a lot of metacognition because the strategies we have been trained to use include: discussions about what is going on inside our heads while thinking about how we might solve a problem (and how we solved a problem); comparing different approaches and perspectives; identifying what is known; what is needed to be known, how to produce that knowledge and to make thinking visible by thinking aloud as we solve problems.

Using questions like these help us to probe for specifics, as children have to describe what is going on in their heads. And yet, as Perkins asks, how specific are we in relation to explicitly helping students to make their thinking visible, so they can see how their brains are working and how metacognition enables them to grow their reflective intelligence?

To build onto what we have learnt as math teachers, we might like to introduce ‘Cogitare’. Bailis & Hunter’s Cogitare means we pose questions that “cause children to examine their own behaviour, search for the consequences of that behaviour, and choose more appropriate actions for themselves.

In relation to metacognition, speaking Cogitare causes covert thought processes to become overt.

For example:

When children say

Speak Cogitare by saying

“The answer is 4.5 kilos.”

“Describe the steps you took to arrive at that answer?”

“I don’t know how to solve this problem.”

“What can you do to get started?”

“I’m comparing …”

“What goes on in your head when you compare?”

“I’m ready to begin.”

“Describe your plan of action.”

“We’re memorising our poems.”

“What do you do when you memorise?”

“I like the large one best.”

“What criteria are you using to make your choice?”

“I’m finished.”

“How do you know you’re correct?”

TRUDY FRANCIS

“ As metacognition becomes habitual we become increasingly aware of how our thoughts influence our actions and the effects of our actions on others and the environment.”

FOR STUDENTS PURPOSE OF THIS LESSON (part one) Using the collector cards to introduce metacognition Planning for this activation included me describing metacognition using the definitions and descriptions that are on the ‘Institute of the Habits of Mind’ website and I also used the terms from the back of the collector card (see pic). These concepts were used to generate ideas from which this lesson was created.

Step one: activate and unlock prior knowledge, thoughts and feelings Emotional hook • If possible, collect and provide a variety of mirrors (ones that make us look weird could be a humorous way to do this).

Encourage the students to have fun looking at themselves from a range of different angles including views of their backs. Get them to discuss what they see.

You are introducing the students to the idea of ‘reflection’.

• Explore what reflection means – perhaps emphasising how we can see things that we mightn’t otherwise see.

• Use analogy to compare the idea of using a mirror to see our physical selves and a metacognitive mirror to see our thinking selves (record ideas and display).

Step two: making meaning and co-constructing understandings Purpose and Key Ideas (part two) • To identify what our brains do when we use metacognition • To make links to how we could use metacognition every day, if we are aware of it.

Lesson Plan example for writing: Metacognition (M) in Writing (W) Questions and criteria to guide thinking Before we start writing: • What should/could we do first? (M) • I can use my picture plan to share what I’m going to write about (W, L1).

During writing: • How am I doing? (M) • I can explain what I need to do if I get stuck when choosing the best describing word for my … (W).

After writing: • How well did I do? (M) • I can share my story with my buddy. I ask my buddy if my describing word(s) match my picture plan. (W)

Learning Ltd, created classroom sets of collector cards to promote and sustain a thinking culture within the classroom

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ILLUSTRATION: AISHLING CROXFORD

TRUDY FRANCIS

Key Competency (KC) Learning Intentions: Thinking – Metacognition 1. What should I do first?

2. How am I doing?

3. How well did I do?

Resources: • Wolf Picture • Writing Scaffolds • You Tube video for Soundscape of wolves howling • Book ‘What’s the time Mr. Wolf?’

Learning Intention We are learning to use our brains to be great writers.

Introduce and discuss the ideas that our brains help us be great writers. Make links between their thoughts, feelings and ideas whilst playing the game. Ideas could include: • using our imagination; • playing and having fun; and • making connections e.g. wolves to dogs, etc.

I can explain what I need to do if I get stuck with choosing the best describing word for my wolf (W) • Children write one sentence using their drawing to describe the wolf.

• Stop children and get their brain to ask does my word match my picture?

• Name 3 strategies to select the best describing word (looking at the picture again, teacher model (words) or the book)

Step 3: Making Connections After Writing How well did I do? (KC)

Step 1: Activate and I can share my story with my buddy.

I ask my buddy if my describing word Step 2: Making Meaning, Unlock Prior Knowledge, matches my picture (W) Co-constructing Feelings and Thoughts Understandings (make thinking visible) Step Three: Reflective • Emotional Hook Lesson Procedure Questions • Show picture of a brain – tease children to get their first ideas (this could be done every time you focus on metacognition) • Play the game – ‘What’s the time Mr. Wolf’

Before Writing

What should I do first? (KC) I can use my picture to describe my wolf (W) Children draw a picture of the wolf

Teachers Matter

• Children talk about their drawing with a buddy and then two or three children share to class.

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• Use the drawings to record describing words • Teacher models how to use a picture and word bank to write a simple sentence to describe the wolf (scary, funny, hairy, grinning, yellow-eyed, sharp toothed) During Writing How am I doing? (KC)

Ask the children the following Metacognitive question • How did drawing a picture of the wolf help me to write a describing word?

• S h a r e t h e c o l l e c t o r c a r d s h o w i n g Metacognition to summarise and clarify.

• Play ‘What’s the time Mr. Wolf’ or read the book ‘What’s the time Mr. Wolf.’

Introducing the

Online Habits of Mind Course with Art Costa & Bena Kallick This is an online Introduction to Habits of Mind with Art Costa and Bena Kallick.

Over 8 weeks join a group of other like minded educators while Art Costa and Bena Kallick share their experiences and insights about the Habits of Mind. Your learning journey is supported and guided by both Graham Watts and Karen Boyes with many years of school based experience working with the Habits of Mind to ensure you get the most out of the course.

This course is self-paced and can be completed in your own time. Graham and Karen will guide you for the 8 weeks in which time you should easily be able to complete the modules.

What does this online course cover: • Introduction to Habits of Mind • Get to know the 16 Habits • Why the Habits of Mind are Important • Interview with the Experts • Creating a shared Vision • Plus lots more...

The Teachers’ Learning Centre is Home to Spectrums Online Courses The Teachers’ Learning Centre brings together like minded teachers and educators from around the world who share a passion in successful, lifelong learning. Our mission is to offer high quality professional development that blends social interaction with new technologies. Additionally, our learning programmes mark the start of anongoing professional dialogue for teachers within your school, connecting teachers in other countries. Our online learning platform allows teachers anywhere in the world to discuss and co-construct their learning with leading international experts in various fields.

All of our courses can be offered in your school, led by experts for those that want to go further than the courses offered online.

2013 Start Dates August 5th 2013 October 21st 2013

The Teachers’ Learning Centre is ideal for: • One person or for the whole staff training • New staff training and induction • Anytime, any place learning • Learning with teachers within and across nations • Keeping teachers in the classroom, not out on courses • Learning at your own pace • Focused, applied learning • Working alongside the experts

AT T H E H E A R T O F T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G

Your Hosts Graham Watts and Karen Boyes are dedicated to making a difference in education through teacher development. Based in the UK, Graham’s experience leading Thinking Skills and Habits of Mind programmes in a diverse range of schools around the world, gives his workshops a rich breadth and depth. From a league table topping school in New Zealand to one of the UK’s most improved secondary schools, Graham has developed highly successful students’ thinking and learning programmes. Karen is often described as Australasia’s “Mrs Education.” An expert in effective teaching, learning and living, Karen turns research into practical and simple to use techniques that create success. As the Founder of Spectrum Education, an author, publisher of the Teachers Matter magazine and the Affiliate Director of the Institute for the Habits of Mind, Karen is an expert in teaching and learning throughout the world.

To learn more about this Course and the session times, contact Spectrum Education.

Phone NZ on 0800 37 33 77 or +644 5289969 | Australia phone 1800 063 272 or fax 1800 068 977 Email: info@spectrumeducation.com

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YVONNE GODFREY

Trade a feeling for another feeling Acknowledging our weakness for short-term gratification and aiming for long-term rewards.

P

eople who are emotionally immature function in the ‘here and now’. They need instant or short-term gratification to give meaning to their world. They have little or no understanding of how the decisions they make today will affect their lives in the long-term. This is especially common amongst the young because their perspective on life is relatively short and they find it hard to envisage what life will be like in years or even months to come. Even physiologically, they are limited because the prefrontal cortex part of the brain does not fully develop until the mid twenties.

The main job of the prefrontal cortex region is to differentiate among conflicting thoughts, assess future consequences of current activities, and implement social “control” (the ability to suppress urges that, if not suppressed, could lead to socially unacceptable outcomes).

Teachers Matter

Simply put, thinking forms patterns and habits, which dictate decisions that drive behaviours thereby finally creating outcomes. So, if we don’t like the way our lives are turning out – we had best retrace our steps and examine how we make decisions. And since emotions and not logic drive our decisions, we need to retrain the way we respond to our feelings.

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For our decisions to serve our future purposes and goals – we often have to ‘trade a feeling for another feeling’. It can be hard work to suppress the urge to feel good now in favour of a better future, but it is possible by developing a new way of thinking.

