CHURCHILL EDUCATION
EDUCATION SUPPORT NEWSLETTER MARCH 2012
CHURCHILL EDUCATION
EDUCATION SUPPORT NEWSLETTER MARCH 2012
Professional Development
Educa'on Support
Swap ability praise for effort praise
Resources for Teacher Aides...
Under five year olds -‐ It seems children under the age of 5 respond beEer to 'ability praise'. They love it when their parents praise them for what they have done. They respond beEer when your comments are related to their abili%es – “You are so clever to be able to do up your shoelace.” There is a caveat to ability praise and that is, that it should be targeted to a specific behaviour or ability. “I love the way you %dy up the toys so neatly. They’ve all gone in to the toy box.” This type of
Introduction
descrip,ve praise carries more meaning that a blanket “Good boy! That’s great!”
The response to the last release of What a wonderful community is built, in support of teacher aides in Brisbane! Your feedback about the February edi,on of the Educa,on Support Resources for Teacher Aides NewsleEer was so posi,ve and has really encouraged us to delve deeper in finding great resources to share with you and your team. It was exci,ng to hear from teachers who have also picked up the newsleEer and started implemen,ng changes in the classroom. It is great to know that teacher aides & teachers are working so effec,vely together. We would love to see photos of your projects and hear your stories of introducing these changes to your students. We have heard whispers that the “I’m Done” jar is popular with our readers … which was our personal favourite too! I’m thinking of introducing an “I’m Done” jar at home … great way to avoid the “I’m bored” conversa,ons.
free Toolbox Workshops was great! I’m looking forward to delivering those workshops this month. For those who missed out, there is good news … I have released another FIVE FREE TOOL BOX WORKSHOPS and these are now open for bookings. So, if you and the other teacher aides in your school are looking for a great professional development opportunity at your school, don’t be slow … these go fast, so book in today by shooMng me an email: ruth@churchilleduca,on.edu.au
Over fives -‐ Children over the age of five generally prefer Effort praise. That is, kids respond beEer as they get older to CH
U 2 C RCH SA LIF ILL M FS FO AL ED U QL RD ISBU CA FR V I RY T I D O 13 EE L 00 CA 452 LAG CT N 79 LL 0 E
30 02
comments related to the effort that they put in, as well as improvement. “I can see you’re trying so hard to learn those spelling words. Well done.” This type of praise (technically known as encouragement as it focuses on process, not results) recognises their effort but takes the pressure off them having to succeed. Generally, when you recognise effort the results will o4en take care of themselves. And how should we deliver this effort praise? Loudly so everyone can hear, or quietly and sincerely? One Australian
Ruth Kirkby
study showed that primary school children had a definite preference for how they were praised. Around 15% said they
Education Support Specialist Email: ruth@churchilleducation.edu.au
preferred not to be praised at all. 30% said they like their praise nice and loud so everyone could hear. Around 60%
IN THE DIARY
Interes;ng stuff!-‐ So think about the type of posi;ve comments you deliver and how you deliver them. Also think about
2nd April – World Au,sm Day www.un.org/en/events/au,smday/
preferred their praise to be quiet and private. They much preferred you to stop, make eye contact and deliver your effort praise with sincerity and clarity!
how your child responds to your usual style, and consider matching what you do with how you think they respond best. Maybe you’ll have to swap 'never praise at all', for some praise. Perhaps you’ll have to swap 'ability' praise for 'effort' praise or swap LOUD & PUBLIC for quiet & private. Swap it, Don’t Stop It!
Enough chaEer, read on to get your latest installment of teacher aide news! Love your work, Ruth
2 – 13 April – School holidays hEp://educa,on.qld.gov.au/ public_media/calendar/ holidays.html 6 – 9 April – Easter www.australia.gov.au/about-‐ australia/australian-‐story/easter-‐in-‐ australia 13 – 22 April Na,onal Youth Week hEps://youthweek.com/Pages/ default.aspx
I’m pleased to say that the March edi,on con,nues to deliver simple solu,ons to aid you in the classroom, with more prac,cal, hands on, low cost, easy ,ps for you to use.
22 April – Earth Day www.earthday.org/about
© Churchill Educa7on Pty Ltd 2012
23 April – World Book & Copyright Day www.un.org/depts/dhl/book/ index.html
Published by Michael Grose Presenta4ons. All rights reserved www.paren4ngideas.com.au
Na7onal Year of Reading 2012 has a special focus on reading! Each month, we will be sharing with you an idea for supporMng this iniMaMve. Why not create a Reading Tree? Along the lines of a family tree, create a display of the students’ favourite books. It could be as simple as photocopying the cover of the book, then having the students write on a paper leaf why they like this book, or their favourite character or the highlight of the story for them. Piece the leaves and covers together to create your own classroom or library Reading Trees.
