Teachers Matter Magazine issue 28 by Karen Tui Boyes

PROFESSIONALLY & PERSONALLY

TeachersMatter The Magazine of Spectrum Education

Creating heathier, happy schools p8

21 things I wish I knew as a new teacher

Creating powerfully positive playtimes

The science of hope

p22

p46

p12 NZ$15 / AU$15

Leaders in Developing Teachers

ISSUE 28

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Hi, Welcome to 2015. I hope you are well rested and have had a marvellous break creating many happy memories.

through Environmental Design) techniques to improve safety not only at their school, but also in areas of their local community.

This issue is packed full of articles which are sure to inspire you to make some changes and give new ideas a go this year.

Being active can help to develop that momentum we all know is so necessary in all aspects of learning. Kate Southcombe describes how Behavioural Momentum Theory can be used in the classroom to overcome the “challenge of getting stuff done that has to be done”, and Yvonne Godfrey discusses how before momentum, routine and rhythm are needed, to develop great habits for life.

Having watched my two boys love the extra time and space to spend hours outside over summer, I hope the articles by Dr. Helen Street and Alan Cooper stir you to create more active learning environments for your students. Therese Hoyle’s article continues this theme by discussing how to create happy and powerful play times for children, and Deirdre Duggan’s Maungatapu School students explain how the TREE model is used to ensure the games they play in their class are inclusive for all. We all know that kids are made to move, and providing these opportunities in non-threatening environments can only be a great thing for them all! Having students actively involved in learning is also discussed by Fleur Knight who has shared some wonderful stories of how the students at Murrays Bay School have used CPTED (Crime Prevention

Finally, if you have done too much relaxing over the break, Louiza Hebhardt’s article gives 7 great ways to get your exercise mojo up and running, and the tasty salad recipes will make your lunches a treat! There are many more wonderful words about leadership, resilience, and designing great learning opportunities within this issue so read and be inspired to try something new. Everyone at the Spectrum office wishes you a marvellous first term! Live, laugh, play & learn,

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CONTENTS

COVER ILLUSTRATION BY OLGA_LEBEDEVA

In this issue

p12 - 21 things I wish I had known as a new teacher 3

Editor’s note

4 steps towards success with standards alignment

6 great habits of expert teachers

How to foster momentum to allow ongoing learning

3 ways to turn your fear from a monster to a friend

A Learning and Change Network in action

Helping parents with significant (parenting) concerns

Study Skills

Why parents who resist pressure to overprotect may be doing their children a favour!

How to develop moral maturity in your class

Why hope is important for your brain

NAJLA TURK

KANUKA SIMPSON

How to create happy and powerfully positive playtimes

How environmental design can improve safety in schools and the community

Design learning opportunities based on the ‘clark real thinking process’

21 things I wish I had known as a new teacher

How to design a lesson plan like an architect

Why principals need to align their people and resources

DR HELEN STREET

FLEUR KNIGHT

MAGGIE DENT

STEPHEN LETHBRIDGE

Get comfortable with your leadership role

MICHAEL GRINDER & MARY YENIK

p46 - Why hope is important for your brain

Moving to healthier, happier schools

Teachers Matter

DR ART COSTA AND DR BENA KALLICK

p20 - 3 ways to turn your fear from a monster to a friend

SARAH LINEHAN

THERESE HOYLE

LANE CLARK

GLENN CAPELLI

The importance of adding movement to your classroom ALAN COOPER

A to Z of effective teaching KAREN BOYES

KATE SOUTHCOMBE

JENNY BARRETT

MICHAEL GROSE KAREN BOYES

MICHAEL MCQUEEN

SHARON DU PREEZ

TERRY SMALL

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Teachers Matter Magazine Team Publisher, Sales and Advertising Karen Boyes Editor Sarah Linehan Art Director 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 Â© Spectrum Education 2014 All rights reserved.

p54 - 7 ways to get your exercise mojo back 48

5 minute brain exercises

How revelling in joy can reduce stress

KIM CHAMBERLAIN

DR LAURA MARKHAM

Getting kids to plan

ANNIE ROBINSON, JAIMEE EADES AND DEIRDRE DUGGAN

7 ways to get your exercise mojo back up and running

LOUIZA HEBHARDT

Salad treats for your lunch IRMA COOKE

How to use a top retrieval filing system ROBYN PEARCE

p67 - Fascinating facts

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.

Promoting picture books: A Matchobx Diary

The importance of developing great habits young

Why trusting yourself is a key part of eating naturally

Fascinating Facts

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Children can see what you are talking about They can show you what they are thinking

DR ART COSTA AND DR BENA KALLICK

4 steps towards success with standards alignment How to get your school engaging with the standards

ather than step backwards into the abyss of a “do your own thing” system in which questions of equality are left to the moment, let’s see if we can use Standards as a way to move in a new direction. At the core of the Standards is a demand for deeper thinking as it is evidenced through performance. Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins suggest that if we rethink our curriculum maps, we may find that there is a dearth of opportunities for students to engage in thinking and demonstrate their understanding through carefully designed performances. We might say that, with all the desire for students to build their capacity for “grit”, they need to be motivated to stay with a task. Daniel Pink refers to this in his book, Drive, in which he makes the case for intrinsic motivation as critical for success. He identifies 3 key drivers: purpose, autonomy, and mastery. Here are 4 steps that schools can take that will move toward a real engagement with the Standards rather than a system that retrofits what they are already doing. 1. Make certain that curriculum, when designed to meet the standards, accounts for: a. What is the purpose of this work? Why do students need to engage with it? What is essential? Now that they know it, how can they use it to make a better world? b. What do we expect students to master as a result of this work? How do we emphasise both process and product as significant ways of knowing? How do we distinguish formative assessments in which students are given feedback on the scaffolds that they need to do good work from summative assessments where they are measured for reporting purposes?

c. What sorts of choices do we offer for students so that they can demonstrate what they know, what they intend to learn, and the processes by which their learning occurs?

“ Make certain that focusing on the dispositions is not just another labeling system.”

2. Make certain that teachers are teaching thinking. a. How do they incorporate teaching skillful thinking directly? b. How do they incorporate teaching thinking dispositions for effective lifelong learning? c. How do they foster strategic and creative thinkers? 3. Choose thinking dispositions such as the Habits of Mind so that there is an explicit understanding about how much these dispositions are valued in the school culture. a. Do a study on our book Dispositions: Reframing Teaching and Learning. b. Make certain that focusing on the dispositions is not just another labeling system. Rather, it is an explicit way to reinforce the habits that students will need as they engage with the more rigorous, performance-based curriculum that is designed. 4. Take the work on it as a school— avoid depending on volunteers or one teacher at a time. a. Build a school culture in which thinking is central to all that happens. b. M a k e c e r t a i n t h a t t h e r e a r e s i g n s and signals around the school—treat thinking as an athletic event that is building the muscles of the brain. Stay the course—use the Habits as a way to deal with the many challenges that continue to confront schools.

ILLUSTRATION: JULIEN TROMEUR

Arthur and Bena are the co-directors of the Institute for Intelligent Behaviour and the creators 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, they compel educators to create classrooms that are thoughtful places to learn. www.instituteforhabitsofmind.com

DR HELEN STREET

Moving to healthier, happier schools Embracing activity within the classroom

t is time we embraced the fact that sitting still is not the best way for kids to learn. Active learning environments help kids to maintain better physical and mental health and may well be the key to greater academic success.

Sport is the favourite lesson for many young athletes, but the worst nightmare for many others. So vivid are many people’s embarrassing memories of school sport, that as adults they will not participate in any sporting activity. School aims to encourage a love of lifelong improvement but all too often it puts kids off participating in ongoing activities more than it inspires them.

Teachers Matter

There is enormous concern about the rising incidence of obesity and poor health in young Australians. Poor physical health has long been significantly associated with poor mental health in people of all ages. More recently, significant relationships have been identified between physical health and academic performance.

Kids who are active eat well and have adequate sleep, feel better and perform better, at school and beyond. These findings emphasise the need for schools to encourage higher levels of activity among their students. Yet, this does not necessarily equate with another sporting opportunity or swimming carnival. It is time that the need for greater physical activity is firmly separated from the pursuit of sporting prowess. This is not to say that there is anything wrong with competitive sport,

IMAGES COURTESY WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL

I vividly remember throwing a ball as hard as I could in a game of ‘rounders’ (England’s junior version of baseball) only to see it fly over my head and land on the ground behind me. As an adult, I have witnessed mortified kids tripping over every single hurdle on Sports day, watched by wincing parents. On the lacrosse field, I have sympathised with students who prefer to run from a flying ball, rather than step into its bullet-like trajectory. And then there are all the painful recounts of those students who have to endure being the last to be chosen for a team (unless one of their closest friends is doing the choosing). just that it is not for everyone, and if insisted upon can lead to more harm than good. I suggest that as much as schools place sport on the timetable, they need to embrace activity within the timetable. And, there are many ways that this can be done with the benefit of improving classroom engagement, cohesion and learning outcomes. I recently read about the success of a North Carolina primary school that has swapped its desks for exercise bikes. Over the past five years, it has participated in a ‘read and ride’ programme that has the children peddling as they read. The programme has been carefully assessed and has been found to have improved the fitness, weight and overall health of the school’s students. More surprisingly, it has also been found to have significantly improved the reading proficiency of the students. Scott Erti, the educator who started the programme at Ward Elementary School, suggests that the significant finding may be due to the fact that: “Riding exercise bikes makes reading fun for many kids who get frustrated when they read. They have a way to release that frustration they feel while they ride.

Ward School’s bikes were donated by the community. Other schools jumping on board with the programme have bought one or two bikes for ‘fidgety’ kids or managed to raise funds to equip whole classes. In a slightly less ambitious but equally positive way, several high schools in the UK and in the US have started teaching students at ‘standing desks’ and found that they are alert for longer and demonstrate better attention spans in the classroom. While I would hesitate to define ‘standing up’ as physical activity, the benefits of even small improvements to continually sitting down are evident. The US Department of Health and Human Services recommends that children of all ages participate in at least 60 minutes of exercise each day. However a survey of 2013 high school students found that only 27.1% achieved this goal. Schools need to find more inventive ways to keep students active during class time, in non-threatening and supportive ways. The following is a list of suggestions for teachers, to help them embrace a more active learning environment across the curriculum:

• Incorporate movement into learning. For example, running around to measure the length and breadth of outside objects in a primary math class. • Make sure that kids do not feel pressure to compete in sport or to perform beyond their abilities. It is easy to assume that others love doing something you are passionate about as much as you do. As every teacher knows, this is not always the case. Just as we need to acknowledge that algebra is not for everyone, so too do we need to appreciate that sports day is not the best day of term for all. If kids are unhappy about being involved, offer them opportunities for a less pressured experience. A wheelbarrow race or a three-legged fun run may be more appealing than a relay. • Involve the whole school community - so exercise is viewed as a necessary element in everyone’s life - and not just something the sports teacher does. If you ask your Year 8 kids to walk around the sports field, walk around with them.

Walking and cycling to school needs to be encouraged with increased awareness of the

It is vital that as much as we may applaud the achievements of our sporting students, we embrace an active lifestyle for all students. This means providing realistic and non-threatening opportunities to move and learn.

Dr Helen Street is an applied social psychologist with a passion for education. She presents her work in books, articles and in seminars and workshops for schools. Helen is also passionately involved in the ongoing development of The Positive Schools conferences, www.positiveschools. com.au, focusing on the importance of physical health in 2015.

Attend keynote talks ranging from classroom humour to engaging students. Choose from twenty sessions in five parallel streams. Visit a living library of positive education. Discover the power of rhythm with DRUMBEAT. Be immersed in a Master Class, which lifts us ‘out of our minds’ into a ‘Body of Evidence’ for health, wellbeing & effective education.

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AS 15 M TER 20

In addition to the opportunities that can be embraced in the structured timetable, there are also many ways that schools can encourage greater physical activity before and after school, and in break times.

Kids have bodies as well as minds and as such, they are made to move. Active students have better health and physical fitness. Current research suggests that they also have better concentration and attention, better attendance and academic performance, and are happier and less anxious than their less active peers.

What can every teacher in every school do to improve the health and wellbeing of young Australia?

• Incorporate bursts of activity in class time. For example, a five minute activity that involves standing up and down in response to key words in a poem can be a good brain break in an English literature class.

From body obsession to better health, from bullying to building cohesive c l a s s ro o m s. Tony Jones Host Tony Jones joins Positive Schools 2015. An essential two days of positive education for all Australian primary & secondary school educators.

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• Help less physically confident kids to feel comfortable placing more focus on their body. For example, allow comfortable clothing to be worn for sport, or bathers to be put on at home before school swimming lessons.

Certainly boosting involvement in physical activity alone will not solve the childhood obesity epidemic. However, it is a critical part of the solution. Our schools are focused primarily on academic pursuits, and this is very much in line with our overarching educational aims. However, academic success does not arrive in isolation from other aspects of learning. As such, Australia leads the world in its recognition of social and emotional learning as a vital part of the educational process. They are exemplary with the realisation that social and emotional competency provides a vital foundation for effective education, and a vital ingredient for successful living. It is now time that schools everywhere woke up to the fact that physical health is also a vital focus for schools to embrace.

Body of Evidence 2015

NS IO

• Give kids the opportunity to play sport in both competitive and non-competitive ways, depending on their ability and interest. For example, some kids will thrive with a competitive game of football; others may prefer to simply run around with the ball.

Once at school, a greater emphasis on physical exercise can be encouraged by providing adequate time for recess breaks. Another idea that has been found to be effective in some schools is to encourage time for play and activity before lunch is eaten (rather than after). This ensures that kids are not exercising on a full stomach and have the opportunity to eat once they have finished running around.

www.PositiveSchools.com.au

SS SOLUT

• Provide opportunities for physical activity sessions that are not centered on competitive sport, as well as those that are. For example dance, yoga or playground games can all benefit physical fitness and be enjoyable for less sporty kids to be involved in.

benefits of this means of travel, and increased awareness of safety. Schools need to make sure they provide space for bikes and scooters to be safely parked during the day. Make sure that the school uniform restrictions allow for suitable clothes to be worn to bike to school. In addition, better access with bike lanes and pavements provides a worthy cause for school campaigning.

DAY 2

A CL

• Start the day with a whole school activity that embraces children of all ability and all sizes. For example, a 20-minute walk around the oval or a simple exercise routine to music. Greater time spent in physical activity has been found to aid academic learning rather than detract from it.

www.PositiveSchools.com.au 9

FLEUR KNIGHT

How environmental design can improve safety in schools and the community Murrays Bay School students engage with their neighbourhood

Teachers Matter

he vision of education in New Zealand is to have young people who are confident, connected, actively involved lifelong learners.

Murrays Bay School on the North Shore of Auckland has been instrumental in achieving this goal by actively engaging students in improving their local environment by applying CPTED (Crime Prevention through Environmental Design) principles and understandings normally reserved for the Police, town planners and criminologists. Incidentally, CPTED, which has been around for 4 decades, has also been applied to the planning and development of the city of Saskatoon in Canada, and during the rebuild of Christchurch, New Zealand, after its many earthquakes. The teaching of CPTED is also included in Police training in New Zealand and Australia. CPTED is fundamentally about creating safe environments for people, from a visual, emotional and psychological perspective. Fleur Knight introduced CPTED to the year 5 and 6 students at Murrays Bay School because she recognised that in order for young people to be responsible citizens of future communities, they needed to

be actively involved in their community at a young age. This meant they needed to be part of the solution to problems, rather than the cause. And so, the students Fleur has worked with have applied their understandings of CPTED to pre-schools, bus stations, a retirement village and primary schools as a way of improving how people use each of these community facilities on the North Shore of Auckland. Initially, this involved the students learning about the principles of CPTED which are: Natural Surveillance or â&#x20AC;&#x153;eyes on the streetâ&#x20AC;? is making a place unattractive for offenders who wish to create crime with impunity. This also includes mechanical surveillance such as CCC TV and organised surveillance such as security companies. Access control refers to controlling who goes in and out of a neighborhood, park, and school. This focuses on entry and exit points and signage. Image refers to the appearance of a place. An environment that looks cared for indicates to criminals that crime in that area will not be tolerated.

Territoriality is about creating areas that are private, pubic and semi public. These spaces can be achieved for through landscaping example. These principles were taught to the students using their school as a starting point. The students audited their school during the day by walking around it with hand drawn maps which show familiarity with the area being audited. The day audit was then analysed using the CPTED principles. Areas with a star were very safe, orange areas could be improved and red areas needed improvement to maximise safety. The students then audited Murrays Bay School at night. This enabled the students to see the effect lighting has on what they see and think they see. The students also identified how movement predictors, such as paths look and feel in daylight and at night, and ascertained their safety at these different times of day. After conducting an audit the students then presented their findings to the Murrays Bay School staff and the Board of Trustees, and included explanations of their findings and

FLEUR KNIGHT

“CPTED is fundamentally about creating safe environments for people, from a visual, emotional and psychological perspective.”

future recommendations to improve safety at Murrays Bay School. After hearing of their work, the Auckland Council approached the students and asked them to audit two bus stations on the North Shore of Auckland. This involved the students travelling by bus to the Sunnynook and Constellation Bus Stations and auditing them. Their findings were then presented to members of the Council and the recommendations made are going to be used in the development of the next 3 bus stations in Auckland. The students also audited a local retirement village. One of the recommendations made in this instance was to include pathways for the elderly to improve interaction between residents and widen their circle of acquaintances and friends; therefore adding to their feeling of belonging and safety. A local pre-school that was audited used the audit as part of their ERO report.