‘Outside-in’ thinking versus ‘Inside-out’ thinking ‘Inside-out’ thinking focuses on urges; the here and now mentality, and short-term thinking where feelings control actions giving little thought to the consequences, and whether or not these consequences line up with what we really want.

‘Outside-in’ thinking asks questions like: “will doing this line up with my values and goals? Who will be helped or hurt by this decision?”

‘Outside-in’ thinking has to be associated with a preferred experience, a cause or a goal to give it power over the conflicting desire for instant gratification. The feelings associated with a worthy cause produce a much better pay off than the spontaneous quick fix decision.

Examples of trading a feeling for another feeling; ‘Inside-out’ feeling: I really want a cigarette! I am craving that nicotine buzz and I’ll simply die if I don’t get it.

Traded for: ‘Outside-in’ feeling: Yes – I do want that cigarette but I really want to be a non-smoker so that I can save for my car, (house or education), be a good role model, be healthy, and be nice to kiss!

‘Inside-out’ feeling: I would rather sit in this corner and talk only to my one friend because it is easy and I am shy.

Traded for: ‘Outside-in’ feeling: Sitting here is easy but actually I would rather be able to walk into any situation and communicate freely. I want to make friends easily.

There is a constant internal battle going on between our ‘I want to do the right thing’ good side and our ‘what the heck – I’m going to indulge myself’ bad side.

Here are a couple of tools to help you win: A written affirmation is a statement written in the positive present tense, which reminds us of our intentions. Example – “I love being a non-smoker because I am saving $100 more per week towards what I really want… (Name it).”

W h e n r e a d a t l e a s t t w i c e a d a y, a n affirmation can tip your thinking from indulgence to integrity.

I used an affirmation when I was giving up smoking. Before I allowed myself to have a cigarette, I read a description of me as a smoker and then a description of me as a non-smoker. It wasn’t too long before reading the descriptions turned me off smoking and had me longing to be that ‘clean’ non-smoker. Obviously my heart’s desire was to give up smoking otherwise I would not have written the descriptions.

YVONNE GODFREY

ILLUSTRATION: 123RF.COM

“ If schools are to be successful in making a positive difference to students’ wellbeing, their focus needs to be narrowed. ”

A written contract (more like a promise than a legal document) with parents or friends can also be a strong reminder that there is a bigger cause at stake then feeling satisfied right now. This written contract states what the person writing it will do and when. To be really effective, it also has consequences for non-delivery. Like that old saying, ‘put your money where your mouth is’.

Trading a feeling for another feeling requires that we acknowledge our weakness towards short-term gratification and really want to lean into long-term rewards. The more the concept is practiced the easier it becomes.

As Christian Marchegiani, a very successful personal trainer from Sydney says at the end of his clients’ workouts, “Getting up early to train is hard but so is diabetes and obesity.

Not being able to play with your children is hard too. You just have to choose your hard.”

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TERRY SMALL

The secret of reading comprehension

Good Schema equals good comprehension – it’s similar to having blueprints BEFORE you construct a building.

Part One Ever get to the bottom of a page and wonder what you just read? You are not alone! Most people’s reading comprehension is not very good. Our minds wander. In fact, studies show that average retention is 2% after 30 days. There is a secret to doing much better.

A brain secret!

Your brain works best from the big picture to the details. Not the other way around.

Ever do a jigsaw puzzle? That picture on the lid helped! Could you have put the puzzle together without the picture? Probably.

Would it take longer? Yes. Is there a greater chance you would become discouraged and stop working on the puzzle? Certainly.

Again, have you ever got to the bottom of a page that you just read and asked, “What did I just read?” Odds are your brain went sideways for the same reason....no picture.

When you pick up something and just start reading it is pretty much the same as trying to put a jigsaw puzzle together without the big picture.

So what is the secret of much better reading comprehension and retention?

Teachers Matter

SCHEMA

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Schema is a word that means mental map.

It is what you know about a topic before you read about it. That is what determines comprehension! Good schema equals good comprehension.

Here is a great way to get improved schema when you read any non-fiction material.

Read the first sentence of each paragraph only all the way through the chapter. This is one of my very favourite learning strategies!

The first sentence of each paragraph contains the main idea or the topic sentence. When you read the first sentence of each paragraph you get the big picture.

When you read the details later they have a place to “stick” in your brain.

Try it now. Get a book. Turn to a chapter that you have not read. Quickly read the first sentence of each paragraph. I think you will be quite surprised at what your brain does. Now when you read the chapter, notice the improvement!!

Part Two How many of you have a pile of books that you are intending to read someday?!

It’s hard to find time to read. Everyone’s busy! A recent poll recently determined that the #1 cause of stress today is a lack of time. Another poll recently found that 59% of North Americans fail to read a single book in a year. That’s too bad. Reading is good for your brain. In fact, exposing your brain to a constant flow of new ideas may be necessary to protect your brain from degenerative disease! At the very least, when you read, you get to learn and think a lot...also very good for your brain.

This is a pre-reading activity. Although, you may read the first sentence of each paragraph and decide that you don’t need or want to read the material. In which case, you save a lot of time!

Here’s a great technique to use when you cannot or do not want to read a book word for word. Read the first and the LAST sentence of each paragraph only. The first sentence contains the main idea. The last sentence contains the summary or linking thought to the next paragraph. There are books in my library that I have never read cover to cover...word for word. And you’re thinking, “Well Terry, you missed a lot.”

True. But not as much as you because you didn’t read it at all! You simply cannot read every book you want cover to cover.

There are too many books! If you can read every book you want, cover to cover, you may want to make you reading list longer.

Master learners should have many ways to tackle books.

Francis Bacon said, “Some books are to be tasted, some chewed, and some few to be swallowed and digested.”

Try it now. Grab a book and turn to a chapter that you have not yet read. Quickly read the first and last sentence of each paragraph. You’re in for a surprise!

This is also a great review technique for students. After you have read a chapter, come back to it in a couple of days and read the first and last sentence of each paragraph. This will help keep the ideas in long-term memory.

TERRY SMALL

PHOTO: ALEX MILLOS

“ Your brain works best from the big picture to the details. ”

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CAMILLA WATSON

Why do I feel so bad?

Part 1: understanding and healing stress and anxiety

L

u m p i n g d e p r e s s i o n , a n x i e t y, schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, etc, all together in a basket labelled ‘mental health’ is as useful as labelling varicose veins, pulled calf muscle, broken ankle or shin bone cancer as ‘leg disorders’.

Yes, it tells us where the issue is showing itself, but it tells us very little about the cause or treatment strategy required.

Teachers Matter

When we are feeling anxiety or stress there is a natural tendency to just want it to all go away. Maybe our body is producing symptoms that are uncomfortable; perhaps we are having sleeping difficulties or physical symptoms like increased blood pressure or heart palpitations. Maybe it has been around so long we now fear the panic attacks that descend if we step outside. We find these effects uncomfortable to live with and just want them gone. Often we resort to medication to try to block these symptoms; usually with varying degrees of success and often delivering many unwanted side effects. What we need to understand is that all of these ‘symptoms’ are created by our own body for a particular reason. As part of ‘The Fear Response’ our body is having a natural reaction to a particular stimuli and it will keep increasing the pressure or the ‘symptom’ until we listen and act. Rather than fearing or fighting the symptom, the first action we need to take is to actually thank our body for acting in this way! While its reaction may seem misguided or a bit over-the-top, it is just trying to keep us safe, to show us an area of perceived danger, and when we listen to that, and act, the symptoms will recede.

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The ‘Fear Response’ is the most powerful driving force within – keeping us safe is the number one priority of our whole bodily system. Stress and anxiety symptoms are the natural functioning of the body’s recognition of a dangerous situation and the body will do everything it possibly can to get our attention to make us move into action to escape the situation. Unfortunately the body doesn’t make much differentiation between the fear generated by a lion prowling outside

our cave, a car coming at us on the wrong side of the road, living in a situation where we are being bullied or the fear of not having the monthly report completed on time. As far as the body is concerned ‘fear’ is ‘fear’ and it will keep escalating our symptoms until we either ‘fight’ or ‘flight’, that is, get out of the ‘fear producing’ situation.

way it processes the fear/anxiety response.

We just become calmer and clearer in our general thinking. Twenty minutes twice a day is found optimal for healing in studies but often even 10 minutes regularly twice a day will show a marked improvement in well-being.

“ One of the most effective strategies is just being able to take the time to listen and help the student to begin a conversation.”

There are several things we can do to help our body re-set.

By exercising regularly we can ‘trick’ the body into believing we are actually ‘running away’ and this will often lessen the symptoms for a while. It does not remove the cause but it can give us a bit of time to analyse the situation. Any time stress or anxiety is building up, exercising hard for 30-40 minutes is a fabulous way to release.

Breathe correctly! Many of us have developed patterns of constant very shallow breathing which mimics one of the ways the body reacts to fear. Several times a day stop to take three very deep breaths and then take one minute to focus all the attention on just on breathing gently and normally but making sure the lungs are filling fully.

