Teachers Matter Magazine issue 20

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

TeachersMatter The Magazine of Spectrum Education PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

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The Magazine of Spectrum Education

Growing your talent

Classroom management or discipline?

The psychology of colour

Beyond the Bank

The social side of your class pg. 22

From “no” to “yes”

Humour and the Habits of Mind

pg. 53

The contract for independence pg. 60 NZ$15 / AU$15

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ISSUE 10

Leaders in Developing Teachers

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ISSUE 12

Leaders in Developing Teachers

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Leaders in Developing Teachers

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Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 15

Leaders in Developing Teachers

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

TeachersMatter The Magazine of Spectrum Education

Use predicting to improve attention

The power to be happy: You can make the difference

p. 12

Think your way out of stress

pg. 16

p. 35

Friendly vs.

Approachable pg. 14

Ice cream in the classroom?: Think variety

p. 54

Scrapbooking: Just like Facebooking? pg. 32

pg. 66

“Sorry:” the world’s rewind button pg. 54 NZ$15 / AU$15

oping Teachers

ISSUE 16

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Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 17

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Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 18

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

TeachersMatter

TeachersMatter

The Magazine of Spectrum Education

The Magazine of Spectrum Education

HAUORA HOMEWORK

Managing the stress of flight-or-fight

Breaking patterns of resistance toward homework.

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 19

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Leaders in Developing Teachers

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ISSUE 2

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Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 3

Leaders in Developing Teachers

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

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The psychology of colour pg. 63

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

PLAN FOR A SMOOTH RIDE How the wheel of life can help you

SAY WHAT? 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

NZ$15 / AU$15

Identify key areas for an effective, fulfilling and sustainable teaching career.

IS THERE A TIGER IN YOUR CLASSROOM?

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

Being a hero to your students

pg. 64

The Magazine of Spectrum Education

SEE, HEAR AND FEEL Help students truly understand the Habits of Mind

CHARACTER COUNTS

THE ULTIMATE FRAMEWORK FOR LEARNING AND LIFE

SUPERTEACHERS

Nurturing Competitive Kids Into Elite Sport

NZ$15 / AU$15

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Students need to think about how they are thinking.

The little things are the big things

Anger Danger

pg. 40

pg. 62

Perfect your teacher’s vision

KEEPING THINKING FRONT AND CENTRE

BUILDING RESILIENCE IN CHILDREN

Using Portfolios

Teaching: A letter-by-letter guide

Students sign on for confidence

$ Problem Based Learning pg. 13

pg. 32

p. 14

NZ$15 / AU$15

NZ$15 / AU$15

LET THE THREE RUSSIAN BROTHERS AND THEIR COUSIN HELP YOU

Exercise Boosts Brainpower

GET YOUR COLLEAGUES TALKING WITH PROTOCOLS

Teachers Can Learn From Chefs

WHY STUDENTS NEED LEARNING HEROES

NZ$15 / AU$15

HOW YOU CAN WALK THE PLANK OF SUCCESS

The socia

How to Really Say “Goodnight” Humour and the Habits of Mind

The contract

NZ$15 / AU$15

NZ$15 / AU$15

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ping Teachers

ISSUE 5

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 6

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 7

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 8

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 9

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 10

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

PROFESS

TeachersMatter

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TeachersMatter

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The Magazine of Spectrum Education

The Magazine of Spectrum Education

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Classroom management or discipline?

Beyond the Bank

p. 26

pg. 12

From “problem” to solution

Return on Investment pg. 25

Be Alarmed

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pg. 47

BUILDING RESILIENCE IN CHILDREN

50 Ways to Raise Your Game

The little things are the big things

Use predicting to improve attention KEEPING THINKING FRONT AND CENTRE

need blurbs ¨© | ¤

Students need to think about how they are thinking.

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pg. 54

SUPERTEACHERS

Friendly vs.

Approachable

Being a hero to your students

pg. 14

IS THERE A TIGER IN YOUR CLASSROOM?

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.

«£¥«¨ ¤ ª ª© ¥ ¤

Scrapbooking: Just like Facebooking?

Managing the stress of flight-or-fight

Connect with a blog

Think your way out of stress p. 14

THE ULTIMATE FRAMEWORK FOR LEARNING AND LIFE

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p. 36

p. 12

pg. 54 NZ$15 / AU$15

NZ$15 / AU$15

NZ$15 / AU$15

NZ$15 / AU$15

NZ$15 / AU$15

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ping Teachers

ISSUE 12

Leaders in Developing Teachers

NZ$15 / AU$15

ISSUE 18

Leaders in Developing Teachers

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 2

ISSUE 11

Leaders in Developing Teachers

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

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The Magazine of Spectrum Education

e of Spectrum Education

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

TeachersMatter

TeachersMatter The Magazine of Spectrum Education

WHEN THEY CAN’T SIT STILL Why some children might move too much and what you can do about it

The power to be happy: You can make the difference

Students need to think about how they are thinking.

pg. 32

The Magazine of Spectrum Education

p. 10

pg. 63

Identify key areas for an effective, fulfilling and sustainable teaching career.

pg. 62

Ice cream in the classroom?: Think variety pg. 66

Top ten trends in education

What you can do to improve your school

p. 32

Are you a half-tank pike?

Problem Based Learning

SAY WHAT?

p. 43

Using Portfolios

Which language do you speak the most?

pg. 16

pg. 13

pg

pg

Why it’s important for students to ask good questions

The social side of your class pg. 22

Breaking patterns of resistance toward homework.

From “no” to “yes” pg. 53

The contract for independence pg. 60

NZ$15 / AU$15

ping Teachers

ISSUE 17

ISSUE 3

Leaders in Developing Teachers

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 6

NZ$15 / AU$15

NZ$15 / AU$15

NZ$15 / AU$15

NZ$15 / AU$15

Leaders in Developing Teachers

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 13

NZ$15 / AU$15

NZ$15 / AU$15

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 5

Anger Dan Nurturing Competit Kids Into Elite Sp

p. 62

STUDENTS SPEAK UP

HAUORA HOMEWORK

NZ$15 / AU$15

CHARACTER COUNTS

Watch the little words you say and improve students’ understanding

THE ULTIMATE FRAMEWORK FOR LEARNING AND LIFE

Teaching: A letter-by-letter guide

PROFESS

TeachersM

Growing your talent

The psychology of colour

TAKE A BREAK How doing less can help you accomplish more

KEEPING THINKING FRONT AND CENTRE

Leaders in Developing Teachers

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

TeachersMatter The Magazine of Spectrum Education

The Magazine of Spectrum Education

SEE, HEAR AND FEEL Help students truly understand the Habits of Mind

ISSUE 16

ISSUE 3

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 15

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 20

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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:

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

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.

NOW n ble o a l i a v a id Andro

3

CONTENTS

$

In this issue

18 6

Editor’s Note

Boys need boy champions

26 28

16

30

Learning self control The 4 F’s of a great teacher CLARK WRIGHT

20

Teachers Matter 4

The breadcrumbs of learner voice DR CHERYL DOIG

Study tips for success KAREN BOYES

44

Beyond pro and con GLENN CAPELLI

46

Just how good are we?

JOHN SHACKLETON

Mental maths

Neuroscience and dyslexia DR MARTHA BURNS

50 34

They’re in the money . . . and class SOPHIE RISHWORTH

Ta Moko, are you ready?

NGAHI BIDOIS

52

Find your kefi DAVID KOUTSOUKIS

36

Fostering Intellingent Relationships

54

ALLIE MOONEY

ANGIE WILCOCK

24

42

SERENITY RICHARDS

Ask the right questions The new rules of engagement

A project-based learning experience

Think...and create TRUDY FRANCIS

48 32

ALAN COOPER

22

40

SARAH EVANS

BETTE BLANCE

18

Thinking maps and thinking routines DONNA TOBEY AND ROCHELLE IBAÑEZ WOLBERG

A needed paradigm shift ART COSTA

Suggestions for motivation DR MARVIN MARSHALL

MAGGIE DENT

14

50

28

KRISTEN DE DEYN KIRK

11

It’s a bumper issue filled to the brim!

The benefits of raising children French-style ROBYN PEARCE

38

Letter by letter KAREN BOYES

56

What does multitasking do to your brain?

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: Kristen De Deyn Kirk 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.

62 58

How to build self-belief in your students

74 74

CHRIS KERR

60

Hey, it’s my turn now

TONI POWELL

76

Are we spiritually fit enough for the modern age?

78

DAVID GROENEWALD

64

Does exercise make you happy?

68

Today’s listening stations

Get moving WENDY SWEET

80

ROWENA SZESZERAN-MCEVOY

66

Book Review: Wooden Arms BARBARA GRIFFITH & TRICIA KENYON

KATE SOUTHCOMBE

62

Three reasons why gratitude is the wonder drug

How to understand your students THELMA VAN DER WERFF

JENNY BARRETT

82

10 tips for reducing stress and improving satisfaction

Recipies: Light and Fresh

STEVE FRANCIS

84 Jokes

72

Random acts of kindness TERRY SHEFFIELD

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

All Enquiries Spectrum Education Ltd Street Address: 19 Rondane Place, Lower Hutt, New Zealand Postal Address: PO Box 30818, Lower Hutt, New Zealand Phone: (NZ) +64 4 528 9969 Fax: (NZ) +64 4 528 0969 magazine@spectrumeducation.com www.spectrumeducation.com

KAREN TOBICH

70

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

The last word KAREN BOYES

Lioncrest Education Postal Address: PO Box 340 Cessnock NSW 2325, Australia Phone: 61 2 4991 2874 or 1800 249 727 info@lioncrest.com.au www.lioncrest.com.au

5

EDITOR’S NOTE

C

elebrating our 20 th issue (wow, it’s been five years since Teachers Matter started!) got me reflecting on all I’ve learned about education. I always looked forward to going to class as a child. I used to think I did so because I was then who I am now: Someone who loves to learn. But truth be told, I wonder if I liked school because I could memorize facts. Earning those 95s (we didn’t have the A-F grading system) on my report card made me happier than receiving a new pair of Jordache jeans.

Yet I have no memory of being excited by a scientific concept, a historical event, or a literary device I studied. Did I truly learn any facts, which seemed to be the teachers’ goal back then, or did I develop skills for lifelong learning, the philosophy today’s best teachers talk about? Or did school provide practical life lessons?

Here’s what I can recall: Age 5 When my mom took me to observe a class before I started school, I saw a student take a note from her teacher to the teacher next door. How cool to be in the hallway alone, and to be the only student out of the 20 selected to do so. I aspired to that honour and eventually found that the way to earn it was by being quiet, sharing toys and smiling a lot.

Teachers Matter

Lesson learned: Play nice.

6

Age 7 My teacher gathered a group of us to read out loud and every time we made a mistake she marked it on the board. I had the most marks and tears in my eyes.

Lesson learned: Point out mistakes privately.

Age 8 Two friends and I laughed and sang songs when our teacher turned her head. One of us even sat backwards in our chair and scooted around a desk, much to the others’ delight. We never got reprimanded. I also recall showing the class that your nine times tables are easy to remember: the number in the left column increases by one and the number in the right column decreases by one as you go from 1 X 9 to 10 X 9.

Lesson learned: Seek friends who make you laugh. And appreciate those who let you break the rules just a bit – as well as spotlight your knowledge.

Age 12 My teacher assigned a research paper, and my friend and I spent a few Saturdays at the public library taking notes from encyclopedias. The books and the quiet made my pre-teen heart pound more than the mall and Shaun Cassidy.

Age 14 My friend painted a flower with watercolours, and the art teacher accused her of having someone else create it. It was too good to be her own work, the teacher argued.

Lesson learned: Some people should not work with children.

Age 17 My psychology teacher said if you’re going to do something and worry about it, don’t do it. He wasn’t talking about prudent risk-taking, but breaking laws and acting unethically. He called this the concept of “unity.”

Lesson learned: The world would be a better place if everyone learned from my high school psychology teacher.

So, it seems that facts, philosophy, and practicality mixed to deliver seven lessons I remember. Not a huge number, but at least they are huge lessons.

Lesson learned: There’s more than one way to happiness.

Age 13 If you’re hungry and chew gum, your stomach will growl. My science teacher told us that and said we could chew gum in class only if we had already eaten lunch.

She also had us conduct an experiment that was supposed to show that different parts of your tongue identify different tastes – such as bitterness and sweetness. Everyone said it worked, except for me. I felt like a failure.

Years later, studies showed that the taste bud theory was false.

Lesson learned: Stay true to your own conclusions. Sometimes you’re vindicated.

Kristen De Deyn Kirk

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.

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

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

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.

CONTRIBUTORS

organisations to think for tomorrow. She can be contacted through www.thinkbeyond.com.nz.

Christine Kerr Alan Cooper 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

Angie Wilcock Angie Wilcock is a highly regarded Australian expert and speaker on transitions in education. She is a published author with a strong background in teaching who works with teachers, parents and students in the area of transition to secondary school. Her first major book, The Transition Tightrope, will be released by Routledge UK late 2012. www.highhopes.com.au

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

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

Teachers Matter

Bette Blanc

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As an educational consultant and instructor with William Glasser Institute, Bette Blance 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.

Dr Cheryl Doig Dr Cheryl Doig is director of Think Beyond.

As an educator, her aim is to challenge

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

Clark Wight Clark Wight runs parent and teacher seminars around topics of raising boys through the website OurBoys.com.au. After 22 years teaching boys from Year 1 (he loves that look of awe and wonder on their faces) to Year 10 (he loves that look of angst and bewilderment on their faces) he spent 8 years as Headmaster at Christ Church Grammar Prep School in Perth and then at University School in Cleveland, Ohio. Clark loves a kitchen full of kids and friends, with great music, smells of garlic and a glass of red nearby.

Daniel Groenewald Daniel Groenewald is an English teacher at Methodist Ladies’ College. Perth and an enthusiastic runner and writer.

David Koutsoukis David Koutsoukis is the author of numerous books and resources for educators including the Behaviour Management Toolkit, Why you click with some people and others drive you crazy! and the Six Kinds of Best values education program. He speaks at conferences, seminars and workshops throughout Australia and the Asia Pacific region. For more information and free downloads to help you find your kefi, visit www.findyoukefi.com.

Donna Tobey Beginning her 27th year in independent schools, Donna Tobey currently serves as the head of Lower School at Palm Beach Day Academy in West Palm Beach, FL. Currently serving on the executive boards of the Florida Kindergarten Council and Florida Reggio Collaborative, she has a passion for creating and providing professional development opportunities for teachers. In 2005, the Georgetown Club of Miami honored Donna Tobey for her “outstanding dedication to the mind of the young child.”

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

Jenny Barrett Jenny is the CEO for Breathe Technology. Her enthusiasm for technology came when thrown in the deep end whilst teaching at a Taiwan high school. Jenny has since undertaken a Master’s of Education (Ed. Technology) and has supported classroom teachers to use educational technology in UK and NZ projects. www.breathetechnology.co.nz

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

Karen Boyes Karen Boyes is a leading authority on effective learning and teaching in Australasia and is founder and CEO of Spectrum Education. A highly skilled, enthusiastic and dynamic presenter with over 18 years experience in the education profession, she works with teachers, parents, students and corporate clients internationally, unleashing their peak performance. www.spectrumeducation.com

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

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

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

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

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

Rochelle Ibañez Wolberg Rochelle Ibañez Wolberg is the learning specialist and coordinator of support services at Palm Beach Day Academy. She is passionate about creating powerful learning experiences for students and colleagues and serves on the leadership team of Collaborate South Florida, a professional learning community comprised of various schools. Rochelle holds graduate degrees in educational psychology and school psychology from Fordham University.

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.

Sarah Evans Sarah Evans is a National Board Certified Teacher and holds a master’s in teaching

literacy, and a bachelor’s in elementary education. She has spent the past 13 years teaching in both public and private schools and is now teaching third grade at Palm Beach Day Academy in West Palm Beach, FL.

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.

Sophie Rishworth Sophie Rishworth has been a reporter at the Gisborne Herald since 2007. She has a post-graduate diploma in journalism from Canterbury University and particularly likes writing about innovative members of the community who think outside the box. www.gisborneherald.co.nz

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

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 organizations 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 recently appeared on BCTV, Global, CKNW and Student Success.

He has presented his ideas to over 200,000

CONTRIBUTORS people. His clients include many schools and universities, IBM, Ford, Bayer, Bosch, CRA, RCMP, Toyota, and many others. 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, where he is a frequent lecturer at Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia. Terry Small’s Philosophy is simple: “Success is a skill anyone can learn.”

Toni Powell Prompted by personal experience and two years of research into gratitude, Toni Powell founded the 30 Day Gratitude Challenge (www.30daygratitudechallenge.com). From a month of emailable adventures to corporate training and professional development or schools, Toni is intent on spreading the lifechanging practice of gratitude.

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

Wendy Sweet Wendy Sweet is a regular contributor to Teachers Matter magazine on health and lifestyle issues. She has a lengthy career in the industry and is best known for having founded personal training in NZ for the Les Mills group. Wendy lectures at the University of Waikato in the sport and leisure studies division in the faculty of education and is currently undertaking her PhD. She is a well respected seminar presenter on work-life balance and has presented at a number of professional development workshops for schools. She can be contacted on wsweet@ xtra.co.nz or wsweet@waikato.ac.nz

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â&#x20AC;&#x153; â&#x20AC;?

The mediocre teacher tells.

The good teacher explains.

The superior teacher demonstrates.

The great teacher inspires.

Teachers Matter

William Arthur Ward

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MAGGIE DENT

Boys need boy champions Ideas on helping them like school

T

he vast majority of students who struggle academically, socially and emotionally in all our schools are boys.

Some female teachers tell me the boys challenge them the most and often these same teachers tell me they never had brothers and they find boys difficult to understand. My concern is that when boys feel misunderstood, judged negatively, excluded or shamed, it can have a more devastating effect compared to girls.They are more vulnerable than girls and it starts early.

Neil Farmer, in his book Getting it Right for Boys, explains some key differences in how most boys’ and girls’ brains function: • Corpus callosum is different – allowing for ‘cross talk’ between left and right hemispheres.

• Girls have stronger neural connectors in their temporal lobes – better memory storage, better listening skills.

• Hippocampus (another memory storage) area is larger in girls.

• Girl’s prefrontal cortex larger – less impulsive • Girls use more cortical areas for verbal and emotive processing while boys

use theirs for spatial and mechanical functioning.

awareness: is it any wonder they often decide school “sucks” quite early?

• Girls multi- task better than boys, manage change better.

Essentially boys need a lot more help in the early years to learn the code of acceptable behaviour in our classrooms. Since they have difficulty listening as well as girls this can cause problems. One study suggested that boys hear about 75 percent of what girls hear – and that is only when the teacher has their attention. If a boy is absorbed in a play activity, or is facing away from the teacher or he is hungry, he will generally not hear a thing the teacher is saying. Also they cannot absorb the same amount of information as girls. The male mental processing is more singular. I discovered this in my high school classrooms after many years – they need reminders of what comes next, so lists on white boards or smart boards help boys stay on track. I also found gentle one-on-one reminders with a smile were a powerful way of keeping boys on track.

These differences will explain a lot of the angst that happens in our homes and schools where boys are mainly misunderstood by the opposite gender. The “cross talk” that occurs much more easily for girls will explain why girls can become emotionally savvy at a much earlier age. By three and a half girls can use guilt to manipulate parents to get their needs met and boys have no such skill set. The difference in the cortical areas also explains why boys get confused around emotions – they are very challenging to boys.

Many boys will take any emotional state - sadness, confusion, frustration and hurt -- and turn it into an anger response. This is due to the larger amygdala, the presence of the little warrior and the existence of testosterone. So much boy aggression is often masking other emotional vulnerabilities.

Boys who find themselves unable to complete tasks that girls can will often feel “dumb” and become aggressive to cover the inadequacy. Given that many boys are up to 18 months behind girls in many of the linguistic, auditory processing and phenome

Steve Biddulph in Boys in Schools writes: “Boys do respond to discipline and to being confronted but only by people who show them respect and who care about them.”

They will literally “bust their gut” to please someone who shows they value them. It works exceptionally well when schools

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MAGGIE DENT

“ When boys detect a lack of fair leadership it often makes for a challenging school environment.”

have boy champions in their leadership team and their student services team. It can shift a whole school culture because the boy champions can defuse difficult situations, teach boys better ways of behaving and decode the unique way they learn to teachers who are struggling. Steve Biddulph believes boys need to know the following in our schools.

• Who’s in charge?

• What are the rules?

• Will the rules be enforced in a fair way?

I totally agree with him. When boys detect a lack of fair leadership it often makes for a challenging school environment. If the rules or boundaries are not clear this makes boys feel uneasy and unsafe. If it is too tough and unreasonable, it provokes the need to fight back, which is a strong biological drive in males.

When boys make mistakes we need to ensure they don’t get to feel they are bad – merely the choice they made is bad. I also think we often assume that boys do understand why something they did was inappropriate and not OK but I have found over the years many have no idea what the problem is.

Some simple steps to ensure boys can learn from their mistakes: Helping boys with conflict • Help them know what went wrong.

Teachers Matter

• Help them to make it right.

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• Acknowledge the valuable learning experience—growth and awareness • Then forgive and forget. (Do not bring it up again, and again!)