These audits, presentations and recommendations led to stronger social cohesion between users of each of these facilities, and built connectivity between Murrays Bay School and its surrounding neighbourhood. The students are now involved in auctioning their recommendations to these community spaces, including working with the community to produce large murals for Sunnynook Bus Station. Members of the Local Council, Baptist Church, teenagers from a local basketball team and residents who live on the road near the Sunnynook Bus Station are involved in designing and creating artworks to make this facility more appealing to their young people, reducing congestion on Auckland’s roads and making stronger connections in their local neighbourhood. The teaching of CPTED principles and understandings have not only promoted the intellectual, physical, social, emotional, moral, spiritual and wellbeing of the students at Murrays Bay School, they have also led to social cohesion, and the resolution of some complex environmental,

economic, health, security and social justice issues. In Issue 29 Fleur will share the story of how students from Murray Bay School developed a relationship with Starship Children’s’ Hospital through the use of CPTED.

F l e u r K n i g h t i s a n ex p e r i e n c e d teacher who has taught at Primary, Intermediate, Secondary and Tertiary Levels in New Zealand. She has been the Real Learning Facilitator at Murrays Bay School for the last five years. Her role involves making learning relevant, engaging, authentic and lifelong for students. Fleur has done this by working alongside teachers, integrating CPTED (Crime Prevention through Environmental Design) into the senior school curriculum at Murrays Bay School. Fleur Knight has presented at the National CPTED Association Conference in Nelson (2012), International CPTED Association Conference in Calgary in 2013.

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MAGGIE DENT

21 things I wish I had known as a new teacher What I’ve learnt along the way

So here are 21 things I wish I had known as a new teacher: 1. Happy, calm students learn best. I first read this quote from Daniel Goleman in his now famous book, Emotional Intelligence. Goleman knew that stress was a major inhibitor to the brain’s capacity to learn and store information. Teachers who consciously create calm and quiet times in their classrooms are building enormous support structures that will help children feel safe, allow them to enjoy their own thoughts, and lower the stress levels within their growing bodies. That is an environment highly conducive to learning. 2. Make friends or positive connections with the office staff. Having allies in the hub of the school helps enormously. One lovely receptionist even invited me home to her family for a roast dinner in my first week and it made me feel so welcome and safe. The staff in the office often have their finger on the pulse of the school culture and they can be hugely helpful guides.

PHOTO: JESSMINE

3. My mood matters.

ecently, I published my seventh book, 9 Things: A back-to-basics guide to calm, common-sense, connected parenting Birth-8. One of the main reasons I wrote the book was because I had been thinking about all the things I wish I’d known before I became a parent.

Teachers Matter

So often a parent or educator will say to me after a seminar “Oh if only I’d known that, I wouldn’t have been so worried/annoyed/ confused about that.”

When we share the good, the bad and the ugly of our experiences — our successes and our mistakes — it can be such a valuable learning opportunity for those around us, and a great reflection for us. And when those experiences are backed up by evidence-based research, it can be invaluable for our day-today decision-making. So this got me thinking about my years as a teacher and how much I learnt along the way — and how useful it would’ve been to have that knowledge before I first set foot in the classroom!

“ I am a dedicated professional working in the art of positive ‘people making’ to create a world full of opportunity, abundance and peace for all.”

I wish I had known about ‘emotional contagion’ and that my mood or emotional state influenced my students. It took me a while to realise this, but when I did, I discovered that by being kind, coming in with a smile and by being enthusiastic and positive, it made students come with me. Classroom culture is up to the teacher to create. 4. Playground duty is an opportunity to connect. Use duty time as an opportunity to make connections and build relationships with students — even students you don’t teach. What you put out comes back! And a huge thank you to the teachers who join students kicking a footy on the sports field, shooting hoops on the basketball courts or running yoga or dance classes for fun outside class time. What a gift for students. 5. There is no such thing as a dumb student. Avoid making assumptions about students when you first meet them – and be careful not to hold lower expectations for some students than others based on their ability. Illiterate students can still be clever and smart and make our world a better place.

Things

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n t u re d o h t, a e f s A o n ig To d ay T OVA , , e s i r n N Su di t i o n, e… E y l i a mo r Th e D dio a n d a r C B A

Maggie draws on current research, ancient wisdom and her extensive experience as an educator, counsellor and mother of four to guide parents and caregivers in their endless decision-making, to raise children who are happy, healthy, strong, kind and resilient.

“We are made to be good at growing up our young and Maggie captures the essence of what it is to go back to basics, go back to instincts and do right by our children.” — Dr Vanessa Lapointe, clinical psychologist and founder of The Wishing Star Lapointe Developmental Clinic in British Columbia, Canada

www.maggiedent.com

Maggie Dent quietly improving lives

MAGGIE DENT 6. Treat students as you want to be treated. That means no shouting, shaming or demanding. Respectful manners have great power and also teach our students vital life skills and model positive communication to them. 7. Be passionate and proud about your vocation. Walk tall and strive to be the best possible teacher you can be at least 80% of the time. Know there is no perfect and that often making mistakes and correcting them in front of our students can be a helpful part of life and learning. 8. Feedback is a powerful motivator when done well. Getting assessments back as soon as possible helps students to see how they are progressing. Again, if you learn how to do the feedback sandwich so that students can accept suggestions to improve without feeling crippled emotionally or feeling negative about criticism. 9. Flexibility is important. Be flexible and considerate with deadlines and due dates for assessments when students are under pressure or have huge school commitments like school plays, sporting car nivals or assembly commitments. Especially in adolescence, they are more likely to respond to an understanding teacher than an autocrat. 10.Laughter and lightness are important.

Teachers Matter

Learn to use novelty, lightness and laughter as a teaching strategy to help students diffuse stress and anxiety and make the positive brain chemicals of dopamine and endorphins. This will not only improve their motivation, it will make your classroom a nicer place to be for all of you.

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11. Make it a priority to connect with parents. Communicate messages about successes and concerns in a compassionate way. Emails are making this much easier to do, however a phone call or a meeting can be really valuable. 12. Look to your peers. Find the supportive, positive staff who can and will want to help you become more —

mentoring can be so helpful at any time in your career and then as you become more experienced, you can ‘pass it on.’ 13. Get involved in school happenings. It is important to be involved with things happening at school; especially in things you enjoy. Be careful not to volunteer for too many things – and ask for help if you need it. Burnout can happen when you take on too much when teaching full time. 14. Be yourself… “…‘cos everyone else is taken”, as they say. Strive to be authentic as students can spot ‘fake’ and they want you to be fair, consistent and competent. Work on these three aptitudes and keep striving to improve every year you teach. 15. Practise ‘kaizen’ Kaizen is a Japanese term meaning endless striving to grow and improve. Thankfully there are so many accessible opportunities to do this these days, as there are so many online courses and trainings. Every time you learn something new, know you are modelling ‘learning for life.’ 16. Take some time off from being a teacher and nurture your other life. Ensure you avoid putting your career before those you love most! Our closest relationships will always sustain us in more ways than what we do as a job, even if it is an incredibly important career. 17. A teacher needs fuel. I wish I had known how important it is to have some high energy, quality snacks to eat quickly for those many times when I missed lunch — and how important it is to drink lots water. Helping my brain to work best with good food and water took me a while to learn.

and celebration were fabulous allies in my classroom. 20. Accept that we cannot change the lives our students live in challenging homes. We can only make their time in our classrooms better and be sources of hope. Remember that as teachers, we often become ‘lighthouses’ for our students. It’s important for us to 21. Hold high intentions for yourself as a teacher – use upgraded language. For example, instead of saying to someone or thinking “I’m a teacher” you might instead say: “I am a highly skilled social engineer working in the field of human potential ensuring the world becomes a better place”. Or “I am a dedicated professional working in the art of positive ‘people making’ to create a world full of opportunity, abundance and peace for all.” Or “I am privileged to work with the most sacred people on earth – children, and I make a positive difference often to allow them to become the best person they can be.” And above all, what I wish I had known as a new teacher is summed up beautifully in this quote: “A hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove … but that the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.” — Forest E. Witcraft.

18. Learn relaxation and stressbusting techniques. This is especially good if you can learn techniques that you can bring into the classroom for both you and your students. Stress and anxiety negatively impact learning and behaviour. 19. Be grateful for the small things as well as the big things. For a student to read their first book at 13 is just as worthy to celebrate as the top mark in a subject at the end of the year. Gratitude

Maggie is an author, educator, and parenting and resilience specialist with a particular interest in the early years and adolescence. Her latest book is 9 Things: A back-tobasics guide to calm, commonsense connected parenting birth–8. www.maggiedent.com

STEPHEN LETHBRIDGE

Why principals need to align their people and resources Starting the year

Vision focus for maximum leverage utting into practice your school vision and pedagogical goals from the first day of term

The start of the new school year brings new staff, along with numerous ideas and initiatives to try, and directives and targets to meet. The challenge for leaders is to ensure that this energy, passion and wealth of new ideas align with the vision and strategic direction of the school. The key to the successful implementation of any initiative, goal or strategy is alignment. Alignment of people and resources requires deliberate acts of leadership that are centred on relationships. Shared Development Of Mental Models As Peters & Waterman said our job as leaders is to “keep the herd heading roughly west”. We must be vision focused at all times and have a clear understanding of the ‘mental models’ that are required of us and others. Mental models are defined as our values, beliefs and assumptions about the world that in turn drive our actions. Alignment is a crucial mental model in any organisation – we all know that you get further if everyone is paddling in the same direction. A leader (in the broadest sense) must focus on alignment of vision to everyday practice and this occurs well before day one of term. Daniel Kim’s Levels of Perspective (shown above) provides a useful model for leaders, helping them understand how to maximise leverage by developing key mental models that play a vital role in the realisation of the school’s vision and goals.

At Taupaki we have created a vision that we aspire to, extracted core values from this vision that we live by, and set in place a development cycle that addresses the mental models necessary to live in the school of our dreams. As leaders of learning it is our collective responsibility to walk the talk in our everyday interactions. The process of changing mental models takes time. Alignment Conversations The value of co-construction of vision, goals, targets and actions cannot be underestimated in order to generate alignment. The more people that have a hand, or say in the planning phases of the school year, the greater the cohesion. Start of year meetings need to focus on the strategic goals not administrivia! Dialogue with teachers should be alignment conversations around how they are contributing to the vision of the school and

“The value of co-construction of vision, goals, targets and actions cannot be underestimated in order to generate alignment.”

how the school will contribute to their development. These conversations are incredibly powerful in gaining insight into teacher values and beliefs as well as opportunities to coach teachers in framing an inquiry into their professional practice. We have sought to do this at Taupaki by providing adequate time and space for these conversations to happen. Our focus (target) students are identified through data analysis and then strategies are co-constructed as a staff. This fosters a mental model of achievement being a collective responsibility.

“He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata!” What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, people, people! _ _ Maori Whakatauk (proverb)

Stephen is a Dad, Husband, Principal, sport mad, gadget man. He is all about learning and growing leaders of the future. He is moving into his ninth year of school principalship at Taupaki School and believes in growing leadership capacity at all levels in school. He has value his involvement in the OUR Education Network for the past seven years, learning from amazing leaders from around the world.

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PHOTO: GUNNAR PIPPEL

Teachers Matter MICHAEL GRINDER AND MARY YENIK

MICHAEL GRINDER & MARY YENIK

Get comfortable with your leadership role Increase your team’s success

ave you ever been on a grade level, or department or a committee in which the team leader was unavailable, unqualified, or just plain uncomfortable with the idea of leading? Leadership is essential to a team’s success or failure of any endeavour. Leaders should be many things; they should know the value of each person on their team and be able to utilise that person’s strengths, be able to communicate effectively, and most of all, be comfortable in their position. Our comfort when managing directly affects our group’s ability to function. We manage in many directions: upwards with principals, downwards with students, and sideways with colleagues. In addition, we need to know which management style to use, while taking into account the direction we are going and the traits of each person or group of people. Our style needs to fit the culture of the school and community.

A huge indicator of comfort is the way that the personin-charge breathes. It seems like a simple thing, and it is, but it’s a simple thing with a lot of power behind it. When she breathes low, it is a sign that she is comfortable with the management. It is wise for someone to pick a culture and a position inside that organisation that matches her style of comfort. If she breathes high or shallow, it is an indicator that she is not comfortable with her position and can put her subordinates in a state of unease. In general, people want to work for someone who is comfortable with buffering pressure from above, holding peers accountable, and supporting their handling of inappropriate subordinates. If you are comfortable in your position, you will not only see personal benefits as you gain respect and confidence from your co-workers, but the team will reap the benefits of effectiveness, efficiency and high functionality, which will lead to greater success for everyone.

“Leadership is essential to a team’s success or failure of any endeavour. ”

If as a whole, our school/community is hierarchicaloriented, we will be expected to comply with the level above us and to expect compliance from the level below us. If school/community is an egalitarian-oriented culture, we can expect to have fewer differences in how we interact with people above and below our position.

Michael is the United Sates national director of NLP in Education. He has pioneered the practice of using nonverbals to manage classrooms and create a safe learning environment based on influence instead of power.

NAJLA TURK

6 great habits of expert teachers

How to minimise student’s unconscious learning barriers

ne year at school, I was called into the coordinator’s office and asked, “Can you describe the difference between a horse and a donkey?” After visualising the two distinct animals, I spoke. Much to my surprise and humiliation, I was yanked out of my class and into English as a Second Language class with foreigners. How could I reveal to my zealous parents that the child they believed to be destined for university was a true disappointment? From that day on, I had an overwhelming fear of failure. Over the next four decades, I experienced an erratic mixture of highs and lows. Highs when I achieved or succeeded, and lows when faced with challenges that forced me to reflect and awaken dormant skills and knowledge within. A poster placed in the centre of my home reading, “The World Is Our Classroom”, has been my lifelong source of inspiration. In fact, the world has indeed been my classroom. Should you wish to connect with your culturally diverse students and make a positive difference in their lives, I provide six simple and effective habits.

Teachers Matter

Every classroom situation presents itself with learning opportunities. Aware that we are comfortable with things that are familiar, it is my worldly experience that we all suffer fear. Having worked as a multicultural coordinator, I have found teachers to sometimes be afraid of students that are different.

Have you ever had a negative teaching experience that has left you deflated, distraught or disillusioned? Have you found yourself setting goals but not succeeding? Do you sometimes wonder why you chose an educational profession? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions and you are prepared to accept and ”seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave”, here is a golden opportunity.

Working effectively with culturally diverse students requires a new starting point because no matter how many teaching years you have, it is vital that you embark on a fresh journey to self-awareness. Allow me to congratulate you on a job well done. Congratulations! I’ve met far too many teachers caught in a cycle of negativity because they felt unappreciated. If you have doubts, dismiss them now. Shift from feelings of inadequacy to soaring high. Plato states, “The life which is unexamined is not worth living.” So be introspective and harness diversity as a learning resource. The following six habits will enable you to become highly effective and help minimise any learning barriers students may unconsciously harbour:

Habit 1 – Believe in Yourself

Have unpleasant experiences tampered your spark? You can achieve your desirable outcomes once you believe in yourself and accept who you are and what you can do! Re-establish a trusting relationship with yourself and dance to your own music. Repeating “I AM” statements is a powerful way to generate positive energy that can filter into the classroom. For example “I AM equal to everyone and superior to none.”

Habit 2 – Communicate effectively! Would you agree that effective teaching requires master y in communication? Communicating effectively is the cornerstone of education and the key to effective cross-cultural communication is knowledge. Simple strategies such as active listening, using plain English, avoiding idioms and jargon, clarifying instruction and checking for understanding as well as being patient, are ways of avoiding crosscultural misunderstandings.

Remember that students with poor language and literacy skills often understand more than they can speak. Aspire to enhance cross cultural communication; it is the only way to go!

Habit 3 – Be aware of labels

Once upon a time in my mind, I was guilty of labelling students. Where I thought some students might succeed, I also felt others would fail. This mistake is emphasised in the poem “The Blind Men and the Elephant.” After touching the different parts of an elephant each blind man concluded differently what the animal was. For instance, the trunk was believed to be a snake, whilst the tail was thought to be a tight rope. It is not uncommon to impose our own perceptions of certain situations. M o t i v a t i o n a l s p e a k e r Wa y n e D w y e r reinforces if you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. Because our brains are wired to always find evidence for what we believe in, simply re-direct your thought process and be consciously aware of judgement or stereotypical preconceptions. Focus on the individual and not on what is assumed by what they say and do.