Regular meditation or focussed relaxation re-trains the brains’ reaction to stress and the anxiety response. By sitting quietly and using a meditation technique we can quickly drop the response and begin to balance the blood pressure and heart rate. However the cumulative benefits of regular meditation are greater than the sum of the parts.

Studies show that after as little as a couple of weeks the brain begins to change the

Ultimately it is necessary to identify the cause of the ‘fear response’ and take steps to learn how to deal with this or how to make changes in our life. We can also find help to uncover the actual original cause if it does not seem obvious. Often we are not afraid or anxious for the reason we think we are.

One of the basic principles of holistic health is that we cannot separate our physical health from our emotional, mental and spiritual states of being. All levels are interconnected and a state of ‘dis-ease’ in one area will always eventually create an imbalance on other levels as well. When stress and anxiety occur on a regular or ongoing basis a complete medical assessment should take place to rule out a physical cause such as Thyroid disorder or nutritional deficiency.

Managing stress and anxiety in the classroom Students showing symptoms of fatigue, aggression or withdrawal may be suffering from an overload of stress or anxiety and it may be appropriate for a teacher to approach parents to gain more insight

PHOTO: NAGY-BAGOLY ILONA

CAMILLA WATSON

into current patterns in the home. Many parents presume the children are ‘okay’ as they seem to be functioning normally however children are usually not okay with a stressful environment and changes in the environment also usually affect them very deeply. One of the most effective strategies is just being able to take the time to listen and helping the child begin a conversation.

Statements reflecting the emotion you see are helpful, such as “Wow, you seem a bit... overloaded/angry/upset... at the moment ... (pause)...” may be helpful, and even if the response is “Na - all good” then there is still an opportunity to say “Oh well, you can leave everything else behind when you come to school anyway” which can help the child build the school experience into a place of safety. Being particularly clear when giving instructions (preferably one at a time for a child under stress) and keeping to regular schedules will be helpful and the strategies mentioned above of exercise and meditation can also be implemented in a ‘child-appropriate’ way and will help to relieve tension in the classroom. Allocating even a couple of minutes for just being still, with eyes closed, such as the ‘Star Breathing’ technique is also very helpful.

Star Breathing Relaxation Technique Everyone get a little space... lie down on the floor... and stretch out like a star... make sure you are not touching anyone else and that you have a little room around you, and you have to be very still... just like a star.....

Close your eyes now... we are going to be doing a very special ‘visualisation exercise’... we are going to be doing Star Breathing.

Imagine you are a star - way up high in the darkest part of the universe / sky...

You are floating there quietly, peaceful and quiet... and you are shining and sparkling.

(Some settling time is usually required - continue when there is a level of quiet) Think about your breathing now - imagine breathing in the star light, shimmering and sparkling, slow, gentle breathing...

Breathing in the star light, slowly and gently, quietly and gently, shimmering and sparkling... breathe out and relax... (Repeat occasionally to maintain focus. Duration of exercise; 5yrs - 1-2 minutes, older children - 3-5 minutes or longer.)

(To finish) Keep your eyes closed and bring your star body back in now so it’s just you lying quietly on the mat...

Take a big Human breath now and force the air out with a big puff.

Give your Human fingers and toes a wriggle...... and sit up.

(Occasionally some very visual children may be slightly dizzy at first and just need a couple more seconds to reorient so watch for this. Make sure the children are sitting and fully focussed before standing or moving on.)

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HEATH HENWOOD

Motivating students to learn 3 strategies teachers can use to enhance students’ self-motivation

O

ne of the biggest challenges facing teachers today is how to motivate students. Teachers have taught students to behave through compliance and to motivate by external rewards. As curriculum becomes more standardised and pressure increases on teachers for results, there becomes an increased need to for teachers to inspire, challenge, and stimulate students.

Recognising that each student is different, and that the factors that influence a student’s motivation to learn is vital.

Components include their interest in the subject matter; perception of its usefulness; general desire to achieve; self-confidence; as well as patience and persistence. Teachers have only limited control over these factors.

This article examines strategies teachers can utilise to enhance students’ self-motivation.

Strategy 1 - Feedback Feedback can be a powerful tool to build knowledge and skills, increase motivation, and develop reflective habits of mind. To overcome often-ineffectual feedback, several strategies are suggested to improve its quality.

Give feedback frequently and as quickly as possible.

Teachers Matter

Supply specific information about what the student is doing right, indicating how they have improved. Positive comments have greater impact on student motivation, and builds self-confidence and competence.

Recognise sincere efforts even if the product is less than stellar.

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The way feedback is presented can disengage learners. It may create a feeling that their performance is being too closely monitored. Learners interpret feedback as an attempt to control them or force them into a particular method. Empower learners by giving them access to information about their own performance and teaching them how to use it.

Negative feedback is very powerful, but can be ineffective if not done correctly. Whenever you identify a weakness, make it clear that your comments relate to performance of a task, rather than the person. Provide an indication of how they could do better. Try to cushion negative comments with a compliment.

Introduce students to the good work done by their peers. Share the ideas, knowledge, and accomplishments of individual’s with the wider group. Distribute copies of quality work for students to read or critique.

Feedback is most effective when it directly addresses the advancement toward goals.

Comments should reflect the questions: “How am I going?” and “Where to next?”

Once a goal has been clearly specified, feedback can help learners map the progress they’re making toward that target. Providing students with information about their own performance creates awareness of their own learning, mistakes they have made and provides a basis for them to figure out how to fix them. The ultimate goal of feedback should be to teach learners how to give feedback to themselves, thus building metacognitive skills.

Strategy 2 - Engaging Tasks People are naturally curious. They want work that stimulates their curiosity and awakens their desire for deep understanding.

Engaging work stimulates curiosity, allows the expression of creativity, and fosters quality work. Students who are engaged exhibit three characteristics: attraction to their work; persistence to overcome challenges and obstacles; and visible delight in accomplishing their work. Many teachers have caught glimpses of the inspired inner world of a child, and hoped to sustain this wonder, enthusiasm, and perseverance every day.

Help students find personal meaning and value in the material. Ensure work is relevant and appropriate by using topics that relate to students’ personal lives. Tasks must involve an issue or idea that is both manageable and unresolved.

Capitalise on students’ existing needs. Students learn best when incentives for learning satisfy their own motives. Let students have choice and options in subject matter and assignments.

This gives students ownership of the learning, making them active participants, rather than spectators. Students learn by doing, making, writing, designing, creating and solving.

Passivity dampens students’ motivation and curiosity. Pose questions, instead of giving them.

Encourage students to suggest approaches to a problem or to guess the results of an experiment.

Ensure students know what they need to do to succeed. Don’t let your students struggle to figure out what is expected of them.

Reassure students that they can do well.

Increase the difficulty of the material as the term progresses. Give students opportunities to succeed at the beginning, and then gradually increase the difficulty level.

Assignments and exams should include a variety of question difficulty, giving every student the chance to experience success as well as challenge.

Strategy 3 - Teacher Tips Develop rapport with students by getting to know them. Be approachable, ensuring you allocate time to talk about some aspect of their life, giving them your undivided attention. Being an ally makes it clear to students that you are there to help them. The more you can get them to do the talking, the more learning they will achieve.

Encourage pride in the class. Posters and plants can help make the classroom special to them. Invoke ‘team spirit’ and a feel of belonging.

HEATH HENWOOD

“ Providing students with information about their own performance creates awareness of their own learning, mistakes they have made and provides a basis for them to figure out how to fix them.”

Recognise individual differences: you can treat pupils equally without treating them identically. Try to ensure that both genders get equal amounts of time and attention, but don’t ignore quiet students just because they are no bother.

Pay attention to small details. Some pupils like it when you remember their birthdays or if you comment on their contributions to school exhibitions, performances or sports event achievements.

A teacher’s enthusiasm is a crucial factor in student motivation. If you become bored or apathetic, students will too. Typically, a t e a c h e r ’s e n t h u s i a s m c o m e s f r o m confidence, excitement about the content and genuine pleasure in teaching.

PHOTO: WAVEBREAK MEDIA LTD

Research has shown that a teacher’s expectations have a powerful effect on a student’s performance. If you act as though you expect your students to be motivated, hardworking, and interested in the subject, they are more likely to be so.

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JOHN SHACKLETON

The case for competition How competition can lead to achievement and, in turn, vital advancement.

I

recently read an article on how to raise non-competitive kids. In essence the author was saying that competitiveness was a learned behaviour, not an instinct and that it undermines self-esteem, destroys relationships, thwarts productivity, and discourages excellence. I read the article twice in case I was misinterpreting what was written, but that wasn’t the case.

I don’t believe competitiveness is learned, I think it is a basic survival instinct in many ways, from the early days when cavemen had to compete for food and shelter to now, when individuals have to compete for employment or a place on a team.

I can understand that misdirected competitiveness can be detrimental to a person’s self esteem. If you constantly compare yourself to others then there is every chance you are going to come up short against someone. And, if that someone is a friend or partner then, yes, it is a factor that is likely to damage or destroy a relationship.