CHURCHILL EDUCATION
EDUCATION SUPPORT NEWSLETTER MARCH 2012
CHURCHILL EDUCATION
EDUCATION SUPPORT NEWSLETTER MARCH 2012
Tool Box Tips
LEARNING STYLES
Hopefully, you are all gelng a lot of use out of your handy tool boxes.
What Is Dysgraphia?
Each month, we’ll be adding another low cost sugges,on to add to your tool box. To kick off, here are 2 hot addi,ons...firstly, throw some plas,c disposable plates into your box for an easy, portable dry erase board. Works a treat with a whiteboard marker and a cloth.
Dysgraphia is a learning disability that affects wri,ng abili,es. It can manifest itself as difficul,es with spelling, poor handwri,ng and trouble pulng thoughts on paper. Because wri,ng requires a complex set of motor and informa,on processing skills, saying a student has dysgraphia is not sufficient. A student with disorders in wriEen expression will benefit from specific accommoda,ons in the learning environment, as well as addi,onal prac,ce learning the skills required to be an accomplished writer.
Secondly, dice are a must have in a tool box but some,mes chasing the dice becomes too distrac,ng. Overcome this by pulng your pair of dice in a small plas,c container. No distrac,ons with all of the value! Thanks to www.learningpavilion.com & www.sunnydaysinsecondgrade.blogspot.com for the inspira,on.
What are the warning signs of dysgraphia? Just having bad handwri,ng doesn't mean a person has dysgraphia. Since dysgraphia is a processing disorder, difficul,es can change throughout a life,me. However since wri,ng is a developmental process-‐children learn the motor skills needed to write, while learning the thinking skills needed to communicate on paper -‐ difficul,es can also overlap. If a person has trouble in any of the areas below, addi'onal help may be beneficial. •
Tight, awkward pencil grip and body posi,on
•
Illegible handwri,ng
•
Avoiding wri,ng or drawing tasks
•
Tiring quickly while wri,ng
•
Saying words out loud while wri,ng
•
Unfinished or omiEed words in sentences
•
Difficulty organising thoughts on paper
•
Difficulty with syntax structure and grammar
Behaviour Management-‐Quick Tips
•
Large gap between wriEen ideas and understanding demonstrated through speech.
So omen, I’m asked for quick ,ps on behaviour management. Here’s a favourite … the calm down basket! The idea is to create an opportunity for a student to be diverted and re-‐gather their calm. A calm down basket should contain some •short books •a bell • a mind jar (check out the photo of a mind jar we’ve made for our office … everyone needs a liEle zen some,mes), and a jar with some simple calm down tasks, such as take 10 deep breaths, close your eyes imagine your favourite colour, think of a beau%ful beach, think of your favourite song, shake the mind jar. You could include a rice tray – it’s as easy as a plas,c takeaway container, with the lid, filled with rice. Bury liEle treasures in the rice and give your student a chops,ck to search for a treasure. Treasures could include semi-‐precious stones (about $2 from a range of stores), shiny marbles, seaglass, small figurines, coins from other countries, and badges. Add a few drops of lavender oil to the rice for an added element of calm. Thank you www.herewearetogether.com for this idea. We’ve found great baskets at our local op shops for a couple of dollars and while you are there, check out the books & keep your eyes peeled for cheap treasures.
By: Na,onal Center for Learning Disabili,es (NCLD) (2006) Reference: hEp://www.ldonline.org/ar,cle/What_Is_Dysgraphia%3F A student with dysgraphia can also have difficul,es with spelling. Informa,on about Spelling and students with Learning Disabili,es can be found at: hEp://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading101/spelling/ The following links provide some excellent resources for suppor,ng students with Dysgraphia in the classroom. www.speld.org.au hEp://www.resourceroom.net/readspell/dysgraphia.asp hEp://www.ldonline.org/indepth/wri,ng/richards_avoidwrtg.html
For more great ideas join our Facebook page hUp://www.facebook.com/pages/Teacher-‐Aide-‐Support-‐a-‐Space-‐for-‐You/111409215583397
CHURCHILL EDUCATION
EDUCATION SUPPORT NEWSLETTER MARCH 2012
Ac7vity Space
CHURCHILL EDUCATION
EDUCATION SUPPORT NEWSLETTER MARCH 2012
Profile
Classroom Timeline
Tool Box Workshop with the Teacher Aides at St Ambrose’s School
Building upon the idea we shared in the February edi,on of
On January 23 I had the great pleasure of presen,ng a ‘Tool Box Training Workshop’ to the wonderful school officers at St Ambrose's Catholic School, in Newmarket. The 1 hour workshop is a prac,cal, follow up session, to the informa,on that I presented at the 2011 Teacher Aide Retreat. It is designed to promote posi,ve behaviour management strategies by engaging students and providing opportuni,es for all learners to succeed regardless of their preferred learning style. (It also supports the unit, “Assist in the Facilita,on of Student Learning” from the Cer,ficate IV in Educa,on Support qualifica,on).