Strategies to try When we talk too much in classrooms boys often ‘glaze’ over. They do not do this deliberately – they have reached the capacity of their short term memory and an ‘attentional blink’ occurs which means they simply freeze like a computer screen does sometimes. While this is occurring, they cannot hear anything that is being said including instructions on what is going to happen, when it needs to be done by and things to avoid. The girls can take in these things quite often with ease. When I began using a pair-share activity after I had given out an assessment task where pairs of students were able to explore what they thought they were being asked to do, boys were able to get clarity and an interesting thing occurred. The boys’ work began coming in before the girls. Remember boys like to win and if they are not sure what it is that is required, or they don’t think they have much chance of winning – they simply won’t compete or participate. Often boys get growled at and sanctioned for not listening. I hope you now see we need to be mindful of how a boy can be limited by too many words and requests, even if they appear reasonable.

Boys also prefer to learn by doing. This means that they like some freedom to get to an end point rather than following a prescribed way. Boys enjoy working with small problem solving steps to eventually move to the big solution and when they can move and problem solve independently they are more engaged. This issue of engagement for boys is a big concern for many teachers.

They need more novelty than girls, and this is why those “brain breaks,” sip and crunch programs are particularly good for boys.

They get bored fast or more accurately, their brain gets bored fast without movement, novelty or frequent close teacher interaction.

So often boys will get into trouble because they tried to break their boredom state by

doing something they thought was funny like an “arm fart.” In fact, they were striving to wake up their brain so they could finish the given task.

Communication tips So to be able to meet boys’ communication preferences we as educators need to be mindful to: • Keep verbal instructions short.

• Make eye contact and ensure they are listening to you.

• Use non-verbal communication eg.

Thumbs up, smile, frown • Have written directions where they can see easily • Ensure brain breaks and small movements are welcome • Keep them on their toes with novelty and the unexpected • Be encouraging, fair and welcoming.

Tips to be a boy champion • Focus on their strengths • Lighten up and laugh more • Honour how they learn best • Support their boy mates • Help them overcome mistakes • Keep ‘em moving • Tell them you love them – no matter what!

Best reads Steve Biddulph’s latest books, The New Manhood & Raising Boys Neil Farmer, Getting it Right for Boys Richard Fletcher, The Dad Factor Rollo Browne & Richard Fletcher, Boys in Schools Ian Grant, Growing Great Boys Celia Lashlie, He’ll Be Ok Kathy Walker, Parenting Boys

DR ART COSTA

A needed paradigm shift A new way of “testing”

We

need to prepare students for a different future than w h a t e x i s t s t o d a y. Wi t h better health care and research, today’s kindergartners will be living well into the 22 nd centur y. Numerous futurists, neuroscientists, educators, and sociologists note the need for problem solving, creating, innovating, and communicating. Although these authors use different terms, they share much in common. Daniel Pink, author of Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us, refers to the keys to internal motivation as autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Tony Wagner, author of The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need--And What We Can do About Itǡ calls for:

• Comparing, contrasting ideas, analyzing and interpreting competing or conflicting evidence

Dispositions, according to Ron Ritchhart, author of ǣ ǡ ǡ ǡ are:

• Knowing how to arrive at an accurate answer.

“ ……acquired patterns of behaviour that are under one’s control and will as opposed to being automatically activated. Dispositions are overarching sets of behaviours, not just single specific behaviours. They are dynamic and idiosyncratic in their contextualized deployment rather than prescribed actions to be rigidly carried out. More than desire and will, dispositions must be coupled with the requisite ability. Dispositions motivate, activate, and direct our abilities.”

• Finding many ways to solve problems.

In his article, “Learning as Freedom,” Wesleyan College President Michael Roth calls for Habits of Mind. Research in neuroscience, reported in Paul Tough’s book: How Children Succeed, suggests a strong relationship between a child’s capacity to succeed and the ability to persist, to manage impulsivity and to communicate -–even when his or her life is so damaged through poverty and neglect that the will for school work is limited.

1. Problem-solving and critical thinking 2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence

Dispositions by design My research has shown that necessary dispositions include:

3. Agility and adaptability 4. Initiative and entrepreneurship 5. Effective written and oral communication 6. Accessing and analyzing information

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7. Curiosity and imagination

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Advocating for college and career readiness, David Conley, author of Redefining college readiness, refers to a set of “key cognitive strategies” that enable students to apply what they know and what they are learning in complex ways, as well as develop the ability to manage themselves (e.g., goal setting, time management, being persistent, etc.). He identifies such dispositions as: • Open mindedness • Inquisitiveness • Analyzing the credibility and relevance of sources • Reasoning, argumentation and explaining proof and point of view

Persisting

Remaining open to continuous learning

Finding wonderment and awe

Flexibility and open mindedness

Striving for accuracy, precision and craftsmanship

Listening with understanding and empathy

Communicating with clarity

Thinking and working interdependently

Curiosity, inquisitiveness, questioning and problem posing

Managing and inhibiting impulse

Thinking positively and optimistically

Thinking like a scholar (historian, economist, anthropologist, mathematician etc.)

Metacognition: the executive mental processes that auto-regulate all these qualities.

Creating, imagining and innovating.

When students become aware of these dispositions, develop the capacities and strategies to operationalize them and see the value of using them in those “messy” situations, they are more likely to attack new problems with optimism, efficacy and a renewed confidence for the possibility of success.

A new paradigm: on-going, formative, self-assessment These dispositions become apparent when students confront problems they can’t immediately answer. Teachers must present problems designed to engage students in strategic planning, creative approaches and complex thinking skills. Tasks might involve: solving a problem, making a decision, constructing meaning, or creating some new product or strategy. All of these tasks have the ultimate effect of engaging metacognition — the students’ internal mental executive processes. Teachers then invite students to reflect on which dispositions served them in the task and bridge to other situations in school, in careers or college and in life when those dispositions would be used.

PHOTO: DAVID CASTILLO DOMINICI

DR ART COSTA

“ Numerous futurists, neuroscientists, educators, and sociologists note the need for problem solving, creating, innovating, and communicating.”

The purpose of assessing growth in these dispositions is to have students confront themselves and reveal to others how well they have learned to cope with adverse situations and challenging problems.

Because dispositions are never fully mastered, growth of dispositions requires different forms of assessment than does the mastery of content. Dispositional growth cannot be assessed using old-fashioned, content-based evaluation techniques.

Rick Stiggins, author of An Introduction to Student-Involved Assessment for Learning, offers appropriate ways of assessing growth in dispositions: • Selected response questionnaire to tap student awareness and feelings • Open-ended questionnaires to probe students’ awareness, meaning and value of dispositions • Inferring levels of internalization of dispositions from observations of learners’ performance and products

• Interviews with students about their feelings, understanding and internalisation of the dispositions.

• Portfolios, journals, diaries, writing samples compiled over time.

Because we are all on a continuous journey of growth, dispositional learning requires on-going formative assessments. Different students are at different stages in their development of these dispositions. Some students are more skillful and inclined to display these dispositions than others. By presenting students with rich tasks and then observing their performance, teachers and parents can see to what degree students have internalized the dispositions.

Of even greater importance is that students value the dispositions so that they selfassess their own performance, set goals for personal growth and make a commitment to self-modification.

Making the shift Educators around the world are touting the need for teaching 21st century skills. Often they retain a 19th-century mental model of assessment. What is missing is the courage to shift our mental model from the limiting, short-term assessments of performance of a content-driven curriculum to expanding our assessments to the long-term, metacognitive curriculum of dispositions.

Because such dispositions are so universal, we might call this a “global core curriculum” because they are central to learning in this highly interdependent global economy.

The real and more enduring intent of 21st century learning is to make the world a more thought-full place.

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BETTE BLANCE

Learning self control The rewards of thinking and acting in a new way

As

president of the William Glasser Institute-New Zealand, I attended the William Glasser Association International Conference in Los Angeles last June. Participants at the conference were told of some exciting research by staff at Loyola Marymount University with inmates at the Californian Institution for Women in California.

Since 2007, groups of women at the Californian Institution for Women have elected to take part in training in Glasser’s Choice Theory. This choice psychology is offered to replace exter nal control psychology, the prevailing psychology in the world. It uses models and metaphors to explain how and why we behave in the ways that we do.

In the five years, over 500 women learned ways they can take more effective control of their lives. At any one time there are no fewer than 100 inmates on the program’s waiting list.

Teachers Matter

Two staff members qualified as instructors with the William Glasser Institute have volunteered their own time to teach the inmates. They are currently pursuing recognition of Choice Theory as an evidencebased rehabilitation program in prisons in the United States.

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From Californian Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation report we read of one prisoner’s story: “Choice Theory has completely changed my life” said inmate Nicole. “I just want to figure out a way to be happy and this has changed the whole process for how I make decisions.”

Of the 175 women trained in Choice Theory who have been paroled since 2007, only five have returned, less than three percent. The normal reoffending rate is 40 percent.

So what are the implications for schools? We know that when students are taught Choice

Classroom teachers use a variety of ways to teach Choice Theory. Students learn about their Basic Needs, their Quality World and their Total Behaviour through many creative learning activities.

Class Meetings and Solving Circles are strategies that teach children about making more effective choices. Reality Therapy questioning helps students to self evaluate and plan for better ways to behave.

We know that teaching Choice Theory works for women in prison, helping them to turn their lives around. We know schools where

“ Choice Theory uses models and metaphors to explain how and why we behave in the ways that we do.”

Theory, they are better equipped to make more effective decisions. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this is long term.

One of the criteria for a Glasser Quality School is that staff and students know, understand and use Choice Theory. I have been to schools where Choice Theory is taught by senior students to the whole school assembly.

These students develop a good understanding about the difference between internal and external control and motivation.

students have eliminated the need to use external control on each other are happier places with high academic standards. We know that if students learn self control by the age of 10 it impacts their health, wealth and likelihood of committing crime.

What more do we need to know to begin to make a real difference?

PHOTO: IAKOV FILIMONOV

BETTE BLANCE

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Teachers Matter

PHOTO: GLOBALPHOTO

CLARK WRIGHT

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The 4 F’s of a great teacher Plus: how students “read” the teacher

A

few years ago I heard about an amazing study in which 25,000 students we asked, “What makes an outstanding teacher?” (OK – I need to clarify that all the articles I have ever read have created a miasma of opinion and

data in my head, which I have no problem eschewing as fact and using numbers I sometimes make up in my head.) When the data and verbatim comments were collated, four words stood out from all the others. (That fact is statistically significant

in my head). These four words describe, across year levels, what makes for a great teacher. I will disclose those four words in just a bit. For now, I need to digress slightly.

CLARK WRIGHT

“ These four words describe, across year levels, what makes for a great teacher.”

I am fortunate to have taught students from Year 1 to Year 10 in Australia and in the United States. For the last 22 years, I have taught reading and maths to 5 year olds and commerce and literature to Year 10s, and most of the subjects and year levels in between. I have loved it. I have also been fortunate to raise a Year 12 daughter (she recently finished her WASE exams); a Year 10 son who is bigger, stronger and faster than I and has proclaimed himself the Alpha Male of the family; and a preprimary daughter who has issues with the tooth fairy taking her teeth. What amazes me about how my own kids approach school is their mindset when they first enter a class and their attitude thereafter.

My eldest daughter enters a classroom well-prepared and ready to find out what the professional in the front of the room requires from her in terms of effort, attitude, attendance, aptitude and assessment. She “reads” everything from body language to nuances of language and expectation. Her whole persona is geared toward “what do I need to do to meet the expectations of the teacher in the front of the room?”

My son enters the room missing most of his gear and ready to find out who the other people in his class will be. He looks with wariness at the professional at the front of the room to see if they are talking, and if they are looking at him for an answer.

His guard is up; his senses highly attuned to avoiding embarrassment; and his hair covering his “soul” (aka his eyes). His whole persona is geared toward “what will this teacher in front of the room do to get to know me?”

Is this a gender issue? I took my research to the streets and started asking all my kids’ friends questions about the orientation with which they walk into a class. I also asked them about the Four Fs. Interestingly, the overwhelming number of responses (87.6543 percent) mirrored the attitudes described above: The girls tended to walk into a class saying to themselves, “What do I need to do to get to know what the teacher wants?”

The boys tended to walk into a class saying to themselves, “What is the teacher going to do to get to know me?”

What an enormous difference in perspective, and how important for educators to know: My daughter will work incredibly hard for a teacher who has been clear in her expectations and is consistent. My son will work incredibly hard for a teacher who takes the time to get to know what makes him “tick.”

Despite the enormous difference in perspective upon entering a class, my kids perfectly mirror the findings of the 25,000 students studied on what makes an excellent teacher. And again, I subjected their friends to my rigorous data collection, and they, too, matched the findings.

What makes a great teacher for an A student a D student and all the ones in between? Well, it is quite simple. One just needs to follow the 4 Fs. • Firm • Fair • Focused • Fun That is correct. Students want clear boundaries that do not change over time.

They want fairness even if they are the ones who end up being told “no.” They want teachers who are focused on their subject, on the time they have with students, and the art and craft of teaching. They want their teachers to enjoy what they are doing and to have fun.

I would add an F word to go with these. This comes from my time as a headmaster working with teachers and watching them interact with students of all ages, all abilities and all attitudes. It is fascination. Being fascinated with students’ development, growth and lives is one key to longevity in education and serious engagement in schools and education.

Isn’t this the case in your school? The teachers who are fascinated with “What if?” and “What next?” tend to elicit these same questions/responses in students, administrators and colleagues.

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ALAN COOPER

PHOTO: YURI ARCURS

Ask the right questions Encourage learning and independence by choosing your words carefully

T

he famous Yogi Berra’s quip, “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there,” points to the importance of purpose. Teachers need to keep asking “why do this rather than that” when they are planning.

Purposeful questioning One essential pocket of excellence will be the teacher questioning students. The purpose of this task will come from answering the question, “Why do we question?”

Teachers Matter

The first purpose is to develop students with a “can-do” work ethic and confidence. This is more than just “keeping on keeping on.”

It is about developing a mindset where the student has the confidence to tackle new tasks with persistence, flexibility and the discipline to search for alternative approaches.

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The second purpose is to develop students’ critical thinking skills. The right questions can help student develop a flexible, innovative approach and openness to others’ ideas and teamwork.

The third purpose is closely associated with the second. Teachers prepare students for life-long learning by helping them develop their own questions. The one certain thing we know: students are going to have to cope with change, and that requires finding the

right solution, which starts with asking the right question.

personal practical knowledge developed from novice to expert.

Question bundles Teachers should prepare actual questions.

Leaving them to chance is gambling with the students’ learning. Creating a package of related questions, referred to as Question Bundles, is an effective and efficient way of planning. Integral to this is Anderson’s revision of Bloom’s hierarchy of thinking skills (remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating and creating}. In keeping with this hierarchy, the Bundle is organised in a progression.

Keep the purpose when answering student questions Normally students only ask questions to prompt their memory. These questions are in the fixed mindset category where the student feels stuck and inadequate. In this sense such questions are a coded message indicating that the student believes they do not have the intelligence to proceed without teacher help.

See the chart that shows this progression, and the related questions teachers can ask. Asking these questions gives the teacher immediate feedback as to the need for any re-teaching or individual attention. When a teacher reaches the expert stage, he or she might reverse the hierarchy by beginning with a creative question.

Rubrics We usually think of rubrics as something for students. However, if teachers are serious about their professional development, they need to know where they are going or they might not get there. The Bundle rubric is the route map to achieve success using question bundles by detailing how the teacher’s

If the teacher provides the answer, she stealing the learning from that student and confirming the student’s view about his limits.

The teacher should answer with a higher-level thinking question that acts as a prompt for the student to stretch and solve the problem.

That way, the learning experience is not stolen and the student is not encouraged to think he has a fixed and limited intelligence.

An example of how you can do this: Say you are discussing possible book titles to read with a student. After the student expresses an interest in a book, you might be tempted to give an imperative sentence instruction: “Buy a notebook on the way home tonight and write the title in.” You’ve stolen the learning and subconsciously reinforced the coded message that teacher has knowledge and not the student.

Instead, say something like this, “OK, think up two or three ways that would be good for you to remember the titles we come up with, and then tell me which the best one would be.” No learning has been stolen. You have led

the student to use higher-order thinking skills, particularly analysis and evaluation, and guided him to a growth mind-set, a belief that he has the intelligence to work out things. The coded message will be “I can do.”

ALAN COOPER

TEACHER RUBRIC: QUESTION BUNDLES

Level Of Development

Characteristics Of Each Stage

What Would See

What Would Hear

Expert: Personal practical knowledge is such that intuitive action occurs

x Personal practical knowledge has developed to the stage where intuitively asking the right level of question in formal and informal situations both in class and out of class situations. x Periods of flow

x A shared high expectation by both students and teacher

x A variety of student centric questions supplementing the class questions as the needs of each student dictates.

Advanced Learner – Personal practical knowledge is such that the teacher knows what works in a given circumstance and what does not

x Routines and rituals in place so that all lessons are accompanied by Question Bundles.

x Becoming more critical of own questions through self, peer and student reflection x Establishing categories and examples of exemplary questions

x Teacher R Modifying prepared questions as the lesson progresses x Students R giving more complex and more logical answers R starting posing their own higher level questions

Competence – Sufficient personal practical knowledge and the associated confidence to experiment with own interpretations

x Experimenting with routines and rituals x Becoming aware of the role of syntax and vocabulary in multiple level questions

x Reflecting on question ritual and routines being used x Student feedback from their weekly items in their metacognition note books.

x Collaborative discussion with other teachers. x Some minor changes in the level of student questions

Advanced beginner – Developing some personal practical knowledge for given circumstances

x Making a sporadic start by preparing a limited number of x “Bundle Questions” for occasional one off lessons

x Pre-preparing questions for some lessons when prompted or when sets time to do so

x This takes longer than I thought, but I have made a start

Novice – Lacking personal practical knowledge - apprehensive and unsure

x Apprehensive and unsure. x Prefers to stick with present practice Lacks personal practical knowledge of what to do.

x Sticking to what has always done. x Rarely using a higher level question but off the cuff – haphazard and random

x I’ll try this next time. I’m too busy now.

Anderson’s Revision of Bloom’s Hierarchy

Question Bundle for narrative above

Creating : Adding to by composing further constructs

Can you add other purposes for questioning?

Evaluating: Assessing and recommending

Which of the above 3 purposes would be the best one to start on with regard to your class?

Analysing: Examining and/or investigating strengths and weaknesses: how parts fit

What are the advantages and disadvantages of having definitions of why we question?

Applying: Translating into practice

How would you go about introducing purposeful questions into your lesson planning?

Understanding: Restating and summarising

Put these purposes in kid language?

Remembering: Recalling information from memory

Recall the purposes of asking questions?

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ANGIE WILCOCK

The new rules of engagement Invite parents to contribute – in a helpful way

O

ne of the big buzz terms in education today is parent engagement, but it seems that it could be one of the least understood terms as well.

Just before running a professional development session on this topic, one teacher commented, “I nearly didn’t come because we have enough parent engagement....we can’t get rid of them!

They’re always there!” She had a whole different perspective 90 minutes later.

For many teachers, particularly those in the “baby boomer” category, parent engagement is synonymous with parent inter ference. Many believe that their professional judgement will be taken to task; that parents will tell them how to teach and what to teach; that parents will be constantly challenging school decisions on everything from what is being taught in the classroom and how it is being taught to what is sold in the canteen and why.

Research indicates that we need to move away from the “ivory tower” perception of schools and the “locked gate” mentality to embracing family engagement as policy, as education reform. Researchers Heather B. Weiss, M. Elena Lopez, and Heidi Rosenberg assert that “family engagement must be a systemic, integrated and sustained approach, not an add-on or a random act.”

So, how do schools engage families in their children’s learning, and why is it so important to children’s education, the long-term love of learning and developing life skills?

Teachers Matter

A good place to start is to open up the conversation with your parent community.

In most cases, these basic strategies work:

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• Form a parent task-force - they help to forge a connection between school and home • Conduct surveys (but make sure you follow through on the results) • Establish a parent “hub” within the school grounds where parents can meet, have coffee, access resources to

community services, build relationships • Invite parents to be part of an advisory board to assist with strategic planning, not just fund-raising • Encourage parents to share their skills and knowledge with students, even at high school. Whether we like it or not, high school kids do enjoy seeing their parents at school, as long as it’s not to sort out their personal issues for them.

• Staff professional learning • Favourable learning environment • Community inclusion Parent engagement has helped to turn this school around. The open and transparent relationship that now exists has affected not only the quality of school life, but also the students’ attitudes towards each other and the community at large. The days of graffiti on school walls, barbed wire fences

“When parents are involved in their children’s education at home, they do better in school.

And when parents are involved in school, children go farther in school and the schools they go to are better.”

- Henderson & Berla This is not about bailing teachers up and asking lots of questions after school, and it’s not about parents telling teachers what to teach and how. This is about parents working alongside teachers in the education of their children - not a curriculum-driven relationship, but a human relationship that has an enormous and powerful impact on kids.

It can work Punchbowl Boys High School, in Sydney’s south-west, is one of the most powerful case studies of successful and ongoing parent engagement. Principal Jihad Dib has changed his school from dysfunctional to dynamic over the course of the last six years or so; low retention rates of teachers, students who didn’t value education or their school, and families who kept their distance are now past history. Jihad Dib used a three-pronged approach:

and trashed classrooms have been replaced by a sense of social responsibility.

Academic levels of achievement have sky-rocketed, and these boys have found themselves and their place within their community, including their involvement in a program to feed the homeless. Engaging parents through training and giving them information has had a positive impact on learning and their personal development.