Teachers Matter

I would query whether or not this would be detrimental to productivity or deter excellence as I think a drive to do well or be the best can actually enhance both productivity and excellence if it is managed well.

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I would suggest that competition be encouraged in all areas of life, from school through to the workplace and in extracurricular activities, but I would also suggest that we encourage our students to see themselves as their main competition, not their friends and classmates. The greatest measure of success is to improve on your own last result and the biggest builder of self-esteem will be the setting and meeting of personal goals. Not necessarily being top of the class, number one try scorer or fastest cross country runner, but being able to look at your own results and decide exactly what you want to achieve next and how you will do it.

The article I read came up with the following tips, which I thought I would share with you, but put my own interpretation on, as

I couldn’t agree with what the author was proposing in every case!

Ditch organised sports – I absolutely disagree with this one. Sport for kids is not just a matter of competition, it teaches them teamwork, discipline, how to lose and how to have individual and group goals. The skills a child will learn through sport will stand them in good stead all through their life. We cannot pretend the adult world is not competitive and we are not doing our children any favours by saying otherwise.

Ditch competitive board games – again, why would you do this? This is another situation in which the child will learn valuable skills – tactics, forward planning etc. which will encourage development. As a parent or teacher your role should be to assist the child (not play for them, just make suggestions and allow them to have the final decision on what move they will play) until they reach a point where they are able to play competently alone.

Pay attention to praise – I do agree with this point – praise should not be conditional on success, nor should it be meaningless.

Find something in your child’s performance that you can praise (‘your tennis serve went in ten times more than the last match’, ‘you breathed to both sides properly on your freestyle’) before you criticise anything – and think about whether there is any need for criticism, constructive or otherwise, or if instead you can address areas that need improvement in the next practice session without making a big deal about them when the child might be feeling down already.

Encourage co-operation – help the children to realise that by playing as a team they are more than the sum of their parts.

Co-operation and co-ordination will give results every time, playing as an individual won’t benefit the team.

Get involved – make sure you know what is going on with any areas of competition your child/pupil is involved in so that you

can monitor the behaviour and progress of individuals and teams. Have a good oversight of the situation.

Be a good role model – this would go without saying I hope! Let the children see you lose gracefully, make it clear to them that whilst you’re not 100% happy with the result you take responsibility for it and you are going to do what you can to get an improvement at the next match/race etc.

Similarly, when you win, win gracefully, congratulate the opposition and don’t overdo the victory celebrations! Children learn from those they admire, make sure they admire you most.

Finally, I can only add my own observations of competition in the classroom and how it can lead to achievement, which is why I consider it vital to advancement. My youngest son had shown very little interest in maths and was not at all bothered about improving or making an effort until this year when his new teacher introduced a weekly numeracy challenge. The challenges are in boxes on a shelf and each child has a peg with their name on that is attached to the box of the challenge they are currently on. He now brings home his new challenge each Monday and religiously practises it every evening to make sure that come next Monday he can complete and pass his challenge. His aim is to catch up on one of his best friends and he is doing everything in his power to achieve that – we have even been having voluntary Mathletics sessions, something never heard of before! The introduction of the element of competition has worked wonders in this case and, although he wants to catch his friend, he understands that he is competing against himself and himself only, in his quest to do this.

So, encourage competition in the classroom, but make sure it is directed and managed so that the main source of competition is self not others and watch the children develop and shine.

JOHN SHACKLETON

PHOTO: SZOCS EMESE

“ The greatest measure of success is to improve on your own last result and the biggest builder of selfesteem will be the setting and meeting of personal goals. ”

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KAREN BOYES

Study skills for success

“ For many students, textbooks are a bore; however they should be your best friend when it comes to study. Good textbooks are set up to help you learn faster and efficiently if you know how to use them.”

With exams coming up these 3 skills will provide an excellent start for any students struggling to start their study.

First Things First.

Text Book Study

Make your study important and prioritise it.

Study will help you get ahead in life - treat it like a job. First minimise distractions. Turn off your TV, music, phone and Facebook.

If you are going to have music on in the background, the best kind is classical Baroque music. Now pick a time and a place to study – this may be the same place each time or it can change - you just need to know ahead of time when and where you are going to study, as this will get you to it faster, rather than procrastinating and wasting time. Make sure you have all the tools you need such as your books, pens and paper, study notes, criteria from the teachers etc.

For many students, textbooks are a bore; however they should be your best friend when it comes to study. Good textbooks are set up to help you learn faster and efficiently if you know how to use them.

Firstly, a great textbook will have a summary at the end of each chapter. Many students skip reading these because they think they have already read the chapter. The summary however, is the last 10-15 pages content into two pages. Approximately 7090% of what you need to know will be in the summary, so pay attention to it, and become an expert on the summaries.

Learning the summary:

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If you have trouble getting started, set a time frame, even if it is a small one, once you get started you will find you get on a roll and create momentum. Research shows that studying for 20 minutes and taking a quick 5 minute break can maximise your study time. If you are on a roll, you do not need to take the short break, just keep going until you feel yourself slowing, and then take the five minute break.

Make a list of what you are going to do in your study time – this will help lower your distractions and keep your efficiency high.

Every time you cross something off the list it gives you a little boost of achievement.

Photocopy, scan or download the summary and blank out (with white-out or Twink) the important words and concepts.

Let it dry.

Draw a line under each blanked out word.

Copy the summary five to ten times.

These are your personal quizzes.

On day one fill in the blanks and mark it using the textbook summary.

Add corrections in a different colour to make them stand out.

Repeat taking your mini quiz 3 days later, a week later and as often as you need to learn it.

PHOTO: SUBBOTINA

Teachers Matter

Trouble getting started?

KAREN BOYES

Remember it is the answers you got wrong that you need to learn and focus on.

The week and also the day before your test, redo the summary quiz.

Keep all your quizzes and look at them the day before your test to see how much you have improved, this will give you some positive confidence for the test ahead.

Repeat with all summaries in the textbook until you know the information.

Reading in Layers If you feel overwhelmed at how much you have to read give this technique a go.

Preview what you need to read by; Reading the first sentence of each paragraph.

In most greatly written textbooks the first sentence is a summary of what the paragraph is about.

Read anything else that looks important – if your eye is drawn to it, read it.

Now read the entire page, chapter or article.

Once you have completed the preview, what you are reading should make more sense and be easier to comprehend.

Read any sentence with words that are in bold. When an author bolds something, it is usually because it is important.

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KATE SOUTHCOMBE

Ethical Behaviour – it’s what you do that counts.

A code of conduct or code of ethics devised jointly by staff, parents and the students might create a valuable partnership that seems to be missing in many schools.

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Teachers Matter

was taking a class on ethical behavior for a group of early childhood students and one of my students made two pertinent comments that got me thinking about how a discussion on ethics and personal and professional values could help schools, teachers, parents and children. Firstly during class as we read the code of ethics booklet this student had remarked that actions speak louder than words, suddenly reminding me that it’s not what we say we do, it is what we actually do that counts.

Her second epiphany came as she was about to leave for the day; “I guess ethics is about keeping your own morals and values to yourself, Miss!”

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I love the subject of ethical behaviour because it opens up a broad and exciting world of colliding professional and personal values, moral judgments and principles that in daily life we hardly p a u s e t o c o n s i d e r. We m e r r i l y b l a s t our hor ns at complete strangers who cut us up on the motor way, or berate someone’s apparently insane behavior with a supermarket trolley with little regard to the fact that as teachers we are bound by a pretty stringent code of ethics. The discussions I had with my students involved various scenarios that encouraged them to consider their personal values. One such scenario involved finding a large sum of money by a crowded bus stop – nobody notices you picking it up. The students then had four options to discuss with each other.

Which of the following would you do?

• Hand it in to the police • Ask the people at the bus stop if anyone had dropped any money?

• Give it to a homeless person you see every day on the street corner nearby • Pocket the money and tell no one.

As my students and I debated the ethical behavior of teachers, it became clear that the fully ‘ethical teacher’ was in fact a creature of some stature who would indeed sit nicely alongside Jesus and Gandhi! All joking aside, pondering the code of ethics and the associated expectations, one has to question why do we not discuss ethics more openly in school? If teachers are expected to behave in an ethical m a n n e r, s h o u l d n ’ t we be modeling and displaying this to our students in a more explicit fashion? I would hasten to add clear distinctions would need to be made between ethics and moral teaching so as not to be treading on parental ground, but surely this itself is an ethical dilemma should we be teaching ethics?

Perhaps ethics could be discussed in relation to class and school governance, covering responsibilities and duties of parents and staff as well as fellow students and the wider school community. Having an individual school code of ethics could be an empowering vision for some schools where the sense of community and identity is lacking. The code of ethics could direct students and staff towards a more mature relationship that demonstrates mutual respect, rather than someone in power laying down the law. Going back to my student’s comment, actions speak louder

“The development of a school code of ethics could also be the start of fostering a united approach to behaviour management.” than words, the behavior of both staff and students would come under scrutiny because everyone would be bound by the code and the focus on fairness and equity could balance out those perceived power issues.