Habit 4 – Show Appreciation Appreciation has the power to energise us on a cellular level because the hormone oxytocin is secreted in the brain during acts of appreciation, service, gratitude and emotional connections. What better way to counteract stress and reduce anxiety in the classroom than through fostering an inclusive learning environment, cultivating meaningful relationships, focusing on positive intention and paying attention to your choice of words. Make a habit of thanking students and give abundant praise as well as non-verbal cues such as smiling.

PHOTO: GEORGE KUNA

NAJLA TURK

Habit 5 – Respect values

Regardless of race, creed or culture everyone is driven by values and it is this strong belief in values that inspires us to do what we do. Therefore it is critical to honestly reflect your attitudes and beliefs about yourself and others.

Take the time to learn about your students’ background and values and you shall uncover the reasons why they can or cannot engage in class. As a teacher you have the power to make the impossible possible.

Habit 6 – Initiate New Action

Being busy is a habit that needs to be broken because it can waste valuable time and prevent learning. Do not confuse mindless activities with achieving results.

During a processionary caterpillar experiment, each caterpillar followed the one ahead, circulating around the pot’s rim. Around and around they went, and after a week they died from exhaustion and starvation because they hadn’t stopped for the food which was in the centre of the pot. Become mindful of what consumes your time and take new action to improve your results. As an expert teacher, be the change you wish to see!

Born to immigrant parents, Najla Turk has had first-hand experience of the difficulties faced as a child in trying to overcome barriers to learning. Decades later, Najla holds a degree in education, a master’s qualification and has dedicated almost 20 years to inspiring and empowering culturally diverse students.

KANUKA SIMPSON

3 ways to turn your fear from a monster to a friend Controlling your fear

o you remember your childhood monster? The one that lay in waiting under the bed, urging you to get up and go to the toilet so it could grab you, torture you and finally eat you alive? Mine was dark blue, had 20 eyes and several long, spindly arms that reached up so far, I had to lie exactly in the middle of the bed to avoid getting dragged under to certain death. Do you remember it lurked and hid in shadows, under your bed, in the closet, or silently slid around the room so you could never know where it would be?

Fear is like that monster. It is powerful, mighty, has influence, and knows you better than you know yourself. Not only does it know your conscious thoughts, your likes and dislikes, but it also knows your innermost desires and what will stop you from doing anything at all. And it, funnily enough, has no fear. No conscience, nothing it won’t do to stay alive. If you want proof of this, try looking for it, identifying it, elucidating it, finding and shining the bright light of Consciousness on it as I do with my clients. I find it will distract, make excuses, change the subject, point the blame at something else - anything to keep hiding, to not lose the small hold it has.

It is insatiable, longs to grow, to control your whole being and direct your every move, thought and feeling. But the emotions it loves to revel in do not make us feel happy, even if they seem like a good idea at the time: lust, greed, anger - all the emotions we class as ‘negative’ and which are destructive, are Fear’s feeding ground. Its only weakness, is that the more Fear grows, gains power and gains control of how we feel, think and act, the cockier it becomes, visible. Someone who is very confident and only has a small amount of Fear might not even notice it - might even be able to control it. But the more Fear we feel,

KANUKA SIMPSON

PHOTO: NARCIS PARFENTI

potential employer, to the auditorium filled with people), create opportunities, succeed, feel joy, have friends, see all criticism as constructive, and are happy to be who you want to be, doing the things you want to do.

the less we can control it and the more it becomes clear that it is in control. Someone who is paralysed by Fear will be well aware of it. Will know it is there. Will know they are not in control. These are the few people who, to the question: “Are you confident?” will answer, “No.”

What would controlling this Fear bring us? Some symptoms of letting Fear take control include: being bullied, negative emotions ( anger, procrastination , h e s i t a t i o n , arrogance, doubt, fear…), paralysis, letting other people dictate what you do, depression, suicide, sickness, being alone and fearing ridicule, rejection, criticism, the unknown, failure… When you are confident and control Fear, you: do what you choose, talk to the people you would like to talk to (from the guy/ girl you would like to go out with, to the

So if Fear is a monster that feeds on negative thoughts and fear, and if being confident is so much more desirable than letting Fear control us, why do so many people feed this monster so willingly? Horror films, the news, ‘war stories’, focusing on how badly things went, lack of communication, hiding behind the anonymity of the screen... People seem to constantly be looking for monster food. The Fear in our society is so big already, that it has become self-sustaining, growing bigger and bigger every day as it feeds on the growing fear of its individuals. Why do we accept and encourage that? And more importantly, what can we do to stop it torturing us and our students before eating us all alive? There are many reasons we feel Fear and many things that make us confident. There are many ways to get fear under control and become more confident. Let us look into 3 things we can do without help from St Michael. The first, and by far most important step, is becoming aware of it. Just noticing that voice at the back of our head constantly telling us we are no good, we will fail, is already enough to want to change it; and wanting to change it is essential in doing so. How can you get to the fridge unless you actually want to get to the fridge? Just realising the pain in your stomach is hunger and that going to the fridge would take the pain away enables you to decide to take the steps which will lead you to eating. Without realising you are hungry, you won’t make the journey to the fridge - or at least not as efficiently. The second step is, in the words of Susan Jeffers, “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.” When you notice Fear creeping into your life, your decisions, your actions, take a breath and identify why it is there, whether it is valid (or which parts of it are) and how you are going to cope with it. Then decide whether the better course of action is to continue despite the fear, take further precautions or choose a completely different path. This step is usually easier with

someone else. As I wrote above, Fear will very seldom let you find it (and especially overcome it) without putting up a good fight. But it is sometimes possible to shine enough light into the darkness of our subconscious to see where the monster is and what its weakness is. F i n a l l y, c o n s t a n t l y f o c u s o n y o u r achievements, the times you make it, the things that make you happy and unafraid. This works like Michael’s sword, pouring light into the darkness and beating down the monster one thought at a time, one day at a time. The same is true of our dealings with students. If we focus on their failings, they lose confidence and learn to feed that monster living simultaneously under their bed and in their subconscious. Reducing the fear in our lives makes us more confident. Being confident allows our students to achieve more, succeed more, be richer and above all, happier. And I’m sure both you and your children will thank you for being and helping them become more confident.

Attending 13 schools by the age of 12 forced Kanuka to develop confidence at an early age and he has been building up and refining the tools he uses for over 20 years. After managing 2 businesses for 2 years without any prior experience or training, then retiring at 35, The Confidence Guy decided to do something about the lack of confidence in today’s youth. He now specialises in helping 16-25 year olds control fear so they become more confident, successful, happy and relaxed. This involves dealing with fear of inter views, exams, speaking in public and bullies. www.KanukaSimpson.com

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THERESE HOYLE

How to create happy and powerfully positive playtimes The first 5 steps

our first step is to talk with the children.

Students can spend up to 25 percent of their school day in the playground, and if the playground is an angry, hostile place, or if there are pockets of problems, we face challenges after play wasting good learning time resolving conflict. Teachers frequently find that playground problems wind up some children so much that their brain is no longer wired for learning. Investing time and energy in creating positive structures that encourage positive play is worth its weight in gold. You can take five steps to create happy and powerfully positive playtimes.

Step 1: Playtime audit The process involves evaluating, developing and improving playtimes (including development of the outdoor play environment). The audit needs to look at: • Children’s involvement • Level of enjoyment for all concerned • Behaviour

Step 2: Design and create your dream school playground Schools have always found it invaluable to ask the children to design their dream p l a y g r o u n d . Yo u c a n g l e a n l o t s o f fresh ideas this way. With a design and technology challenge, we like to get the whole school involved. Firstly children put their designs onto paper; secondly they work together to create a 3D model of their playground. Get children to think about: • Activity areas • Equipment - small and large • Use of space • Use of jungle gyms, sand pits, etc • Storage • Playground clubs: eco club, dance club, netball, football, chicken club (looking after the school chickens), etc.

• Time • Space

Teachers Matter

• Staffing

• Resources: fixed, hand-held and nonequipment • Storage of resources • Links between class-time and playtime And most important: the organisation of all of the above. Once you’ve identified the school’s strengths and weaknesses, you can create action plans.

Choosing a playground games activity area Get the adults and children to work together on deciding where the best place would be to have a games area. It helps if the area has boundaries and is a good size. This will always be the games area, so children and adults know where to congregate at playtimes when they want to play games.

Most of my schools are amazed by the imagination, creativity and skill that can develop from such a project.

You may also want to create additional zoned activity areas.

Step 3: Playground games activity areas

Explaining a game • Read out the game to the group and explain the rules as clearly and simply as possible. Do it in a fun way, encouraging participation and playfulness.

• Rules and responsibilities • Rewards and consequences

“If the playground is an angr y, hostile place, or if there are pockets of problems, we face challenges after play wasting good learning time resolving conflict.”

Some of our children have lost the art of knowing how to play. 101 Playground Games is a great resource with lots of old and new games. Games have the capacity to be hugely inclusive of all children, no matter what age, culture, race, creed or ability; they offer opportunities for everyone in the school playground to get involved.

• Make sure everyone can see and hear you. Stand on the edge of the circle rather than in the middle. • Ask if there are any questions. • Extend an invitation to play. Say, “Let’s play”…rather than, “You are going to play…” • Always ask for a volunteer to be “it.” • Play each game a couple of times.

THERESE HOYLE

“Resilient children become resilient adults and resilient adults generally have better mental health.”

What to do: • Select 10-20 games. You can download a free copy of the traditional games chapter from my website, www.theresehoyle.com or use a selection of other games. • Copy and laminate them onto a coloured card. • Give one set to each member of staff. • Select a leader to organise the games. • Go play. • Evaluate the games. This is also a great team-building exercise and lots of fun.

Step 5: Organising games in the playground; adults and children playing together The best play times are those that are well organised with a balance of free play and structured activities children can choose to join.

• Always look for opportunities to make a game more fun — add fantasy, chanting, singing, change the name to the latest craze, etc. • Encourage participation, effort and satisfaction rather than winning. • Ask for feedback on how it went. • Once there is agreement that the game is working, the responsibility for playing the game with the agreed rules and guidelines can be left with the children. “Game of the week” or “Games menu” Choose a new game to learn each week. You can introduce this in an assembly and display it in the playground so that children

can learn and practice it at break time. Additionally, children may like to select a “games menu,” which has a selection of games to be played each week of the term.

Step 4: Games training for the adults I would suggest that teacher aides, teachers and any other adults involved in play have at least two hours of games training. This would be to introduce new games and reinforce and remind them of old ones. As Confucius’ said “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand” indicates the best way of learning anything new is to do it.

Therese Hoyle is bestselling author of 101 Playground Games and 101 Wet Playtime Games and Activities. She runs Positive Playtime and whole school social, emotional and behavioural skills programmes nationally and internationally.If you wish to develop her ideas further please read her books, available from Spectrum Education, or contact her direct for in depth advice on designing and developing your playground. www.successpartnership.com

PHOTO : ROMAN SIGAEV

PHOTO: SHMEL

It is important to remember that if we are to expect children to play games in the playground, then it helps if we adults get involved, too. It is also great fun. I have often found that if I have children who are well trained in the games, they can take over once I have left.

LANE CLARK

Design learning opportunities based on the ‘clark real thinking process’

a conceptual framework that illustrates this idea of ‘types of thinking’ and ‘degrees or levels of thinking within different types’. It also illustrates how I believe depth and breadth of thinking are developed and how far transfer of learning is realised.

The clark real thinking process

Thinking about thinking

hinking, we do it all the time ... we can’t help but do it. It happens during math class and it happens during breaks. From the moment we rise in the morning, until we go off to sleep at night, we think. We certainly don’t wait until ‘thinking time’ on Tuesday afternoon, and we don’t wait until we are offered a ‘thinking tool’ to assist us. If thinking is so natural, then why do we struggle to describe it, understand it, intelligently discuss it and address it explicitly with our learners? Why is it such an ethereal phenomenon?

Teachers Matter

The difficulty may rest with the ‘big push’ but ‘little support’ we have been offered in the area of thinking. Apart from Bloom’s Taxonomy very few frameworks have been provided to explain how thinking is developed. Very little has been suggested to challenge this widely accepted theory of thinking.

Those who have worked with me and those who have been immersed in my approach to teaching and learning know my thoughts with regard to Bloom’s Taxonomy. But for those who are not familiar with either, I would like to take some time to share my thinking about thinking. In contrast to widely held beliefs, I do not believe that thinking is hierarchical and that it occurs in ‘levels’. Instead, thinking occurs through a cyclical, adaptive process. Rather than

addressing thinking in ‘levels’ analysis is a lower level of thinking than evaluation - I would propose that there are simply ‘types of thinking’ that are inextricably linked. One type is not higher or lower than another. They are simply different. Within any type of thinking, h o w e v e r, I d o b e l i e v e t h a t there are degrees or levels of sophistication. For example, learners can know and understand at a superficial level or at a level of significant depth; learners can be thorough in their analyses and evaluations, or engage in this thinking at a surface level. Where creativity and innovation are concerned, learners can invent something new that might be considered a ‘near transfer’ – the invention of the white board marker; or they might invent or create what might be considered a ‘far transfer’ – the invention of a smart board pen. Both involve synthesis type thinking but to very differing degrees of sophistication. Failure to understand that thinking occurs through a cyclical, adaptive process comprehensively and deeply will have a significant impact on a teacher’s ability to design learning opportunities that truly promote a learner’s thinking and subsequently, his learning. I have prepared a graphical presentation to assist in my demonstration of what I call, ‘the Clark real thinking process’,

All learners enter into new thinking and learning opportunities with some prior information, knowledge and understanding. This foundation may not be very broad or deep but a foundation, to some degree, exists for all learners. What is key to the development of thinking is the recognition that a learner can only build upon the foundation that he has at any given time. An attempt to engage the learner in opportunities above or below his personal foundation of knowledge and understanding will result in compromised learning. The provision of a thinking tool to aid a learner’s thinking will not alter this reality. It’s bigger than merely providing a wide variety of thinking tools to our kids. Baseline data must be collected by the teacher, and used to aid in the design of learning opportunities that are commensurate with the learner’s foundation. I will address this further, in relation to thinking skills and tools shortly.

The ‘finding out’ experience is critical to all thinking and learning. For example, if the learner’s finding out experience is limited or biased, his ability to think will most certainly be limited and biased. Use of a thinking tool to aid him in his evaluation or cause and effect analysis will simply result in limited or biased evaluation or analysis. For this reason, it is recommended that first and foremost, teachers provide learners with criteria for investigating. This might include: the use of a minimum of four different resources; the exploration of at least two perspectives; sequencing investigation tools from the concrete to the abstract, in an effort to promote the learner’s ability to ‘take in the learning’.

The moment a learner takes new information in, he will begin to process that information. Unfortunately, many of our learners fail to process effectively. C o n s e q u e n t l y, l e a r n i n g i s

compromised. Teachers must explicitly aid their learners in processing to ensure that this is as effective as it can be. In order to do this however, the teacher must understand what processing is, and how it occurs. Processing involves the thinking skills of examination (analysis), decision-making and judgment (evaluation), and questioning/challenging and designing ideas (synthesis). This thinking occurs simultaneously; it does not occur sequentially; it is messy and comprehensive.

depth and breadth, the ‘finding out’ experience continues; the learner immediately begins to process: analysing, evaluating and synthesising the new information, as he investigates. Again, a new level of knowledge and understanding develops. The learner’s ability to analyse, evaluate and synthesise, is directly proportional to the level of depth and breadth apparent in his foundation of knowledge and understanding. While it is critical that learners use these three skills as they find out early on in the thinking process, the ability to deeply engage in these skills is limited. As the learner’s foundation of knowledge and understanding deepens and broadens, so too does the learner’s ability to analyse, evaluate and synthesise deepen and broaden.

Critically, it is this processing that leads the learner to a new understanding - now deeper and broader than it once was.

By repeating this cycle, deep knowledge and understanding are explicitly developed over time. With this new foundation solidly in place, learners can engage in deep analysis and deep evaluation of new learning. This anchored thinking sets the lear ner up for ‘high level synthesis’ or far transfer. Learners can now consider their new learning and ask the question that I believe is the precursor to true creativity... In order to develop increased depth and breadth of knowledge and understanding, this cycle must be repeated. Upon the learner’s new foundation of

So I know it, so what? I need to analyse and evaluate my new learning and consider, ‘how I might USE my new learning to make a difference in my life and the lives of othersTM’. Can I solve

LANE CLARK a problem that I am now aware of? Can I develop alternatives or recommendations? Can I design a plan, a product or a vision? Can I use patterns and trends to predict the future - evaluate that future – and make changes today for a preferred future?

It is only in the development of deep knowledge and understanding that are learners will develop the capacity to engage in deep synthesis and realise far transfer in their lear ning. Failure to engage in all types of thinking, will likely result in limited thinking and therefore learning. Failure to repeat the cycle will limit the development of deep knowledge and understanding and consequently, transfer.

