Pruning to let the light in- an analogy

Now I am no great gardener, but as I was pruning back my grapes earlier this afternoon (I can now feel some of you are nodding ‘yes, you are no great gardener, way too late!’) I was struck with a small epiphany that I needed to put into words. And now I am sharing this with you… but first I need to give a little more context…

You see I didn’t just wantonly run out to the glasshouse with my clippers and start hacking willy-nilly, not at all. I know enough to check (and already had an inkling that the best time to give the vine a good hacking was in the middle of winter dormancy) so I did what I often do in these circumstances, search the net until I find someone else who has done things not quite at the right time and got away with it. Invariably, I always find some obscure chatroom that provides me with the green light, and often a little sage advice to go with it. Today, I found my green light (obviously, although I was fairly committed to the course of action anyway) and also a possible answer to a problem that had vexed me with my grapes last season.

Last season I had a bumper crop of grapes on the vine, there were bunches upon bunches upon bunches, a sea of little greenish-purple orbs dripping along the roof of the glasshouse and I eagerly awaited the time they would reach full, juicy, delicious ripeness. 

Oh, the anticipation. 

Oh, the disappointment. 

Yes, some ripened and were delicious as anticipated but most just didn’t get there. I thought it was the dodgy weather we’d had, and I know I hadn’t been very attentive to the needs of my garden as I was toiling in the fertile soil of masters research writing instead. But in my search for a green light to prune back I happened upon a little statement that suggested if the vine was overladen with bunches that selective pruning of some bunches could help as it allowed the light to reach the others so they would ripen better. As I said earlier, and some of you will possibly be nodding vigorously in agreement now, I am not a great gardener and I don’t know if this is true or not but it sounded feasible and herein lies the reason why I am writing.

As I was hacking away, and trying to, not altogether successfully, avoid the cobwebs and dead leaves falling into my hair or worse still down my top, it occurred to me that letting the light in to help things reach their juicy, delicious, full potential is what I have started to appreciate in my classroom teaching. We are advised to accelerate our learners, to choose target students and provide specific interventions to ensure they meet a required standard. (I do wonder at the turn of phrase ‘target students’- is that like putting some kid in a firing line and then shooting additional resources and interventions at them until they reach some arbitrary standard so we can move them along and bring in another target for our attention? I digress.) Please know, I am committed to all my learners achieving their potential and reaching for greatness in their own way, I want the best for my kids. But I wonder if sometimes we crowd them so they struggle to reach the light and therefore miss the opportunity to fully reach their potential.

Now I am not suggesting we prune out learners, heavens no! Although a class size and adequate support to be able to engage meaningfully with the learners in our care would seem sensible to me. I do think however we need to prune back some of what is happening in classrooms to allow our learners to ripen and bloom when the time is right for them and our job as teachers is to provide the conditions to do so. Since returning to classroom teaching three years ago, I have noticed that cutting back some of what I was doing is leading to positive outcomes for my learners. I used to try to see all my reading and maths groups at least every second day and have set activities for them to follow up independently from the learning session we had had. I also tried to make sure I conferenced with every child for writing at least once a week. I ensured my special needs and target students were getting time with teacher aides for revision/over learning whilst I saw them more often for guided sessions on top of all this. Poor wee guys were probably exhausted with all this extra support! What I was doing in actual fact was setting myself and my learners up for failure. My group sessions were often rushed if they happened at all as more often than not I couldn’t actually see everyone I had planned to and so I was rewriting planning or then planning day by day to cater for my lack of ability to push everyone through. If I did see everyone as initially planned then I didn’t engage in thoughtful or meaningful conversations because I was distracted by time and also monitoring what others were doing around the classroom in the various ‘meaningful’ follow up activities I had assigned for them. Now it wasn’t a complete disaster and there was progress made but it was stressful and I posit that much of the stress was unnecessary.

As with my gardening, I am no expert teacher but I am a committed learner and this is what I have learned. I have shifted my focus, I now do less but I feel I do it better. I see some groups more often and some groups less often depending on what they need and what we are doing. Some groups of learners are undertaking set assignments within our classroom programme where it makes sense. My students have a lot of choice about how they respond to a text or a maths lesson, sometimes there will be little follow up, other times a lot may happen. Recently I had two learners who made a frozen confectionary after they created a recipe, were given the ingredients and told that the most important thing about baking is cleaning up then left to it… this came in response to a novel we had been reading. I spend time talking with, and most importantly listening to and observing my learners and I feel like I know them better. I see my writers at varying times, sometimes with self selected teacher groupings after a specific inspiration for writing but other times because they are at a stage they want feedback from the teacher or when I am roving around the classroom between group sessions. I trust my learners to get on with what they need to and we are building a culture where this is creating success. Yes, just in case you were wondering, I still have interventions for my target students (I don’t make them wear a shirt with a bullseye on it or anything though and they don’t get paranoid that I am going to leap out and teach at them when they are look like they might be relaxing).