These are young men with goals, aspirations, direction and, most important, positive support from their school and families.

Parent engagement is not about teachers relinquishing their role as educator; it is about sharing the responsibility of educating, nurturing and guiding young people towards a positive future.

ILLUSTRATION: POPCORN

ANGIE WILCOCK

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DR CHERYL DOIG

The breadcrumbs of learner voice Look for opportunities to give students a say

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oday’s world requires learners to have a greater say in their learning.

Schools and teachers that ignore students’ voices run the risk of becoming obsolete and disconnected from learners, as there are greater opportunities for students to “hack their own education.”

As an example, in November 2011, nearly 70 students walked out of their Harvard University economics class, saying that the teaching was conservative and biased. They wanted change, and they believed that their feedback had not been listened to. They were able to take matters into their own hands using social media to amplify their opinions and expectations.

than ever before; personal, professional and organisational behaviour is amplified; and feedback cycles are accelerating. The world has changed, and the pace is accelerating.

We ignore these signals at our peril. They are “breadcrumbs” that connect to provide a pathway forward. These crumbs may look like they have been scattered randomly, but look for the patterns and new ideas may emerge. Consider the breadcrumbs of learner voices in your organisation. What do they say about learning in your context?

Does your organisation reflect the learners’ needs? Can you see the breadcrumbs thrown by young learners in your organisation, their intangible feedback?

Learners of all ages value the chance to give feedback and to know that it is acted on; to feel that they are contributing; and that their views are treated fairly. In our schools and learning organisations of today, adults need to listen more and speak less.

In some schools: Students are involved in on-off projects designed by teachers, rather than having opportunities to engage in ongoing authentic learning experiences and passions.

The traditional school council model is how voice is recognised; some voices are heard, but they are mostly the voices of the verbally intelligent or best behaved.

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PHOTO: CATHY YEULET

Teachers Matter

There are some clear trends: client voice and wider community opinion matter more

DR CHERYL DOIG

In other schools: Students are involved in ongoing learning experiences that make a difference to the world (see DeforestACTION http://dfa. tigweb.org/ for one example).

Students are involved in designing their own programs; and voices are actively encouraged through a range of planned strategies to contribute (see http://www. soundout.org/ for ideas).

The Student Voice Grid (below) provides an opportunity to explore the breadcrumbs from learners in your organisation. The idea is not to see if you can ďŹ ll in every box, but to consider what you do already and where these crumbs might be placed on the grid.

When you have completed the reďŹ&#x201A;ection, take time to think about, and converse, about your organisationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s underlying beliefs regarding learner voice. Is this reflected in the breadcrumbs mapped? If you were to take one next step, what would it be?

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Consider these points: â&#x20AC;˘ Learner voice is developed over time.

It develops as adults let go of control, allow more choice, and grow learnersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; capabilities intentionally and prepare them to take risks. â&#x20AC;˘ The â&#x20AC;&#x153;entrustâ&#x20AC;? level of learner voice is based on development on self- regulated capabilities. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Entrustâ&#x20AC;? is appropriate when people have the skills and also the positive energies to work on a task alone.

When this occurs, the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role is to support, delegate authority and be there to add value if needed. It may be given to individuals or groups. â&#x20AC;˘ Learner voice is appropriate at all age levels.

school-wide opportunities available for learners to have voice, you can scatter the breadcrumbs in your own circle of inďŹ&#x201A;uence. Begin by allowing young learners to be involved in decision making, so they develop a sense of ownership in their learning. When students are connected with their learning environment and have a sense of belonging, they are more likely to be engaged and take responsibility for their learning.

Learning organisations that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t allow studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; voices to be heard will quickly become irrelevant. Each breadcrumb counts. You could begin by initiating a conversation with a young learner whose voice has yet to be heard. Connect!

Learner voice may vary for each context and culture. Step back to consider what will work in your organisation, and how this connects to the vision for learners to thrive in the future. Even if there are few

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DR MARVIN MARSHALL

Suggestions for motivation Getting your students involved

T

he aphorism states, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” But we can speed up the process:

Use students’ self-knowledge After sharing what you will be teaching, ask students how they believe they can best learn the information.

Use acknowledgments Saying, “I think you know you did that well” fosters reflection and feelings of competence.

Consider repeating a comment you have

Develop a sense of personal responsibility Remember the fundamental principle of motivation: Consciously or subconsciously, people motivate themselves. Each individual is responsible for learning, but it is the teacher’s responsibility to create the best possible climate for learning to take place. An effective way to do this is to give students an opportunity at the beginning of a lesson to indicate the expectations they have, the outcomes they expect, and what they are willing to do to achieve those results.

heard or that someone has told you: “Evelyn made an interesting comment, one that applies to what we’ve been exploring. I think it bears repeating.” You not only encouraged Evelyn, but you encouraged others to become more involved. You also demonstrated that you are open to feedback and that students’ comments contribute to their learning.

Create curiosity Curiosity is perhaps the greatest of all motivators. In Japan, students are first introduced to a problem or challenge.

They grapple with it. Curiosity is naturally engendered. By contrast, in American schools the information to be learned or the skill to be practiced is generally presented without first creating interest.

Teachers Matter

Apply to life outside of school Students’ interest will increase the more you tie the lesson to long-term benefits and making life easier. Share how the lesson will help students make better decisions, solve more problems, get along better with others, or make them more effective. Share the following wisdom: “Wise people think longterm, not just for today.”

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Teach students to ask themselves questions Questioning starts the thinking process.

When students ask themselves “Why?” and “How?” questions both alertness and interest increase. This process also assists in developing metacognition skills.

PHOTO: OTNAYDUR

Share the “Why?” Ask yourself why the lesson will be taught.

Since people today are tuned to radio station WII-FM (“What’s In It For Me”), spend a little time talking about how the lesson benefits students now. When you find this difficult, put the discussion on the table for students to grapple with. You will be amazed at how resourceful they will be and how it helps them to buy into the lesson.

DR MARVIN MARSHALL

Encourage One of the most effective techniques is to let the student know that you believe the student can accomplish the task. A word of encouragement during frustration is worth more than a whole lot of praise after a success.

Focus on growth Emphasise that learning is a process and that no one can learn and be perfect at the same time. Doing something one way and not being successful is another thing learned. It is not to be considered a failure.

Failure only arrives when trying stops.

Reduce competition and increase collaboration Competition improves performance — but not learning. Some students will practice for hours spurred on by the competitive spirit in music competition, athletics, or speech contests. These students are motivated to compete. Competition can be fun, as witnessed by the hours youth invest in such activities. However, competition is devastating for the youngster who never finds himself/herself in the winner’s circle.

Rather than compete, that student drops out by giving up.

Every time a teacher has students raise a hand to answer a question, students are competing for the teacher’s attention. Even in cases where there is only one correct answer, have students share with each other — rather than compete for the teacher’s attention. Sharing with each other involves every student. Even a shy student will talk with one other person. Most important, when students know the correct answer, their satisfaction is enhanced — rather than from recognition by the teacher.

Encourage self-comparison Comparing oneself to others is natural.

However, its foundation is competitiveness.

Growth emanates from measuring one’s own progress. Comparing oneself with others too often engenders dissatisfaction. Since people are more apt to persevere when they feel good, success is enhanced when looking at one’s progress. A critical understanding for youth is the recognition that every person is different. Comparing oneself with others is like comparing palm trees to oak trees.

Build on strengths Students who are at risk will become less so when they find and feel success. This is accomplished by building success, rather than on focusing on what needs to be improved. Too often, teachers focus on perfection. “Implement now; perfect later” should be the motto. After young people feel some competence, they are more willing to accept feedback. A simple approach to start is by marking correct answers in yellow, rather than marking incorrect responses in red.

Plan for improved relationships Relationships are important to students. This is especially true for teenagers who come from poverty. Teacher-student relationships will be significantly enhanced when the three principles of positivity, choice, and reflection are practiced. (See the teaching model at MarvinMarshall.com) In addition to the teacher’s connecting with the students on a one-on-one basis, helping students connect with one another can be valuable.

Periodically, give students an opportunity to socialize for short periods.

Offer choices Regardless of age, everyone likes to feel in control. When we make choices, we feel we have control. Therefore, in providing two or three choices, students feel ownership of their decisions and thereby a sense of control. This feeling of control is a prime differentiation between a pessimistic attitude and an

optimistic one. Giving students two or three choices also applies to home assignments.

Offering three options is more effective than offering two.

Use variety Employ visual techniques including charts, bright colors, cartoons, films, DVDs, overhead transparencies, and Power Point creations. Dressing the part of a character (teacher and/or student) qualifies. Audio techniques—such as playing music, rapping, or anything that has rhythm—add to both fun and retention. Remember how you learned your ABC’s? “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” is the tune for “The Alphabet Song.” A myriad of kinesthetic techniques can be used. Examples include using a hand to draw the spelling of a word in the air and students’ expressing a true or false response to a question by a thumb’s up or down.

Other approaches include relating personal experiences to a learning buddy on the topic. A technique with older students is to give them a partially completed worksheet that they fill out during the presentation.

This activity keeps them involved and also gives them something they can refer to later.

Get yourself excited You shouldn’t expect others to get excited about what you are teaching if you’re not excited yourself. Telling a story, creating analogies and metaphors, showing how the lesson is meaningful or relevant, relating new information to previous leanings or to different situations is fun and engenders enthusiasm for both teacher and learner.

Use a student’s perspective Think o f y o urs elf as a s tude nt whi l e planning and teaching. Continually reflect on how you would react to the lesson. Ask yourself, “If I were a student, would I want me as a teacher?”

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DONNA TOBEY AND ROCHELLE IBAÑEZ WOLBERG

Thinking maps and thinking routines Moving young children from the purposeful to the intuitive

R

on Ritchhart, principal investigator for the Cultures of Thinking project and senior research associate at Harvard University’s Project Zero Classroom, identified eight vehicles for promoting a culture of thinking within one’s classroom and school community. These cultural forces, as he termed them, are comprised of time, opportunities, routines and structures, language, modeling, interactions and relationships, physical environment, and expectations.

Teachers Matter

We will focus on the cultural force that is represented through routines and structures.

According to Ritchhart, routines and structures refer to the “tools” educators use to support their students’ thinking. These tools come in a variety of forms. They may be concrete and tactile, such as Thinking Maps, or structured conversations that activate specific cognitive behavior (e.g., Thinking Routines). Initially, teachers facilitate the active use of these tools through purposeful planning and application. The ultimate goal is for students to develop and sustain thinking strategies such that these behaviours become more intuitive, and the students become better able to independently utilise them.

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These routines and structures also provide teachers with tools for documenting the thinking process of a group of students and of the individual children who make up a classroom. Documentation is a necessar y component of making thinking visible. Ritchhart and Perkins assert that “the development of thinking is a social endeavor” and one of the underlying principles of this approach to teaching and learning. It is within the context of interdependent and supportive relationships, which encourage and support thinking, that enable students to thrive not only in their classrooms, but also beyond the walls of their schools.

Thinking maps Thinking Maps is a “language of eight visual patterns” developed with David

Hyerle’s research. At the heart of Thinking Maps is the finding that people are visual beings. There are eight maps, each highlighting a cognitive process.

Through these maps, students see what thinking can look like.

They are strategies for organizing ideas through specific structures. Each thinking map is embedded with a thinking skill, and this enables students to construct meaning and filter out relevant information.

Circle map: A fun parent night activity Palm Beach Day Academy teachers and students love to use the Circle Map. It is one of the more popular maps because we use it for defining something in context. That “something” can be a number in maths, an important character in language arts, a concept in science, or even one’s own self.

Our kindergartners use the Circle Map to tell others about themselves. Each student has the opportunity to define himself through pictures or words, sometimes dictated to their teachers, which include favorite foods,

colors, hobbies, and games. During Parent Night, the children’s maps are displayed across classroom bulletin boards. Parents

are challenged to identify their child, whose face or name is covered, by the defining clues each student has provided on their Circle Map. Subhead: Tree map: Probability made easier Probability is a difficult concept to grasp; however our first grade teachers have found a creative way to make it accessible to young children. The Tree Map, which we utilize for classifying information, is the perfect tool for illustrating and making concrete the abstract concepts of “certainty” and “possibility.”

in the middle of a large sheet of paper surrounded by a circle and participants respond to the question or thought by writing on the sheet. As they do, other students may come and add a new thought or respond to something already written. Done in silence, it is like having a conversation with many people at the same time. It encourages reflective thinking and allows everyone to see one another’s perspectives.

from one mindset to another. Identifying the point in time during which a student, or a collective group of students, has made a new discovery is worth the effort of sifting through the process.

I used to think, now I think A very simple, yet powerful routine, called I Used to Think and Now I Think encourages a child to engage in the important skill of developing metacognition. It provides the student with a chance to see how their thinking has changed as a result of being exposed to new information or a new experience. As children become more aware of how their thinking evolves as the result of the very act of engaging in thinking, they truly are demonstrating the principle of assimilation and accommodation.

and was struck by one particular conversation.

The children slowly moved from talking about equal parts to many different parts. Capitalising on a students’ comment of fractions being “fractures,” another student emphasized the correct term, which led the children to examine the connection between parts and whole.

During a maths activity involving fractions, one faculty member recognised that that it took a collective group effort for her students to wrap their minds around fractions. She documented separate conversations amongst small groups

Thinking routines Another useful tool in a teacher’s toolkit is the employment of thinking routines.

Thinking routines are designed to promote deeper thinking about a topic or concept by engaging a child in specific steps to enhance a specific type of thinking such as critical, creative, or reflective thinking.

The routines are easy to learn and can be used successfully in whole or small group situations or with an individual student.

They can also be used with children of all ages and in all subject areas.

Many of the routines used at Palm Beach Day Academy originated from Project Zero’s Visible Thinking and Cultures of Thinking research teams at Har vard University.

For the past several years, teachers from Palm Beach Day Academy have attended Project Zero’s summer programs and have returned to school ready to implement the routines and to model the routines for their colleagues. As we witnessed beneficial effects as a result of using such routines, excitement and interest grew throughout the faculty.

See, think, wonder Given the ages of the children in our Lower School (ages 2 through 9), certain routines have become mainstays in our program.

The See, Think, Wonder routine is used at all grade levels to begin investigating a topic.

For example, if using a piece of art or a photo with the routine, almost all children can easily describe what they see. Most children will be able to tell what they think about the piece of art. And some will be begin to formulate questions they may have as they share what they wonder about. This routine not only helps them to think more deeply, but it also provides a teacher with insights about what the children know about a topic or, more importantly, what they would like to know.

Chalk talk Another frequently used routine is the Chalk Talk routine. The beauty of this routine lies in its simplicity: A question or idea is written

When thinking tools converge: Mapping the routines Over the past several years, our teachers and students have increasingly moved from purposeful behaviour to intuitive behaviour in their application of Thinking Maps and Thinking Routines. This has taken much work and commitment on the part of our faculty, who are looking at creative ways and discerning when and how to use these tools to support our students’ thinking. It is this mindful practice that makes routines and structures a force toward creating a culture that truly makes thinking visible.

I used to think, now I think: A natural flow When documenting thinking, it becomes obvious that a natural sequence occurs.

Oftentimes, this process can be messy.

Thinking is messy. The beauty is being able to discern the path a student has taken to get

A sample of this conversation was recorded and displayed on the bulletin board to serve as a frame of reference for the teacher and all her students. To highlight this change in thinking, the teacher creatively utilised a Flow Map, which represents the process of sequencing. For this particular Flow, she wanted to document how the students’ thinking had changed, and framed the conversation around the thinking routine I Used to Think, Now I Think.

The children expanded the dimensions of their thinking, and clearly demonstrated this in their conversations with one another.

A final reflection It is essential to nurture young children’s inclination to use their thinking skills in various situations. A teacher does this through modeling and scaffolding what thinking looks like for their young students.

When children see how their teacher defines, classifies, wonders aloud, and changes their thinking, it affects how they view their own thinking. Young children become more cognizant and capable of making jumps and leaps in the thinking process when engaged in routines and structures that both support them and encourage their independence.

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SARAH EVANS

A project-based learning experience Making a class a town

W

hy do we need to learn this?

When am I ever going to use that?

These are common questions that teachers hear almost every day. Many children need to know the answers to these questions to be intrinsically motivated to learn.

But, as educators, we often loathe such questions because they are hallmarks of the disengaged student. However, with a project-based learning approach to teaching it, you will find yourself engaging students with ease, deepening students’ understandings, instilling values, effectively and easily integrating subjects, and eliminating questions about why one might bother to pay attention in class.

Project-based learning is an approach to teaching in which subjects are integrated and students work cooperatively to explore real world situations and problems.

When planning a project- based learning experience that will engage your students, it is important to think about your own interests and your students’. Researchers from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education refer to this topic of interest as a generative topic.

It is a topic that is central to a discipline or subject area and is accessible to students’ various ways of thinking. One generative topic your students will never forget learning about is the topic of communities.

Teachers Matter

Why community?

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There are a variety of ways to teach children about communities. The way I have found most engaging is to actually become a community or imaginary town.

At Palm Beach Day Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida, third grade students do just that. Once we declare ourselves a town or community, the students instantly have a reason for learning and a special place to connect everything they learn. When the students create their own community of which every classmate is a part, the children become emotionally invested in learning.

The excitement of having an imaginary community spreads rapidly. When the children first begin playing with the idea of being a community at school, the teachers do not involve themselves in the children’s interactions. We merely observe their creative play from a distance.

Occasionally, we ask questions of the children to get a better understanding of their direction. We make notes of their interactions so we can make connections to them when possible. Often, when the children have a spare moment, they can be found gathered together discussing a new idea for their community. Most of their ideas come from seeds that were planted during our class lessons. When the students demonstrate an interest in a particular idea, we look at ways we can elaborate on their ideas and interests to create performances of understandings and on-going assessments. I have found that this route encourages ownership of learning among the students, which leads to a higher level of performance and deepens students’ understanding.

How do I turn my classroom into a community?

At Palm Beach Day Academy, each of the third grade classes begins the creation of an imaginary functioning town by reading the story Roxaboxen by Barbara Cooney. This is a story about a group of children who create an imaginary town in the desert. The imaginary town known as Roxaboxen has a mayor, businesses, police officers, and more.

It is the story of the way many creative children play.

Year after year, this story plants a seed for our students. Inevitably, there is always at least one student that declares they too would like to create an imaginary community like Roxaboxen. The moment the student suggests creating an imaginary community, I stop whatever it is I am doing and bring much attention to the student’s creative idea. Now, from the students’ perspective, the creation of the class’ community is their idea. The children create a name for their town, and they instantly become emotionally attached to it. This year, our students named their town “Wonderville.”

Now, whatever we teach the students, we

SARAH EVANS our students emotionally engaged and excited about learning.

connect to Wonderville.

I have found, no matter what I am teaching, the students engage more deeply when their purpose for learning is connected to their community.

Since having a named town or community in school is something the students have never done before, I find I have to be quick to support and encourage any ideas the children create in connection with their community. However, it does not take the students long to realize that their teachers are just as enthusiastic about our class’ community as they are. Once this understanding is reached, the students begin sharing their innovative ideas as they look for ways to make connections between what we are learning in class and our town. Whenever I showcase a student’s innovative ideas, it inevitably encourages others to think about ways they too can be innovative. Before long, there are many dialogues around the idea of our classroom community.

Connections The most important step to keeping the spirit of the community alive is to make connections between everything you are teaching, and the class’ community. It can be as simple as changing the name of activities that are already a part of your curriculum to incorporate your class’ community name.

For example, I changed our book review assignment to “The Wonderville Book Review.”

Another simple example of how we incorporate our community into a part of our third grade curriculum is through the painting of selfportraits at the beginning of the school year.

Each year, the students begin by painting a selfportrait and writing an autobiography. Now, instead of just giving this assignment, I tell the students they have the honour of painting selfportraits that will be hung in the Wonderville Museum of Art. Then, I frame their work and hang it on the wall. When we investigate questions in science, the students become the town’s scientists and are responsible for using the scientific method to create and investigate a question related to the content they are studying. I then add that the “scientists” will appear on the community’s news channel to report their findings. We created a television screen around a large wooden frame with the community’s name painted on it. The students stand behind the frame to announce their scientific findings or other news. We also use this frame when the students read aloud a piece they wrote or perform a skit for language arts. Simple connections such as these have

A more elaborate connection between the curricular objectives we already had established and our class’ community was the way in which we invited our students to write their first 5-paragraph essay. Rather than tell the students they were going to learn to write an essay and dictate what they would be writing about, we created a situation that resulted in the students begging to write. Around the time the students started creating jobs for themselves in Wonderville, we engaged in a social studies discussion about the types of jobs in a community. The students then used the list of jobs they generated to create a list of jobs that would help our community of Wonderville function peacefully and efficiently. We enthusiastically announced to the students that they would have the opportunity to run for and be elected into one of these Wonderville roles. The students were so excited about this opportunity and quickly began questioning how they would receive votes in a fair way. That was when one student suggested that, just the way real communities vote for candidates based on what they promise to do for the citizens, the students could do the same.

From that, another student suggested they each write a speech, and together the students cheered because they thought interdependently and in doing so, solved their first community problem.

As I modeled how to create a writing plan, each student tried out planning for the first time with the job the student was running for as his or her thesis, and the reasons the student would make an ideal candidate became his or her main ideas. As I modeled for the students how to write the beginning, middle, and ending paragraphs of an essay, the students applied what I taught them directly to writing their speeches.