This would help provide staff with the much needed support for fostering responsibility and personal accountability in students that

KATE SOUTHCOMBE

We all know that by engaging people in any process that directly relates to them, generally we become more willing to adhere to and follow the agreed practice.

Corporations and business owners have cottoned on to this fact and in doing so have generated increased sales and productivity and a more united work force; establishing a balance of power, shares in the company and feedback loops. Within education we still seem somewhat stuck in the hierarchical structure of governance and control that perhaps needs to be updated.

A code of conduct or code of ethics devised jointly by staff, parents and the students might create a valuable partnership that seems to be missing in many schools.

This lack of partnership frequently seems to be the cause of so many school dilemmas. Early Childhood Education has the valuable document Te Whaariki that appears to provide clear directions for parent/teacher partnership. Te Whaariki’s founding principles drive the partnership message home quite clearly in its principle of Family and Community and the strand Belonging. Perhaps all of us can learn from this document and it may help foster a direction for primary and secondary schools through teaching the subject of ethics and creating a partnership that starts within the school and radiates out to the community.

of the caregivers in providing opportunities for choice. One way to provide some form of choice is enabling people to exercise control over their environment. I would like to suggest that within mainstream schools this may well be something we need to consider more seriously. The development of a school code of ethics could also be the start of fostering a united approach to behaviour management.

A suggested approach might be:

The interesting dilemma would be encouraging staff, parents and children to leave personal morals and values behind and consider a more global approach to ethical behaviour for the greater good! The consultation process would enable staff and students and parents to take ownership of the code and feel heard in the process, but the final product would need to reflect a shared set of values that transcend any one group’s personal beliefs or values.

• Developing acceptable standards of dress/ behaviour within the school • Developing a school wide code of ethics concept that is presented to parents and the community • Consulting with parents on a school code of conduct via a public meeting and/or feedback form • Implementing a school code of conduct throughout the school following the consultation process with the school and wider community.

PHOTO: PAVEL IGNATOV

appears to have got lost in the ‘students have rights and we know it’ debate. The explicit teaching of ethics and having an agreed set of statements about values would possibly help establish standards of general behaviour, dress and social interactions that reflect a more real world context. It won’t solve all problems overnight but isn’t it worth considering a more structured approach to instilling accountability and standards in school, other than by force or creating yet more arbitrary rules?

There are numerous studies that consider enrichment of environments and the effects on behaviour. Creating opportunities for choice and decision making within the field of disabilities has been explored by Cole and Levinson who also considered the role

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MAGGIE HOS-MCGRANE

What do students do when they don’t know what to do?

How do the habits of mind ‘fit’ with the primary years programme?

L

ast month at the SGIS Conference I attended a couple of sessions by Art Costa on the Habits of Mind. These sessions were about how we can develop intellectual resources in our students so that they behave intelligently when they are confronted with questions or problems that they don’t know how to answer. In a paper where the Habits of Mind are described, Art Costa and Bena Kallick write: We are interested in observing how students produce knowledge rather than how they merely reproduce knowledge. The critical attribute of intelligent human beings is not only having information, but also knowing how to act on it.

They argue that when we employ the correct Habits of Mind, “the results that are produced are more powerful, of higher quality and greater significance than if we fail to employ those patterns of intellectual behaviours.”

“ The critical attribute of intelligent human beings is not only having information, but also knowing how to act on it.”

(Costa and Kallick)

Teachers Matter

I’ve been wondering how these 16 Habits of Mind work together with the IB (International Baccalaureate) Learner P r o f i l e a n d t h e P Y P ( P r i m a r y Ye a r s Programme) Attitudes. The first three Habits of Mind that Art Costa and Bena Kallick write about are persisting, managing impulsivity and listening to others with understanding and empathy. For these three it’s very clear how they complement the Learner Profile and Attitudes.

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Persisting - PYP Attitude: Commitment Students exhibiting the PYP attitude of commitment are committed to their own learning, persevere and show selfdiscipline and responsibility. Persisting as a Habit of Mind involves sticking with a task until it is completed without giving up too easily. Students who show persistence come up with strategies to attack problems and if one strategy doesn’t work they know

they need to reject it and try another.

They are comfortable with ambiguity.

Students who have not yet developed persistence often give up when they can’t immediately solve a problem.

This is because they have only a limited repertoire of problem solving strategies.

Managing Impulsivity - IB Learner Profile: Reflective Students who are reflective give thoughtful consideration to their own learning and experience. They are able to assess and understand their strengths and limitations in order to support their learning and personal development. This supports the Habit of Mind managing impulsivity. Costa and Kallick write that effective problem solvers think before they act, consider alternatives and consequences and know their end goal: Reflective individuals consider alternatives and consequences ... gathering information, taking time to reflect on an answer before giving it ... and listening to alternative points of view.

Impulsive students, on the other hand, often just answer without thinking and start on a task without fully understanding the directions.

Listening to others with understanding and empathy - PYP Attitude: Empathy Students who show empathy can imagine themselves in another’s situation in order to understand his or her reasoning and emotions, so as to be open-minded and reflective about the perspectives of others.

Costa and Kallick write that the ability to listen to another person and understand their point of view is one of the highest forms of intelligent behaviour. Empathy goes beyond listening - it means the listener has to pay close attention to what is being said beneath the words. They write: We spend 55% of our lives listening yet it is one of the least taught skills in schools. We often say we are listening, but in actuality we are rehearsing in our heads what we are going to say next ... We wish students to learn to hold in abeyance their own values, judgements, opinions and prejudices in order to listen and entertain another person’s thoughts. This is a very complex skill requiring the ability to monitor one’s own thoughts while, at the same time, attending to their partner’s words.

These are the first 3 Habits of Mind but I can already see how perfectly they fit in with the attributes we are promoting in IB world schools. I’ll be reflecting on the other Habits of Mind in later issues.

MICHAEL GROSE

PHOTO: 123RF.COM

Landing helicopter parents... without shooting them down It’s well worth the effort

I

read a great piece in Good Weekend by teacher Jessica Lahey, who referred to a recent Queensland University of technology study on over-parenting.

Specifically, the study is titled, “Can a parent do too much for their child? An examination by parenting professionals of the concept of over-parenting.”

It seems said parenting professionals responded with a resounding YES! The columnist cited examples of overparenting such as: “Taking their child’s perception as truth, regardless of the facts” “Quick to believe their child over the adult and deny the possibility that their child was at fault.”

“Rushing to school at the whim of a phone call from their child to deliver forgotten lunches, forgotten assignments, forgotten uniforms...”

And the list goes on.

These are all behaviours associated with parents who are ‘high on the support scale, but low on the pressure scale’ for their kids. That is, parents who are guilty of one or all of the 3 big parenting overs... overprotecting, over-indulging or overstating relatively minor issues.

Lahey lamented that the biggest mistake that these parents made was not allowing their children to learn from their experiences.

Quite right!

Helicopter parents typically rob kids of valuable learning opportunities that the social nature of schooling throws their way every day: including dealing with kids who don’t like them; fixing up their own forgetfulness; handling disappointment and failing the first, second and even third time they do something, anything new.

It’s easy to throw brickbats at overprotective parents. It’s better though, to embark on a school-wide campaign to land the helicopters without shooting them down.

I’ve been talking and writing about this at conferences and PD sessions for some time now. It also informs my practice with the nearly 1500 schools that I support through Parentingideas.

Here is a simple plan to help land helicopter parents: Focus on resilience school-wide.

Resilience is both about mental health prevention and about building student capabilities and strengths. Staff, students and parents need to use its principles and practices to maximise its impact.

Tell the story of resilience. Staff and parents need to know the story of resilience – why it’s important and how it’s practised.

I use this approach by telling the story of my book Thriving! to parents at every opportunity. The 21, 000 parents who read my newsletter Happy Kids, are becoming familiar with its approach because I bang on about it every week in one form or other.

Build the language of resilience.

Resiliency-practice has its own language.

Schools that land helicopter parents develop their own terms and phrases that have meaning and use them across the school.

Use multiple media and method to educate & inform parents. One parent evening and an article in the newsletter doesn’t a campaign make! Use on-line, school notice boards, forums, social media just to name a few communication modes to educate and inform about resilience.

Involve all staff including front desk and support staff in using & relating resilience principles. What happens when a parent comes to the front desk with a teenager in toe, and does all the talking?

Hopefully, your front desk team will thank that parent for their concern but begin to tactfully address the teenager who should have done the talking in the first place. It’s a minor example but it’s so important that everyone is in on the act.

This isn’t the whole plan but it’s a start.

Be warned: It takes time and a concerted effort across the whole school to land the helicopter parents, but it’s well worth the effort.

The alternative, shooting helicopter parents down, is ineffective, stressful and is potentially harmful to family-school partnerships.

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NGAHI BIDOIS

Father and son road trip A lesson in humility

The second presentation was to Westlake Boys High and they put us up in a 5 star hotel on Auckland’s North Shore. As we walked into our room Eru said, “Man Papa, this is a bit different to the Paeroa motel aye?” - and it was.