compiling a profile for each student, this great ac,vity lets you track and celebrate the achievements of your class during the year. It’s as simple as capturing the
The idea of learning styles is that each person learns best if informa,on is presented to them in a par,cular way. Once you know a student's learning style, you can present informa,on to them so they will grasp it quickly and easily and the use of items in the 'tool box’ can aid learning and engagement. If material is presented in a way that is at variance with a student's preferred style, it will be harder for them to learn.
highlights of the learning experience on a camera and crea,ng a monthly snapshot to add to the ,meline. Display a large cardboard sheet with printed images and headings around the classroom or in the hall. Why not get your students involved, selng a monthly roster for capturing and crea,ng the month in review? This is a great way of tapping into the visual and kinaesthe,c learning styles. You can also develop leadership, literacy and planning skills in your students. It would make a great feature to share with parents when teacher/parent interviews roll around again. Thanks to www.sciencenotebooking.blogspot.com.au for inspira,on.
Expanding Sentences Helping children to understand how to expand and build upon sentences and thoughts can be a challenge. This simple example can let you address a range of learning styles and even beEer, you can keep it on display for a permanent reminder in the classroom or in folders. Once you have demonstrated an example, you could work with a student to create their own. Expanding sentences can follow the quick checklist •what? •where? •when? •how? •why? Example, what sort of person/animal/event are you wri,ng about? Thanks to hEp://krazyaboutkiddos.blogspot.com.au for inspira,on. © Churchill Educa7on Pty Ltd 2012
Kinaesthe,c learners for example, omen find it hard to engage in learning at school as they can’t sit s,ll and wait for informa,on to be given. They love to explore, find things out for themselves and are more doers than thinkers. Kinaesthe,c learners are quite ac,ve and are omen mistaken as rowdy and undisciplined as schools omen try to limit their movement. The use of a tool box supports hands-‐on learning and is omen the secret to ‘winning over’ a student who is perceived as difficult to teach. I have included a photo of the workshop and a shot from our Teacher Aide Retreat of some of the wonderful School Officers at St Ambrose's and you will no,ce the use of an agenda which helps visual learners to see the whole picture. The photo of the tool box contents illustrates how we can use colour, shapes, movement and touch to help all students learn. At St Ambrose's we had a variety of learning styles in the room and I thank them for sharing this informa,on with honesty and frankness. One school officer iden,fied herself as a kinaesthe,c learner and courageously shared the difficul,es she has experienced with her own learning at ,mes. Her doodling on paper at a mee,ng is not a sign of disinterest but in fact is a way that helps her brain to learn. Through repeated doodling, brain circuits are "exercised" and challenged, which strengthens concentra,on and improves func,on. Once you iden,fy a student’s learning style, you can nourish the best of his/her style but you can also support their areas of weakness. Howard Gardner believes that teachers need to find ways to incorporate instruc,on into their classrooms that encourages students to develop weaker intelligences by drawing on their strengths. This is turn improves both altude towards learning and academic achievement. Some of the strategies u,lised at St Ambrose’s include: Developing a rela,onship with each student -‐ finding out a student's interests, family members, what they did on the weekend, etc. They omen take a student outside or for a walk to relax them or engage them in conversa,on. Fidget toys have been used successfully with some students and we discussed the need to enforce Rules and perhaps an ‘Agreement of Use’. A variety of resources are used to cater for tac,le learners including magne,c leEers, whiteboards, lego bricks, shaving cream, water pain,ng, coloured chalk, highlighter pens etc. I was not surprised to hear the stories of success from the school officers at St Ambrose's and they had many other wonderful ,ps and tricks to share. There is not enough room to list them here, but I will reveal more in our next edi,on...Ruth
St Ambrose’s School Officers at our 2011 Teacher Aide Retreat