Other ideas that can help your students meet your curricular objectives with greater interest and a deeper level of understanding include creating a blog site where your students blog about your town, taking part in a debate before their election, holding a trial about science or social studies issues, and creating a wildlife refuge that includes animals the children create and write about as part of a life science unit. The many ways you can connect to your class’ imaginary yet functioning classroom are endless.

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SERENITY RICHARDS

Mental maths Four Fantastic 10 minute maths starters

M

ental computation is the most common form of computation used in everyday life. It is used for quick calculations and estimations, but is more than “mental arithmetic.” Mental computation refers to the process of working out and obtaining exact or approximate a n s w e r s m e n t a l l y. W h e n c a l c u l a t i n g mentally, students select from a range of strategies, depending on the numbers used.

As they develop their repertoire of strategies, students select those that are more efficient and effective for them.

At a minimum, effective teachers will: • create a classroom environment where children feel comfortable talking about the strategies they use • listen carefully to children’s explanations of their chosen calculation methods; • be able to recognise particular strategies students use, and give positive feedback on their use • appreciate the prior number knowledge and sub-skills required for the efficient use of the relevant strategy • ensure that children have prior experiences to enable them to progress to more sophisticated strategies When teaching mental computation in the classroom, the learning focus is on the strategies used to obtain answers.

“Make the number” Bingo Loop games (AKA ‘I Students of all ability levels can play. All you have, who has’ games) need is two, three, or four dice, depending on student ability. Children create a grid of four to eight numbers, again depending on ability. I suggest you start with four numbers while the students learn how to play.

• Students choose four numbers between 20 and 40 and write each one into a different square.

• The teacher or a student then rolls all three dice. For example digits rolled could be 4, 5 and 2.

• Students use these digits to create a number on their grid. For example 4 x 5 + 2 = 22. Once they have created a number on their grid, they circle it and write the equation underneath it. Not all students will be able to create a number from each roll.

• Roll the dice again and continue the process, until a student has created all four numbers and calls ‘bingo’.

NOTE: each roll of the dice can only create one number on each board. Once a student has called bingo, have them explain to the rest of the class how they were able to create all of their numbers. Students can play individually, in pairs or teams.

Students love this game. If only two dice are used, the number range can be between 1 and 12 or 1 and 20 and can then be used for lower abilities, add in brackets, square numbers, multi-faceted dice and change the number range for higher ability children.

The variations of this game are endless.

Once again, students of any ability can play.

Choose the concept currently being taught, a concept taught a few weeks ago to confirm student understanding and knowledge retention or a concept not yet covered and use it as a pre-test.

It is a quick five-minute activity giving teachers a brief glance at student abilities in relation to the concept on the cards.

Students needing assistance can be given support, by a peer, teacher or whole class.

Students can compete as a whole class trying to improve the time taken to complete the game.

Give each student a card. ALL cards must be given out for the game to work. Higher achieving students can be given multiple cards. Any card can be used as a starting card (it will also be the last card, hence ‘loop’ game). Choose a student to start by reading out their card. The question they ask will be an answer on another student’s card, an on it goes.

Some of the concepts I have used include: • Addition • Multiplication • Fractions • Percentages • Money • More/Less

Teachers Matter

• Place Value

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22

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30

22

4x5+2=22

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Rainbow Fact Subtraction (adding to 10/ subtracting form 10) NOTE: Students can lay all the cards out and time themselves or race against a partner for consolidation. There are numerous games on web, however they are very easy to make.

Number board Madness There are countless learning activities for which a number board (traditionally a board with the digits 1- 100) can be used.

Don’t forget, as student understanding deepens, be sure to use boards that go up to and over 100. Why not try a number board with the numbers 230 – 330. It will show whether or not your students do really understand the number counting pattern and place value. Number boards can be used to aid with early counting, skip counting, factors for multiplication, exploring number patterns, adding and subtracting tens and ones, and more. Here are a few of my favourites.

Puzzle Pieces - Cut up a hundred board along the lines jigsaw like pieces. Cutting the pieces into irregular shapes encourages the students to use their knowledge of number patterns to piece the puzzle back together in the correct order. For a challenge ensure there are some missing numbers.

For a greater challenge, cut up two number boards in different pieces and discard some of the pieces. Students will then need to put one board together with some numbers missing and with some that overlap.

Missing numbers - Draw a section of the number board creating five or more squares to put numbers in. Give the students just one number in the section and have them finish the puzzle by completing the missing numbers. A great activity to see if students really do understand place value.

Here are some possible puzzles.

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Guess my Number - Students could work as a whole class, in small groups or pairs to guess a mystery number. The teacher or a student chooses a mystery number. Students ask clues to figure out the mystery number.

It helps to have an actual number board or a personal size number board, so as students can use the number board to mark off eliminated numbers.

Number Patterns – Use a blank number board for this activity. Depending on the ability of your students, choose a counting pattern and supply the students with cards involving those numbers. For example, counting in threes. The cards would contain the numbers 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30. Students need to place the cards onto the hundred board and work out what counting pattern is being used.

SERENITY RICHARDS Remember strong mental maths allows students to • test different approaches; • decide which path to take; • consider a viable solution; • estimate – allow them to know a ballpark figure; Compare their knowledge to judge reasonableness.

Stud ents need to c o mmuni c a t e t he i r strategies and have a chance to listen to other students’ strategies; • in order to learn

Number Countdown Can your students beat the clock? Use a sand timer, timer on an interactive white board or a stopwatch.

Give students five, one or two digit numbers and a three digit target number. Students need to use the five numbers to create a mathematical statement to reach the target number or be the closet to it. For example the target number could be 432; the five digits may be 13, 7, 24, 2, and 9.

The mathematical statement could be (24 + 13) x 7 x 2 - 9 = 453. This activity is easy to differentiate depending on student ability.

It can also be played with points, where students receive points for each operation they use (1 point for addition, 2 points for subtraction, 3 points for multiplication and 4 points for division). This will promote students to think multiplicatively rather than additively.

• build their repertoire • experience success • Select an effective strategy for each task.

The key to effective mental maths activities is engaging your students as it is an activity for a short period of time. “Students learn best when the information is emotionally engaging and relevant to them,” says Andrew Fuller in Re-inventing schools from the brain up.

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SOPHIE RISHWORTH

“ Back-dwellers” began to sit up the front and the girls started to come to class on time.”

They’re in the money . . . and class Students cash in

An

original idea to tackle truancy and latecomers to class has brought remarkable results for a high school maths teacher. Gisborne Girls’ High School teacher Chrissy Marshall paid her students to come to class . . . and fined them if they were late or did not show up.

Photocopied “pretend” money was used and the exercise ran for the full 11 weeks of Term 3. Students were also required to “rent” their desks and chairs, with front-of-class seats the cheapest.

Teachers Matter

“They were totally fine with it. They knew the rules. I did get some crazy looks when my principal or the boss walked in but that was all right.”

The initiative also taught them money skills.

“Back-dwellers” began to sit up the front and the girls started to come to class on time.

“We worked out the cost of rent and bills together as a class, and also had the option of saving up and buying a desk and chair so you were no longer a renter,” Chrissy explains.” They were proud house/ desk owners, a skill I hope they take into their future.”

“They loved it. They said it made them want to come to class because they were valued,” says Chrissy.

Chrissy said she was proud of her students’ commitment and success with the concept throughout the term.

The turnaround was huge.

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If the students did not have enough money to pay for a chair and desk, then they would have to sit on the floor.

A lot of students had not had success in maths before but attendance, achievement and attitude all suddenly improved.

There are plans to run the programme again, but this time the teacher will use a more Internet-based approach for the high-finance learning rather than actual money-handling.

At the end of last term, left-over money was used at an auction to buy food and products the community had donated. Girls’ High teachers and local businesses came on board with more than $300 worth of vouchers up for grabs from Cotton On, Bramwells P h a r m a c y, T h e B e r r y S h o p , B u r g e r Wisconsin, Burger King, McDonalds, The Kitchen Café, Video Ezy, Subway, Wendys and ASB.

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.

ILL L UST S RAT ST RA ION O : DMIT MITRY TRY KUT U LAY LA A EV

Mark van Doren

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ALLIE MOONEY

Fostering Intellingent Relationships

Teachers Matter

From clash to complement

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A

principal who read my book, Pressing the Right Buttons, wrote to me about a teacher who operates out of the “Powerful” style of influence: “She expected all students to comply with ‘teacher giving commands’. Any non compliance was a direct and clear challenge to her authority. A year 8 student who was very bright and also operated out of the ‘Powerful’ style. The student was getting into trouble for not completing work or doing the bare minimum if at all. He would shrug his shoulders

if reprimanded and clown around when kept in to complete his work. Your book assisted me.

I recognised that both parties were ‘Powerful’ personalities that you talk about. After some interesting discussions with the teacher, I presented some choices. She chose to run with my idea.

The student was given his own daily timetable.

There were times pre-marked indicating compulsory attendance at the lesson/gathering, e.g. Drama/PE and some art lessons. There were some compulsory ‘one on one’ times with the

teacher to review work completed, discuss any problems and set new tasks.

The learning outcomes were discussed with the student for the week in each of the key areas.

He could choose to do the work provided by the teacher that assisted in achieving the outcomes or come up with his own activities that showed that he had mastered the concepts and was exploring them at an advanced level. He dictated when he would do them and in what order.

ALLIE MOONEY

The Powerful Personality Words that describe them: Adventurous, daring, brave, competitive, opinionated, decisive, focused, quick thinkers, outspoken, restless, commanding, ambitious, goaloriented Strengths:Visionary – see the big picture, like to achieve, natural-bor n leader, productive, assertive.

Weaknesses (personally I don’t like to focus on this; however, weaknesses are ones strengths out of balance.): Their behaviour can be expressed as bossy, tyrannical, dictatorial, and impatient. These are strengths defaulted to weaknesses.

PHOTO: CATHY THY YE Y ULE ULET T

This is the original strong-willed student.

He has short attention spans, because of his ability to grasp things quickly. These students are born to lead.

After a day or so, the teacher struggled to keep up with his work output. He revelled in the chance to set his own timetable, take ownership for his learning and be treated as a bright, intelligent young student. He was a changed student.”

Understanding a person’s motivation can make life and learning easier, as this principal learned. To help you better understand people, I’ll look at the four primary personalities over the next four issues. Let’s start with the type the principal wrote about:

and will rebel when you lack a logical explanation. He will want to know “why?” before doing what he is told. Respect this child’s innate need for fairness and justice, and be open and honest with him or he will catch you in your inconsistencies.

The Powerfuls greatest need is to be in control. A Powerful student will keep any teacher on his or her toes. With that need comes impatience-based anger when things are not going his way. Because the Powerful is thinking way ahead of his parents, teachers and friends, most often plotting for control, he will sense when you are most vulnerable and attack. It is important that a Powerful teacher provide healthy areas where the student can exercise control, while at the same time standing firm and immovable when that need for control supersedes the limits of balance for the student’s life and relationships.

If you don’t give them something appropriate to take control of, they will take charge of whatever comes their way.

– including you, the teacher. They are out to win and will stop at nothing to achieve their desired end. Powerful children do not give in easily.

Teaching Powerfuls: Expect to brace yourself for a power struggle from day one in the classroom. Control is the key word here. It follows the child to the grave.

Whether it is through leadership or anger, the powerful must be in control. He is full of confidence and pride, and is often bossy and tactless. You have on your hands the greatest potential for future leadership – positive or negative. The challenge is to stand toe-to-toe with this strong willed child and break the will, not the spirit.

Keep this student busy and give responsibilities. She has a deep need to be productive. Being a good worker is no problem for Powerful types, as long as they feel appreciated. If they aren’t in control of something, they will take it out on friends at school. They can have poor peer relationships. They need to reason things out sensibly. They have astute quick minds

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ABCDEFGHIJKLMN KAREN BOYES

Letter by letter We’re improving learning by working our way through the alphabet.

D Discussion

Dress Standards

Discussion can boost understanding and action.

Research has proven over and over that when students make learning their own, by talking about it in their own words, the learning, recall and ability to take action on the new learning increases.

Your clothing conveys powerful messages about yourself and what you think of your job.

Build in discussion time two to three times per lesson. Ask students to verbalise learning with a partner or in small groups.

Direct students to talk about how information may affect them and what they could do about it.

Create opportunities for them to make links to previously learned infor mation on their own in discussion groups.

Remember many shorter discussions are just as powerful as a single long one.

Teachers Matter

Dd

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The Pygmalion experiments show that teachers’ expectations of the learners’ ability affect the learning. John Mulloy, ex teacher, a clothing consultant, and author of Dress for Success, wanted to know if another phenomenon was true: if students’ perceptions of teachers’ clothing impacted their learning. He discovered that the teachers’ clothing substantially affected the students’ work and attitudes. He found that teachers who were better dressed had fewer discipline problems and students with better work habits and improved learning.

Neatness counts: Ensure your clothes are clean and pressed.

Avoid strong bold patterns as they distract students and was found to increase an audience’s blink rate.

Dress professionally: You are a professional of status and pride.

Teachers play such an important role in the world. Dress to reflect this.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMN

NOPQRSTUVWXYZ KAREN BOYES

d information to complete a task, embarrassing moments, rewards systems that threaten withdrawal, isolation from peers, and constricting deadlines, are just several. Under these conditions, the brain downshifts into “flight or fight,” where there is no higher-order behavioural choice being made.

Dendrites

Downshifting

The human brain has an incredible one hundred billion cells. These cells connect with other cells through branching out and connecting with nerve strands called dendrites. It is estimated that the number of connections these cells can make is a hundred trillion or more.

Threats, anxiety, negative stress and induced learner helplessness cause the brain to operate differently; bloodflow and activity decreases to the mid brain and neo-cortex and increases in the brainstem and cerebellum. This means the brain has minimised or downshifted from higher-order To “upshift” the brain, focus thinking to more of sur vival on creating a brain-affirming mode. Pattern detection, problem l e a r n i n g c u l t u r e , u s e m o r e solving, judgement skills and personally meaningful projects, planning are less likely to occur a v o i d t h r e a t , r e w a r d s a n d when the brain perceives “alarm” artificial deadlines, and allow or “danger.” Many factors can students to self-assess with clear stress and downshift the brain: guidelines and criteria.

Potential physical harm, being suddenly questioned, your ideas b e i n g “ Even at age 90, attacked, lack of your brain can

Learning is actually the splitsecond chemical reactions of sodium and potassium at the moment these dendrites connect.

It is not the number of cells that is important; it is the number of connections that matters most. These connections can be nourished and developed well into old age. Even at age 90, your brain can still be youthful and quick if you challenge and use it.

Stimulate your students’ brains with multisensory experiences, novelty and challenge. Continue to encourage students to make links from their past knowledge to their current learning.

still be youthful and quick if you challenge and use it.”

NOPQRSTUVWXYZ

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PHOTO: PAULUS RUSYANTO

Teachers Matter TRUDY FRANCIS

TRUDY FRANCIS

Think...and create Look for ways to promote imagination

S

ir Ken Robinson’s keynote speech at the January 2011 Inspired Impact Conference focused on three themes:

1. Living in a time of revolution due to the transformative influences of technology and population growth.

2. The crisis of human resources.

3. The need to adopt different strategies.

I’d like to discuss the second and third themes:

The crisis of human resources Many of our schools still have a curriculum hierarchy in which literacy, numeracy and the sciences are at the top, and we still tend to teach in narrow subject areas, which focus mostly on content. Consequently many students whose passions may fall outside these narrow parameters are marginalised.

Robinson points out that tendency to focus on symptoms can cause a moral panic when we think about achieving certain results, prompting us to focus on particular disciplines in isolation from everything else. So, how likely are we to solve complex education problems when we tend to isolate them, take them out of context and obsess about it?

The long-term implications are manifest in the lives of many adults. How many people do you know who don’t enjoy the lives they live and endure a job that doesn’t fulfill them? The count towards the weekend begins at 9am Monday morning. What a waste!

Instead, shouldn’t we be focusing all out efforts into creating a learning culture that: liberates minds, empowers people, is engaging and is underpinned by a broader conception of intelligence. Robinson states that human talent is immensely diverse. All humans have expansive mental faculties, the power to bring to mind things that are not present and the ability to see possibilities.

This is the power of our imagination. And yet many people shut this faculty down or have it curtailed by their environment.

Instead of thinking of curriculum in narrow terms we could redefine curriculum as learning disciplines. Within each, and

across the disciplines, students need to see the congruence between information and more skillful ways of thinking, conceptual processes and skill development. If we are serious about doing something about the crisis of human resources in our schools, then each discipline should promote and develop students’ aptitudes of: imagination, creativity and innovation. Robinson defines imagination as the fundamental power, giving rise to our creativity, with creativity being the practical process of applying our imagination and innovation as putting good ideas into practice.

Adopt different strategies We need to teach people to be more creative.

The themes of general and personal creativity are significant. General creativity means teaching people the skills of creative thinking and personal creativity relates to the ways in which people are creative in particular ways.

As you reflect on the ideas I have shared from Sir Ken’s keynote, what might the implications be in relation to how you are delivering your curriculum, how you teach and how you assess?

For Students PURPOSE OF THIS LESSON: To co-construct understandings with students about how our imagination and creative thinking strategies help us to innovate STEP ONE: ACTIVATE AND UNLOCK PRIOR KNOWLEDGE, THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS Emotional hook • Play Ted Talk – “Tinkering Schoo” at http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ gever_tulley_s_tinkering_school_in_ action.html to inspire students and share first ideas • Pose a technology challenge (recycled plastic bags). Students have to develop a method of making string from used supermarket bags. They need to ensure that the diameter does not exceed 3mm.

The string needs to be strong enough that it can’t be broken by pulling on it.

STEP TWO: MAKING MEANING AND COCONSTRUCTING UNDERSTANDINGS Use reflective questions to co-construct understandings between what they did and the types of thinking that enabled them to achieve the challenge: • In what ways were you creative?

• What is creativity (coming up with lots of ideas, trying some of them, testing ideas and adapting ideas when faced with problems)?

• What problems did you face?

• How could you solve the problems you encountered?

• How might the mistakes you made help you find a better solution?

STEP THREE: BUILDING ON • Challenge students to adapt/innovate on what they have created to make a stronger rope • Challenge the students to adapt/innovate on what they have created to find (different/new) practical ways to use the rope

Reflective question for co-construction • What changes did you make?

• How did this improve your design?

• What are the successful features of your design?

Challenge students to analyse Compare and contrast their ideas with others to transfer what they have learned so far and create another innovation for using plastic bags

Reflective question for co-construction How did seeing and hearing the ideas of others help you innovate?

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KAREN BOYES

Study tips for success Ideas to help you retain information

R

evise your notes one day after learning them.

Research shows that if you go over your notes within 24 hours of learning them, your recall will be up to 90 percent. However, if you leave the review for three days, information recall drops to 30 percent. Your brain forgets up to 70 percent of information without repetition.

Here is a popular technique that many students use: • Purchase a notebook for each subject and label them with each subject name.

• Each day after school, summarise what you have learned that day in each subject, on one page of the notebook.

• Write keywords, draw pictures and diagrams, use colours and make it interesting and memorable.

• The next morning, reread each summary.

This one-day review can produce your 90 percent recall.

• It is important to note that if you are unsure or confused about any of the information you are summarising, please check with your teachers the next day. If you remain confused or unsure this can stop future learning.

Teachers Matter

• Remember to date your pages so you can revise them a week and a month later to keep your recall at 90 percent.

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“ Write keywords, draw pictures and diagrams, use colours and make it interesting and memorable.”

St d for Study f 20 minutes i t and d take a five-minute break

learning chemicals in your brain. brain Skipping for two to three minutes also has a beneficial reaction in your brain.

If there was one tip that I know makes a big difference it is this one. Break your study time into small chunks rather than attempting to focus for long periods of time.

It is much easier to focus for 20 minutes than it is for an hour. During your 20 minutes, focus on what you don’t know and create links between what you are learning and what you don’t know. Your first 20 minutes of each study time should be summarising your notes as discussed above. At the end of your 20 minutes, quickly revise what you have achieved and learned in that timeframe.

When your break time is over, time yourself for another 20 minutes. Most students find it helpful to plan what you are going to study each night, as you will be more focused and achieve more.

What you do in your five minute break is also important. Get up and move away from where you have been studying so your brain knows that it is break time. Avoid TV, computers and screens in this time, as the screen flickers causing your brain to go into a danger mode of survival rather than higher-order thinking, which is what you want during study. Eat some brain food such as unsalted nuts, banana, yoghurt or a whole grain bread sandwich. Drink a glass of water and get some fresh air. Jumping on a trampoline can also increase the good

If you have not already downloaded the iStudyAlarm app onto your mobile phone, iPad or tablet, check it out at either the iTunes store or Google Play. It has 27 study tips, exam tips, break ideas and links to videos with more study tips.

PHOTO: MUSSER REMY

KAREN BOYES

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GLENN CAPELLI

Beyond pro and con A new way of thinking

I

was recently asked to present with Colin James on the theme of “To Power Point or Not?” The client asked for a debate where Colin would argue against the use of Powerpoint slides and I would argue for them.

My response, supported by Colin, was to not make it a debate, argument or battle and not to take sides on slides. People don’t really need help with binary thinking; rather they needed help with a different kind of thinking.