Regardless of the thoroughness of the thinking process lived by the learner; he can never know and understand everything about his learning. This is represented by the gaps evident at the top of the knowledge and understanding sections of thinkbox™. While learners will eventually be able to ‘USE their learning to make a difference in their lives and the lives of others’™, new questions will result in new directions of inquiry and the process of thinking and learning will be new again! What then are the implications of the ‘thinking process’ on learning and teaching? What if thinking is not hierarchical and is instead a cyclical, adaptive process? This might be a question you explore with your colleagues or quietly on your own. It is certainly a question worth thinking about...

Lane Clark has a well-earned reputation as an expert in powerful pedagogy and in the design and delivery of engaging curriculum. Her authentic, transdisciplinary approach to learning is founded on teaching students how to learn, how to think and how to use new technologies to enhance their learning. A culture of innovation and enterprise is promoted as the so what™ stage of Lane’s learning model drives learners to USE new learning to make a difference in their lives and the lives of others™.

GLENN CAPELLI

How to design a lesson plan like an architect Grand designs

ometimes the BIG moments in life start with a simple musing…

• What do you want to be when you grow up? • Will you marry me? • Should we build a house? As a youngster Lindy Hawkins loved to draw houses. Nothing too unusual in that, except that Lindy’s drawings were not just simple rectangles with windows, chimney and roof. No, Lindy’s drawings had floor plans and multiple perspectives.

Teachers Matter

At aged 27 I asked Lindy Hawkins the “Will you marry me?” question and (thankfully, without too much hesitation) the answer was an affirmative.

Over the next 27 years we lived in many different places and it took many purchases of already built houses before we decided to design and build our own house. A place made just for us.

Design Artists

Imagination

At Education Conferences I’ve often said to groups of teachers:

As you design, imagine the experience from all different angles and situations. What would this look like? How might this pan out?

• That they are design artists • T h a t g o o d d e s i g n ( l e s s o n p l a n s ) complemented with the art, craft and science of good teaching skill, create Learning Experiences that excite and nurture students • That through great design and delivery, students grow as learners of a subject (theme, curricula) and as learners/ thinkers for a lifetime journey of learning and thinking So, there are lessons to be learned from designing and building a house that may also assist the ‘building of classroom experiences’:

E s p e c i a l l y, w a l k i t t h r o u g h f r o m t h e participants’ point of view. In a house, step it out and imagine walking through the rooms. In a classroom experience, see if from where the students ‘sit’ and from a variety of learning style perspectives.

Foundations Spend time on choosing your foundations and aspect. Make them strong and safe.

Consistent themes When choosing your tiles, joinery, renders… keep a consistency. When designing a lesson, continue to layer the main messages through repetition. Memory is part of learning.

GLENN CAPELLI

Add the Variety

Start with legacy

Awards

When you have solid foundations and consistent themes, use the soft furnishings to add flair and colour.

What will this house look like, feel like and be like in broad strokes and in finer detail. What will be left when the builders leave?

In a sense, every sport is a team game. Even solo marathon runners and Iron Man athletes have a support team involved.

In a lesson, once all students have their solid foundation, they can then add their own uniqueness. Creating unique meaning is a part of learning.

Likewise in a Lesson Plan. What will stay with the learner when the lesson is done?

Building a house is also a team game.

Variety is the magic key, The magic key is variety.

The Best Made Plans

PHOTO: TARCZAS

Designing and building a house is a complex thing. There are many folk involved and sequences that need an order to them. Sometimes, things don’t go as planned. A storm in Queensland means that certain bricks can’t be delivered on time. The best made Lesson Plans for ‘us and them’ don’t sometimes pan out. Good lessons have contingencies and good teaching requires some ‘thinking on the feet’. Design tight (with detail), Present loose (with flexibility).

Primacy and Recency Two of the important factors of memory are what we experience first (Primacy) and what we experience last (Recency). These factors remain important whether you are designing/building a house or designing/ delivering a learning lesson. How you start – working out your ethos, preparing, planning, laying solid foundations – is vital. In the late Stephen Covey’s bestseller 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, one of the 7 habits is ‘Begin with the end in mind’.

Often a builder is rushing to the finish line for a variety of reasons: • Contract penalties • Other projects are ready to start • The clients are nagging • Everyone is fed up! However, the final weeks of a build are vital, not only for ensuring that the finishing touches are spot on, but also for ensuring the on-going good will and relationship between builder and client. In a classroom, in a school, in a corporate training session, in a Keynote Conference speech… likewise, the final piece is vital. What we do at the end helps instil the main messages of the lesson and, at its best, leaves the learner with a feeling of ‘can’t wait ‘til the next class’. If there is a key message for builders and teachers, it is ‘don’t rush the final minutes/ days/weeks’. Work backwards. Make sure you leave yourself enough time at the end of a build/lesson/day to incorporate the time for the closure:

Teaching and learning are team games too. Our builders nominated our house design and build for awards with the Master Builders Association and with the Housing Industry Awards. We were fortunate to win a series of awards including Best Design/ Build in all categories and all price ranges for South West Victoria, Australia. Our place now goes into State Wide and National awards. We didn’t build a place to win trophies and certificates. We built a place for the opportunity to create something unique for us; we built a place for lifestyle. Likewise, you may not create lesson plans and devise Learning Experiences for the applause. However, when you do really think through a design and deliver experiences of deep and exciting learning, the applause ripples back for years. When students say, “I remember you. I remember what you taught me. I remember how you taught me. You changed my life.” Then that is a ‘magic’ beyond the certificates. You truly are a Master Builder & Design Artist.

• Re-focus on key learning • Reflect on take home value • Re-establish the relationship (in a build/ lesson/school day some aspects of relationship may have got a little rocky along the way!) • Create a sense of excitement for the next steps – the next learning layers

“ When you do really think through a design, and deliver experiences of deep and exciting learning, the affect on students ripples back for years”

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 fast-paced 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

PHOTO: SERGEY NOVIKOV

ALAN COOPER

The importance of adding movement to your classroom Be creative!

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n a recent mini sur vey undertaken by the American-based Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, a third of those surveyed believed that teachers should be encouraged to take creative approaches to the curriculum. One area where this is particularly beneficial is when such a creative approach involves movement in the learning process.

Preparing the brain for learning From neurobiologists comes the importance of cardiovascular exercise and its impact on

the alertness of the brain. Exercise increases the blood supply to both the body and the brain. This blood supplies glucose, thus providing energy. This blood stimulates protein which is needed for not only neuron creation but also neuron survival and neural connection. This blood soaks up the toxic electron waste left over from the shredding of the glucose atoms. The net result of all this for teaching and learning is that the students will concentrate better for longer periods of time, and will have less anxiety-stress effecting concentration and engagement. Such anxiety-stress takes resources from the information-processing and reasoning areas of the students brains—the areas

“ There are people who have to move to think.” - Sir Ken Robinson required to figure out the learning in front of them – because, the amygdala, responsible for processing negative emotions, becomes hyperactive and hogs the resources Also, sitting still can deteriorate into tedium and a listless dream world with a total lack of engagement. A research study by Csikszentmihalyi illustrates this. The researchers equipped the students with beepers that when the students heard them they were to write down whatever was in their minds at the time. The lesson was about Genghis Khan’s invasion of China in the 12th Century. When the beepers went only two students were thinking about China. One was thinking about what he had had at a Chinese restaurant two weeks

ALAN COOPER before, while the other was wondering why Chinese men in the 12th century wore pony tails. Essentially no one was thinking about the lesson. The amount of exercise required is not much. A few minutes as part of the normal class ritual at the start of the day is sufficient. The more fun and enjoyment it is, the better. There are many options of what to do. Rhythm and movement exercises to music which encourage the integration of the right and left sides of the brain are ideal. The video clip at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=E65StVJTzVU is an example of what can be done with stretching exercises, in just two minutes at the start of a class, or even during a class. However, with regard to the fun and enjoyment factor, I would add suitable music or a rap that can be chanted, or even both. Traditional activities such as Ti Rakau (demonstrated at this link https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=GJD52j_N5ng ), have many useful spin offs apart from just exercise. Not only are they are fun, they are authentically New Zealand and they provide a forum for practicing life skills such as collaboration and striving for accuracy. Kapa Haka practice before school rather than at lunch time or after school would also provide more than sufficient exercise.

Helping with the teaching and learning in class Using physical movement in teaching and learning is not new. When I was appointed to establish a remedial programme in reading and writing at Wanganui Collegiate School in 1962 I taught spelling according to the practical ideas of the now forgotten Grace Fernald. The practice was simply to have a little jar of water on the desk into which the index finger was dipped and then used to write out the word to be learned on the desk top. This technique worked well in enabling the students to spell successfully. At the other end of the scale, a girl who I had taught in Year 7 and 8 to use and understand the Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles mode, found that movement enabled her to learn physics while studying at Cambridge University in England. She

writes, “Many of the things that were once definite ‘learning styles’ have now just become an integral part of my studying habits. I think the most beneficial thing for me has simply been my awareness of the most effective ways of learning. I found out that I was a primarily kinesthetic and visual learner and I use this whenever I study. For example when working on a physics problem I tend to draw it out with my hands in the air, an action which has become second nature, or for example when I am required to learn a speech, whether it be for Speech and Drama or a French oral I tend to walk and move as this seems to help me learn more effectively.” So movement works for both the academically elite and the academically challenged. Spelling can be learned by placing lettering on the floor and then stepping on each letter in the word, as a modest form of Twister. More complex forms of Twister are also a good option here. At a more complicated level, polynomials can be taught by the teacher preparing each part of the equation on card and then having the students place each card in place on the floor. If the student’s style is more tactile (hands rather than whole body) smaller cards can be used on the top of their desk. Musical chairs are an easy game to set up and play. Collaboration guru, Andrea Honigsfeld uses this game in the following way to highlight social aspects of collaborating. Round one is the game as it would normally be played, with one less chair each time for the number of players which means that when the music stops one player is forced out. While this is being done the rest of the group/class observe both how the participants reacted especially their facial and physical actions. A refinement of this could be to have those watching in three groups: one watching facial expressions, one watching body language, and one watching the one who is forced out. Round two is the same except that this time although a chair is removed each time all must be seated. Again those not in the players group observes as above.

The finale is a class or small group discussion leading to some realisation of the part emotion plays in both competitive and co-operative activities and how this affects the brain. Depending on the curriculum aims, this could be a simple comparison, or a starter activity to motivate students about the use of collaborative group work, or to illustrate aspects of emotional intelligence, or more, thus killing more than one bird with the same stone. Role play is another worthwhile way to include movement (see my article in Teachers Matter Issue 26). Activities requiring movement are only limited by each teacher’s innovative and creative imagination. To conclude, we always need to be careful of the judgements we make about students who apparently can’t sit still. One of my students was diagnosed as having ADHD and placed on the requisite medicine which made, at best, a marginal difference. However, he was also an above average cricketer for his age and therefore there were times when he had to field for up to two hours at a time without a break. During that time he never lost concentration and gained the reputation as an outstanding fielder. He is now a Shakespearian actor in London with the Ritalin long discarded. Then there is Sir Ken Robinson’s dancer described as only Sir Ken can in his video at http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=9NIUg2GdBNY. To use his words, “There are people who have to move to think.”

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

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ABCDEFGHIJKLMN KAREN BOYES

A to Z of effective teaching A by-the-letter guide

Matcher & Mis-Matcher Thinkers

A matcher is a person who responds to the world by finding sameness, patterns and similarities. They look for the commonalities in objects, situations and people. Matchers follow the status quo and typically conform to majority opinions.

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A mis-matcher sees the differences. They see the exception to the rule, or the uniqueness of a situation rather than the similarities. These people spot inconsistencies, incongruence and mistakes almost instantaneously, many times without even looking. When told there are two ways to view a situation, a mis-matcher will find the third. When asked to complete a task, often the automatic response is no, when they actually mean yes. These people tend to ‘rock the boat’, push boundaries and sometimes seem less obedient. A mis-matcher loves choice and options rather than being told what to do.

Mindmapping

Managing Impulsivity

A mind map, made popular by Tony Buzan, is a diagram used to visually represent and organise information. Created around a single concept, the map starts in the centre of the page and branches outwards. Mind maps use key words, rather than sentences and ideas are connected and associated together with branches. Visual pictures, arrows and colour are added to create dimension and flow.

It is normal for young children to be impulsive, yet, being self-managing is perhaps one of the more important factors of successful problem solvers. Most importantly, being able to manage impulsivity is a learned skill. When faced with problems, challenges or tasks people with this disposition set their intention with a plan, a vision or a goal before they begin. They are mindful to stop, think and reflect upon the situation, task or challenge. Students who do not exhibit this disposition often blurt out the answer, start work without fully understanding the task and lack organisational skills. When giving directions, a great phrase to use in the classroom to assist students to stop and think is to say, “In a moment but not quite yet…” Another great technique to assist students to pause and reflect is; “If you were following these instructions correctly, what would you be doing?”

Mind maps are used as a brain friendly note taking method, and may be constructed live in class while the teacher is talking or used to create a summary of traditional notes. Mind mapping is also a great technique for planning essays, events and speeches.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMN

m M

NOPQRSTUVWXYZ KAREN BOYES

Music in the classroom Multiple Intelligence Playing music in your classroom is great to add atmosphere and even suspense – just like in the movies. There are many opportunities for playing music through a day. 1. As students enter your room; Play a theme song to your topic, an upbeat track that creates energy or a call in song such as “Walk right in, sit right down.” 2. Reflection music: While students are quietly or silently writing, play quiet baroque music in the background. This music is also known as ‘study’ music. Baroque composers include Pachelbel, Vivaldi, Bach, Handel and Telemann. 3. Pack-up music: Find a fast piece of music such as the William Tell Overture and when the music is played students are required to pack up the activities they have been doing. This strategy creates three minutes of busy-ness and also allows students to complete the activity there were on. Ensure students know where they are required to be at the conclusion of the track; sitting on the mat or sitting at their desks. 4. Create songs, raps and rhythms to reinforce your teaching. Researchers estimate the majority of students have music playing in their heads most of the day – it might as well be your content. Create catchy tunes to reinforce your lessons.

The theory of Multiple Intelligence was popularised by Howard Gardiner of Harvard.

He originally identified seven distinct ways a person can be intelligent. They are Visual-Spatial – being able to think in terms of physical space, as architects do. Bodily-kinesthetic – Effective in their use of the body, such as a dancer or a surgeon. Musical – these people show sensitivity to rhythm and sound. They are able to sing, play musical instruments, and compose music

Logical -Mathematical – the capacity to naturally use logic, abstractions, reasoning, numbers and critical thinking. Systems thinking is also a strong element in this intelligence. It is important to note that every person has a unique combination of these intelligences and each should be valued equally.

Interpersonal – a people person who can understand and interact with others effectively.

Intrapersonal – these people are introspective and have great selfreflective capacities. They have a deep understanding of self and understand their strengths and weaknesses.

Linguistic – people with this intelligence typically display a flair with words and languages. They are typically good at reading, writing, telling stories and memorising words along with dates.

NOPQRSTUV

Karen is an expert in effective teaching and learning, study skills, motivation and positive thinking. She was awarded the NSANZ Educator of the Year 2014 award and works in schools throughout Australasia teaching students how to Study Smart and teachers how to raise achievement.

momentum and continue to grow through relevant experiences?

KATE SOUTHCOMBE

How to foster momentum to allow ongoing learning Using the science of behaviour in your classroom

was reading some material from a workshop on developing passionate people in the workplace. The accompanying workbook made for great inspirational reading. Kevin Abraham, who conducted the course, stated that momentum not motivation is what drives people to succeed. Having dreams and then setting clearly defined goals and making progress towards these goals helps create momentum. Nowhere within his workbook did I see any reference to work attendance, productivity or promotion based on production – it was all focused on personal development, setting goals and creating a passionate life.

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It seems that employers have begun to realise that if employees are passionate about their personal life they will probably be happier and more productive at work – not exactly rocket science but let’s not knock progress! I contemplated this thought in relation to education and how one might apply this approach within schools. Maybe, with regards to fostering employee satisfaction and happiness, the corporate world was way ahead of us in showing concern for what drives, motivates, and inspires people to keep going when the going gets tough.

I was fascinated by what I read, and also intrigued because Abraham referred to two aspects of behaviour that particularly appeal to me as a behaviour analyst: momentum and motivation. I am also a long distance runner and momentum, in the form of regular training, helps me to continually build on my previous success. This is paramount for my personal success and helps me endure endless days of pounding the tarmac. Motivation, in the form of goal focus or sense of purpose, is essential in order to keep you going through the endless hours of training and indeed the physical pain on the day. Without a bigger picture or ultimate sense of possible achievement there will be no success, but momentum enables you to build on the smaller regular successes and as Abraham says ‘drives’ you on towards your goal.