Teachers Matter

The next morning I presented at a FatherSon breakfast in the hotel. From there we went to the college to present to around 2000 students and staff. Eru joined me again for our haka and we received a haka from the students, which was followed by the longest standing ovation I have received to date.

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We also did a couple of small group leadership presentations before leaving late that afternoon. As we drove away from the college Eru looked at me and said,”Man Papa I am so glad you brought me on this road trip, thank you.”

Thinking I could turn this into a reflection time for him I asked,” Why do you say that bro? What is the most important thing you have learnt from this road trip?”

Eru thought for a while before replying, “Well, if I don’t get a real job, I could always do what you do and become a Professional Speaker!”

I laughed aloud, and when he realised what he had said he laughed too.

My son and I made many memorable moments on that road trip but the most significant memory occurred on our trip home from Auckland to Rotorua.

Before leaving the college I had changed out of my suit into casual jeans and tee shirt. We were an hour out of Auckland, and because we were both ver y tired, decided to pull over at a rest area and have a catnap.

Unfortunately I left the car lights on and when we awoke just on dusk the car would not start.

“ What are your road trip lessons that have contributed to who you are?”

It took over two hours of trying to get help from passing motorists before anyone stopped. Many people would slow down, take one look at my ta moko and drive off quickly. After finally getting a jump-lead start from a Good Samaritan we were on our way again and I said to my son, “Today we have been given a lesson in humility; we woke up in a five star hotel, one minute you can be on a stage receiving a standing ovation from 2000 people and the next you can be standing on the side of a road stranded because people do not want to know you. Remember this day Eru; this is our road trip lesson in humility.”

I have often reflected on that experience and how I could have shortened our time on the side of the road. One thing I could have done

ILLUSTRATION: UKRID YENPETCH

A

few years ago I did some pro-bono motivational presentations at a couple of secondary schools and decided to take my son Eru along for a father-son road trip. The first school we went to was Paeroa College and they put us up at a Paeroa motel the evening before the presentation. After a delicious breakfast my son commented that the motel was pretty flash and the food was awesome; which it was. I enjoyed presenting at Paeroa College and Eru joined me for the haka at the end, before we went on to our next engagement.

is change back into my suit. So what are your road trip lessons that have contributed to who you are? As educators do you make the most of opportunities for everyone involved to reflect and learn? Hopefully you will not be stranded on the side of the road too often, or at least if you are, you will have a suit you could change into.

Monster Jokes

Assaur-ted dino jokes…

g that Q. Call a monster do likes sports? e A. The Hound of th Basketballs d? at lives in a graveyar Q. Call an insect th A. Zom-bee ke ster that likes to po Q. Call a giant mon people?

A. Prodzilla

N

See Monsters

Q. What’s covered in scales and gives geography lessons underwater?

A. The teacher from the Black Lagoon

Q. How do you communicate with a monster that lives on the seabed?

A. Drop him a line

Q. What happens when a sea monster gets angry?

A. It causes a comm-ocean

Q. Which part of a sea monster weighs the most?

A. Its scales

Q. What did the sea monster say to his old friend?

A. “Long time no sea”

FU

sa Q… get if you cros puter monster with a com A. A big mac

S

Q. Call a one-eyed ry crust? monster with a past A. Pieclops

IE

a Q. Get if you cross n to nte a cookie with monster?

A. A pile of crumbs

Q. If a stegosaurus and a pebble were standing on the edge of a cliff, which would jump first?

A. The pebble, because it’s a little boulder

Q. Why did the dinosaur cross the road?

A. Because chickens didn’t exist back then

Q. What do you call a dinosaur that never gives up?

A. A try-try-try ceratops

Q. How do you know if a dinosaur’s sleeping in your bed?

A. Listen for the dino-snores

Q. Why did the baby dinosaur cross the road?

A. To get to the Jurassic park

Q. How do you know if a dinosaur’s underneath your bed?

A. Your nose touches the ceiling

N

What do you... a monster with a Q. Get if you cross snowman?

A. Frostbite

HAHA

65

ROWENA SZESZERAN-MCEVOY

The STUPID of all diets…

Let’s identify the most stupid and STOP being stupid by believing them or going on them!

W

hen it comes to food and all things eating why do we seem to lose all logic and common senseeven the most intelligent folks have been known to go on, “Stupid” diets, try crazy eating plans and believe weird stuff from bizarre sources?

Let’s identify the most stupid and STOP being stupid by believing them or going on them!

Teachers Matter

Dieting YES the most stupid thing you can do is tell your own brain that there are foods you can’t have - that you like to eat, or foods you have to have - that you don’t like eat! You will be focusing on negatives, you will start thinking negatively and have you EVER tried to tell anyone that they, “Can’t”? All you will do is create a stronger desire to want it more!! Eat to feel energetic, perform at a top level, be strong and lean, think clearly and be at your 100% best all the time. Never eat (or not eat) to lose weight!

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Cutting out or severely restricting one of the macronutrients Fat, Protein and Carbohydrate are the 3 fuel sources your body needs to live, think, move, regenerate, keep warm and perform. Yes, if you cut one out or severely restrict how much you have, you will lose weight (only because you are restricting calories, not because you are getting what you need from the right calories) AND in the long term, cutting out or severely restricting any of the macronutrients, and you will not be able to lose weight, you will get fat again and you will not perform at a high level or function effectively long term.

• You must have carbohydrate for your brain and muscles to function.

• You must have protein to regenerate your hair, skin, nails, muscles and bones

• You must have fat as a fuel source and to keep you warm.

• You know you have the balance right when you look and FEEL energetic, strong and fit and you are a high performing human - long term (not just for 12 weeks!)

Your perfect balance of carbohydrate, protein and fat will be determined by YOUR lifestyle, YOUR exercise levels, YOUR stress levels, YOUR body size and how YOU feel!

Regardless of what the Guru, book or “Clinical” Study says, if you feel healthy, fit, strong and energetic and you like what you see naked in the mirror - keep doing what you are doing!! If you feel tired and

Imagine not smoking or drinking for a month or 12 weeks or 6 months or the silliest, don’t smoke or drink for 6 days and then smoke or drink as much as you want for one day every week?? Understand that we can become NON smokers or NON drinkers but we can never become NON eaters. The concept of eating healthily for a short term and then going back to the way we ate before is well, STUPID! Either you want to be healthy, fit, strong high performing human being for the rest of your life or you don’t.

Thinking you can eat, “Perfect” for a short term, to lose weight and then go back to the same stupid eating habits that made you fat or unhealthy, and keep the weight off is STUPID!! It would be no different than a person wanting to be a non-smoker, who then “Gives up” smoking for 12 weeks, the whole time thinking how much they want to smoke. As soon as the 12 weeks is up they, “Binge” smoke to make up for all the smoking they didn’t do!

“ Never eat (or not eat) to lose weight!!”

lethargic, you are fat and weak and not performing at 100% all day everyday - you need to make changes - but not just for 12 weeks!

NOTE: a “Clinical Study” is not scientific, it is not recognised by the scientific world and anybody can make an observation and call it ‘A clinical study”.

Going on a SHORT term “perfect eating plan” If you are a smoker or an alcoholic and you want to be a non-smoker or a non drinker LONG TERM, the concept of not smoking or not drinking for a short period and then going back to your normal smoking or drinking habit would be stupid!

The argument is, ‘A short term weight loss diet will give me the, “Motivation” to keep eating healthy!!’ Great in theory EXCEPT, if it worked, the millions of people who have, or are participating, in 12 week challenges, short term diet plans, 6 month healthy eating plans, one week detox diets and the silliest, “Eat healthy for 6 days and eat whatever you want for the other day” would keep the weight off permanently and be healthy, lean and energetic for the rest of their lives! They are NOT getting the LONG term results they want and they do NOT keep the weight off! A 12 week restriction diet sees ALL of the folks, ‘Going Back’ to some or all of the pre-diet foods they were eating!

ROWENA SZESZERAN-MCEVOY

or get your photo taken with you as a “thin” person. The restriction diet you choose to do for that short-term goal will make you feel tired and lethargic, even sick and angry, but you will lose weight!! and you WILL put it back on.

The answer: CHOOSE today to be healthy, fit, lean and strong, for the rest of your life. Change your attitude towards food and exercise TODAY. Start thinking, eating, moving and acting like the Healthy, Fit and Strong person you will become - LONG TERM!

PHOTO: IFONG

There is no quick “Fix”, fast solution, miracle detox, fat loss, 12 week challenge that comes with a magic bar, pill or potion to ensure you are healthy, fit and strong for the rest of your life! You either want to be a high performing human OR you just want to lose some weight to fit into something for a short time

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MONICA WILLIAMS

1 hour to create a fabulous morning tea!

H

ave you ever woken in the morning and remembered that it was your turn to provide morning tea that day?

Instead of flying into a panic, whip out these 3 gorgeous recipes and in under an hour you’ll have a scrumptious feast prepared!

Raspberry, Coconut & White Chocolate Scrolls This dough recipe is my absolute favourite go-to when making pizzas in a jiffy or these scrolls (which you can add any combination of flavours into). The best part about it is there is no long waiting for the dough to rise, so it’s the perfect thing to make on a school morning without having to fuss around the night before, or wake up at the crack of dawn.