This is binary thinking: • Yes/No

Try this puzzle: Find a common English three letter word, knowing that:

This is spectrum thinking: • Thinking in the entire range of wavelengths

• LEG has no common letter with it

• Nuances

• ERG has one common letter, not in the correct place

• Layers

• SIR has one common letter, at the correct place • SIC has one common letter, not at the correct place • AIL has one common letter, not at the correct place

• On/Off • Good/Bad • Black/white • Against PP slides/For PP slides We don’t need help with binary thinking because we already do a lot of it. It is easier for our brain to fall back into a neural rut that already exists rather than to create a new, lasting pattern. All these things are in the good pile; all these things in the bad.

For example, everything my partner does is wrong/right.

Teachers Matter

If I were thinking in a binary way, I would say that all binary thinking is either good or bad. However, I prefer to think in a spectrum way and to think contextually. There are times when binary thinking is the best thing to do and there are times when certain things in life only have one correct answer.

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• Contextual (It depends) • Percentages • Possibilities • Contradictions • Partially correct answers The binary approach is the folk wisdom that if we only have a hammer t then every problem looks like a n nail.

Spectrum thinking says that m more often than not we might use our hammer for nailing b the hammer doesn’t always but h have to be a single purpose tool.

W With a little change and range o thinking the hammer might of b used as a weight, a doorstop, be p pry-bar, gavel, sign holder or even a tennis racquet. (Check Shlomo B Breznitz’s Maximum Brainpower for this reference and other wonderful brain cognition research)

“ We can think just in black or white or we can do binary at times and sing a rainbow, too.”

If you work through it exactly, you will only have one possible correct three-letter word answer. Keep re-checking your process until you are certain then ask some work mates to do it.

There are times in life where we need exact answers and times in life where close enough is good enough. There are times when binary thinking helps us be quicker and less stressed.

However, there are also times when we need to think in spectrums.

Spectrum thinking allows binary thinking to be one approach within the range of tools; however binary thinking alone doesn’t allow for spectrums.

Creating smarter and wiser thinking environments is part of my work with organisations, CEOs, schools, communities, radio listeners and readers. To do this, I will sometimes utilise slides in presentations and other times not, and some of the slides will be black and white whilst others will be the full range of a rainbow.

As best as possible, as well as we can in life, we need to run with what suits our purpose and outcome as well as what will have the greatest possibility of engagement and impact for creating learning/thinking wisdom.

We can think just in black or white or we can do binary at times and sing a rainbow, too.

OTAGO PENINSULA IN NEW ZEALAND PHOTO: PHILIP BIRD

GLENN CAPELLI

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JOHN SHACKLETON

Just how good are we?

You and your amazing brain

I

’ve been doing a lot of landscaping work at my house which has included putting in some raised flower beds made from railway sleepers. This involves leveling the ground before placing the sleeper on it, and it amazed me how accurately I was able to achieve this leveling by eye. The biggest error I made was about 2cm in a 2m long sleeper, which is a 1 percent error rate. When I discussed this with a carpenter friend, he told me that he often sees smaller errors than this, just using the naked eye.

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This reminded me of a story that I read about our brain’s real power. Think about the last time someone threw you a ball and you ran and caught it. Now you may be thinking that that’s not a particularly clever thing to achieve but if you analyse it scientifically you’ll realize how amazing your brain is. As we watch the person throwing the ball our brain notes the speed the ball leaves the thrower’s hand, the angle and trajectory it’s been released at, and any spin the thrower has placed on the ball. Using past experience it calculates the direction of the throw, the arc the ball will subscribe, how far the ball will travel and works out the optimum position for us to catch it. The brain instructs the eyes to look around to check nothing is in the way and then tells the legs to move to get us to the right vicinity in time to catch the ball.

As we are running towards this calculated position, the brain tells the arms to move so as to bring the hands to that exact catching position before the ball arrives and then tells the fingers to close at exactly the right time.

All that happens in a couple of seconds.

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There isn’t a computer on the planet that could do all of those calculations, work out the catching position and get a couple of hands into the correct place that quickly, and yet we can do it without even thinking.

Doesn’t that show you just how powerful our sub-conscious mind is?

It’s been written that the sub-conscious is 30,000 times more powerful than the conscious mind, and therefore you’d think we would all use it more frequently to help us achieve our goals, but unfortunately we often don’t. Many of us try and use the conscious mind to work out how to achieve things rather than giving the task to the powerful sub-conscious. During my presentations I often talk about the notes I make before the event and I ask the audience how many times I’ve looked at them while I’ve been on stage. The answer is usually NONE; I very rarely look at my notes while I’m presenting – I find it confuses me.

What I do is during the preparation stage I write down and then practice the content over and over again. But on the day of the presentation I’ll spend very little time if any looking at my notes. In fact I often don’t even take them with me to the event. What I focus on is the goal for my presentation – what is the presentation designed to achieve? What do I want to happen after I’ve finished talking?

This approach is, in fact, my conscious mind giving my sub-conscious an instruction or goal. Once I’ve given a clear and accurate goal to my sub-conscious I relax and let it get on with the work that’s required to achieve the goal. While I’m speaking I often get messages from my sub-conscious like ‘don’t tell that story – say this instead’.

My sub-conscious has been looking at the audience’s reaction to the things I’ve been saying and has worked out that in order to achieve the goal I need to move them in a particular direction. It’s reviewed all the statements and stories that I’ve got stored in my memory banks and has calculated which one will achieve the desired direction change in the audience’s thinking. It then sends me a message suggesting that I tell that particular story.

Usually I listen to that little voice and do what it’s telling me to do but sometimes I think I’m so (consciously) clever I override the instruction and carry on as I was planning to do. Invariably when I do this I make a mistake and don’t achieve the goal or the

reaction I was looking for. Sometimes when I don’t listen to the little voice I really stick my foot in my mouth and say something that goes down the wrong way with some of my audience. The more I listen to, and obey, those little instructions, the better my chance of achieving my goal and in fact the best presentations I’ve ever given are the ones where I’m so relaxed I let the sub-conscious take over completely. This is exactly what sports people do to achieve their personal bests. They do their technical practice over and over again in training and then during competition they focus only on the goal they want to achieve. They often say that their best achievements are when they are in the zone, when they are relaxed and letting everything happen automatically.

So coming back to the question I started with: Just how good are we? Well, I think we can be absolutely brilliant, when we follow this procedure whatever the activity: • Do extensive planning, preparation and practice before hand.

• For some time before the activity, focus only on the goal for that activity.

• Relax and let the activity flow, don’t try and force things, just focus on the goal.

• During the activity, listen to the little voice inside and obey those instructions.

These principles work with our children, too.

When we give them an activity or exercise we need to ensure that they are absolutely clear what the goal, or outcome, is. Once they focus on this you will find that they are able to independently come up with ideas on how it can be achieved and this ability will significantly enhance their self-esteem and their willingness to go on and try new and more difficult tasks afterwards. They may not understand that their subconscious is controlling their action but they will realise that their action is creating a great outcome: happy, confident, able learners and relaxed teachers! Goal setting is always the key.

JOHN SHACKLETON

ILLUSTRATION: ARTQU

“ My sub-conscious has been looking at the audience’s reaction to the things I’ve been saying and has worked out that in order to achieve the goal I need to move them in a particular direction. ”

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Teachers Matter

RESOURCES BY DR MARTHA BURNS

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RESOURCES

Neuroscience and dyslexia Educators are getting answers from new research

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xperts used to think that problems with visual discrimination led to a person being dyslexic. But new studies are showing that more may be involved.

Researchers have found that parts of the brain involved in reading are also involved in oral language usage and comprehension.

In Reading in the Brain: The Science and Evolution of a Human Invention, French cognitive scientist Stanislas Dehaene emphasizes that reading is a relatively new human skill, dependent on human brain capacities that evolved for other survival purposes. Coupled with recent discoveries from neuroscience that has revealed the brain’s remarkable adaptability, cognitive scientists are helping understand why some children struggle to read and, more important, what cognitiveand neuroscience- based interventions can be developed.

Dr Sally Shaywitz and her colleagues at Harvard University are using functional magnetic resonance imagery to view parts of the brain that are more or less active during different reading activities. They have compared tasks that require relatively simple reading judgements, such as, “do [bbBb] and [bbBb] match”, versus more complex judgements such as, “do [lete] and [jete] rhyme?” and investigated how good readers’ brain activity compares with individuals who have dyslexia.

Their research shows that the areas of the brain involved in reading are those same language regions of the left hemisphere. They also found that the dyslexic readers showed the greatest differences when sounding out the words (converting letters to speech sounds) rather than making visual matches. The brain scans highlighted this difference. As the reading tasks required greater translation of letters to sounds, the dyslexic readers showed less activity than good readers in the posterior brain regions devoted to

recognizing and interpreting speech sounds.

Dr Antonio Damasio, a neurologist at the University of Iowa College of Medicine, has studied brain and language relationships in his patients who have suffered brain damage. He has made tentative maps of the left hemisphere that illustrate how language is represented in that area. In his maps, a large region of the central portion of the left hemisphere is devoted to representation of speech sounds (phonemes), the combination of those phonemes into meaningful units like word-endings and words (morphemes), and grammatical rules (syntax) for combining these words into meaningful sentences.

A larger area that surrounds this language core in the left hemisphere contains regions that allow us to translate our non-verbal concepts, ideas, and images into nouns and verbs. Damasio has cited evidence that the ability to think of verbs involves structures in the frontal regions of the left hemisphere, while nouns are more widely dispersed below and behind the central language core. Recent studies have shown that sophisticated users of sign-language employ roughly the same brain areas. In sign language, the equivalent of a morpheme is a visuo-motor sign.

Application to education Neuroscience now helps educators in two ways. First, it can provide teachers with an understanding of why some kinds of learning may be more difficult for some students than others. And, perhaps more important, neuroscience is providing educational tools that enhance learning capacity and efficiency.

The exciting news from neuroscience is that computer-based programs have been developed that can increase anyone’s brain capacity and efficiency, at any age.

A neuroscience company in the United States called Posit Science has developed a product called “Brain Fitness” that enhances attention, memory and processing speed in aging adults.

Another neuroscience company in the United States called Scientific Learning has developed Fast ForWord , 11 educational products that are specifically designed to enhance students’ capacity to learn language and to learn to read.

In a new DVD produced by The University of Oregon Brain Development Lab (www. changingbrains.org), Dr Helen Neville and her associates have made new research on brain plasticity focusing on reading and learning accessible to parents and educators. In one segment on reading, the authors describe the difference between brains of young children who are at risk for reading problems and children whose brains have developed adequate cognitive capacities to support reading. Using functional brain imaging, the researchers illustrate how effective reading intervention programs can strengthen brain regions that are essential for reading and create an efficient “reading brain,” even in children with developmental dyslexia. One program that the Oregon researchers have incorporated in the studies is Fast ForWord.

In a research study published in the journal Brain Research in 2008, the Oregon researchers describe a neurophysiological study in which they showed that use of Fast ForWord Language enhanced attention skills in both children with language problems and typically developing children.

Earlier research studies by Elise Temple at Stanford University had shown that use of Fast ForWord Language by 7-year-old children with a diagnosis of developmental dyslexia did show the neurological changes the Oregon group associated with effective reading interventions.

Other products are likely on the horizon as well. In addition, neuroscientists are reaching out to educators to help them enhance their teaching methods. They are also helping teachers understand the ways they can enhance the natural learning brain chemicals through new teaching methods and materials.

It’s an exciting and hopeful time.

More information can be found at www. fastforword.com.au or www.fastforword. co.nz

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NGAHI BIDOIS

Ta Moko, are you ready?

Prepare yourself for big changes in new ways

Na

whakaaro ka puta mai i te korero is an ancient educational Maori whakatauki (proverb) outlining that through listening, looking and thinking we receive wisdom to speak.

This proverb formed the foundation of the establishment of Kohanga Reo in Aotearoa and it also formed the foundation of my ta moko – the taonga (precious gift) I received from my ancestors.

As an international leadership speaker, I have had the pleasure of explaining my taonga to many leaders around the world and now you:

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The 1 st of March 2004 was an important day for me. It was the day that my whanau and I hosted visitors for the evening. One of our guests, Hemi Te Peeti, was the tohunga

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ta moko (Ta moko expert) that I had been discussing the development of my ta moko with for the last five years. We had just finished a beautiful roast meal prepared by my wife, and she was serving dessert when Hemi looked across the table and said “Cuz, I have got the gear in my car now. We can do this tonight. Are you ready?”

My children stopped eating their dessert and everything seemed to slow down as I considered this important question. Are you ready? Long before talk show hosts Ellen and David Letterman was a talk show host named Johnny Carson who said “Talent alone will not guarantee you success, neither will being in the right place at the right time, unless you are ready. The most important question we need to answer is… are you ready?”

Many thoughts went through my mind as I contemplated an answer, thoughts like, “a part of receiving this gift is no pain killers so I was going to fast and meditate to prepare myself for the pain; heck I have just finished a full roast meal! Many friends were going to come and support me through the pain, too; Well, they are not going to get here in time.

And then I heard a voice, my voice saying, “Yes, I am ready; let’s do this tonight.”

Hemi sai,d “You have one hour to prepare and invite people that you want to be here.” In that short space of time, I met privately with my whanau to prepare our children for what was about to happen and the paradigm shift this would make to our whanau. We prayed together. I also invited my whanau and friends who I knew would be supportive and understanding. We

NGAHI BIDOIS

started the ceremony with karakia at 8 pm, and Hemi did the right side of my face. At midnight he completed that side and we had a half hour break before he continued. The ceremony stopped when Hemi completed my ta moko at 4:30 a.m. the next morning. It had taken eight hours to place this gift from my ancestors into my face.

So what does my ta moko mean? Every ta moko is different and identifies the characteristics of the wearer. Let’s start with the koru by my ear.

The koru speaks of new development and new growth. This design is by my ear because of the importance of listening in the development of a person: Na te whakarongo…

On the side of my face are designs that accentuate my eyes and emphasize the importance of looking and observing to learn: titiro

“ And then I heard a voice, my voice saying, “Yes, I am ready; let’s do this tonight.””

One of the reasons I have nothing on my forehead is to show the importance of having a clear mind for thinking: whakaaro From my forehead to my chin is a line that leads to a shark or Mangopare d es ign. This partic ular s h a r k de s i g n represents the Te Arawa Shark, one of the tribes I affiliate with and it is on my chin because of the importance of speaking: ka puta mai i te korero.

One of the outstanding attributes of successful leaders and educators is they listen, look and think before they speak.

All of these factors come together on me, and it turns out, I was ready. My final question for you to contemplate is whatever challenge you are facing at the moment, whatever mountain you need to climb…Are you ready?

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DAVID KOUTSOUKIS

Find your kefi The power of positive energy

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magine you are stepping off the ferry onto an enchanting Greek island dotted with blue and white buildings and surrounded by a sparkling sea. A string of blue and white flags dance in the breeze to the sounds of bouzouki music. Your host greets you with an exuberant “Kalimera” (good morning) and “Yassou,” a multipurpose greeting that can mean “hello,” “goodbye” or “cheers.” You experience a surge of energy in anticipation of exciting times ahead. The Greeks have a name for that feeling, “kefi.” It can be simply defined as a “zest for life,” - and I’m sure you’ll agree that kefi is a great attribute for teachers.

So, what can educators learn from a trip I took to a Greek island? If you want to build a positive classrooms and schools, you need to find your kefi!

As our students’ key source of motivation, we need to ensure that we have kefi when we greet our students in the morning and say goodbye in the afternoon. We also need to create kefi learning environments that build anticipation and generate excitement.

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Emotional contagion

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The power of kefi is related to the emotional contagion phenomenon. This refers to the fact that people are affected by others’ emotional energy. You have come across people who “light up the room” and conversely others who have a negative impact. Some believe that our body actually emits positive or negative vibrations that others sense. If we are positive and joyful, our students are much more likely to be positive and joyful as well.

Neural pathways Another reason to find your kefi is that you are responsible for many of the neural pathways that trigger students’ thoughts

and emotions. A neural pathway is a thought pattern that instantly occurs through certain stimulus. For example, for many kids the sound of a Mr Whippy van triggers excitement and desire – and perhaps for their parents – “Oh no, money and sugar!”

Think about your actions during the day and the neural pathways you may be triggering – both good and bad. What negative triggers can you eliminate and what positive ones can you activate with kefi behaviour?

The priming effect I n h i s b o o k Blink, M a l c o l m G l a d w e l l discusses how we can manipulate mindsets through certain interventions. He discussed research that involved two groups of people going for a job interview. One group was greeted by a surly, unhelpful host just prior to the interview and the other by a friendly and helpful one. You guessed it: The second group did better in the interviews. Gladwell called this interaction with the host an example of “priming.”

We can strategically “prime” our students to have positive mindsets by how we look, what we do, what we say, how we say it, and by the way we set up the classroom environment. I call this impact “The Priming Effect.” How could you prime your students when you first meet them in the morning?

• Pick an energising tune as your kefi song.

• Wear a kefi wristband.

• Read your favourite kefi quotes.

• Get some kefi rays. Sunshine increases your serotonin levels.

• Find a kefi colleague, someone at work you can laugh with.

• Do your kefi dance. The default kefi dance is of course Zorba the Greek – don’t forget to click your fingers!

• Be enthusiastic, but stay calm. Too much emotion (positive or negative) drains your kefi cup.

• Conserve your kefi. Mental energy is a finite resource, so don’t use it up too early (and have some left for when you go home to your family).

How to snap out of IFEK (negative thinking) I believe there are only two emotional states teachers should have – you either have your kefi or you need to find it! I call the emotional state of not having kefi ‘IFEK’ (get it?) People with IFEK are not nice to be around, so if you feel the dark clouds of negativity starting to appear, try some of these strategies: • Move away. If possible, move away from whatever is having a negative impact.

How to find your kefi To find and keep your kefi, you need to identify your kefi catalysts, activities that trigger positive neural pathways in your brain. The following lists will give you a range of ideas and strategies to help you find and keep your kefi: • Have a kefi ritual or affirmation e.g. Click your fingers and say “I’ve got kefi!”

• Improve your posture. Stand or sit up straight with your shoulders back.

• Change your facial expression. Smile! If you find that difficult, clench a pen in your teeth sideways across your mouth as this triggers the same endorphin release as smiling.

• Change your voice. Lower your voice and speak more slowly. Ever wondered why DJs have low, slow voices? They have a hypnotic effect.

DAVID KOUTSOUKIS

• Breathe deeply. Slow down your breathing and use deep breathes get oxygen into your lungs, and therefore into your brain.

• Move. Burn off frustration by going for a brisk walk or a run.

• Try personal editing. Create an anchoring action that signifies a release of negative emotions, e.g. flick hands and say “Let it go.”

• Ta p a c u p r e s s u r e p o i n t s t o r e l e a s e tension. For more information visit www. eftdownunder.com • Act “As If.” Call on your best acting skills and “act the part” of how you would like to feel. You may not win an Oscar but you will eventually feel closer to the feeling you are acting.

• Shout OPA! and clap your hands in the air like you are smashing plates (like a happy Greek!)

How to be a kefi creator Once we have found our own kefi, we need to help others find theirs. When our students have kefi, they are better learners and much more fun to be around. Here are just a few ways to create kefi: Kefi music Play music with a good beat and positive suggestions in the lyrics as students come into class: • I’m Into Something Good – Herman’s Hermits • I Like It Like That – Guy Sebastian • Good Vibrations – Beach Boys • Beautiful Sunday – Daniel Boone • Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas Kefi greetings Demonstrate kefi with an exuberant greeting to start the day.

“Good moooorrrning everyone!” (like Good Morning Vietnam). Students repeat to teacher.

Teacher says, “How are we all this morning?”

Students shout “Faaaaaaantastic!”

Teacher says, “I hope you have lovely day, everyone.” Students repeat to teacher.

Teacher says, “Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” Students shout “Sponge Bob Square Pants!”

Teacher says, “Can we do this?” Students shout, “Yes, we can!”

Kefi proclamations Use kefi proclamations to create positive frames. This is a subliminal technique called an embedded command.

Kefi words Use kefi words to praise students and describe activities. Notice the difference between “That was good” and “That was sensational!”

Sensational!

This is going to be a sensational day!

Brilliant!

Gotta feeling… that today’s gonna be a good, good day.

Fantastic!

This lesson is going to be so much fun!

Magic!

This class is awesome!

These are just a few ideas to get you started.

Why not start your own kefi collection of activities to create kefi in your classroom?

You guys are amazing!

Awesome!

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PHOTO: MARIDAV

ROBYN PEARCE

The benefits of raising children French-style Learn the language

Teachers Matter

D

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id you know that French children are, on the whole, better behaved than those from most Englishspeaking Western countries?

In an extended visit to France earlier this year I never saw a French child having a tantrum or acting up. And I was with many children over the first 20 days, including at a large French wedding, an awesome family event with many children present. It was composed of multiple parts, took place in three different venues and expanded joyously over two days.

Take meal times. Quite young children patiently wait for their dîner [dinner], usually about 8 o’clock. Even toddlers are rarely fed earlier. It’s regarded as important that they sit at the table with the grown-ups and learn to be part of the wider family group. Neither are they allowed to dominate the conversation, although they certainly aren’t repressed. Once they’ve eaten, they politely ask to be excused and are allowed to go off to play.

I began to ask: How come, as a nation, that French kids are so well-behaved?

I found the answer to this puzzle in a Singapore Airport bookshop on the way home. Pamela Druckerman’s Bringing Up Bébé - one American mother discovering the wisdom of French parenting jumped off the bookshelf at me. It’s packed full of insights and well worth a read for any parent.