Once you have started, each ‘footstep’ in whatever you are doing reinforces the previous one. Anyone who has saved money or lost a large amount of weight will appreciate the beginning can be tough as the small losses or gains seem to make no difference. But suddenly you appear to reach a point where you are on a roll and there’s no looking back. Momentum helps to explain this phenomenon and from the science of behaviour we can extract some useful tips that may support us in our teaching. So how does this relate to teaching? How can we use what we know about momentum to guide our students? Finding out about children’s interests and developing the curriculum around these interests is fundamental to early childhood planning. Activities grow out of these interests and children become motivated to learn, building on previous experiences. As we move up the educational ladder, we find this focus on interests increasingly diminished due to standard curriculum demands. As a teacher I found myself challenged to make the curriculum relevant and accessible to all of my students, but in an already overloaded day, how do we allow students to feel motivated, build

There may be no easy answer but Behavioural Momentum Theory may be able to help us with the challenge of getting stuff done that has to be done, or with increasing certain desirable behaviours such as compliance to requests. Behavioural Momentum Theory begins with two components: velocity, which as Fleet explains is analogous to rates of responding, and mass which is analogous to resistance to change. The rate of a response or behaviour (how often it occurs) and its resistance to change (stopping the behaviour) are controlled by two different relationships. Polesnik & Shahan state that the rate of a behaviour is dependent on the reinforcement gained, whereas the degree of difficulty in changing or stopping the behaviour is related to the reinforcement gained in the presence of certain stimuli or events. In simple behavioural terms, a behaviour that has been reinforced frequently under certain conditions is harder to reduce or slow down when conditions change. We can use this information to help us when dealing with challenging tasks or to help increase the likelihood that behaviours will be maintained over time. Applied Behaviour Analysts refer to the common applied procedure utilising Behavioural Momentum Theory as the High Probability Request Sequence. This sounds complicated but is straight forward and almost intuitive once you understand the theory behind it. The High-P procedure works as follows - the therapist asks the client to perform several easy enjoyable behaviours which are reinforced, before asking for the less likely behaviour. The high probability requests increase the rate of the behaviour (velocity) before introducing the low probability request. Fleet explains

that the reinforcers gained during the High-P requests increase the resistance to change (mass), making the Low-P request more likely to be carried out.

There are many examples of expressions that suggest a basic appreciation for the effects of momentum on our behaviour • Snowballing • On and off the bandwagon • Picking up speed • Just one more drink, etc... • One more won’t hurt • Just a little • I’ve started so I’ll finish The key points with the High-P Procedure are; • The less preferred or less likely behaviour that is requested must be known to the students • Requests should be presented rapidly (‘Simon says’ style) and all compliance must be acknowledged • Reinforcement must be highly valued by students One pitfall is that teachers may avoid asking for the difficult task, only making easy requests. The High-P Procedure must be part of a systematic approach to getting students to comply, building on their interests and creating opportunities for reinforcement. As students comply more willingly, the High-P requests can be reduced. This relies on sensitivity to students’ capabilities and

watching for patterns in responding. For challenging behaviour this procedure needs to be continued throughout a teaching period and not immediately following the challenging behaviour. We are in a perfect position to foster momentum within the classroom from early childhood through to secondary school, providing opportunities to build on previous successes. At each stage the challenges will be different, but the core elements will remain the same. Ask questions, find out what students are interested in, where they have been successful, and provide them with ways to expand, achieve and move to the next level. So how does it work? • Start with easy step by step instructions • Make it easy for students to succeed early on. Use tasks that have a history of reinforcement or are highly probable • T h e n i n t r o d u c e t h e m o r e d i f f i c u l t or challenging task followed by reinforcement This may sound basic but surely it surpasses repeated efforts to make students comply with requests? If we are not getting the behaviour we want, we need to be part of the change process – that’s behaviour 101! Classroom momentum ideas • Create visual charts of progress for whole class and individual activities based on tasks covered rather than results achieved • Children devise their own individual goal or dream sheet and tick off steps towards it

PHOTO: RAWPIXEL

I see similarities with the game Simon says…you find yourself just doing it because you have done so many without thinking and ‘got it right’ so to speak!

KATE SOUTHCOMBE • P l a y f u n g a m e s i n v o l v i n g h i g h l y probable behaviours then add a less favoured task for example - for younger children, when tidying up children can be asked to turn music on, think of their favourite character from a book, then collect everything up and put it away, then dance and act as their favourite character. With older students, writing tasks could be started by partnering up, discussing their favourite TV show and character, and then creating a written dialogue between two characters in each show that lasts about 5 minutes. The list is endless and limited only by imagination. Remember - create basic steps that make it easy to succeed early on and feel the roller-coaster effect as momentum builds. I believe as teachers we have much to learn from the science of behaviour. I have already discussed in a previous issue the potential problems with experts telling us how to teach, but De Bono himself inspired us to look ‘outside the box’ for ideas and inspiration. ABA therapists have skills and techniques that can be used within the classroom. Evidence based practice provides us with the security that we are not dabbling with trends or fads and we are engaged in ongoing learning. At the core of successful application is our desire to be informed and to provide the best for our children based on current evidence. Remember we have more power than we think to modify our children’s behaviour in an ethical and sustainable way, and this could be by simply helping them to achieve their dreams and goals.

Kate provides individually tailored professional development for Early C h i l d h o o d C e n t re s a n d s ch o o l s on evidence-based behaviour management. She also consults for parents of children with specific behaviour concerns. kate@eprtraining.co.nz

JENNY BARRETT

A Learning and Change Network in action Shout Science from the rooftops!

sk any student in Lorraine Field’s Year 2 class at Wakaraanga School about what happens if an egg is soaked in vinegar and they will fight to fill you in on every step of the process, why it happens and what it means. Lorraine has been advocating science in her classroom for years but now as a lead teacher in a science-focused Learning and Change Network (LCN), she, her students, and the school are intending to go “where no man (or woman!) has gone before” with their scientific exploration.

Teachers Matter

Lorraine doesn’t have a science education background but she has always been passionate about the environment, and for as long as she can remember has found creepy crawlies and plant life fascinating. Lorraine was a natural choice, along with her colleague Katie Clay, to represent Wakaraanga School in the area-wide science cluster group and she has jumped in with both lab-shoes. This year, whilst running a unit on “kitchen chemistry,” Lorraine has lit a fire in her students that cannot be put out and this fire has continued through three terms. The kitchen chemistry unit took advantage of the student’s prior knowledge of and familiarity with kitchen products. Lorraine, a big fan of Steve Spangler, kick-started the journey using one of his experiments by asking the children what they thought would happen to an egg soaked in vinegar. She recorded their hypotheses and the children documented what happened to the egg and the shell, doing their own research to support their findings.

It was Lorraine’s next stage that allowed her Little Scientists to truly develop their investigative abilities. Lorraine explains: “It is really important to me that the children come up with their own things that they want to find out about, so we created a wonder wall where the children could write down their own ideas. They wanted to find out: would the bouncing egg work with other vinegars, would the eggs change colour if they added food colouring to the vinegar? The list was endless and is still very much a part of my weekly programme.” Luckily Wakaraanga School has its own chickens and an endless supply of eggs! When experimenting with food colouring, the students discovered that even though the

outside did change colour, the yolk remained yellow. They identified and discussed the protective layer. Why would it have this? What else is it stopping from getting to the yolk? Where else do you see this kind of defence? Did it apply to fruit? One girl soaked a lemon in milk for four days, hypothesising that you would get a milk flavoured lemon and lemon flavoured milk. Bravely Lorraine tested the milk and it did taste of lemon (amongst other things). In the course of the unit the students gained an understanding of the chemistry required to be a great chef or wine maker (Heston Blumenthal eat your heart out). Effortlessly, the investigations also encompassed literacy tasks and numeracy questions such as “how long did the egg soak for? How much vinegar was needed? How high could the egg bounce? Plus the children practised the team work, self-management and persistence that are so important in science. Crucial to Wakaraanga’s science programme is that it is overt. Principal Brent Jenkins explains: “Our integrated curricula are probably to blame for dumbing down science and avoiding the explicit labelling of science or what aspect of an inquiry is science, and so that is one of the things we focus on.” This is in direct response to a survey conducted by the college in the LCN cluster. Their Year 9 and 10 students said that they knew nothing about science and had not studied science. However, when probed further, they did have a knowledge of science, they just did not realise it was science. This is one thing that the Bucklands Beach LCN is determined to change. LCN, another acronym… “A Learning and Change Network is a group of schools, kura and communities working together to grow capability to accelerate student achievement in a culturally intelligent way recognising the diversity of 21st century learning.” (Ministry of Education). Tasked by the Ministry to look at supporting priority learners in science, the Bucklands Beach cluster includes five primary schools, two intermediates and two colleges. “We have known for some time that all schools,

including ourselves, weren’t doing too well at science and we saw this as an opportunity to grow our own network in our own school, our own community and across the area”, details Brent. There is no funding attached to the LCN but there is access to support via the University of Auckland and to opportunities to learn from other LCNs. The Bucklands Beach cluster began the process with a survey and this would b e B r e n t ’s r e c o m m e n d a t i o n t o a n y school looking to develop their science programme. “Find out what the students think that they know about science, asking boys and girls separately. Boys seem to have a more upbeat view that they know a bit about science but worryingly the girls leaned more towards “we don’t know anything about science, it’s a boy thing”. Even boys and girls in the same class gave different answers, so it was entirely perception.” Furthermore, survey the community. “We didn’t realise how many parents we had who were involved in science as a career. This includes water engineers, people dealing in air quality and lecturers at university. Some parents are doing scientific research related to developing products for the business world. And all are willing to come in and share, and of course are delighted at what the school has started.” The parental survey results were startling in their support for more emphasis on science. Lorraine explains”. Parents wanted to see more experiments and hands on activities. They wanted field trips, a more formalised structure or more time spent on science and more science projects for homework.” Lastly, Brent advocates surveying your own staff. “Science is always mentioned in an integrated inquiry, but try to identify the amount of explicit teaching of science, and also ask about barriers”. Brent and Lorraine identify three barriers. Firstly, for many it is a perceived lack of resources which this school has countered by providing two fully stocked science trolleys, with two more planned.

JENNY BARRETT

Two other barriers are being addressed: time and teacher knowledge. At fortnightly meetings Lorraine, Katie and the whole staff share science ideas, integrating literacy and numeracy to counter arguments that there is no time for science due to the demands of other parts of the curricula. Teachers share example units with others and staff feedback on how it went and add their own ideas. Next year Lorraine and Katie will be supporting each team with their programme development and observing or taking classes to help each teacher integrate explicit science into their day to day classroom teaching.

MRS FIELD, THE YEAR 2 SCIENTISTS AND THE SCIENCE TROLLEY

Nothing can be removed from the science trolley to avoid creating another barrier, with equipment missing or broken. Instead Lorraine has developed additional bins with basic equipment to support a topic or inquiry that can be taken in lieu of the trolley.

Lorraine is also working with the company who developed the trolley to create bins to match each strand of the science curriculum. This means that the science trolley could be tailored for a team focusing on the material world or natural world.

SCIENCE BUCKET READY TO GO

To measure progress Brent describes how they “will report on science annually, as we do on literacy and numeracy, and see if we can improve the students’ perception and knowledge of science.” The school is now working through how to measure this progress, quantitatively and qualitatively. The LCN’s ultimate aim is to see scientific knowledge and passion for science flourish and the numbers studying science to Year 13 increase. Over to the children For Lorraine it is “all about giving the ownership back to children”. Children are naturally curious. What parent or teacher hasn’t struggled with the complexities of explaining how planes fly, how babies are made and what makes thunder, usually at the most inopportune time? Lorraine wants to nourish and not quash that curiosity, so time is made to take any questions seriously. Lorraine cites an example during news sharing, “One day a little girl showed the class a crystal that she had got from visiting Crystal Mountain in Auckland. This generated lots of questions…Where do you find them? What are they made from? Are they worth a lot of money? Another child shared their prior knowledge of an older sibling having grown some crystals. Then the children were asking if they could grow their own crystals and we have done just that, led by the children themselves.” Lorraine’s Year 2’s have done it in a way which shouts “this is science” from the roof tops but at the same time demonstrates admirably the practical use of science, not just the discipline of science. It is a hard middle

JENNY BARRETT ground to reach, but the explanations and enthusiasm of these girls pictured leaves you with no doubt that Wakaraanga School will have some interesting data to share with schools across the country in the near future. With thanks to Lorraine Field, Brent Jenkins and the Year 2 students at Wakaraanga School

Teachers Matter

Jenny is the CEO for Breathe Technology. Her enthusiasm for technology came when thrown in the deep end whist teaching in Taiwan. She has supported classroom teachers to use educational technology in the UK and NZ. www.breathtechnology.co.nz

MICHAEL GROSE much work to do if they have revealed their vulnerabilities during a conference about their child’s learning or behaviour. Work on one or two manageable areas rather than trying to fix too much and overwhelming them.

PHOTO: KASPARS GRINVALDS

4. Consider having someone else present at the meeting Think carefully about whether you need to have other people present in a meeting if you know beforehand that the personal and family issues will be discussed. You might suggest that the parent be accompanied by a professional, family member or friend if they need someone to be their advocate. As a rule of thumb, only have as many people present as is absolutely necessary to keep the meeting intimate and personal.

Helping parents with significant (parenting) concerns Respond with sensitivity and support

t’s a fact of modern life that many families are under stress and experience difficulties that impact heavily on parents, and on their children. Increasingly, parents are turning to professionals for their children to provide the support they need. Also, many teachers and school leaders are finding that what they thought was a basic meeting with parents about their child’s progress or behaviour shifts significantly when a parent reveals the difficulties they are encountering at home or in their personal life. Often the level of assistance required is outside the skill set of educators, but parents will benefit from a sensitive and supportive response from their child’s school. Recognise vulnerable families and difficult situations Parents are particularly vulnerable when one or more of the following factors occurs in their family: • experience of family breakdown; • substance abuse of a family member; • experience of trauma or mental illness; • experience of a death in the family; • during children’s transitional stages; • having a special needs child;

• h a v i n g a c h i l d w i t h s i g n i f i c a n t behavioural problems; • sudden or significant change; • experience of family chaos. When working with such parents or with parents experiencing distress you need to borrow some basic skills and protocols from the counselling discipline.

5. Refer them to the support they need It’s important to know the limits of your ability to help. Be ready to refer parents on to either professional levels of assistance or informal support such as family or other parents within the school community. Be mindful of the fact that many vulnerable parents lack social networks and may need special assistance to provide them with the support they need. Most teachers and school leaders operate automatically from an educative mindset – which is basically about informing and up skilling. Working with vulnerable and at risk parents requires a shift in mindset to include listening, supporting and referring, which are all sound counselling skills.

These include: 1. Keep accurate records of all interactions Record-keeping is essential for accountability purposes so make sure you record the date of meetings and keep details of who was present, as well as key discussion points, recommendations, referrals and follow-up activities. 2. Be prepared to listen It’s not your job to solve their problems but you can listen to their story and their concerns. You may be the first person whom they have divulged important facts to, so confidentiality and trust are two critical issues. Similarly you may be the only person they talk with so your sensitivity will be appreciated. 3. Avoid overloading them Troubled parents still want to help their children so avoid overloading them with too

Michael is the author of 8 parenting books, including his new release Thriving! and the best-selling Why First Bor ns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change it. His popular parenting columns appear in newspapers and magazines across Australia. He appears regularly on television including Channel 10’s The Circle, and is a popular & entertaining speaker. He also has a regular fortnightly half hour parenting segment on ABC radio Victoria. Michael has an education background,and holds a Master of Educational Studies with research into what makes healthy families tick.

37 37

KAREN BOYES

Study Skills Set yourself up for study success

he great news is passing exams is more a matter of technique than intelligence. Whatever results you have received in the past, they are NOT a reflection of the results you can achieve this year. Your test scores are not a reflection of your self-worth; they are an evaluation of the learning strategies you have put into place. Here are some proven strategies to put into place that guarantee results.

Teachers Matter

Plan for Success: Start the year with a positive attitude knowing that you can achieve great results at the end of the year. Successful students know that it is what you do every day that makes the biggest difference. Getting into productive habits at the start of the year sets up your success. Stop and reflect on the results you want to achieve and share this with people who will support you throughout the year. Write your goals on a small poster of chart and hang it in a place you will see it every day. Add pictures, quotes or photographs to make it even more real.

Summarise your notes each day: Even though we’re in the technological age, research clearly shows summarising your notes by hand is far better than reading or cutting and pasting information. Purchase a small notebook per subject and spend 20 minutes each day summarising your notes into the notebooks. Record the key points, important information a teacher has shared, definitions and anything else that maybe asked on an exam. Avoid copying exactly. Draw diagrams and add depth by adding your thoughts, opinions or background information.