The systems in my classroom are far from perfect and I feel like I have a long way to go but I can appreciate that what I am aiming for is creating space so that the light can come in and great, juicy, delicious, flourishing can occur naturally. We don't have standardised brains, we don't learn in standardised ways (oh, how easy, and how dreadfully dull teaching would be if this were true) so teaching our students with an expectation that they will achieve, or flourish, in a standardised time frame seems somewhat counter-intuitive really. By letting the light in, and noticing when I am not, I feel like I am giving my learners a better deal than I was and am seeing the growth in confidence, self management and personal drive to learn. It's a start and it all came from pruning back a little, even if I was a little late! 

Being bold and brave and honouring the New Zealand Curriculum- as we begin a conversation

This weekend I have been involved in a lively twitter chat about the New Zealand Curriculum and how we can use it to re-engage our teaching community with the front end of the document in particular. The front end is where the principles, values and key competencies are explained. I believe that they were put at the front because we put the first things first, meaning that these are the foundation blocks of all that we do within our curriculum. I believe they are aspirational, broad and challenging, they give us scope to be bold and brave (thanks Wendy for those words) in establishing learning cultures in our schools that support our learners to aim high, think deep, connect and contribute. We are required by law to teach to this curriculum (the whole curriculum not just the AOs), we are required to report against national standards in literacy and numeracy but here's the key thing we are NOT required to teach to the national standards despite what we might be led to believe in some circles. 

I remember fondly when the New Zealand Curriculum came out in 2007, I was so excited by the wonderful opportunities it opened up. (Yes I am a bit of a nerd to be fair) It made me want to return to the regular classroom but I soon realised that in education we had gotten into a comfortable habit of putting children into 'boxes' and this broad, open curriculum challenged that. We didn't have long before the talk of standardisation started, and then after a while we were given the National Standards. I remember hearing the minister of education at the time telling principals at a NZPF conference that no civil servants had the right to choose what pieces of legislation they adopted and that National Standards were happening and that was that. 

Moving on. 

I returned to the classroom a couple of years ago, Unfortunately I made a dreadful mistake, and to my shame it took me a while to work out why the wheels were coming off for me. You see I felt that as I had been out of the regular classroom (whilst still in education and using the New Zealand Curriculum) I was terribly out of date and needed to focus on what I hadn't been trained with which was, among other things, National Standards. I then felt driven by what was newer to me, due to my sense of inadequacy, but that impacted on my teaching and my engagement with my class. I forgot about the front end of the curriculum in my haste to 'catch up' with and embed things like the National Standards in my practice. In short I lost the educational plot... and the sad thing is that I don't think I am unique in that. 

I am lucky that I reflected on this and began to reconnect with what teaching and learning is really about and what we are required to deliver in schools in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Oh the relief, the joy returned. 

And so I ask these questions for myself and others to consider when thinking about how we honour the intent of the New Zealand Curriculum (2007) 

• How do we ensure that we are reflecting the vision, values, key competencies and principles of our curriculum? 
• How often do we refer to  vision, values, key competencies and principles when we are planning? 
• How often do we talk about the front end of the curriculum with our colleagues? 
• How often do we refer to the front end of the curriculum when we are talking about our learners and their achievements, strengths and  needs? 

I don't have all the answers by any respect but I do have lots of questions and I know there are many more questions I need to be asking.  I look forward to continuing the discussion we have begun. 

I also invite you to join in with the dialogue. We are exploring the option of creating a regular twitter chat to help us stay connected and reignite the enthusiasm and passion there was in 2007 when we were first introduced to our curriculum, we have a very short google survey about this possibility and welcome your input. 

Learning with the brain in mind

This post is a nod to my friend and mentor Karen Boyes who I remember talking about the comfort and learning zones at a conference a long time ago... I loved the concept and intend to share this with our class this term as we continue to learn about our brilliant brains. 

I recently shared a post about considering the brain with behaviour management and shared some tools I have used to help explain the brain to the children I have worked with. Using Glenn Capelli's magic brain model to help describe behaviour has been effective and so using the same model I intend to focus on learning with the brain in mind (see below)... it could be said we are able to learn our best when we are in the Learning Zone which in the model below is in the blue thinking room.  