ROBYN PEARCE

Druckerman writes: “Could it be that making children delay gratification - as middle-class French parents do - actually makes them calmer and more resilient? Whereas kids who are more used to getting what they want right away, go to pieces under stress? French babies and toddlers, who are used to waiting, seem oddly calm about not getting what they want right away. When I visit French families and hang out with their kids, there’s a conspicuous lack of whining and complaining.”

“I regularly see what amounts to a minor miracle: adults in the company of small children at home, having entire cups of coffee and full-length adult conversations.

Waiting is even part of the parenting vernacular. Instead of saying ‘quiet’ or ‘stop’ to rowdy kids, French parents often just issue a sharp “attend,” which means “wait.”

It seems to me that too many parents and educators in today’s over-informed, excessively politically correct world think their job is to make life smooth and easy for their little ones - smooth out the bumps, not let them get upset, or leave them upset for as short a time as possible. This includes not letting them feel too much frustration.

French parents, on the other hand, know that initial frustration (not getting what they want when they want it) teaches children resilience, adaptability and all the other good virtues that a well-adjusted adult exhibits.

Badly behaved children seek boundaries boundaries.

Give them firm guidelines and consequences and they’ll calm down quickly - if delivered with firmness and a clear intention by the responsible adult. Every child will push the boundaries, and strong-willed children will push even more. If we as parents don’t stand firm, we deny them the boundaries they seek; they’ll continue to push until they get them.

If we get rudeness from a French shopkeeper, it’s almost always because we’ve (unintentionally) invited it. In many cases we’re actually in their home, albeit the commercial part. A really basic courtesy when you enter a French shop is to immediately greet the assistant - then do the shopping. In our part of the world, we shop first and then talk to the assistant only if we want something. So, you can see why French shopkeepers think many of us are rude - and treat us appropriately.

In order to go faster, first we must go slower. A small dose of good manners gives wonderful long-term results and a much happier environment.

Good manners There’s another related French national characteristic that applies to everyone, not just children, and that’s a huge emphasis on good manners. Even small children are expected to be courteous, greet people with “Bonjour” or “Bonsoir” and at least two kisses if they’re family friends.

As a footnote to this point on good manners, you might be thinking, “What about the arrogant French shopkeepers I’ve heard of?”

PHOTO:ANDREW BARKER

Delayed gratification is one of the keys.

“ French parents, on the other hand, know that initial frustration (not getting what they want when they want it) teaches children resilience, adaptability and all the other good virtues that a welladjusted adult exhibits.”

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TERRY SMALL

What does multitasking do to your brain?

The news will improve your habits.

D

oes your brain really multitask?

Neuroscientists say “no.” Multitasking is one of the great myths of the modern age.

In my seminars I often have people close their eyes and try and hold two completely separate thoughts in their “minds eye” at exactly the same time. They quickly discover that they can’t. The brain will move quickly back and forth between the two images, or it will try and morph the two images into a single picture.

What does this mean? Your brain gets only one forethought at a time.

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Multitasking is actually a computer term that describes a technique by which a computer can split up its work into many processes or tasks. For example,checking email while downloading something from the Internet. An illusion is created that everything is happening simultaneously.

If fact, the computer is actually switching back and forth between tasks several thousand times per second. Computers with multiple processors overcome this, but your brain doesn’t.

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• Multitasking can push your forgetting rate up by 40 percent.

“ Studies in the workplace have found that, after an interruption, it takes 15 minutes for your brain to regain a deep state of concentration.”

When you multitask your attention is actually jumping back and forth between the tasks. To observe this in real time try carrying on a conversation and calculating the tip on a restaurant bill at the same time.

Here are some very interesting findings about multitasking: • The University of California discovered that workers are interrupted, on average, 20 times per hour. Employees were only able to focus on one task for no more than 3 minutes.

• Studies in the workplace have found that, after an interruption, it takes 15 minutes for your brain to regain a deep state of concentration.

• Students who study in front of the TV, or listening to their favorite tunes, experience a drop in long-term memory.

• Older males experience the worst effects of multitasking. Younger females, the least.

T This may be the worst one of all: Divided a attention can produce a condition that s scientists call “inattentional blindness,” l looking right at something and not seeing it!

W While driving a car, a two-second glance doubles the risk of an accident. Shorter multiple glances that add up to two seconds also doubles the risk.

John Ratey, a Harvard psychiatrist, says that chronic multitasking can cause “pseudoADD.” Those affected by this continually seek new information and have trouble concentrating on its content.

The best advice: leave the mulit-tasking to the computers.

TERRY SMALL

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PHOTO: RYAN JORGENSEN

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CHRIS KERR

How to build self-belief in your students Your words and actions can set them on the right path

I

am sure you will agree that if our thoughts can determine our actions and how we live our lives, then it would be best if we encourage our children and young people to have positive thoughts about themselves. Easier said than done, you may say, but not impossible. Helping to build self-belief in your students could be one of the most empowering strategies you use to help in their pursuit for success.

Do you find it frustrating when a student: • Seems to find excuses not to do a task he is perfectly capable of doing?

• Procrastinates until the last minute to study or complete a project set weeks previous?

• Eagerly starts a new task, only to have that initial enthusiasm wane?

• Says that he “can’t” do something?

• A p p e a r s t o b e t i r e d , o r l a z y, o n a consistent basis?

• Doesn’t seem to realise the high achievement potential he has?

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This is the result of his low level of self-belief.

ILLUSTRATION: IIMAGES

Teachers Matter

The reason could be that he just doesn’t believe he can achieve something and achieve it well.

Let’s keep things simple. I suggest there are two key ingredients required to maintain a healthy self-belief: Self Awareness + Self-Confidence = SELFBELIEF.

CHRIS KERR

Self-Awareness: If children consciously know that they are unique, and they each have special gifts and skills, then they are on the path to positive self-belief. They can start by reminding themselves of past achievements (so often they get into the habit of focusing on their failures instead) and how they demonstrate their values and personality.

Self-confidence: There is so much spoken and written about this part of our whole selves these days, and how important it is to ensure a child’s success in life. As parents and teachers, we find ourselves concerned when we see a child who doesn’t push themselves forward and take an opportunity that would bring them success. We tell ourselves that we know what they are capable of; they just need a little more confidence.

But the key question here is “What do children think of themselves?” What selftalk does a child speak aloud, or privately think in his head? Self-talk feeds the subconscious part of the brain, which can have the most effect upon a child’s shortterm actions and consequently, long-term direction in life.

It is known that 50 percent of children’s belief systems are manifested in their minds by the time they are 4 years old. Whether or not these beliefs are positive or negative, knowing what a child believes about himself when they begin school will inform the teachers where a child’s mindset is. Oh, if it were that easy.

Dilemma Have you noticed how some children begin their school-life enthusiastically, but as time goes by, that initial enthusiasm wanes?

Negativity has begun to creep into their minds, through messages they receive and believe. These messages can come from other students, teachers or parents, but most important, they come from themselves.

Even if they have been given a negative comment by an outsider, they may choose to accept that comment, and once it becomes manifested in their mind, through repetition, it becomes a belief.

was very clever and could read very well. All good. He felt confident that he could read perfectly well. One day, though, as he was sitting with his peers, he noticed that there were two or three other children, who were reading a whole lot better than he could, and he began doubting his capabilities, and thinking that maybe he wasn’t as good at reading as he thought. He decided he wasn’t as clever as they were. These thoughts soon were replaced with even more negativity such as: “I am not a good reader at all;” “I didn’t know the answer to that question, but those other kids did; mmmm, I’m not as clever as they are;” “People are kidding me, telling me I can read, when obviously I can’t.”

Can you see where this is leading?

The downward spiral had begun. Sam’s mind had started up its own “comparing me to them” neural pathway; a common human trait. He had actually begun to believe he could not read well.

Massey University researchers James Chapman and Bill Tunman discovered that some children begin doubting their individual abilities by the end of their first year at school. Chapman discusses the concept of self-belief when he states that some 5-year olds actually believe they do not have the brain skills deemed necessary to learn.

As time goes by, this lack of self-belief manifests itself in their minds, transferring to other academic areas. Before too long, this continued negative belief system becomes a habitual way of thinking, which is destined to ensure that significant potential will be limited, or untapped altogether, in the future. What a waste! By the time our young people reach 20 years of age, 95 percent of their belief systems are hard-wired into their thinking processes.

You see, it’s actually perception. Children can perceive they are not good at anything academic, when they think, until they believe, that other children are more clever or brainy than themselves.

Solution While you and I cannot undo negative neuro-pathways in the brain, we can put some effort into creating stronger, positive ones. Here are some simple daily actions that we can take to feed our younger minds with positive self-belief : • Tell them how amazing they are, several times a day, because they are! This feeds their minds positive thoughts and in time, builds confidence.

• Remind them what they have achieved in the past; the message here is that because they have been successful in the past, they can be successful again, perhaps in a different way. This is a great tool for building personal power and resiliency.

• Focus upon what the child can do rather than what they cannot (yet) do. This is an example of energising the will to succeed, and a love for learning.

• Check that the child compares himself to only himself, and not necessarily to others.

This is where human nature’s concept of comparing ourselves with others can destroy one’s self-efficacy.

• Do not accept phrases such as “This is too hard” or “I can’t do it.” The power of the tongue is greater than we may realise, and what we speak is a result of our thoughts.

Reverse these excusing statements with powerful, positive beliefs instead; e.g.: “I can spell all words with ease.”

• Deliver “Why” and “What if” type questions with the response, “How can we find out?” and let them do the thinking; this gives the students empowerment and ownership of their learning.

• Speak positively about our own school experiences.

• Model our own genuine belief in others.

Children will eventually support each other with praise and encouragement.

And if we choose to model the practical strategies above for ourselves, we will probably discover our own self-belief will rise up beyond our expectations as well.

Example: Young Sam excitedly started school. He took his reading book home each night and was praised constantly that he

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KATE SOUTHCOMBE

Hey, it’s my turn now How we can learn to share

As

a keen equestrian, I have become involved with an organisation that is working hard to develop a bridleway system in New Zealand. The concept of bridleways is certainly not new internationally; the UK has a tradition of bridleways that stretches back hundreds of years, but it is a comparatively new initiative to New Zealand. A key stumbling block to success in our country is the notion of multi-use tracks: We simply aren’t that keen to share.

The concept of sharing - something that we teachers spend most days encouraging – seems to cause adults to recoil: We are reluctant to share and frequently try to avoid sharing altogether.

I became more aware of this reluctance to share when I began noticing that horse riders have to negotiate dangerous roads because they weren’t allowed to ride on the paths designated for cyclists. Suddenly my net was open and everywhere I looked I saw examples of people clinging to their precious right to be the sole users of a resource. I must admit; it got me thinking and I pondered on my own reluctance to share. I refuse to share food, for instance.

Teachers Matter

I decided to explore the concept of sharing within the adult world and came up with some startling thoughts that suggest we are in need of a paradigm shift. For example, think about the following and how reluctant you are, or would be, to do the following;

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• Share the road with other non-car vehicles or non-motorized forms of transport • Share council funding • Share sports fields • Share community facilities • Share access ways • Share beach access • Share fishing resources

• Share farmland • Share tables in cafes • Share private property • Share privately owned resources – swimming pools, tennis courts, horse arenas The harsh reality in the adult world is we don’t have the resources or funds to have single-use facilities for all sports or recreational hobbies, and the increasing demand for more is unlikely to be met by local councils. This means we are going to have to learn to share more or we won’t have anything.

Within the classroom how do you foster sharing and is sharing really the right word to use? I struggle with word sharing because it appears loaded with obligation and sufferance, and ultimately guilt that we experience when we are asked to let someone else take our favourite toy and play with it. Why should any child do this?

What moral or basic principle is behind this notion of sharing? Is it pity – you don’t have one so I’ll share mine with you? Or is about equality of outcome, that everyone must get a turn? Our practice reflects our beliefs and values, and therefore, how we approach the concept of sharing and the intent behind the process is worth thinking about. In the process of artificially creating equality of outcome, we may instill feelings of guilt and reluctance to share. The sense of guilt instilled in children to get them to share is a sure fire way to generate belligerence and reluctance, and they may only be obliging when you are around to keep order. This need to supervise children must be carefully balanced with the intention of letting children act independently and thus enabling them to become capable of making their own choices and decisions.

After all, the aim is surely to train a response that doesn’t require constant

supervision, a response that is under the stimulus control of the resource itself in the presence of other children.

I use a behavioural term here to emphasize that we are indeed training children: They don’t magically share things because we ask them to. Stimulus control refers to “the degree of correlation between a stimulus

“ If we train children to behave in a certain way because we want that behaviour to occur without us around, we need to be aware of what controls the behaviour .“

and a subsequent response, according to Martin and Pear. For example the action of putting on a light switch is under the stimulus control of the switch; we don’t try and turn a light on by opening a door.

We see the light switch and if it’s up and we want light, we push it down. So if we train children to behave in a certain way because we want that behaviour to occur without us around, we need to be aware of what controls the behaviour - because it mustn’t be us.

PHOTO: ANATOLIY SAMARA

KATE SOUTHCOMBE

I feel we may be short of the mark when we talk about sharing and perhaps what we are really trying to instill is the concept of empathy, understanding and inclusiveness.

Acknowledging that someone else exists, empathizing that someone would like a turn, and understanding that maybe they might like to join in or be included. What I believe is important is ensuring that children feel connected to those around them, rather than feeling competitive when asked to share resources.

Ideas to encourage sharing • Present role play activities that require the use of limited resources. How can we all get by?

• Discuss with children why certain resources are valuable and desired. Encourage them to think about their “specialness” so that everyone feels connected to or involved with the resources.

If we expect children to share in school, we need to start modeling this behaviour in the public arena or we will continue to breed a sense of obligation and resignation rather than a desire to empathise and share. As adults we need to be seen collaborating when resources appear scarce if we wish to make progress and foster an inclusive approach to the use of resources.

• Feel connected as a group; this can be fostered through individuals talking about their favourite item at the centre/ school. It allows everyone to understand what others value and why.

• Discuss not having access to things. How do they feel when they can’t play with something, can’t use something? This all builds on the concept of empathy and generates an awareness that we all need similar things and feel the same way, we just express it differently.

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DAVID GROENEWALD

Are we spiritually fit enough for the modern age? Four pros

PHOTO: EDITE ARTMANN

look for answers

W Teachers Matter

e’re affluent and educated, but stress, depression and anxiety are on the rise. Could it be that we’re spiritually bereft? Four professionals – Rebecca Cody, Ben Underwood, Dr Richard Yin and I -- are searching for a “cure.” Here are our findings:

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The Teacher I’m Daniel Groenewald, a teacher and runner with an interest in mind-body fitness.

I believe that a troubling contemporary irony is the discontent of educated, affluent people. We’re living in clover. Some of us know this, but many seem unhappy.

Previous generations must turn in their graves realising their sacrifices have led to

such an anti-climax. Our generation has taken for granted a lifestyle they could only dream of.

If spirituality is about the values and meanings that motivate us and fitness is our ability to withstand the demands of daily life, many of us are puffed out. Maybe we need to dispense with that personal trainer or fad diet and get a decent spiritual teacher.

We can learn a lot about training for spiritual fitness from our sporting greats. At a recent talk by former world record marathon holder Rob De Castella, I was stunned to hear just how much he trained. At one point in his life, he had trained 1,000 days in a row.

De Castella made it clear that to become the world’s best or even just very good takes

immense focus, discipline and sacrifice. De Castella attributed his success to the fruits of disciplined training. He never stressed a special athletic gift. Likewise, some of the most visibly content people in the world, such as religious monks, put in their 10,000 hours of mental training – contemplation, prayer, meditation and study.

Although we are not seeking spiritual world records here, the lessons for spiritual fitness are clear. If we want to be more content, we need to train for contentment. Regular, disciplined commitment to mind and body are the bedrock of well-being.

DAVID GROENEWALD

The Principal

The Reverend

Rebecca Cody is the principal of Methodist Ladies’ College, Perth. She says that to be spiritually fit, we have to start by being great role models. As a beginning teacher, she realised that one of the greatest differences between students was their attitude. Initially, she didn’t understand that a critical element of her job was to shape students’ thinking not just about the content, but their approach to learning. With further experience, she appreciated how her own role modelling could set the tone and change the dynamics of a lesson. Once she accepted formal leadership positions, she realised how important it is to focus on optimism and that hope can be liberating.

Ben Underwood is an Anglican minister who runs twice a week. He sees similarities in training for spiritual and physical fitness.

She began to believe that selecting a positive mindset is a choice that could be taught or developed. She still feels energised by the notion that identifying and breaking unhelpful attitudes is fundamental to our capacity to thrive. The challenge is knowing how to ensure this becomes second nature. For her, it’s as simple and as complex as getting enough sleep, eating nutritious food, drinking water regularly and walking.

She also looks at her thoughts. Her switch for improving self-talk is “flip it,” essentially a take on the glass half full, rather than empty. The other vital ingredient for her is breathing deeply; it is as though the inhaling allows space for clearer thinking and the longer you do it, the better the result. Part of this is about making time for reflection: a day lurching from one activity to the next, without adequate sustenance and opportunity for contemplation is a recipe for tired tension and unnecessary grumpiness.

Neither is conducive to learning.

Cody says she often falls off the rails and has to start her regime all over again. When this happens, she remembers St Francis of Assisi and his prayer: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

He notes that the New Testament uses metaphors of an athletic contest or a race to describe the spiritual life. The spiritual life demands a resolve to run hard and to endure the suffering as part and parcel of it. That resolve is focussed on attaining the prize of life with God. “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith”, says the author of Hebrews. “One thing I do,” writes the apostle Paul, “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

As when an athlete trains, suffering has its uses in the spiritual life. Reversals, conflicts, anguishes and burdens serve as the training grounds upon which Underwood articulates and refines his life as an act of trust in God’s promise.

Also, like an athlete, to fix upon a goal is crucial. The disciplines of churchgoing, reading, and meditating on the Bible and prayer are ways to fix upon the promise of God’s grace at the foundation of the spiritual life. Here God builds our spiritual fitness as we remember Jesus’ words: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

The ‘Buddhist’ Doctor Dr Richard Yin is a GP, runner and a meditation teacher. He knows that from a Buddhist perspective, to be spiritually fit requires that we train our minds. If we want to be happy, we need to be free of the daily delusions that make us unhappy. We have to train our minds to perceive our good fortune and our innate capacity for happiness. Like physical training, mind training requires commitment, discipline and enthusiasm borne out of a clear motivation or intent.

We are training ourselves to meet with life in each and every moment, in each and every encounter with interest and compassion.

This is a training that needs a long-term view and that requires humility, a kindness to oneself and patient perseverance.

In practice, the foundation of Buddhist spiritual training begins with meditation. In meditation, we are seeking to let the mind settle and find its home. We stay present and aware of our breath, our bodies, our feelings, our mental states, our thoughts; and we regain sanity from that process - a process often termed mindfulness, just being present to each moment without judgement.

Regular meditation practice like regular exercise builds a foundation of strength, balance and resilience within us with which we can meet with life’s difficulties.

And as a spin-off, it appears from current research that mindfulness might also enhance our immune function, reduce our propensity for colds, prevent relapses for those with depression and help those with chronic pain or the diagnosis of cancer cope with their problems.

Lessons to remember • You can train yourself to be happy.

Take responsibility for quelling your unhappiness; find your feet; and find a way to appreciate life.

• All things are impermanent – your joy, your unhappiness. Don’t cling too desperately to anything.

• We are dependent on others and the natural world; be grateful for those who support you and treat our environment with respect and gratitude.

• Your life is precious; live it with wisdom and compassion.

• Be generous and go the extra mile; don’t be small-minded or make yourself small.

• Not to win is not the same as failing.

Learn to accept apparent failures.

• Be kind to yourself and kind to others.

No one is perfect. Smile. Each person is unique.

• So start today. Get some sleep and eat well.

• Find a reason to be disciplined.

• Express your gratitude.

• Explore your purpose in life and stay true to your values.

• Connect with your community.

• Be grateful for this amazing life.

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PHOTO: CATHY YEULET

ROWENA SZESZERAN-MCEVOY

Does exercise make you happy?

Have you informed your face?

S

o you believe exercise is important for good health, fitness and staying in shape, and you want to inspire other people to do it – so inform your face.

Teachers Matter

I watch people running, biking, walking and jogging and their faces look like they are in agony or feel angry, grumpy or wishing they were somewhere else. I see everything but the “WOW,” happy feelings that exercise should produce and show on your face.

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If you are exercising with the thought “I have to lose weight, or “I have to burn calories,” or “I have to” exercise versus, “ I love to exercise,” it won’t be fun. It will be hard and boring; you won’t enjoy it; and you most likely won’t stick with your exercise program.

Your attitude will determine your outcomes in all areas of your life and especially your attitude towards exercise. Start every exercise session with an attitude of thanks -- thankful you can run or ride a bike or swim; you have arms and legs that work. Think about how superbly the Para Olympians train and compete and they all have challenges they have had to overcome to exercise.

During your exercise session rather than focusing on how hard it is or how soon you want it to be over, here are some suggestions from leading, elite athletes to help them train harder, faster, longer and to keep going even if their body wants to stop: 1. Smile while you are exercising. It creates powerful painkilling endorphins.