Use a wall planner, diary or calendar: Successful people have a plan and record the important dates to help manage their time. Once the key dates are in place for when assignments are due, assessments are given and exam dates entered, work backwards to plan when you will learn and complete your study/assignments. While leaving it until the last minute may be a past pattern, it rarely produces the best results. When writing an assignment, remember to plan time to do the research, draft, edit the draft, have someone check your draft and complete the final copy. When you get tests and assignments back: One of the most important factors for success this year, is to go back and learn what you DON’T KNOW. When your results are given back be excited about the marks and grades you get, however, be more excited about the answers you got wrong – these are your ticket to success. This is what you study and learn for a test or exam. Going over what you already know is a waste of time. Learn what you don’t know. If you are not sure, ask. Create a study place that is yours: Many people prefer to sit at a desk to study, however some students are comfortable on the floor or a beanbag. The important factor is to have a place that is yours. It does not need to be big, fancy or flash – it just needs to be your place to study. It might be a desk or table in your bedroom, the kitchen table or your favourite spot in the sun. Ideal items to have available include coloured pencils/pens, post it notes,

water, brain food, quiet classical music and your summary notebooks. Download and use the iStudyAlarm: Research shows studying in small short bursts can be very effective, especially if you are lacking motivation or the information is challenging. The iStudyAlarm, downloadable from iTunes or Google Play, times you to study for 20 minutes and gives you a 5 minute break. It also has 27 study tips, 12 exam tips and 12 break ideas. STUDY SMART & PASS… For your FREE 27 Study Tips Poster, please email karen@spectrumeducation.com

The alarm youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll look forward to: iStudyAlarm Available from the Apple itunes store and Google Play.

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 canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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.

MICHAEL MCQUEEN

Why parents who resist pressure to overprotect may be doing their children a favour! In defence of ‘neglectful’ parents

arents beware – allowing your child to walk to the shops or catch the bus unaccompanied may result in you being reported to child protective services. As countless recently reported cases prove, parents who fail to protect their children at all times run the risk of being branded negligent.

PHOTO: MARCEL DE GRIJS

As someone who grew up in the ‘play outside till the streetlights come on’ era, I find this trend both fascinating and bizarre in equal measure. After all, despite the picture portrayed in current affairs programmes of modern society being one where crime, abuse and violence are rife, the data is clear – our society is actually a safer place for children than it was in 1975. Reflecting on both current research and my personal obser vations, I am firmly of the belief that the pendulum on child protection has swung too far in the nurturing direction. We often talk about the bubble-wrap kids and helicopter parents with a wry smile and a dismissive chuckle, but simply because something is common, this does not mean it is normal (or constructive).

Teachers Matter

A number of years ago I came across an insightful quote from American political figure Ivy Baker Priest who in reflecting on her own childhood stated:

My father had always said that there are four things a child needs – plenty of love, nourishing food, regular sleep, and lots of soap and water – and after those, what they need most is some intelligent neglect.

Drawing on over 5 years of talking with ‘neglectful parents’ who fear they are doing their children a disservice because they are out of step with the more over-protective child rearing attitudes in modern society, I felt it was time to speak up on their behalf. Naturally, I would never espouse neglectful parenting in the absent or abusive sense. Similarly, I am not condoning a return to the inexcusably harsh, mean-spirited or emotionally austere parenting days of old where the focus was on raising ‘tough’ kids who would be able to face the world with a stoic resolve.

“ My father had always said that there are four things a child needs – plenty of love, nourishing food, regular sleep, and lots of soap and water – and after those, what they need most is some intelligent neglect. "

Rather, the type of neglect I aim to affirm below is of the intelligent type – a neglect that is based on a commitment to 5 core values:

1. Emphasising the collective over the individual In his book Grown Up Digital, Don Tapscott highlights a dramatic shift in the place children occupy in a family unit. He contrasts the power-dynamic of families that existed when baby boomers were children (figure 8.1) with the structure of families in our modern age (figure 8.2). As the diagram reflects, there has been a dramatic shift away from seeing children as a part of the family, to that of being the centre of the family. Prof. Jean Twenge from San Diego State University explored how this shift is being expressed practically in families. She describes how modern parents begin asking children their preferences even before the child can answer and points to the trend of parents who would never dream of making a single decision for their child without first asking what the child wants. Twenge argues that this results in children coming to believe that their wants are the most important.” This is, of course, a far cry from the ‘be seen and not heard’ days where children fitted in around the parent’s lives and not vice versa. Intelligently neglectful parents recognise that while a child is a precious and valuable member of the family, he or she is not the centre of the family as a collective. Furthermore, they acknowledge that while a child may have preferences and desires,

hout this yare MICHAEL MCQUEEN n g nheardÕ days where children fitted in around r t shild is a precious and valuable member of ecollective. Furthermore, they acknowledge ese tant ardÕ days where children fitted in around and natural parenting instinct, intelligently neglectful parents realise that sugar coating life by removing the exposure to all negative emotions will do a child few favours in the long run. Furthermore, they realise that the 3 negative emotions that all children must experience if they are to have a holistic understanding of real life include:

a. Boredom Intelligently neglectful parents recognise that it is important that kids and teens experience boredom and learn that it won’t kill them. After all, boredom has a unique ability to force the human brain to invent, create or even simply meditate on the deeper issues of life.

heir dight is a precious and valuable member of llective. Furthermore, they acknowledge ces e tion t an

b. Risk/Danger While few parents would willingly expose their children to danger, intelligently neglectful parents recognise that removing all risk and danger from a child’s life invariably does more harm than good. Reflecting on this fact, Lenore Skenazy in her book Free Range Kids describes how children who aren’t allowed to take any risks turn out to be less safe than those who do! c. Disappointment Resisting the pressure to place a toy between every wrapper of paper when preparing a ‘pass the parcel’ game for a child’s birthday party, intelligently neglectful parents recognise that sometimes in life you will face disappointment and that hiding this fact is futile. In the same way, intelligently neglectful schools and teachers are beginning to realise that giving every runner in the race a ribbon does little more than de-value achievement and promote mediocrity.

r t s 4. Character ch n evolve in recent years is that of parents development rather than urally, this parental popularity contest often n confidence Ð ÔnoÕ. 2. The value of saying ‘no’ 3. The importance these preferences and desires are no more or less important than anybody else’s.

In this way, intelligently neglectful parents realise that their child may be disappointed, upset or even downright incensed by a failure to have their desires and preferences met at every point – but that this is important preparation for an adult world where not getting one’s own way is an unavoidable reality.

One of the trends that I have found fascinating to watch evolve in recent years is that of parents who feel a pressure to be their child’s best friend. Naturally, this parental popularity contest often results in one very powerful word dropping off the radar – ‘no’.

In his book No; Why kids of all ages need to hear it and parents can say it, Dr David Walsh argues that saying no at the right times, in the right way and for the right reasons is critical for the character development and even the emotional security of adolescents. Intelligently neglectful parents realise this and so are willing to risk the short term resentment and silent treatment of their child when the answer needs to be ‘no.’

of experiencing the spectrumWalsh of life’s Drfull David emotions

Since the early 1980’s, self esteem has been a key area of focus in parenting and educational circles. Reflecting on the more negative aspects of this trend, principal of Sydney’s Barker College, Dr Rod Kefford suggested recently that from the 1970s onwards, teachers were prohibited from doing anything that would harm the

parents can say it, argues nd for the right reasons is critical for the rity of in adolescents. neglectful evolve recent yearsIntelligently is that of parents While the desire to protect children from the darker sides of life is an important

MICHAEL MCQUEEN

A number of months ago I wrote an article entitled The Dark Side of Self Esteem which explored some of the unintended consequences of focusing on building confidence in young people at the expense of fostering character and self-driven resilience. These included increases in depression, apathy, narcissism and dependence in young people.

Teachers Matter

Intelligently neglectful parents recognise these dangers and focus on affirming not simply who a child is, but also what he or she does. In linking reward and affirmation to achievement and effort, these parents help their children build a lasting selfconfidence and well-grounded character.

5. An eagerness to encourage but a reluctance to rescue I recently heard it said that the greatest gift you can give a young person is a high expectation of their abilities. Intelligently neglectful parents know this to be true. As such, they will always give encouragement, support and coaching while at the same time being unwilling to step in and rescue a child from circumstances or consequences. Such a perspective reminds me of the story I heard years ago of the dangers of helping a bird break free of its egg during the hatching process. While we as humans may feel compelled to help the struggling bird, the very act of offering assistance prevents the bird from thriving or surviving once it is out in the real world. There is something in the

struggle that prepares the bird for life and the removal of this struggle actually does far more harm than good. Intelligently neglectful parents recognise that a similar dynamic exists in humans and will readily cheer long and loud from the sidelines but will resist every urge to step into the ring and fight battles on their child’s behalf. While protection and nurture are perfectly natural parental instincts, I agree wholeheartedly with Ivy Baker Priest – intelligent neglect is critically important in parent-child relationships. My hope is that this vote of confidence is an encouragement to the countless thousands of intelligently neglectful parents who often fear they are on the wrong track. Both I and the weight of all the current research is on your side – keep up the good work!

Michael is an award-winning speaker, social researcher and 3-time bestselling author. His most recent book Winning the battle for Relevance is a landmark title that explores why even the greatest businesses and institutions become obsolete and how others can avoid their fate. w w w. m i ch a e l m c q u u e n . n e t info@michaelmcqueen.net

PHOTO: SAIED SHAHINKIYA

supposedly fragile self esteem of students. He goes on to suggest that this has come at the cost of character formation saying, “If we are serious about building resilience, we have to let young people fail. It is only through our failings that we learn anything.”

So often you find that the students you're tr ying to

≈ INSPIRE ≈ are the ones that end up inspiring you. Sean Jenkins

SHARON DU PREEZ

How to develop moral maturity in your class Kohlberg’s 6 stages

ne of my favourite lessons to teach kids when I am doing my resilience course with them is the one on moral maturity. I learned it in the traditional way when doing my psychology degree, but later came across the teachings of Rafe Esquith who teaches it to kids in a much simpler way. Briefly, the levels are as follows:

Level 1 - The child is motivated by avoiding punishment Level 2 - The child is motivated by receiving rewards Level 1 and 2 empathy is all about themselves

the year, class language would be around these levels. This is easy to do - I use a poster with the stages of frog development and have paraphrased the levels into child language (I want a reward, I don’t want to be punished, I want someone to notice and

“ The aim is to get children to the point where they are tr ying to be considerate”

Level 3 - The child wants approval Level 4 - The child is motivated by rules Level 3 and 4 empathy is about fitting in with a group

Level 5 - The child wants to be considerate of others Level 6 - The child has a personal code of conduct that they follow

Teachers Matter

Level 5 and 6 empathy is more about what is good for society

I find it really easy to teach this to kids and they usually snap it up and are motivated to aim higher. However, I get just one lesson to teach it. Teachers are in a position to have a whole lot more fun with this! Rafe Esquith would teach it to his class early in the year and for the rest of

like what I do, etc). I then illustrate to the kids what it would look like if someone was using that level on them, or if an adult was behaving like that, a child behaving like that, etc. I then get them to offer examples they can think of. Thereafter, one could point it out every time something happens where these levels are evident. For example, if the class is offered the chance to watch a movie if they concentrate hard and finish their work quickly - you could ask them what stage that is and what they could do to aim higher. The aim is to get children to the point where they are trying to be considerate. They are quiet in assembly because they are considerate of the one trying to speak. They do their work quietly in class because they are considerate of the other kids trying to concentrate. They pick up after themselves because they are considerate

of the person who would have to do it if they don’t. Once kids are ready to move up a stage, using appropriate language will encourage them to become more aware of it. With my own children, I am working on consideration and so most of my language with them points out that I would like them to do something because that would be considerate, or I am not really pleased about what they did because now this has caused these consequences and that is not really considerate, and so forth. They aren’t even aware of what I am trying to do (move them up a stage in their moral maturity) but are moving in that direction anyway. My suggestion for teachers is to be creative with this. Teach it early in the year and then point it out whenever it comes up. Have a poster in the classroom reminding kids (and yourself) and in so doing, you will be encouraging kids to develop their moral maturity over the course of the year. I wish all teachers a great year ahead!

Sharon is a life coach and counsellor, practicing in the Hutt Valley and Wellington areas. She has a degree in psychological counselling and a diploma in life coaching. She has a special interest in resilience mentoring of both adults and children and runs workshops on this topic. She is the author of a book on parenting for resilience and writes articles for magazines. For more information, see www.lifestuffnz.com or contact lifestuffnz@gmail.com.

ILLUSTRATION: FLAYA

SHARON DU PREEZ

Why hope is important for your brain The science of hope

euroscientists are investigating the science of hope. It turns out that a feeling of hopefulness changes your brain. Your brain pumps chemicals when experiencing the sensation of hope. These chemicals can block pain and accelerate healing. Hope, which involves belief and expectation, causes the brain to release neurochemicals called endorphins and enkephalins which actually mimic the effects of morphine. The result is that the brain can overcome hurdles and move to a place of recovery. In scientific terms, hope and recovery are not causally connected, but they are correlated.

Teachers Matter

I believe hope is as vital to the brain as the oxygen we breathe.

Times are difficult these days. A feeling of hopefulness can make a real difference! What do I do for my brain? I feed my brain stories that paint a clear picture of hope. Stories are the #1 brain state changer on the planet! Stories do far more than entertain. Neuroscientists believe that our brains are wired for stories. Stories captivate the brain.

They release emotions that are inextricably tied to those of the story’s characters. Brain scientists call this “narrative transport”. I believe storytelling has become a casualty of our busy, hectic pace of life. Parents, leaders, teachers....everyone should tell more stories. Remember a story is not a story until it is told. Here is a great story of hope. Take the time to read it. You will be glad you did.

Team Hoyt “I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay for their text messaging. But compared to Dick Hoyt....... Eighty-five times he’s pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he’s not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair, but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedalled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.

Dick’s also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right? And what has Rick done for his father? Not much--except save his life. This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

“ In scientific terms, hope and recovery are not causally connected, but they are correlated.”

PHOTO: NEWSOK.COM

TERRY SMALL

“He’ll be a disabled the rest of his life;” Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. “Put him in an institution.” But the Hoyts weren’t buying it. They noticed the way Rick’s eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the Engineering Department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. “No way,” Dick says he was told. “There’s nothing going on in his brain.” “Tell him a joke,” Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? “Go Bruins!” And after a high school classmate was paralysed in an accident and the school organised a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, “Dad, I want to do that.”

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described “coach potato” who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. “Then it was me who was handicapped,” Dick says. “I was sore for two weeks.” That day changed Rick’s life. “Dad,” he typed, “When we were running, it felt like I wasn’t disabled anymore!” And that sentence changed Dick’s life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon. “No way,” Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren’t quite a single runner, and they weren’t quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, and then they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year. Then somebody said, “Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?”

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don’t keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time. “No question about it,” Rick types.”My dad is the Father of the Century.” And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95% clogged. “If you hadn’t been in such great shape,” one doctor told him, “You probably would’ve died 15 years ago.” So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other’s lives. “The thing I’d most like,” Rick types, “is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.” So...if you took the time to share in this story your brain is different. Share it with everyone you know.

How’s a guy who never learned to swim and hadn’t ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick tried. Now they’ve done 212 triathlons, including four gruelling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be a buzz kill to be a 25-year-old getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don’t you think? Hey, Dick, why not see how you’d do on your own? “No way,” he says. Dick does it purely for “the awesome feeling” he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

Te r r y i s a m a s t e r t e a c h e r a n d learning skills specialist. He has presented on the brain for over 30 years and has a wealth of teaching experience and extensive involvement in applied neuroscience. http://www.terrysmall.com

5 minute brain exercises

KIM CHAMBERLAIN

The Big X Word Search: adjectives

Number Lines: multiples of 3

The words to find are in pairs. You will find each pair of words in the shape of an X. The first one has been done for you, CRAZY & BRAVE. Can you find: EMPTY & HAPPY BORED & CURLY DIZZY & FUZZY BOSSY & TASTY If you would like an extra challenge, see if you can work out what the remaining letters spell!

Start with the number in the arrow at the top, follow the lines and add up all the numbers that are multiples of 3

5 6

6 25 11

12 9 17

15 19

Word Flow

Teachers Matter

Think of five 5-letter words that start with the letters on the left and end with the letter in the middle. Then think of five 5-letter words that start with the letter in the middle and end with the letters on the right. Avoid using proper nouns.

A C H

A R N

KIM CHAMBERLAIN

Snake Crossword 1

ACROSS 1. Opposite of stop 3. Like a small snake 5. Musical instrument 7. Ruler of a country 8. Twelve months 9. Hello

DOWN 2. Noise made by pig 3. It helps birds to fly 4. A lot 5. Expensive 6. Flying insect that comes out at night

Picture Colouring: odd and even Colour in the squares with the odd numbers pink. Colour in the squares with the even numbers blue. What is it?

10 6

Answers on page 50

Kim Chamberlain is an author and speaker n a range of personal and professional development topics. She is a strong beliver that a lot can be achieved by undertaking activities that take a short amount of time. Details of her books and e-books, along with 2 free puzzle e-booklets can be found on kimchamberlain.com

ANSWERS

The Big X Word Search

Taking care of your brain is just as beneficial as taking care of the rest of your body. Research has shown that training games help improve memory, concentration, problem-solving skills, processing speed, creativity, and reasoning. The key to such exercise is to constantly learn and regularly challenge your brain’s capabilities with new tasks. Regularly doing series of short, varied tasks will keep your thinking faculties focused and flexible. Five-Minute Brain Workout contains a wide variety of games and puzzles for people who enjoy words and language. There are ten examples of the same kind of game or puzzle with a wide variety of types of each. While the puzzles have specific answers, the games do not, which means you can continue to develop your creativity by doing them more than once and coming up with different answers. And there are enough puzzles and games for a year’s worth of challenging your mind. The book’s contents can be used in any number of ways: to challenge yourself or simply have fun or as a competition against time or other people. These exercises work in many settings: home, work, schoolrooms, training and therapy sessions, and as an icebreaker at social gatherings. Find this book and others at www.kimchamberlain.com

The remaining letters spell: These are five letter adjectives that share the same middle letter and are understandable. Picture Colouring: odd and even It is a pig 2

Snake Crossword ACROSS 1. Go, 3. Worm, 5. Drum, 7. King, 8. Year, 9. Hi DOWN 2. Oink, 3. Wing, 4. Many 5. Dear, 6. Moth Number Lines. 63; 51 Word Flow. There are many acceptable answers. Example: TOTAL EASEL ANVIL CAROL HOTEL; LEVEL LEASE LARVA LAYER LINEN.