For a morning tea shout, these scrolls are really delicious - with the perfect amount of tartness and sweetness.

For the dough: 1 1/2 teaspoons active dried yeast 1 cup lukewarm water 2 1/2 cups high grade flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon sugar 2 tablespoons oil

Teachers Matter

Put the water into a small bowl and add a pinch of the sugar, stir to dissolve it.

Then add the yeast and put aside for a few minutes to activate.

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While waiting for the yeast, combine the flour, remainder of the sugar and salt into a mixing bowl. If you have an electric mixer fit the dough hook on the machine. When the yeast is ready pour it, along with the oil, into the flour mixture and beat on medium for 10 seconds until it is all combined. Increase the speed for 30 seconds and beat well. If you prefer to knead by hand, then mix with a wooden spoon and then knead until the dough is well combined. Leave the dough to sit for 10 minutes - don’t worry about covering it.

At this stage, heat the oven to 200°C and line a cake tin (I use a square or 20cm ring tin so I can pack the rolls in tight – this helps them rise).

Roll out the dough into a rectangle shape to approx 1cm thickness.

For the filling: Softened butter 2 tablespoons icing sugar 2 tablespoons desiccated coconut 1/2 cup frozen raspberries A handful of chocolate bits (white or dark, or both) Spread the butter thinly over the dough, leaving a 3cm gap at the bottom edge. Sift the icing sugar evenly over the butter and

then evenly sprinkle the coconut and then the raspberries. Add the chocolate bits.

Roll the dough up in a long sausage, as if making a sponge roll and using your finger and a little bit of water, wet the gap at the bottom edge and seal the roll. Cut the roll evenly into sections (I end up with roughly 8 scrolls).

Place the scrolls snugly in to your lined cake tin and bake for 30 minutes. When you take them out of the oven, drizzle over some melted white chocolate and they’ll look fantastic! *If you prefer to make them the night before, they also keep beautifully for the following day.

MONICA WILLIAMS

Lemon Drizzle Cake with Raspberries This is a very popular cake with most people as it’s packed with flavour. The lemon drizzle is what really tops it off from being a good lemon cake to a great lemon cake.

125g butter 175g caster sugar 2 eggs, lightly beaten 2 lemons, zested and juiced 175g self raising flour 1/4 cup raspberries (frozen or fresh) 50g caster sugar Preheat the oven to 180° C. Line or spray with oil a 20cm round cake tin, then place the raspberries around the base in any order you wish.

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale. Slowly add the egg, alternating with the flour and then add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and half the zest. Mix until combined.

Carefully spoon the mixture over the raspberries and then smooth it down slightly with a spatula. Bake in oven for 25 minutes.

Just before the cake is due to be removed carefully heat the remaining lemon juice and sugar until the sugar has dissolved. When you remove the cake carefully use a skewer to poke holes in the cake and then drizzle the lemon sugar mix over the top. The holes will allow the juice to run into the cake. Sprinkle with the lemon zest and leave cake to cool for 15 minutes before removing from the tin.

Decorate with more raspberries.

This is delicious served with some plain yogurt or whipped cream.

Double Chocolate Mocha Mudcakes This is a delicious rich and gooey treat. It is perfect for a celebration morning tea as it’s easy to prepare but tastes like you’ve spent ages making it!

60g dark eating chocolate, chopped.

2/3 cup cold coffee 90g butter, softened 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 2 eggs 2/3 cup self raising flour 2 tablespoons cocoa 1/3 cup ground almonds.

Preheat oven to 170° C and grease a cupcake pan.

Combine the chocolate and coffee in a saucepan and heat gently until smooth and the chocolate is melted. Beat the butter, sugar and eggs together.

Stir in sifted flour, cocoa and ground almonds and then add warm chocolate/coffee mixture.

Divide the mixture, filling the cupcake cases ¾ full.

Bake for 25mins.

69

ROBYN PEARCE

How to stretch time

F

or teachers the job of balancing a heavy workload with the demands of a family can sometimes be difficult and stressful.

The issue is how we view time. It seems that we never have enough. People I talk to desperately want to know how to find the time to enjoy their children. This question is cried out in offices, classrooms, boardrooms and homes throughout the western world.

Today many of us live in a world of sensory overload, of speed and a sense of timepoverty. Technology moves faster and faster.

We feel as if we can never catch up, that there is never enough time. But it’s illusion.

Time hasn’t changed – we have.

So – what can we do? Here are a few strategies for you.

Whatever we focus on Enlarges: If our whole attention and our top priorities are our important and demanding work, our families, our relationships and our health will suffer. In order to find time for these areas, which so often get lip service, three actions are needed – ‘mind-space’, time allocation, and physical action. A good intention is useless unless acted on. You might have to take time out from work to regularly do things with your family, or for yourself. In most jobs that time will easily be made up with extra hours, or you can arrange ‘glide-time’.

Teachers Matter

What are your KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators)?

70

How can you judge your efficacy as a parent or partner? How much time do you allocate?

Make appointments with yourself and your family on a weekly basis, treat them as seriously as appointments with a key client, and you’ll find the other ‘stuff’ fits in and around your core personal activities.

PHOTO: NALINRATANA PHIYANALINMAT

24 Hours is enough!

Schedule in the Important People In Your Week If you don’t block in ‘special’ time with your special people, they’ll eventually get tired of waiting. Do you remember the old song

by Harry Chapin, ‘Cat’s in the cradle’? The little boy, waiting for his dad to spend time with him, kept saying, ‘One day I’ll be just like you’. When his dad was an old man, longing to see the son who never came, he found that indeed, the promise had been delivered. If you wait for ‘spare time’ you’ll never have it.

Live in the ‘Now’ Today many of us have forgotten how to live in the moment. We make bedfellows of stress and anxiety. We focus either on the past and what we could have done better, or in the future – planning or worrying over coming events. We’re so busy squeezing more in to every moment that most of us forget to be ‘present’. We therefore miss the joy of the experience. And so time seems to race by – because we’re not ‘in’ it.

Change Your Language Notice your words, and how the people around you speak. How often do you hear ‘I’m so busy’, ‘I can’t fit it in’, ‘I have no time’, and ‘I’m always late/overworked/ tired/have too much to do‘? Start to use affirmations like ‘I’m getting much better at my time management’ or ‘There is always enough time to do the things that matter’.

An Attitude of Gratitude Practice honouring the moment. Develop a sense of gratitude for the gift of life, for the beauty of small things. Find something in every event to appreciate. This is not just ‘Pollyanna’ behaviour – it will enhance your health and stretch your hours.

Enjoy the Mundane Next time you wash the dishes, the car, mow the lawns, feed the children, sort out the paperwork on your desk or any other simple task, enjoy the activity for itself. Try not to spend the time in which your body is occupied thinking about something else.

Don’t wish the task was completed – honour the moment and the experience. You’ll be more relaxed when you finish. Time will expand instead of leaving you with the feeling of hurry, pressure and impatience often felt with a mundane task. And many times you’ll be surprised to find that it was a pleasant duty instead of the chore you didn’t want to do.

Meditate Learn to meditate, or if this seems too hard, try every day to sit quietly for at least 10 minutes. Focus on a plant or some other object. As thoughts drift into your mind acknowledge them and let them go. Breathe deeply from your abdomen, mentally saying ‘Breathe out’ with every outgoing breath and ‘Breathe in’ with every incoming breath. This helps you slow down to the natural rhythms around you. It ‘stretches’ time.

BARBARA GRIFFITH & TRICIA KENYON

Far, Far From Home Author Illustrator Publisher ISBN

Elizabeth Pulford Fifi Colston Scholastic 9781-1-77543-102-2

There’s no place like home Love will lead you back

The glowing illustrations and rhyming text tell this heart-warming tale. They help to create an atmosphere of sadness, longing and loneliness.

Although this storyline looks simple, it offers the opportunity to delve into deeper issues.

Activities

+

How does he feel?

T

he little glow bug is trapped in a jar on Sam’s windowsill, far away from home. After breaking free from the jar, he sets off on a long journey to find his family.

escapes

jar

moth

2. Timeline • Create a timeline using words, phrases and/or pictures showing the bug’s feelings during his flight home.

frog

power lines

heart

_

1. Is it a boy or a girl??

• Can you work out if the bug is male or female?

How do you know? List your clues.

spider

3. Critical Thinking

• What was the importance of the little red heart? Why do you think that?

• How do you feel about zoos, aquariums etc which capture and hold animals?

• He was safe, at the beginning of the story, in the jar. Why would he want to break out? Would he have continued to be safe if he had stayed?

• Find out about national and international organisations that care for and try to save animals from harm. Choose an organisation and suggest ways that they may not have thought of, for protecting animals from harm.

• If he told his young brothers or sisters about his experiences, what advice would he give them about being lost?

• What is your opinion about keeping bugs in jars?

71

BARBARA GRIFFITH & TRICIA KENYON

4. Illustrations • The illustrations are bold and colourful, in a cartoon-style, with a dark background.

• Explore how the illustrator is able to show the journey of the bug, by overlapping the illustrations from page to page.