2. Think about the outcome and result of exercise; how fit and strong and happy you will feel; how your clothes will fit; how much energy you will have; how much fat you will burn at rest the fitter you are. All of these outcomes will make you smile and smiling produces painkilling endorphins.

3. Visualise and even say your goals out loud as you exercise and focus on how you will feel when you achieve them.See yourself wearing the clothes you will buy, going on holidays, driving your new car, living in your new home, the money you will give to charity, the gifts you can buy for the people you love, and the positive difference you will make in the world.

The picture may make you smile and smiling produces painkilling endorphins.

4. Say positive sayings over in your head: “When the going gets tough, the tough get excited!;” “I am a winner and winners never quit;”and “ I am fit and strong and I never give up!”

When you smile and when you have a positive head space, you will have more energy, you will be producing painkilling endorphins if you need them and when people who don’t like to exercise are watching you, you may inspire them to exercise. If you are smiling, people will think exercise is fun and enjoyable instead of hard and boring and painful -- the impression you give when you exercise with a grumpy face.

If you are in a sporting event or a fun run, run with a smile on your face and thank the people who are out cheering you on.

Running past them with a grumpy look on you face makes you look arrogant. It is rude and it does not inspire people to exercise. Remember, your smile will help you exercise better.

PHOTO: DUSAN KOSTIC

ROWENA SZESZERAN-MCEVOY

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JENNY BARRETT

Today’s listening stations Technology opens up the possibilities

T

echnology has made listening centres more welcoming for teachers and students, and you can always discover new ideas to add to your usual listening post activities:

Do it Yourself with an MP3 Player / iPod Touch / Tablet If you have access to an MP3 player, a headphone splitter and mini headphones, you can construct a listening station.

You can download stories onto the MP3 player from a computer and show one child from each reading group to use the MP3. They can take it in turns to peer teach another member of their group so that everybody is able to use it.

If you do not have books in digital format, you can record readers and big books using GarageBand (Mac) or Audacity (PC) and save them as an MP3 file. Then you can share it into iTunes and transfer it to your MP3 player.

Teachers Matter

There are other advantages to using iTunes to manage your audio files. The first is variety. iTunes makes it possible for you to add podcasts or apps to your listening centre activities. Secondly, differentiation; you can easily create a playlist in iTunes, with different playlists for different levels, groups or even individuals. Thirdly, navigation; to make it easier for your students to navigate, you can import pictures to illustrate the audio file into iTunes from Amazon.

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The really great thing about the MP3 player-style listening station is the mobility.

Children can even sit outside under a tree and listen. However, if you don’t have access to any mobile devices, you could still use the headphone splitter, mini headphones and even iTunes on an old desktop. You can then at least go to town decorating the area around your listening station!

Listening activities for your MP3 Players / tablets • The basic one: Students listen to various stories and complete tasks. There are many free story podcasts available from the iTunes store. Some good ones include Storynory [https://itunes.apple.com/ us/podcast/storynory-stories-for-kids/ id94571049] and The Story Home [https:// itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-storyhome-childrens-audio/id270352658].

• Students listen to story apps – you can find apps here http://www.apple.com/ nz/education/apps/, at google play and recommendations here http://www.iear.org/ • Students watch How-to videos from www. howcast.com and follow the instructions to complete a task such as how to make sushi.

• Students listen to songs or poems and sequence cards containing the lyrics to the song or words to the poem.

• Students listen to a recording of instructions or clues to solve a problem or complete a treasure hunt.

• Students watch short videos from YouTube and again complete a set of response activities.

• Students can also record their own versions of all of the above to create material for other students.

Better quality headphones: an Infrared Wireless Headset Kit With headphones you do get what you pay for. There is nothing more frustrating than a buzz, crackle or hiss. If you are thinking of using a device with a USB port, you may want to invest in something like these wireless infrared headsets (pictured). You simply plug in a “dongle” and it wirelessly transmits

the audio via infrared to each headset. The kit includes good-quality headsets with a volume control on each headset so a student can set it at a comfortable level. It also means that the group of students can move away from the computer (and each other!) to sit in bean bags or lie on the floor to undertake their listening, so long as the headsets are within line of sight of the “dongle.” The kit requires no software installation and will transmit the audio of whatever is playing on the computer, be it audio books or YouTube videos.

Differentiated listening activities If you have access to a number of MP3 players, tablets or netbooks, differentiated listening is possible by downloading different files onto the MP3 player or by setting up different folders or playlists in iTunes on the tablets and netbooks. This is perhaps not so easy to manage with juniors and can be time consuming. There are other options available. Easi-Ears is one such set up (pictured). The teacher installs some software on their laptop that enables them to drag audio files onto one or more of six wireless headset units that sync via a base unit. The base unit is also an MP3 recorder so you and your students can use it to record audio and sync this to the headsets as well, so maybe you can create different instructions for each student to accompany the same audio book.

The headsets are all different colours so that each student can identify their headset. They can then control their own audio, repeating, pausing and moving to the next track to meet their own needs using the controls on the side of the headset. A remote control unit enables a teacher to intervene as required, cut in and broadcast announcements and

JENNY BARRETT

instructions. And best of all for the littlies, the headset will start to play as soon as you put it on and pause for up to 20 minutes if they are removed.

Ideas for differentiated or independent listening activities: Each student listens to a different piece of music to inspire story writing, model making or painting pictures and then you can compare or try and match the output with the stimulus.

Each student records their own information for a nature trail or a short journey. The students can swap the headsets and listen to the different versions and compare.

Total empowerment â&#x20AC;&#x201C; each student can decide what story they want to listen to, or what skill they want to learn.

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Summer Menu

KAREN TOBICH

Salmon with Yoghurt Topping & Herb salsa Prawns with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes & Fennel Strawberry Cheese Cake Pockets

Light and Fresh A sweet summer dinner

As always, the sea provides us with healthy options that look good on the plate and later on your body. Here I have recipes with sweet, light flavours that won’t weigh us down. You will feel satisfied and guilt-free, enough so, that you’ll look forward to treating yourself to an ever-so-slightly indulgent dessert.

Prawns with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes & Fennel Serves 6

Teachers Matter

Ingredients 2 punnets of cherry tomatoes 2 tablespoons of of lemon thyme leaves salt and freshly ground pepper 5 tablespoons quality olive oil 1 medium sized fennel bulb finely sliced 1/3 cup lemon or lime juice 1 tablespoon chopped dill 24 medium prawns peeled 1 chili finely chopped 3 cloves garlic crushed thumb size fresh ginger grated

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Peparation Season tomatoes with salt, pepper and thyme leaves. Place tomatoes closely together on an oven tray and drizzle with olive oil. Roast at 180 degrees for 5-10minutes and put aside.

Shave or thinly slice fennel. Add some olive oil, lemon juice and the dill.

Cook the prawns in olive oil in a hot pan, add garlic, ginger and chili and season with salt and pepper. Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. To plate, place the tomatoes in the middle of the plate, top with fennel and then with the prawns.

Strawberry Cheese Cake Pockets Serves 4 Ingredients Two sheets of sweet short crust pastry 200 g cream cheese 1 punnet of small sized strawberries, cut into quarters one egg yolk beaten Peparation Cut out 4 rounds of pastry out of each Sheet, about 10cm diameter. Place a tablespoon of cream cheese in the centre of 4 of the pastry rounds, top with strawberries, making sure to leave an edge of about 1 cm. Cover each strawberry topped pastry round with another pastry round, press edges together and brush with egg yolk. Poke a whole into the centre of each pocket and bake at 180 until golden brown.

Yummm!

KAREN TOBICH

Salmon with Yoghurt Topping & Herb Salsa Serves 6 Ingredients 1 kg Side of Fresh salmon (pin bones removed) Salt and Pepper Olive Oil (I used a fennel and lemon infused oil) Yoghurt Topping 250ml natural thick greek yogurt 1/4 cup of sesame seeds toasted and finely ground 1 clove garlic crushed Juice of one lemon 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper Herb Salsa 60 g macadamia nuts toasted and finely chopped 1 cup of fresh coriander leaves chopped ¼ cup fresh mint leaves ¼ cup dill leaves 1 medium red onion finely diced 1 long mild red chili seeded and finely diced ½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest 60 ml extra virgin olive Oil

Peparation Season the salmon with salt, ground pepper and a splash of olive oil.

Wrap in tin foil, skin down, place onto baking tray and bake for 2530 min at 150. The salmon should be medium rare. Remove from oven and leave to rest for at least an hour.

To make the salsa, chop up the coriander, mint and dill roughly. Add the macadamias, red onion, chili, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest and season with salt and pepper.

Toast the sesame seed and grind with a mortar or with a blender into a rough paste, add garlic, lemon juice yoghurt and pepper and combine well.

To serve the salmon, cover the exposed surface with the yogurt topping and cover thickly with the Herb Salsa. Serve at room temperature with some crusty bread or some boiled baby potatoes.

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A. I don’t know, but it’s great at chasing submarines Q. Why are mad scientists fun to be around?

A. Sooner or later they’ll have you in stitches

$%20,1$%/( -2.(6 Q. Why is the Abominable Snowman popular at parties?

A. He’s good at breaking the ice

Q. What do you get if you cross a yeti with a kangaroo?

A. A fur coat with huge pockets Q. What do you call a big hairy, smelly baker?

A. The Abominable Doughman

Teachers Matter

Q. What do you get if you cross Bigfoot with an elephant?

A. A jumbo yeti

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Q. What do you get if you cross a yeti with some hens?

A. Hima-layers Q. What’s worse than a vampire with toothache?

A. Bigfoot with ingrowing toenails

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Tom: Do you think I’d make a good plumber?

Careers Advisor: Maybe, but you might find the work too draining

Careers Advisor: What would you like to be when you grow up?

Ryan: I want to be a lumberjack Careers Advisor: Hmm, do you really think you can hack it?

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2 71

TERRY SHEFFIELD

Random acts of kindness A pro-active behaviour management intervention

B

uilding your classroom into a positive, productive learning environment is usually the aim of every classroom teacher. However, it is often difficult to think of positive strategies that will lead to building that initial class cohesiveness and, in so doing, creating a relational environment.

The act of doing good makes people feel good. This small intervention will help. It allows all students to feel and experience what it is like to give and receive positive feedback. An important outcome is to encourage positive speak as part of “normal behaviour.” In this way we are promoting a “safe environment” and setting values of tolerance and acceptance of each other and the way we speak. In practice, it includes the teacher as a role model, giving the students real examples of productive and expected behaviours.

The follow on from this is that classroom relationships improve, and there is much research available to support the notion that successful classrooms are those in which relationships are strong. Even more important, if the teacher is a model of behaviour and a collaborative part of the process, it is increasingly likely that behaviour compliance is more probable.

A technique you can try:

Teachers Matter

Duration: up to two weeks, perhaps twice a year.

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Process: students performing a Random Act of Kindness for a fellow student. In this intervention the teacher is a collaborative part of the process and activity.

1. At the beginning of the each day staff and students draw a name from the class list. a. One student will get the teacher’s name each day.

2. E a c h p e r s o n n e e d s t o p e r f o r m a n anonymous random act of kindness for their chosen individual by 1.30 p.m. a. Usually give a small gift such as a certificate i. Write a note relating to an aspect of their behaviour, work, etc. ii. An ‘apple for the teacher’ Teachers might like to prepare a special card for student use. A sample is included here, and could also be modified to include a school logo, or specific “value” the teacher wants to establish.

• You are a good thinker and . . .

• You don’t get into fights. I think that is . . . because . . .

• You speak nicely to . . . or . . . I like the way you spoke to . . .

This list can act as a starter for a class discussion about comments that can/could be made.

Expectations/Responsibilities: In establishing the parameters, teachers need to ensure that students are clear to: 1. Only to write something nice about the person whose name they have been given (they can disguise their writing); 2. Be specific with their statements; and

Name: received this card because:

3. Deliver the card in secret early today (before lunch ends) .

Random Act of Kindness Card b. More enterprising students may be able to perform a little task that the receiving student can notice e.g. include them in a game, sharpen all their pencils, tidy or clean up an area for them, perform ‘their’ monitor’s task, etc.

Sample Statements for notes: • I like the way you . . .

• I think you are . . .

• It makes me feel good when I see you . . .

• I feel happy when you . . .

Positivity: The challenge for all students, regardless of whom they have randomly drawn is to be positive both: • About the person they have drawn;

• About the behaviour they have identified and commented on.

It is important that this point is made and respected by all participants: only positive statements/activities about positive behaviours/activities can be made/ performed. Students are to avoid sarcasm.

Student Diary: Teachers may like to have students record the comments and activities they have been involved with in some form.

This could occur perhaps first thing after lunch when the task has been completed or at the end of the day as a summary before

TERRY SHEFFIELD

“ An important outcome is to encourage positive speak as part of ‘normal behaviour.’”

home time. Students could also record how they felt about what was done for/said about them on a summary sheet which is to be collected by the teacher at week’s end.

comments for placing in the classroom.

(Making certain each child has an anonymous comment, this encourages them to search for their contribution).

The process of talking, reading and writing provides additional multiple stimuli for students, supplementing the act of doing good, encouraging greater uptake of the values and strategies being encouraged.

• Have students write their favourite comment received on a strip of cardboard or art paper for placing in the display.

Class feedback and feed forward (on Friday): Teachers may like to focus the class through discussion, congratulate the class on their success, and can also: • Collect all the summary sheets at the end of the week to create a display of positive

• Have students write their favourite comment given on a strip of cardboard or art paper for placing in the display.

• C o mp are the “f av o urite c o mments given” list with the “favourite comments received” list. It can highlight what differences there are in people’s thinking. i.e. comments might be expected in both lists, but not always seen in both. Talking about why is interesting.

The display creates an additional source of reference and allows those of us who have a preference for visual learning the time to orient ourselves and to think about what is happening. Displays also provide teacher reference points going forward.

Keeping the focus for the second week: If choosing to have two consecutive weeks, it may be possible to challenge the students to identify the teacher’s comment in the first week display. They could either: • Vote as a class on the second Friday to see if they can identify the teacher’s comments.

• Have a competition type activity over a day or so to see who can identify the most correct teacher statements.

A sample weekly recording sheet

Random Acts Of Kindness Summary Sheet Date: Week beginning Instructions: Record the comment/activity received and then make a statement about how you feel.

You can write the same feeling each day if necessary.

Monday:

Comment/activity: When people are nice to me I feel

Tuesday:

Comment/activity: When people are nice to me I feel

Wednesday: Comment/activity: When people are nice to me I feel Thursday:

Comment/activity: When people are nice to me I feel

Friday:

Comment/activity: When people are nice to me I feel

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TONI POWELL

Three reasons why gratitude is the wonder drug Practicing thankfulness

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here was a time in my life when I was drowning in a sea of anger, bitterness and depression. I thought I had lost everything. Even prior to this season of slowly sinking I was ever the critic, often the cynic, and always the serial complainer. In my eyes, pretty much everything could do with improvement.

Then along came gratitude, something I had dismissed as belonging to the world of those who were overly optimistic, or happily deluded morons, or those not willing to face the harsh realities of life. Even the word conjured up for me surface smiles, flowers, sunshine – silly girly stuff that made me want to throw up.

Now I have to confess to more frequent optimism. Now I confess to sometimes smelling roses and regularly basking in sunshine. Now I smile more often and, just now and then, even float on a sea of wonder. Have I lost my marbles or am I avoiding the truth?

No… I just discovered that the reality of life is that no matter the difficulty good things still abound and that if I look for them I will find them.

Teachers Matter

The six words “You find what you look for” have turned my life upside down. It sounds so ridiculously simple and turns out to be so very true.

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Gratitude changed my perspective and taught me how to search for better things.

The effects of this easy practice surprised me so much that I began researching gratitude.

I was delighted to find that everything I discovered confirmed and explained my own positive experiences.

So here are just three reasons why I call gratitude the Wonder Drug: Gratitude teaches us to enjoy what we have.

If we look around it is pretty obvious that the pursuit of materialism did not bring with it the increase in happiness we once thought it might.

As George Carlin so brilliantly put it: “Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over your body.”

Yet still we fall for all the advertising and media and rush off to buy the next iPhone as soon as it comes out. Meanwhile our previous iPhone is still perfectly wonderful and packed with functions we haven’t even worked out how to use.

Sadly, we have become the society of the chronically discontent and no matter how much we buy, the buzz wears off quickly and we begin, yet again, the search for the next thing we “need.”

Gratitude brings into sharp focus the things we already have, giving us opportunity to actually enjoy them. It also blurs out the mountain of things we have become convinced that we lack. This revolutionary and life-giving view helps relieve the constant craving for more.

Gratitude makes us healthier.

Negative emotions and a pessimistic outlook take their toll on our health in a variety of ways. Adopting a more grateful attitude leads us to greater optimism and all the associated health benefits that optimism provides.

TONI POWELL

An ever-growing pile of scientific research is showing clear links between good health and positive attitudes. Nobel Prize winner (medicine) Elizabeth Blackburn’s work on telomeres indicates that those who are pessimistic age around 20 percent faster than optimists.

Gratitude reduces depression.

My extended depression was fuelled by my obsession with my own pain, shortcomings, and failures. When I began to look at all the good things in my life and take time to thank others for them my depression just disappeared naturally. I know I am not alone in experiencing this outcome after consistent gratitude practice.

Our brains default to the most used pathways – anything else requires more energy and human brains run on the energy of a fridge light and don’t enjoy being overtaxed.

Gratitude practice creates neural pathways that are much more positive.

As positive pathways become habitual, it becomes more effort, and so less likely, for our brains to obsess over negatives.

Smiling and laughing, frequent byproducts of gratitude, release all sorts of happy chemicals into the brain helping people to feel better. The very nature of true gratitude is other oriented and I find this ‘other orientation’ to be very helpful if I start to slide into my self-obsessions.

Gratitude practice has also taught me the value of kindness and this is my sure fire depression buster. If I start to feel a little blue, I go out and do a series of random acts of kindness – works every time.

There are many more reason gratitude is a life changer and I will let you discover them for yourself. It is easy and it is free.

I leave you with three very simple ways to practice gratitude: When you start to feel angry, scared or stressed: Stop! Take a deep breath and think about something that is wonder ful, something you have not taken notice of and appreciate that something.

This might be: your legs that work, the ability to hear, the fact you have friends.

Pay close attention to this area of your life for a minute or two.

Communicate your thanks in as many ways as you can. I like the discipline and effect of writing daily thank you notes.

Write down at least three things a day that you can be grateful for. Doing this prior to sleep is very calming.

You will find a much more comprehensive month long program you can try on my website: www.30daygratitudechallenge. com

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BARBARA GRIFFITH & TRICIA KENYON

Wooden Arms Author: Sarah Johnson Illustrator: Scott Tulloch 3XEOLVKHU 6FKRODVWLF ,6%1

As time passes Learning about change Picture books often have more depth of learning and teaching than first meets the eyes.

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his simple but sophisticated story follows the story of a small hall built many years ago in New Zealand by a man and a woman. It was warm and welcoming, with walls that folded all the way round like wooden arms. During its life, the hall is a meeting place,houses a church, a shoemaker, a doctor, a dressmaker, a dance studio and finally becomes a meeting place for people who had travelled to New Zealand from countries far away.It tells how the well-used, comfortable building envelopes the hopes and dreams, chatter and singing, work and dance of all those who use it.

Teachers Matter

The concepts of population growth, and change with a multicultural flavour, are presented in a simple way for children to follow.The hall starts its life in the bush and is slowly overshadowed by the city that grows around it as the years pass.The increasing diversity of the nationalities of the halls users are shown by using different greetings, from â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Haere maiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Huan yingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Wooden Armsâ&#x20AC;? was the winner of the 2011 Joy Cowley Award and is Raglan writer Sarah Johnsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first picture book.

The illustrations are large and colourful and clearly depict the change in the city and the people living there.

Activities 1. Timeline of hall usage.

Using the illustrations, identify the uses of the hall over the years and the changing environment surrounding it For example:

Used as:

Gathering place

Hall

Surrounded by:

Bush and trees

Clearing in bush with views of settlement and boats

2. Title This title does not lend itself to using predication from the title. How would you introduce this book?

Questions for students after reading the book. â&#x20AC;˘ Is this an appropriate title for this book? Why? â&#x20AC;˘ Can you think of an alternative title for this book? Why did you choose that title and how would it help me to know what the book is about? â&#x20AC;˘ Can you think of another way to introduce other children to this book so they will understand what is meant by the title and why the author used that particular title.

BARBARA GRIFFITH & TRICIA KENYON

3. Urbanisation.

There are clues in the illustrations that show that the changes that urbanisation bring, identify these clues. (some examples have been added)

Meeting house Hall Church

Two storied hotel,

Cobbler

Shoe style, clothing-top hat, horse and cart,

Doctor Dressmaker Dance school Derelict building

Man’s mobile phone, TV aerials,

Multicultural gathering place

Green rubbish bins, satellite dishes,

4. Vocabulary Repetition is used well – ‘a little bit squat and swayed’ and its variations, along with similes and metaphors, active verbs and descriptive phrases, always telling of happy occasions.

Locate examples of the following in the text; Similes eg: • When it rained, the drops on the roof were like the sing song of mother’s rocking their babies to sleep.

• The tin roof thrummed and plinked in the rain, chiming in with the hymns that the people gathered to sing on stormy days.

Descriptive vocab eg: • Speckled of light that dusted the air and the floor, • ….the sun lay across the land like a hot cloak.

• The children flew from one to the other like birds.