DR LAURA MARKHAM

How revelling in joy can reduce stress Is stress stealing your joy?

o you postpone joy?

You know what I mean. Sidestep your spouse’s kiss because you have to get the kids up for school? Hurry your child along the sidewalk when she’s doing her dance steps? Refuse your kids’ invitation to a snowball fight? Turn away from the sunset because you have to fix dinner? Miss out on reading to your kids now that they can read their own bedtime stories? Wish you could take a bubble bath but check your email instead?

“ Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn’t stop to enjoy it.” - William Feather

But what if revelling in that joy is part of what makes you a more inspired parent? What if you and your spouse need those kisses to stay connected so you’re a better parenting team? What if enjoying your daughter’s dancing on the sidewalk helps her start the day basking in your love? What if that snowball fight is just what you need to defuse tension and re-connect with your kid? What if those bedtime stories give your child the much-needed message that you’ll always be there for a snuggle, no matter how old she gets? What if that bubble bath would help you be a more patient parent tomorrow? What if you never know which sunset is your last? Wo u l d y o u d o a n y t h i n g d i f f e r e n t l y ? Why not start today?

PHOTO: PAVEL LOSEVSKY

We’re all guilty of taking the joy that pours into our lives for granted. We let it slip right through our fingers, in the name of efficiency and responsibility.

L a u r a i s t h e f o u n d e r o f w w w. AhaParenting.com and author of Peaceful parent, happy Kids: How to stop yelling and start connecting. Laura trained as a psychologist, but she’s also a Mum, so she translates proven science into practical solutions.

ANNIE ROBINSON, JAIMEE EADES AND DEIRDRE DUGGAN

Getting kids to plan It’s as easy as EBC!

hat is EBC?

EBC stands for Everybody Counts. This means no exclusive behaviour, and valuing others for what they CAN do, not for what they can’t. In our class, since EBC has been introduced, ever yone has been more confident and inclusive. EBC has changed how we do PE, less people are standing around and more people are getting involved. Also there are fewer arguments around getting turns. Everyone in our class thinks the more inclusive the game is, the more fun we will have playing it. The TREE model – as used by the Halberg Trust Our class uses a technique called the TREE model. This is a way to change a game so that people with different skill levels are involved and everyone experiences success. This includes people with learning and physical disabilities. The “T” in TREE stands for Teaching Style - the way we teach the game, for example, a diagram, show and tell, explanation. The “R” stands for Rules – making sure everyone knows how to play so that nobody gets hurt or in an argument. Rules could be things like: no contact, no hands on the ball, a metre back etc.

Teachers Matter

The first “E” stands for Equipment – what you require to play the game so that you can set it up properly.

The second “E” stands for Environment – what is the best suited environment for the game for example: The field, the tennis court, swimming pool etc.

SCHOOL SPORT AND PE ADAPTION WORKSHEET STUDENT/GROUP__________________________ DATE:____________________

TARGET INVASION Eg Eg Cricket/Softball Netball/Basketball Football/Hockey

NET/WALL Eg. Tennis/Volleyball

STRIKING/FIELDING Eg

EQUIPMENT

ENVIRONMENT

TEACHING STYLE RULES

How to use the TREE model 1. Select a game There are different game types to choose from. Striking/fielding games are games like cricket and softball. Target games are games such as netball and basketball. Invasion games are games like football and hockey. The last game type is net/wall games; these are games such as tennis and squash. 2. Break the game down into skills Once you have selected your game, break it down into skills. To demonstrate how to do this, we have chosen the games of Rippa Rugby and Ultimate Frisbee. The skills for Rippa Rugby are: running, defending, stepping, thinking/strategising, dodging, catching and ripping. The skills for Ultimate Frisbee are: catching, intercepting, aiming, using a correct Frisbee throw and running. Keep in mind that you don’t have to use all of your listed skills.

3. Create your game Now it’s time to create your game. Figure out what type of game it is and make sure you keep it the same type. Our game is called: ________ the type of game must stay invasion, because we based it on an invasion game - ultimate Frisbee. TEACHING STYLE: for our teaching style we chose to use a diagram and stepby-step instructions. RULES: The rules of our game are: • no physical contact • only 4 people at a time in the goal (2 from each team)

TEACHING STYLE  Small groups of similar abilities  Discuss ways of ensuring that every one is included  Separate activities for group to work on a specific skill  Visual aids and demonstrations  A whistle or voice to indicate aspects

EQUIPMENT

RULES  Stationary balls rather than a pitched one  Sitting, kneeling instead of standing  Adjust distance to base  Bouncing rolling or underarm throw rather than overarm  Link rule adjustments to competitive disability sport versions (eg BOCCIA)

TREE

 Different size and density balls to vary the challenge  Balls with bells or bleeper in it  Variety of bats and racquets available  Bean bags instead of balls  Experiment with different height and kinds of nets and barriers  Racquets or bats instead of throwing

ENVIRONMENT

 Increase or reduce area to vary the challenge  Try different playing positions  Vary distance between runners cones/bases  Marker cones as scoring targets  Create different zones depending on reaction time  Effect of playing surfaces and lighting

• 5 steps with the Frisbee • don’t pass back to the person who just threw it to you • 7 aside, all of your team must touch the Frisbee before a goal can be scored • drop the Frisbee and handover - also start counting passes again • stay in coned boundaries • you can’t hand pass, only throw • stay a metre back from the person with the Frisbee • have fun! EQUIPMENT: for equipment we are using; cones to mark boundaries and goals, and a Frisbee. The Frisbee should be in the middle of the soccer/rugby field. Four cones in the corners of the field and two cones a couple of steps back, in line with the rugby/soccer posts on each side.

ENVIRONMENT: For our environment we chose the soccer field but this can be changed. Now to get out there and do it! EBC is the way we treat each other, work together and the way we play sport. If there is a problem, sit down and talk about it with your class, change things and have another go. Everybody Counts … it’s just the way we do things around here! This learning has evolved from a TRLI research project called Every-body counts: Understanding HPE in primary schools, involving primary school teachers (Jo Naera, Joel Devcich, Deirdre Duggan, and Shane Keown) and university partners (Kirsten Petrie, Lisette Burrows and Marg Cosgriff). This project was made possible with the support of the Teaching, Learning and Research Initiative funding; the Wilf Malcom Institute of Educational Research; and students, staff and school communities. For more information on the project and access to future publications see http://www.tlri.org.nz/tlriresearch/research-progress/school-sector/everybody-counts-understanding-health-and-physical or contact Dr Kirsten Petrie, Project Director, kpetrie@waikato.ac.nz.

Deirdre Duggan is a teacher and syndicate leader at Maungatapu Primary School in Tauranga. She is passionate about getting kids to be ACTIVE in any way or form that enables them to experience success, challenge themselves and have fun. The EBC philosophy that her classroom and school have embraced enables teachers and students to work together and strive to achieve this for all children regardless of ability level. Annie is a student at Maungatapu Primary School. She is passionate for learning and loves school. Annie’s favourite subjects are writing and mathematics. She plays guitar and water polo. Annie loves EBC and really believes it can encourage students respect each other more and treat each other better. Jaimee is a student at Maungatapu School in Tauranga. She is passionate for sport and learning. She plays hockey and does athletics and enjoys running. Her favourite subject at school is writing and P.E. Jaimee loves EBC she believes it has changed the way we treat each other and are more inclusive since it has been introduced. EBC has made games more fun to play.

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LOUIZA HEBHARDT

7 ways to get your exercise mojo back up and running Start the year fit!

ow that the weather is warm and daylight savings is in full swing, I think it’s time to crank up the exercise routines and get your exercise mojo back. Here’s seven ways to show you how!

being classic excuses why you’re not getting your exercise done.

a bit later than normal and do it, then you can leave the marking there.]

1. Make the time

The solution? It’s simple. Just go. Don’t engage with these thoughts; they’re not helpful (in fact they’re just self defeating). Approach exercise in the same way as you would any other routine. Write it into your diary if you need to or set an alert on your phone. Block out a period of time for an appointment with yourself. By doing this you’ll find that in a relatively short amount of time your exercise will have become a habit and the whole process of going will become much easier.

Other opportunities for incidental exercise include using exercise as a means to get to and from places that you normally go instead of driving or catching public transport. Alternatively, if distances are just too far, consider exercising for a portion of the distance. For example a friend of mine lives over an hour away from her work. She rides to the train station which is a few kilometres away from where she lives and then leaves her bike there for the day.

Many people tell me how they wish they could do more exercise but that they just don’t have the time. I have two things to say about that. Firstly, if it’s important to you, you’ll find and make the time.

Teachers Matter

Secondly, people often fail to consider early morning as a time to exercise. Getting up just 30 minutes earlier than normal is all that’s required. Early morning is such a lovely time of the day and when you’re out and about at this hour you’ll be amazed at how many other people know this and use it as their preferred time to work out.

" Make exercise a non-negotiable aspect of your day."

2. Make exercise a nonnegotiable aspect of your day In much the same way as you allocate time for meals and sleep (which are of course non-negotiable), make exercise a part of your daily routine. I know from experience how easy it is to talk yourself out of exercising with self depreciating thoughts such as “I’m too tired,” “It’s too hot/cold/ windy/wet” or “I don’t have enough time”

3. Create and use opportunities for incidental exercise This means making opportunities for exercise to happen. A great example of this is by walking/running/riding to and/or from work. This does take some planning and preparation but the benefits include getting to work in a great space mentally and then having the opportunity to use your preferred method of exercise home as an opportunity to create some space between work and home. [*Worried that you won’t be able to do this because of all that marking you have to drag to and from home? Plan to stay back

4. Make exercise part of your journey to or from work An alternative to getting to and from work whilst exercising is stopping off to exercise on your way home. This may mean detouring past the pool to swim a few laps, going to the gym for a class or PT session, or going to a yoga class. This way the exercise is incorporated into your commute and doesn’t become something else that needs to happen in your day.

LOUIZA HEBHARDT

5. Create a team or join a club

In addition to building collegiality around similar points of interest, creating a work team has the added benefit of making people feel accountable for their participation in exercising with others. Being part of a team can help as a motivator as your participation is required in order for your team to be successful. If hanging out with your work mates after hours isn’t your thing, joining a sports club is another way to make new friends and work out at the same time.

6. Workout for a cause Preparing for an event that you’re raising money for can be another really motivating way to incorporate exercise into your routine. Runs and rides are common fundraising activities that combine exercise w i t h f u n d r a i s i n g . Tr a i n i n g f o r t h e s e events can be highly satisfying because you) aim for and achieve a goal and ii) your efforts go towards supporting a worthwhile cause and helping people in need. Once again, creating a team with people from work can be a good way to get colleagues from work motivated and engaged in exercise.

7. Create opportunities for exercise to happen at work Got a gym instructor, yoga teacher or personal trainer on staff? Why not allocate a time where they run sessions for staff before work or at the end of the day? Alternatively, bring the specialists to you. * A REMINDER: As effective as exercise is as a means to physical health and mental wellbeing, I must caution against overdoing it. There is such a thing as doing too much exercise and this can have serious effects on the body. Remember to mix up your exercise routine and to have days of rest to avoid exercise induced injury.

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Louiza created Equilibrium in 2010 in response to what she perceived to be an overwhelming shortage of emotional support for people working in the educational profession. She aims to provide teachers and other school staff with the knowledge and skills required to effectively monitor and manage their own emotional wellbeing.

IRMA COOKE

Salad treats for your lunch

Spicy Chicken Salad Cake Ingredients ¼ cucumber 2 tomatoes 1 onion 2 teaspoons of Mexican seasoning 600g chicken mince ½ can Italian tomatoes 4 flour tortillas 3 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped ½ cup grated reduced-fat cheddar cheese ½ cup cottage cheese ½ large avocado Fresh coriander Method Preheat oven to 200 C. Grease a 20cm cake tin and line with baking paper. Slice tomatoes and cucumber into thin rounds. Roughly chop coriander roots, stalks and leaves. In a large fry-pan, cook onion over medium heat until translucent or soft. Add coriander and seasoning. Mix well.

Teachers Matter

Add chicken to onion, stirring for 5 minutes until browned. Stir in Italian tomatoes and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes or until mixture becomes thick. Place one tortilla in the base of a cake tin. Top with a third of the sauce and layer with cucumber. Sprinkle over a third of the spinach, tomatoes and a third of the cheese. Continue layers ending with a tortilla. Spray with olive oil spray. Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. Stand for 10 minutes or place in fridge overnight ready for portioning in the morning into wedges for your lunchbox. Your work colleagues will be envious!

IRMA COOKE

Orzo Pasta Salad Ingredients

Method

250g orzo pasta

Boil pasta in salted water until al dente (approximately 6 minutes).

½ punnet cherry tomatoes 30g feta bunch of Italian parsley 100g basil pesto Maldon sea salt Pepper ½ cup Sundried tomatoes 1 tablespoon olive oil

Strain into a colander or sieve and refresh under cold water for a few minutes until completely cold to stop the cooking process. Strain completely, the add olive oil and stir.

This salad is really adaptable to anything that you have in your pantry or fridge! I often add Kalamata olives or sundried tomato pesto to change it. Shavings of parmesan or tapenade are also some of my favourites.

Add pesto, chopped sundried tomatoes, chopped Italian parsley and stir. Lastly, fold in cubed feta and cherr y tomatoes. Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.

Irma Cooke, a former Chef and now puts to good use her skills and passion for food as the Food Technology teacher for Berkley Normal Middle School. When she isn’t judging Waikato’s restaurants or working with students teachers for Waikato University, she’s having fun planning her next project for her middle school students at Berkley Normal Middle School.

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PHOTO: DENIS_PC

ROBYN PEARCE

How to use a top retrieval filing system Manage your filing monster!

wonder if you’re like a teacher I spoke to in the past.

Teachers Matter

He was grumbling into his coffee cup, “The year’s only just started, but I’ve already got a backlog of paperwork waiting to be filed. That pile’s like a monster – it just gobbles up everything. Day by day it gets bigger and uglier! What can I do?”

Before I give you some useful pointers, let’s look at the scope of the issue. With storage and paper management there are three main areas and they all need to be handled or you won’t ever keep on top of all the records that legislation and educational accountabilities demand. Three key areas of paper management: 1. Have the right equipment

One – filing equipment.

management and retrieval costs.

There are three main styles of filing system: a. Vertical (inserting material from above) into light cardboard folders suspended from metal runners in pullout drawers. The front of the file faces the user.

Vertical systems are a somewhat contentious subject in the records management industry. Many consultants will tell you that all the old faithful vertical filing cabinets are of no value except as scrap metal. I understand why they get so dogmatic – their work usually involves big companies with high wages bills, lots of filing and expensive floor space, and they often get called in to clean up serious messes! However, if you’ve only got a small amount of information to handle and space isn’t a concern for you, they do the job well. Just be aware – there’s a downside.

b. Lateral (inserting material from the side) into a range of folders, usually seated on shelves, with the end facing the user. c. Top retrieval – a combination of the best features of both. Which system shall we use? Consider three things: a. Initial cost, including purchase of cabinetry and on-going stationery.

3. Maintain those systems

b. Ease of operation. Do people need special training to use complicated indexes? How easy is it to find files others are using?

For this article, let’s take one aspect of Point

c. Continuing costs. Wages, floor rent, and

2. Have good systems

When used in conjunction with hanging suspension sleeves, almost 200mm of space in each drawer is lost, before any files are added. This means that in a 4-drawer cabinet nearly a whole drawer will be taken up with stationery. Another option – if you want more space and wish to stay with your existing cabinetry, the top retrieval

ROBYN PEARCE

“ Storing information is knowledge management”

method described below goes a long way to overcome this issue.

less space-consuming than the suspension folders in the old vertical filing cabinets.

Lateral shelving More and more schools are going this way as you’re running a large business and often have multiple people accessing files.

Because the open bay system usually uses colour coding it is also very easy to see if a file has been misplaced. They can be as many as 5-6 shelves high, with top-shelf access easy with the kind of footstool you often see in libraries.