• Why did the illustrator choose this style of illustration for this storyline?

5. Delving into the pictures

6. Cherishing your family

In this book, the illustrator has taken a simple text and improved the setting, the atmosphere and storyline and enhanced it into a more sophisticated picture book.

On a cut-out heart shape;

The storyline begins at the first illustration, before the title page, and continues after the text stops.

Beginning There is no text. What storyline, up to the title page, do the illustrations tell?

• Draw your family’s faces and label with names.

• Draw happy faces and label with names and one word that describes each person.

• Create hearts within the heart and add a name and a word/words that tells that person why they are so important to you.

Teachers Matter

Middle The text only tells part of the story. What in-depth storyline can you read from the illustrations?

72

End Beyond the last page of text. The storyline has moved to Sam, why?

Mum Mum always there

NanaLoves me completely

Although the storyline of this book appears simple to begin with, we hope we have introduced you to the possibilities of delving into deeper issues using this text and its magical illustrations.

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KEEPING THINKING FRONT AND CENTRE

Students need to think about how they are thinking.

Students need to think about how they are thinking.

THE ULTIMATE FRAMEWORK FOR LEARNING AND LIFE

THE ULTIMATE FRAMEWORK FOR LEARNING AND LIFE

Identify key areas for an effective, fulfilling and sustainable teaching career.

IS THERE A TIGER IN YOUR CLASSROOM?

Identify key areas for an effective, fulfilling and sustainable teaching career.

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Managing the stress of flight-or-fight

HAUORA HOMEWORK

Breaking patterns of resistance toward homework.

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The psychology of colour

pLan for a SmooTh rIDE how the wheel of life can help you

Watch the little words you say and improve students’ understanding

Fostering intelligent relationships helping the “powerful” child win

stUdeNts speAk Up Why it’s important for students to ask good questions

the instructionalrevolution learning new tricks and building students’ self-esteem Five positive steps putting the fun back into the playground

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LEARN THE A-B-Cs OF DECISION MAKING

bEcomE a SUpErIor TEachEr What to say and when to say it

Take a Break How doing less can help you accomplish more

sAy WhAt?

Being a hero to your students

EmbracE ThE changE Why interactive instruction is a good idea

WHen THey Can’T SiT STill Why some children might move too much and what you can do about it

What you can do to improve your school

The little things are the big things

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Nurturing Competitive Kids Into Elite Sport

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BUILDING RESILIENCE IN CHILDREN

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Teaching: A letter-by-letter guide

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Students sign on for confidence

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Exercise Boosts Brainpower Teachers Can Learn From Chefs

WHY STUDENTS NEED LEARNING HEROES

HOW YOU CAN WALK THE PLANK OF SUCCESS

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From “no” to “yes”

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Classroom management or discipline? p. 26

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Be Alarmed

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50 Ways to Raise Your Game

The little things are the big things

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Beyond the Bank

From “problem” to solution

Return on Investment

BUILDING RESILIENCE IN CHILDREN

need Teachers blurbs Can Learn From Chefs

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SUPERTEACHERS

pg. 14

p. 14

p. 35

Perfect your teacher’s vision

HAUORA HOMEWORK

pg. 32

p. 54

Breaking patterns of resistance toward homework.

“Sorry:” the world’s rewind button

p. 52

Students sign on for confidence

Identify key areas for an effective, fulfilling and sustainable teaching career.

Humour and the Habits of Mind

Scrapbooking: Just like Facebooking?

p. 36

Connect with a blog

p. 12

Think your way out of stress

THE ULTIMATE FRAMEWORK FOR LEARNING AND LIFE

How to Really Say “Goodnight”

Friendly vs.

Approachable

Being a hero to your students

IS THERE A TIGER IN YOUR CLASSROOM? Managing the stress of flight-or-fight

Use predicting to improve attention

KEEPING THINKING FRONT AND CENTRE Students need to think about how they are thinking.

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What you can do to improve your school

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Top ten trends in education p. 32

Are you a half-tank pike?

Problem Based Learning pg. 13

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Using Portfolios

Which language do you speak the most?

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pg. 40

Nurturing Competitive Kids Into Elite Sport

p. 62

pg. 64

stUdeNts speAk Up

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Breaking patterns of resistance toward homework.

Anger Danger

Why it’s important for students to ask good questions

The social side of your class

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Growing your talent

Identify key areas for an effective, fulfilling and sustainable teaching career.

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Take a Break How doing less can help you accomplish more

KEEPING THINKING FRONT AND CENTRE Students need to think about how they are thinking.

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THE LAST WORD: KAREN BOYES

Learning through emotions PHOTO: SHAO-CHUN WANG

Like butterflies emerging from cocoons, our students need to be left to get stuck and struggle so that they develop the skills necessary to get unstuck and strong enough to fly.

S

o many times in the classroom what our students need to learn has nothing to do with our content. The bigger life lessons, however preparing students for life can often be taught through content.

I was recently in a school and saw some children’s pompoms proudly hanging on the wall. What I was excited about was the sign under the display. “We have been Persistent.” The fact that the teacher understood that it was not the pompoms that were the focal point, but rather who the students are becoming because of the teaching and learning, was evident. Making pompoms takes time and persistence, and there would have been many a frustration in the process. It is in this struggle and frustration that true learning often takes place – but only if we look for it and reflect it back to our students.

Teachers Matter

Like the butterfly emerging from the cocoon, it is the struggle that makes the butterfly strong enough to fly. If you help a butterfly out of its cocoon it will almost always die.

74

How often do you let your students truly struggle, get stuck or frustrated? Do you allow them to develop the skills necessary to get unstuck, to strengthen their abilities so they can fly?

Negative emotions such as frustration, anger or disappointment are feelings many teachers often try to avoid in the classroom, however these emotional states can send powerful messages and create deep learning to help students become strong and resilient.

Anthony Robbins describes 10 emotional states and the message they provide us:

Here is an overview…

Uncomfortable: This emotion equates to boredom, mild embarrassment, being impatient and feeling uneasy. The message of these feelings is to change your emotional state, clarify what you want and take action towards your goals.

Fear: includes worry, concern, anxiety, apprehension and feeling scared. The message of fear is to prepare to deal with something or perhaps someone, change your focus and become confident.

Hurt: is usually about a sense of loss. This message is simply that your expectations are not being met and you need to clarify what must change in order to move forward. This change may be in your perception of the situation and your need to look at it from another point of view, or changing your actions to get a different result.

Anger: this emotion covers being irritated, enraged, furious, livid and rage. It often points to your standards not being met by yourself or others. To move beyond this emotion it is useful to adjust the way you are communicating or the manner in which you are behaving.

Frustration: often feels like being held back or having something prevent you from moving forward. You may need to change your approach and think flexibility. Einstein was quoted as saying that the definition of insanity is to “Do the same thing, and expect different results.”

Disappointment: encompasses feelings of sadness and defeat. You may need to refine your goal or change your outcomes to a more appropriate and achievable target.

Guilt: is often manifest as regret and is a signal that you have violated your own standards. Again this emotional state requires you to modify both your perception and your behaviour and align yourself with your true values.

I n a d e q u a c y: is the feeling of being less than or unworthy. To move away from this feeling it takes a commitment to do something to better yourself and requires practice.

Overloaded: is often displayed as over whelmed, hopelessness or feeling depressed. The message of this emotion is to decide on what is most important to you, put these in order and start with number one. Taking even a small step forward at this point can create the momentum to keep going in a positive direction.

Lonely: is a feeling of being separate, different or unconnected. The message here is that you need to connect and to take action.

Sometimes the struggle is exactly what we need in our lives. If we go through life without obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have been. Teach your students that having negative emotions are fine – they are just messages to help us grow and develop into successful functioning adults.

Dream!

When you have a vision for your school, you have a dream of how your school could be. But what drives that vision forward is passion!

I am passionate about inspiring journeys in school branding - all over New Zealand! This passion is like a fire that fuels my actions to achieve my dream. I have direction, purpose, and meaning for what I do.

Having a clear vision for your school is the same. It represents what you desire your school to be, both now and in the future. You get excited by what lies ahead.

Being passionate about how you are going to achieve your vision becomes infectious. Others get excited as they begin to share in your vision because they understand it! This clarifies your identity to yourself and to those around you. Your brand comes alive.

It makes sense!

It has been said “A picture paints a thousand words”.

When a school’s vision comes to life, and there is passion driving it forward, you have a clear picture of who you are. Your website and marketing material become reflections of your true self - authentic representations of school life.

INSPIRING JOURNEYS IN SCHOOL BRANDING

Your logo is not your brand, and your website is not your brand. YOU ARE YOUR BRAND! I would love to have a chat with you about how I may be of help with your school branding journey.

Warm Regards, Craig Burton - Managing Director School Branding Matters

school branding matters

For a complimentary brochure or more information please contact me.

Phone 03 360 2959 Email craig@schoolbrandingmatters.co.nz Facebook www.facebook.com/schoolbrandingmatters

www.schoolbrandingmatters.co.nz

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