Active verbs eg: •

Clanked, heaved, bustle, chorused,

Words of welcome • Identify, record and locate place of origin of those in the book.

• 5HVHDUFK WR ¿QG µZHOFRPH¶ IURP RWKHU ODQJXDJHV DQG FXOWXUHV • Make a large poster for use in welcoming people into your room.

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WENDY SWEET

Why communities should encourage fitness

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Teachers Matter

ast year, the Lancet medical journal released reports on physical activity in time for the Olympic Games.

The reports provided a timely reminder that although much of the world might be watching elite athletes perform at the highest level, the reality is that physical inactivity continues to be a substantial concern. We need communities to focus on getting more younger people more a c t i v e m o r e o f t e n . Wi t h s c h o o l s a n d teachers at the heart of the community, the World Health Organisation is now urging education authorities to implement policies that support high-quality physical education, encourage and support active travel to school and provide opportunities for physical activity during and after the

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school day as well as implement “healthy school environments.”

Whilst much of this advice is targeted at a global level, the messages remain pertinent to New Zealand. The first national survey of physical activity, sedentary behaviours and dietary habits in 5 to 24 year olds was released by the Ministry of Health in 2010.

Key findings from the survey were that not unsurprisingly, physical activity declined markedly with age. Overall two-thirds of children and young people met the National Guidelines for physical activity (60 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity per day for 5-18 year-olds, 30 minutes or more of moderate intensity physical activity on five or more days of the week) however, only 15 percent of the

20 -24 24 year olds met the adult guidelines of 30 minutes per day. In a country where obesity is on the increase (New Zealand is only second to the United States for obesity levels), the fact that people become less active as they age is therefore concerning.

Health researchers and promoters are now focussed on a variety of physical activity i n t e r v e n t i o n s i n cluding encouraging children and youth into skill-based physical activity, recreation and sports at an earlier age. This is because a number of physical activity behaviour studies have shown

PHOTO: JACEK CHABRASZEWSKI

Get moving

“ Younger people today are interested in much more variety of sports and activities than previously thought”

WENDY SWEET

encouraging results for adult and older adult re-uptake of physical activity when it was found that positive early life experiences greatly influenced their participation in physical activity later in life.

Early (primary school and earlier) participation in movement skills, sports and other forms of physical activity is now known to have a huge influence on one’s ‘self-efficacy’ (confidence) to remain positive about activity throughout one’s life-course and this perspective is gaining momentum in more recent physical activity research. The recent release (October, 2012) of the report on ‘Sport and recreation in the lives of young New Zealanders’ by Sport NZ (formerly SPARC) has therefore been timely.

This survey was unprecedented in New Zealand as it was the first time groups of school aged children (over 500 young people of all ages participated in the survey) from different socio-economic backgrounds and ethnicities were asked about how sport and recreation fits into their lives and what it means to them. Whilst the full report is on Sport New Zealand’s website, I would like to highlight some important findings in this article, so that teachers may be better informed and encouraged to keep kids motivated with participating in school-based physical activities, including school sports.

One of the main considerations from this report was that younger people today are interested in much more variety of sports and activities than previously thought.

Sport New Zealand realise this as a critical perspective moving for wards towards their goal of more young people engaging in more sport and recreation and have targeted this as an objective for Sports Trusts to measure throughout the country. The influence of education providers was also noted in the report: “It is clear that schools are central to sport and recreation provision for many young people. Schools and teachers make a valuable contribution to young people’s sport and recreation, and we are keen to share the survey results and discuss the implications with the education sector. We also acknowledge and value the significant contribution clubs and their many volunteers make to young people’s sport”.

Results showed that schools play an important role in providing sporting opportunities for young people: • Half of both boys and girls interviewed belonged to a school sports team • For older students (10 to 18-year-olds) schools play a key role; participation rates for most sports/activities were higher in the school setting (i.e. for sports/ activities organised by schools outside of class time) than with clubs • Most 10- to 18-year-olds had taken part in one or more sport and recreation activities organised by their school.

The results also highlighted the role of informal and “playful” activity in the lives of younger New Zealanders and whilst interest (both participation and spectator) was still high for the ‘traditional’ sports in New Zealand, team sports, like basketball, hockey, touch and volleyball, as well as sports like badminton and tennis, also featured in young people’s top 10 sports/activities and/or in their “want to try/do more of” lists. Not surprisingly and supporting overseas research, participation dropped off in the teenage years, particularly for girls. Teenagers have many demands competing for their time at school, at home and within their communities, so how to keep teens involved and participating to meaningful physical activity is identified as a future challenge.

Another challenge that the report noted was how to engage some young people from different ethnic backgrounds, particularly Asian girls and boys, who are a growing part of our population and who have the lowest participation rates for sport, recreation and physical activity.

Active recreation and sport played in informal settings also emerged as a key part of young New Zealanders’ sporting lives.

Young people of all ages reported that they take part in activities like running/ jogging/cross-countr y, cycling/biking, walking (for fitness) and tramping. The report also highlighted that in terms of participation, rates for almost all sports/ activities were highest when young people are “mucking around” with friends, families or on their own. Participation

was found to be higher for boys than for girls so this provides some challenges in terms of how to better engage girls of all ethnicities, especially as they reach their mid-teens. Finally, the results indicated that young people spend less time on organised sport than was expected. In 2009, Sport NZ (SPARC) set a measure of “80 percent of school-aged children participating in organised sport for at least 3 hours a week”. This measure was established from other studies completed overseas. From this current survey, 7 to 14-year-olds are not far off the measure with six to seven out of 10 young people in this age group taking part in three or more hours of organised sport a week. For those in the older age group, however, Sport NZ signals that there is still some way to go.

Among 15 to 18-year-olds, only five out of 10 boys and four out of 10 girls reached the measure.

Sport New Zealand concede that there are still a number of challenges in trying to get more younger people more active especially in tackling drop-out rates. By and large though, they are heartened that younger New Zealanders enjoy their sports and looking forward, there is an acknowledgement that informal sport and playful activities are significant contributors to the sporting lives of young New Zealanders. Sport New Zealand have made a recommendation that they will continue to encourage the education sector to provide more organised sport and recreation opportunities in schools as well as keep developing clubs and strengthening the links between clubs and schools, although Sport NZ acknowledge that they also need to further their understanding about sports that fall outside the traditional club structure. The full report is available from www.sportnz.org.nz, and I encourage teachers (especially PE teachers) to read it.

It has a wealth of information and provides particularly relevant information for those teachers who may want to increase their understanding of how sport, recreation and physical activity are interpreted and actioned in young New Zealanders.

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THELMA VAN DER WERFF

How to understand your students Take a look at the colours they choose

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ight enters our eyes and goes to the centre of our brain, to the hypothalamus. This small organ is the so called CEO of the brain and every colour or frequency of light gives the hypothalamus a different signal, which in turn passes the message to other parts of the body.

Every colour has different properties and stimulates different emotions. Colour is like an anchor and as soon as you understand the emotion and message behind a colour, you can use this information to trigger your subconscious belief and make it conscious.

Only if you are aware of your subconscious behaviour and choices, can you change these.

It is known that these frequencies or wavelengths of radar, microwaves, infrared, ultraviolet and x-rays can have an effect on you. The frequencies of light or colour affect you as well because you “see” colours with you brain, via the eyes and you absorb light and colour through your skin.

The Power of Colour

Teachers Matter

How would you feel if you were able to tap into the subtle but phenomenal power of colour to influence emotions and behaviour and also help you interpret and understand your student’s current emotional status; their strengths and weaknesses?

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The Colour Comfort Method explains and interprets the impact Colour has on our daily lives. It is an incredibly valuable and fascinating subject to get an understanding of, as Colour affects each one of us every day in many different ways. There is so much more to colour than meets the eye.

Whether you choose to or not, your colour choices affect your mood and emotions and can reveal a lot about you. It also affects how others around you feel about you and how they assess and respond to you.

By learning to speak and understand the Language of Colour, you can pro-actively shift and influence your emotions and thought patterns.

Did you know that colour can: • Help you to experience healthier relationships • Get insight into yourself and others • Support your creativity • Help you to experience inner calm and confidence • Identify your strengths and talents • Support you to overcome emotional obstacles • Help you to achieve your goals

If you can interpret, understand and speak the language of colour, you will open the door to a deeper understanding of not only yourself but also your students.

The language of colour can reveal many aspects like: • a person’s personality with it’s strengths and challenges • the path the person has travelled through life and how they have become who they are today • which aspects of their personality are being hidden or underutilized • which aspects of their personality are detrimental to them • conditioning and upbringing that has created unwanted behaviour or negative characteristics • how to change their subconscious belief into desired outcomes

THELMA VAN DER WERFF

As teachers you can get information about your students by asking them to reveal their favourite colour or a colour they just don’t like. Children often cannot or will not express their emotions, but by using the language of colour in a simple way the teacher can get information about the student’s strengths and struggles. They can also ask the student to give this day a colour and then they would know how the student is feeling at a certain point in time or which colour relates to their dreams and aspirations.

I have written my latest book called How to understand children through the colours they choose, to help parents and teachers understand and interpret the language of colour and the amazing effect colour choices have on our children. The most common and easiest way to make use of the language of colour is through clothing; I am not talking about school uniforms, but t-shirts, tops and polo-shirts they wear. In this e-book we have focussed on this as it is the area that can be most easily changed and is also the area that is always visible.

I also explain what the colours your ch i l d r e n c h o o s e t o w e a r a r e s a y i n g about them as well as explain what it means when some colours are missing a l t o g e t h e r. I t a l s o c o v e r s t h e e f f e c t overuse of a colour can have, or what it means when there is a strong dislike of a particular colour. This gives you a non invasive and natural way to “hear” what your students are saying through the language of colour. Not only will you be able to “hear” what they are saying through their colour choices but you will be able to talk about these emotions and give suggestions as to which colours can help them to experience more balance.

PHOTO: EDYTA LINEK

In this book I interpret the meaning of every colour in detail and the characteristics and traits of each colour will become obvious as you read through each of them.

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STEVE FRANCIS

10 tips for reducing stress and improving satisfaction

1

Taking care of yourself

As

a teacher I am often envious of painters, tilers and especially carpet layers. At the end of their day, they can look back and clearly see what they have achieved. Whilst they often start early in the day (like staff in schools), by the end of their day they can see the immediate impact of their work (unlike staff in schools on many days).

The walls are painted, the bathroom is newly tiled or bedrooms carpeted. All to the delight of their happy customer.

Wo r k i n g i n s c h o o l s i s n o t t h e s a m e .

Whilst we have taught lessons, marked student work, assisted students, managed behaviour, applied consequences, bandaged scrapes, put ice on bruises and handled queries from parents, much of our work is not visible for years.

Teaching can be rewarding and demanding, too. Research shows that the average classroom teacher will make more than 1,500 educational decisions every school day. In an average six-hour school day, that’s more than four decisions every minute. It is no wonder we feel overwhelmed.

Teachers Matter

However, despite the circumstances being the same, some staff are less stressed than others by events and situations that occur.

Your attitude and thought processes are key factors.

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We have choices in how we interpret other people’s behaviour. Based on the behaviour we observe, we make presumptions about their intentions. We jump to conclusions about why they are behaving in that way. By being more optimistic in our presumptions and giving people the benefit of the doubt, we lower our “fight” responses and our stress level.

At the end of the term and particularly at the end of the school year, we tend to be less patient. Small things that wouldn’t normally be an issue can frustrate us and draw more attention than is needed. At these times we can over-react and blow things out of proportion. A useful question to ask ourselves can be, “Will this matter a year from now?”

If we lose sight of the bigger picture and only notice negative aspects of our situation, we can end up running around in a panic, trying to solve problems and put out bush fires. Because everything seems like a big deal we end up rushing around from one drama to the next. This creates both a mindset and a habit that hinders rather than helps us. As author Richard Carlson advises in his best selling book, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and it’s all small stuff”.

It is important to be aware of when our reserves are low and that our thinking may be blowing issues out of proportion. We need to be aware of what Carlson describes as the Snowball Effect of Our Thinking.

One thought leads to another and yet another, until at some point we can become incredibly agitated.

By catching ourselves blowing things out of proportion, we are able to respond with more ease to the challenges that inevitably come our way. Problems that we thought were insurmountable become more manageable. Here are ways to help yourself throughout the year:

Choose a positive attitude Our attitude has a huge impact on our stress levels and our effectiveness each day. It is vital to realise that our attitude is not imposed on us. We can choose to be positive and enthusiastic or negative and at the mercy of others. The choice is ours. The attitude that we choose to have is probably the most important decision that we make each day.

On tough days, when things just don’t seem to be going our way, it is more challenging to be optimistic. The day the car breaks down and the photocopier jams is more than likely the same day that the “parent from hell” will confront us about problems their child is experiencing. We can see ourselves as a victim or accept that some days are ‘diamonds’ and others aren’t. Taking the attitude that this day is sent to try us and that there are lessons to be learnt helps us to rise above the challenges.

2

Monitor your self-talk That little voice inside our heads has a powerful impact on our attitude. We can certainly be our harshest critic. It is important to monitor our self-talk and watch that we are being fair and reasonable on ourselves. Be on the lookout for self-talk where you beat yourself up about what you haven’t done today. Try to instead focus on what you have achieved.

Only worr y about things you can control Worrying about things that are beyond our control is a waste of both time and energy.

“Will my principal leave? What will the new principal be like? What if my budget is cut next year? What will next year’s timetable be? What if the government changes and they change education policy?”

3

Only worr y about the things you can control.

STEVE FRANCIS

4 7 5 810 6 9

Forgive and move on Holding on to resentment is also a waste of energy. At times we are hurt by the actions or behaviours of others. People disappoint us at times and let us down. Holding a grudge and animosity to others eats away at us and consumes energy. That energy could be better used investing in positive relationships with people who matter in our lives.

Show gratitude Recognising and acknowledging the good things that exist in your world is helpful in keeping perspective. We have much to be appreciative for – freedom, choices, abundance of food, friends and a job that has the potential to make a difference in the lives of others.

a large part of our lives. If you genuinely aren’t getting satisfaction from your work, it may be time for significant changes.

Look after yourself Your physical well-being has a direct connection with your stress level and mental attitude. Schools are invariably busy places.

Many people rely on us. It is therefore vital that we look after our own well-being. It is vital that in times of stress we make time for physical activity, eating well, drinking two litres of water each day and getting the sleep our body needs. These areas need to be priorities - especially when we are busy.

Many people compare their lives with the lives of people who seem to have it all. There will always be people who have “more” than us – nicer cars, bigger houses, more extravagant holidays, better clothes, etc. This envy leads to unhappiness and resentment. It is far more helpful to appreciate the multitude of things that you have than covert the things you wish for.

Make exercise a habit Physical exercise is one of the most effective stress management strategies. However often one of the first things that we stop doing when we get busy is exercising.

Making exercise a regular part of our schedule is important and needs to remain a priority, especially when we get busy and are therefore even more susceptible to stress.

At times of stress it is vital to keep exercising.

Walk the dog, go to the gym, jog, ride a bike, dance, whatever works for you! It takes three weeks to change a habit.

Aim for work-life satisfaction For most people the term “balance” immediately brings to mind thoughts of balance scales. Many people visualise our work commitments on one side of the scales and the commitments in the other aspects of our lives on the other side. We seem to constantly add more tasks to the work side and feel guilty that we need to create more time and space for the life side to regain “balance.” This guilt creates tension and stress.

Develop and stick to Golden Rules for your family It is important to have developed some “Golden Rules” to ensure that your priorities are protected. Examples of golden rules include leaving school by 4 p.m. on at least one day each week, eating family meals at the table three times per week, tur ning off the mobile phone during meals and only checking work email for 30 minutes per evening. What are your family’s golden rules?

Avoid Deferred Happiness Syndrome (DHS) Many people suffer from DHS. “I’ll be happy when the kids leave home...the mortgage is paid off....I’m on long service....when the holidays are here!” Instead of putting off your happiness until some later time, plan a list of things that you want to do in your life-time. Don’t wait for a life-crisis before writing your “bucket list.”

Rather than focusing on ‘balance’ we should focus on gaining satisfaction from both our work and the rest of our lives. If you aren’t getting satisfaction from your work it is worth serious reflection. Life is not a dress rehearsal - this is the real thing. Work is

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THE LAST WORD: KAREN BOYES

A look back and ahead The lessons we’ve learned

As

I reflect on 20 issues of the Teachers Matter magazine, I am eternally grateful for the creative team behind the scenes, the wonderful contributors, the awesome articles and how much I have learned as a result. Issue after issue there is one topic that plays on my mind: Why are so many teachers not learners? Where has the passion gone to learn and try new ideas out, alter practice and improve skills?

Is it a case of the administration side being so overwhelming? Yet, I see teachers who cope admirably with this added pressure. Is it the plumber with the leaky tap syndrome? Spending too much time working with others and not remembering to work on ourselves? Is it poor-quality professional development, or in some schools, no professional development that has turned teachers off learning?

Learning is our core business, and as teachers it is important that we are a model for what we teach. Would you go to a sick doctor?

Teachers Matter

For me this comes down to being congruent with our own teachings and a willingness to be a continuous learner.

Dr Art Costa’s 16 Habits of Mind includes the habit “remaining open to continuous learning.” The essence of this habit is that successful people look for ways tto improve, get b better and grow.

T They are never complacent or a arrogant. Even w when at the top o of their field, few ssuccessful people will sit back, ccontent to be the b best. They seek n new challenges, n e w w a y s forward, new w a y s t o g r o w, a always seeking tto improve.

“ Learning is our core business, and as teachers it is important that we are a model for what we teach.

Would you go to a sick doctor?”

Perhaps I am writing this for the converted, as, if you are reading this, possibly it does not apply to you. So how do we encourage the love of learning in others?

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Stephen goes on to say that while we have many models to teach thinking and learning dispositions, “if we really think they are important for our children to have, how are we using them successfully in our own personal and professional lives?”

Over the past 20 issues and the hundreds of articles many have stood out for me.

“The lasting residue of energy, passion and enthusiasm,” an article in issue two written

by Stephen Lethbridge, principal of a primary school in Auckland, still stands out in my mind nearly five years later. Stephen wrote about how the challenge for teachers today is to model the attributes from the curriculum in front of our students. The words “life-long learners” appear in nearly every curriculum document I have seen around the world. As a teacher, are you truly a life-long learner?

So what stops us? The fear of failure? Fear of success? The thought of “What happens if it doesn’t work?” Last year I was privileged to meet Hawaii teacher of the year Chad Miller. His school was adorned with posters of Chad advertising his success. When I congratulated Chad, he commented, “Now the pressure is on.” Later that day I asked him what he had meant by his comment.

I was thinking he would say something along the lines of, ‘What if I can’t sustain the success? Or what if they find out I’m not as good as they think I am (impostor syndrome) or what if they find out I’m making this up as I go along?” Chad’s reply stunned me. He said, “I welcome the pressure and the limelight; it will help me

improve and become a better teacher.”

With over 20 years experience in the world of education, I had never heard a teacher say this. He likened it to being an athlete and the pressure would help him reflect on his practice and improve. I found a huge amount of humility and sincerity in his reply. The ability to be a continuous learner and willingness to fail and learn from it was evident.

This reminded me of an article written by Dr Art Costa in issue three of this magazine.

He wrote, “A teacher’s metacognitive process may be the most important component in his or her professional portfolio of skills and awareness.” Research tells us that the metacognitive reflective process for students is one of the most impactful ways to advance learning. Simply put, we learn best by reflecting on our experiences.

This looped back to Stephen’s article when he wrote, “if these (thinking) strategies are so important for our students – why are we not using them?”

As a New Year is upon us, how much time will you commit to improving your practice, pausing and thinking about your lessons, before during and after? Glenn Capelli, contributor and guest speaker at the Teachers Matter Conferences, promotes practicing Kaizen, a little improvement every day.

Maybe you might take up journaling before bed, or turn off the car radio and use that time as reflection time. Perhaps you may team up with a couple of colleagues and have a more formal reflection system.

Perhaps you can start the learning conversations in the staffroom or start each staff meeting with a successful strategy that someone has used in the classroom.

Whatever you do this New Year, your influence on the students in your care is vast and lifelong. How will you practice Kaizen and most important, in what ways might you model being a continuous learner for your students this year?

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No written word, no spoken plea Can teach our youth what they should be Nor all the books, on all the shelves.

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Habits Of Mind Boot Camp The Habits Of Mind Boot Camp is a hands-on experience of teaching in action.

Over four action-packed days you will: s Acquire the tools every teacher must have s Learn the processes to create, plan and teach powerful lessons

s Be mentored by an incredible group of successful teachers and presenters s Witness the effect of the Habits of Mind in real-life situations

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THE THINKING TOOLBOX W h e n y o u arriv e, y o u w ill rec eiv e a comprehensive Manual, containing working templates in hard copy and soft copy that can be modiďŹ ed and used at the Habits Of Mind Boot Camp and in every lesson you teach.

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s Exploring Meanings s Expanding Capacities s Increasing Alertness s Extending Values s Building Commitments s Internalisation s Habituation s Thinking Maps s Planning & Teaching for deep understanding s Assessments s Rubrics s Leadership And heaps more!

THE HOM CHALLENGE 2010 IS 2013 IS AT ATTHE THECORE CORE OF THE BOOTCAMP SCHEDULE You will work over the four days on developing your understanding of the Habits Of Mind and leadership in your school, in your communication, and in yourself.

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