Most lateral systems use an index to ensure you file in the correct category (and their colour coding makes it even simpler once the system’s in use). They take a little training to use and are a bit more expensive to purchase, but once set up they’re faster to operate, save space, and therefore save money on both wages and building costs. Their standardised colour-coding system dramatically reduces lost files and time spent looking for information, which of course means you can get on with teaching and/or managing your school, instead of unnecessary administration. If you’re wondering who sets up these more complicated systems – relax. The company who provides you with the gear usually organises you and teaches how to use it. Within the range of lateral filing, there are a number of choices. Open shelf filing These are freestanding cabinets, with no doors to the shelving. They’re commonly called open bay filing systems. Many people believe this is a security risk, but in reality very few organisations lock their lockable filing cabinets. The benefits are lower initial cost and again less space needed. I suggest you only get shelving with doors for real security needs, not for everything you file. There are many types of storage stationery, with files placed sideways on the shelf instead of facing the user, inserted in the user’s choice of sleeves or pockets. They’re kept upright either with suspension sleeves (sometimes on a T-bar) or regularly spaced wire or metal uprights. The uprights allow maximum capacity for the files – much

Lateral or open shelf cabinets These are basically the same as the open shelves described above, with the addition of doors. Many come with space-saving folding or retractable doors but of course cost more, and still take a little more space than their ‘open to scrutiny’ brethren. Avoid ones whose doors open out into the room - unless your office is as spacious as an aircraft hanger! Rotary filing In a high-access situation where many people need to access files constantly this is one of the best solutions for swift access. If it can be positioned between a couple of workstations it only takes the same amount of space as its footprint (about 1 sq. Metre) because the whole thing revolves on a central spindle. However, if out in the middle of the floor, you need to allow 3 sq. m, so space could again become an issue. Leverarch binders fit well on the carousel rotaries. (But beware of lever-arches – they’re the most space-wasting system you can find). Top retrieval Before you rush to sweep out your faithful old upright filing cabinets and dive for the office equipment catalogue, consider another, not yet as well known but very effective top retrieval filing product (which of course the old vertical filing really is). In fact, this next top retrieval system is more modern even than the lateral method described above. It keeps the ‘file from the top’ and ‘files facing forward in drawers’ approach, but eliminates the suspension folders, which

of course saves space. Strong cardboard folders sit on the bottom of the file drawers, kept upright by wire, plastic or board containers. One of the reasons for the old style of suspension files, with the slim metal edges, is to create an anchor for the label. This modern top retrieval system has self-adhesive coloured and coated labels (called Speed tabs) that provide many of the advantages of the lateral colour coding, enabling misfiling to spring to your view instantly. The user is guided as to where to apply the tabs by the files being pre-printed with uniform alphabetic, numeric and calendar indices along the top. This enables an organisation to tailor-make any type of accurate filing classification. Their files can be easily incorporated into the regular vertical filing drawers you probably already have – you just won’t need the space-hungry old hanging suspension folders. Most of these suppliers also make their own wide-drawer cabinetry, which takes three rows of files, side-by-side, and five deep. One of the brands I investigated could accommodate the contents of a traditional 4 drawer metal filing cabinet in only one of their drawers, and you should find most products comparative. Simple criteria to help your choice An easy rule-of-thumb, if you’ve already got one or two 3 or 4-drawer cabinets and that’s all you need, is probably to stay with your upright vertical cabinet. If you’ve already got the old system, there’s virtually never more than one person at a time at the filing cabinet, and your floor space rental isn’t very high, why change? However, you might want to consider using the modern top retrieval equipment in it. Key Point - Storing information is knowledge management – expensive and necessary. Remember to consider the invisible costs of not managing it, or using the wrong system.

Robyn is known around the world as the Time Queen, helping people discover new angles on time. Her website, www.gettingagrip.com, offers many resources. She is a CSP (Certified Speaking Professional)

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Promoting picture books

BARBARA GRIFFITH & TRICIA KENYON

A Matchbox Diary Author Illustrator Publisher ISBN

Paul Fleishman Bagram Ibatoulline Walker Books 978-1-4063-5535-2

young girl visits her great-grandfather, for the first time, at his curio filled home. He says “Pick whatever you like the most, then I’ll tell you its story.”

She chooses a cigar box filled with a collection of matchboxes. Each matchbox holds an object that evokes a strong memory for the greatgrandfather and he shares the story of his struggles and the hardship of his journey from Italy to America, as a child and beyond. This narrative is written entirely in dialogue, which offers the opportunity to inference at a deeper level.

1. Linking object and memories in the order the matchboxes were opened. Matchbox

Object

Memory

Olive pip

Being hungry, being poor, sucking the pip.

Photo of father

Remembering his father who had gone to America

3 4

2. Illustrations NOTE The illustrator has used warm colours for the present, while great-grandfather’s memories are sepia tone and framed to give the impression of an album.

Teachers Matter

a. Before reading the book out loud.

Locate the first double spread. Ask the students what they noticed in this illustration. Make a quick list. After reading the book, and learning more about greatgrandfather, ask the students what can be added to the list. What new things have they noticed?

b. Locate the double layout showing great-grandfather as a boy cowering at the immigration gates. Compare the use of colour, line, and tone in acrylic gouache used by the illustrator, to set each scene. c. Locate the page showing the cigar box with matchboxes inside it. Discuss the differences in the matchboxes in terms of colour, condition and possible origin.

5. Personal History a. Interview an older family member or older person and use an appropriate map to show where they have lived, visited or travelled to. You may need a local, NZ or world map. b. Create a timeline with this person of events or things they have done during their life. Include childhood, schooling, further education, relationships and children, occupation/job, travel, major events. E.g. Great-grandfather

Born Italy Date Unknown

Dad Drought Travelled goes to and Tickets by boat America to America to America

---6. Immigration/travel and health issues. Research topics a. Compare health checks for travel in great-grandfather’s day with today. Consider the emergence of Ebola. b. Do today’s young immigrants face the same problems/issues as in great-grandfather’s day?

3. Diaries a. Identify different kinds of diaries. E.g. written format, photographic, visual, artefacts, natural objects, etc. b. Creating the student’s own diary.

c. Use the internet and search for information on Ellis Island in the early 1900s as the processing station for immigration into America. How does this compare with New Zealand at that time? d. What was a button hook and what was it normally used for? Why was a buttonhook used as part of the health check for great-grandfather?

Each student is to select small objects that evoke memory and put into a shoebox. These can come from home. They can then retell their history from the objects to a fellow student. c. Students to ask an older family member or older person what they have or use to help them keep their memories. Think about the different kinds of diaries. Record their notes/findings to share with the class.

4. Great-grandfather’s work history Make a list of the jobs/ occupations that greatgrandfather did during his life. Why did he go to school and not his sisters? What was expected from him?

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 a position as a Resource Teacher: Literacy, which she held for the last 16 years.

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.

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YVONNE GODFREY

The importance of developing great habits young Routine + Rhythm = Momentum

eing in a state of momentum is exciting! Ideas flow freely – hope, belief and courage work together. But before momentum, comes routine and rhythm, or quite simply habits that are done consistently. I t ’s n o s e c r e t t h a t s u c c e s s f u l p e o p l e have mastered the mundane, whereas unsuccessful people avoid developing good habits. Every decision we make every day counts. Today, we are the accumulative result of our habits. It’s easy to see the young adults who have been trained in habits and those who have not. Left untrained, these indulged and illequipped yadults usually go on to become evicted flat mates, disappointing marriage partners and frequently fired employees.

Teachers Matter

Consistency creates Rhythm

Rhythm is about consistency and frequency. In the same way that you can’t steer a parked car, you have to be in motion to get rhythm, and you need to have rhythm for a period of time before you can get real traction or momentum. The more often a habit is performed, the more it becomes embedded into a person’s psyche and the more ‘natural’ it becomes. For example, if you want your yadult to change the bed sheets, have them do it every second Saturday – this is practical and easy to remember. The brain subconsciously makes space for the things that are done regularly, so the more routines become automatic, the easier time management becomes. Even the most easily distracted personality can be trained to do things in cycles until those things become a normal part of life. Yadults who have never been trained into routines tend to do things when they feel like it or when the mood grabs them. Unfortunately, when it comes to doing

housework or performing boring tasks, the mood rarely grabs them, and the stars never seem to align for inspiration! Left to themselves, many yadults will change their sheets somewhere between two and three months apart. If you’re happy with that – well, more power to you – but remember all pathways have a destination. It’s not really about changing the sheets but about equipping your child for the real world outside your front door.

“Good habits are hard in the beginning but yield great results in time. ”

Good habits form a context whereby your yadult can confidently contribute their best, and be rewarded accordingly. These rewards will sometimes be monetary but, more importantly, they will bring your yadult a sense of self-fulfilment. People often become hindered in life by fairly small and insignificant things. Because the results of performing habits are not often immediately seen, it is easy to think that skipping a good habit today, or indulging in a bad one, won’t really matter. But the truth is that habits have a cumulative effect that will eventually have ver y noticeable outcomes. The smallest of decisions, made repeatedly, will add up to a profound effect on a person’s future as illustrated in the following story. Julie stared in disbelief at her son, Ewan, as he stood in a police holding cell. It was the first time she had seen this side of a police

station and she was shocked, embarrassed and angry. ‘How did he get to be there?’ she asked me a few weeks later. The short answer is that Ewan got there by following a pathway of bad habits and poor self-discipline. In this case Julie and her husband, Grant, had definitely noticed Ewan’s laziness and questionable behaviour. They were also aware of his lack of contribution in the home and his woeful respect for the family. Unfortunately, they didn’t correct Ewan and get him on the right path when he was younger. Grant recalls, ‘It became really hard work to pull him up all the time. Ewan didn’t like to be corrected and when Julie or I did discipline him, he reacted badly either by putting on a tantrum or sulking. By the time he was about eight, he had sharpened his tactics to include conning and lying to us. He would even pretend to be sick to avoid having to do things like helping with the dishes or having a shower. I mean, I know it’s normal for boys to hate personal

YVONNE GODFREY hygiene, but the kid is now 19 years old and he’s a total slob! He’s still living with us, or should I say “off us”, and he is pretty much calling the shots. To be honest we don’t know how to handle him or solve the problem. Actually I think we are both a bit scared of him. We really regret not pushing through and creating those good habits when he was little.” On the flip side, I love spending time with happy young adults who are forging ahead. Some are working full-time, while others are at university and have parttime jobs. All of these yadults are involved in community activities. When I ask how they are managing their lives so well, I get a similar answer: ‘Mum and Dad told me that they expected me to be able to handle a lot in life.’ The same kids tell me that their parents were pretty strict while they were growing up. They had to do their chores before they could go out and play, and they weren’t allowed to quit on the things that they started (such as learning an instrument or playing in a team). Some of these kids came from homes where the parents had divorced but, to their credit, the parents had managed to call a truce and be intentional about the way they parented. These young people have developed good personal habits and disciplines that have now become ingrained in their lives. It’s not rocket science – just common sense that is a little less common these days. Good habits are hard in the beginning but yield great results in time. Bad habits are easy in the beginning, and are usually fun, but they exact a high cost in the end. So what’s more difficult? The beginning of a good habit or the end result of a bad one?

ILLUSTRATION: OKALINICHENKO

Daily deliberate action

Yvonne has worked with hundreds of yadults (young adults) equipping them with confidence, clarity and competence to seek their path in life. Yvonne’s book ‘Parenting Ya d u l t s ’ b r i n g s p a r e n t s a n d educators tools to transition their young adults into the ‘real world’. 027 249 5444 / 09 413 9777 yvonne@miomo.co.nz Parenting Yadults is available from www.parentingyadults.com

CATRINA BENGREE

Why trusting yourself is a key part of eating naturally Tuning in to what your body needs

he four principles of natural eating are simple because they only require you to listen to your body so you can eat when you are hungry and stop when you are satisfied. What isn’t simple is turning off years of negative self-talk around food, weight and our bodies. There are so many mixed messages, restrictions and weight loss programmes with conflicting ideas that we have often lost the ability to actually trust ourselves and listen to our own instincts.

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When you learn to eat naturally one of the key aspects is learning to trust yourself. The first step in doing this is to put food into

perspective. Food is not bad or good; and it is not naughty to enjoy your favourite foods. Once you normalise the “treat-type” food it completely takes the pressure off. We can normalise it in a few ways: Tell ourselves we are “allowed” to eat anything we want when we are hungry. Once we are allowed it, we stop craving it and can make a conscious choice on when we would actually like to eat it. If we are not allowed it, and try to avoid it by willpower, we eventually give in as the cravings get the better of us.

“ Once you are tuned into what your body needs it is very easy to trust yourself to make the right choices for you in the moment”

CATRINA BENGREE

Include your “treat-type” food, like chocolate, or chippies on a platter of food, so again it is just part of what you are having. In this way it is not something you are putting up on a pedestal for when you are being “good” and deserve a treat.

Eventually it just becomes normal food. Sure some is healthy and some isn’t and when you learn to trust yourself you will find that you will choose the healthy food most of the time anyway because it makes you feel better, fitter and healthier. The trust comes when you are mindful of how and why you are eating. Once you are tuned into what your body needs it is very easy to trust yourself to make the right choices for you in the moment. Remember the right choice may sometimes be a chocolate bar, but if you are truly listening, you will only need a small portion to satisfy you.

PHOTO KATRINA BROWN

Place it in the cupboard or fridge with all your normal foods, so it is just part of the choices you have available to you. If you hide it or sneak it, it becomes a guilty secret and it is the guilt that leads us to wanting more and overindulging.

The whole natural eating process is based on listening to what your body truly wants in the moment and sometimes it may not necessarily be food. Once you learn to eat only because you are hungry, it takes the pressure off. This is because if you aren’t hungry you find something else positive to do in the moment instead of eating. Therefore I encourage you to learn or continue to eat naturally, as it is all positive and empowering, based on trust, listening and respect.

Catrina formed her company “Nourish ‘N Nurture Ltd” after recovering from 20 years of food and weight related issues including depression and bulimia. In 2009 she attended a 10 week Personal Development course and discovered she wanted to share Natural Eating with as many people as possible. She has a free e-book available on her website: www.nourishnnurture.co.nz

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Effort vs. accomplishment

very week on a Friday afternoon my inbox features our children’s school weekly newsletters (I’m sure I just read the last one yesterday!) Some days however, I am struck by the sheer volume of congratulations and achievements of students. The newsletters are always filled with this, however suddenly I saw this in a different light. I have been reading and studying in more depth the work of Carol Dweck, Stanford University psychologist. She speaks and writes about Mindset in relationship to success and achievement, and advocates there are two types: a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. People with a fixed mindset believe that their intelligence or talents are fixed – and success happens without effort. People with a growth mindset believe their basic qualities can be developed with effort, focus, training, coaching and hard work. This graphic outlines some of the differences …

My sudden challenge with the school newsletter is that what is being rewarded is the achievement – not the effort. Now this is not to say that the people being featured have not been successful through extensive efforts, it is just that all we usually see is the end result. I often reflect on the dangers of taking social media too seriously – if you are not overly metacognitive, you could be mistaken to believe ‘everyone else’s’ kids are

always winning awards, getting top in class, excelling at something… and of course they are not. Social media is like the antithesis of the news media – focused on reporting bad news (because it sells), and tends to be about showcasing the good. Now I’m all for this, but the challenge is when you take it out of context – the more friends you have on Facebook, for example, the more likely you are to see posts about achievement. You are unlikely to see posts that say, “My kid is the reserve on the B team” or “Wahoo – straight C’s or B’s on the school report!” or “Yes! Our darling came 17th.” Without metacognitive processing, you could be lulled into a sense of ‘everyone else’s kids are doing well and mine isn’t.’ Developing a growth mindset is essential for success, especially in a fast changing world where problems and challenges are going to randomly pop up throughout life. A growth mindset means that as teachers and parents we must create a love of learning and ensure that developing resilience is high on our agenda. Carol Dweck suggests teaching a growth mindset creates motivation and productivity in business, education and sports. She says it also enhances relationships. So how do we develop this learning culture? I deeply believe that to learn to learn you also have to be willing to fail, to make mistakes, to screw up and then be able to learn from these opportunities and experiences. This takes reflection and time. To learn to learn, you must know that is it hard to learn new information, but the more we do it, the easier it gets. As adults we need to step back and let children struggle and work it out for themselves. I see so many children displaying learned helplessness because a teacher or parent is constantly jumping in to rescue and help them. We need to showcase the effort and the journey not just the result.

Avoid comments such as: “Good boy/girl.” “Wow, your voice is amazing, you are my rock star.” “You got a wicket in your first game of cricket – you will be a star.” “You got an A without studying – well done.” Instead use phrases such as: “Taking the time to go back and check your work has produced a great result.” “Wow, you really stopped to think about your answer and plan your project.” “Outstanding effort in writing neatly today.” “Your focus and attention to detail is why you got such a great mark.” Reflect on the praise you often hear yourself giving – is it the effort or final result that you are acknowledging? The next time you read a school newsletter, go to prize giving, read your social media feed, be sure to stop and reflect on the effort versus talent.

When praising people, praise their effort, concentration, strategies and give specific f e e d b a c k . C o m m e n t s s u c h a s , “ Yo u r persistence really paid off in completing your work today”, is far more effective than “great work.”

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LEARNING IS NOT ACHIEVED BY CHANCE

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