Here is a little reminder of Glenn's Magic Brain model: 

1. The blue thinking room- where we have heaps of choices and this is where heaps of our learning happens 
2. The glitter room of emotions (Glenn talks about this being the multicoloured room)- this is where our feelings are and when we are feeling big emotions or lots of emotions it can get pretty messy in here which makes it hard to the get to the door for the thinking room so we need to calm the glitter down 
3. The red room of limited choices- often when we are afraid or angry we end up in the red room where we really only have 2-3 choices... fight, flight or freeze,  when the brain stem is engaged then the cerebral cortex is offline

One way to define a concept is by defining what it isn't so to explore what a Learning zone looks like I'll first establish what it isn't by looking at two extremes of a continuum... the Comfort zone and the Danger zone and what some internal dialogue relating to this might be.  

Comfort Zone	Danger Zone
This is easy I don’t even need to think about it I am so good at this Yawn…	This is probably going to kill me!!!

So the Learning zone sits in the middle of these two extremes but it isn't there alone... the Fear zone is also there  so our continuum now looks a little like this... 

Comfort Zone	Learning Zone		Danger Zone
	Fear Zone

When we are faced with a learning challenge, depending on our personal expectations, self talk and prior experience among other things, we will either enter the Learning zone or the Fear zone. 
Below is some internal (and even external) dialogue learners might have when they are in the Learning and Fear zones. 

Learning Zone	Fear Zone
This is challenging (the brain loves challenge!)	This is too hard
This might be fun	This is stupid
I can’t do this, yet	I can’t do this
Mistakes are part of learning	Mistakes are bad
Oops, I got that wrong this time	Getting things wrong is bad
I don’t know this, yet	I don’t know this
This reminds me of something else that I know	This doesn’t relate to anything I know at all
Asking for help is part of learning	Asking for help means that I am stupid or dumb
I am a learner	I am a failure

The Learning zone lets us into the blue thinking room of the brain whereas the Fear zone takes us through the glitter room of emotions and sometimes into the red room of limited choices. 

If our learners go into the Fear zone when presented with something new then the chances of them getting as much out of it as they could is really limited... unless we can help them to identify what is happening in their brain at the time and find ways to access the blue thinking room. Please note: I am not suggesting we try to remove emotions from learning at all, in fact emotions are powerfully useful in learning just not so much when they stay all shaken up and are keeping the door to the blue room closed, so we need to find ways to keep that door open. 

So how can we help move into the Learning zone if we find ourselves in the Fear zone? Well this is one of the questions we'll be discussing in our class at some stage but in the meantime here are a couple of suggestions that I can offer: 

• Think about another time when you learned something and it was really hard and then it got easier... often learning something new is hard at the start and that's normal.  
• Relate to children learning to walk... they don't try once, fall over and then based on that experience decide that clearly walking isn't for them! They try and try and try again, persistence is a key to learning. Making mistakes, getting things wrong, falling over is part of learning. 
• Remind yourself that it is OK to make mistakes... as a teacher you have the ability to support this mental framework so how do you make sure your learners know mistakes are OK? 
• YET is a powerful word, it supports developing a growth mindset. 'I can't do this yet' is empowering where just stating 'I can't do this' is limiting. 
• Remind ourselves that the brain LOVES challenges. Challenges help to form new connections and keep things interesting for the brain. 
• There are strategies we can use to help make learning new things easier, here are a couple: 1. scaffolding- by relating the new material to something else we have done or learned in the past; 2. break it down- see if you can break the new learning down into it's parts so we are learning one smaller thing at a time rather than something absolutely ENORMOUS!  
• Stop, Breathe, Think, Do works here too... when we hear ourselves saying that we are dumb or stupid or can't do this then that is a sign we need to STOP (have a break) and breathe. Then think about what we can do: perhaps ask for clarification or help if we need it; or have another go; or try a new strategy.

This work is designed to help make brain science accessible to our learners and I hope that as we work together the children will develop it further in ways that I can't predict, and that they will become more curious about their own amazing brains. For me the more I learn about this, the more I want to know and greater my appreciation for the magnificence of the human brain and our potential becomes. 

This is about empowerment of the learner, supporting them to better know themselves so they can unlock the potential within and shine which I figure is a big part of our role as parents, caregivers, teachers, school administrators, educationalists. I do appreciate your feedback and suggestions as I continue to build on these concepts with our children and hope that something in here might be useful for others as well. 

Some links that you may find interesting: 

From this blog: 

Managing difficult behaviour with the brain in mind (+some poetry and lesson ideas) 

Supporting at risk students- reflecting on teaching practices to support students

Why we need mindfulness in our schools- a few thoughts about mindfulness in the classroom

Karen Boyes: 

Effort vs Accomplishment - a summary around fixed and growth mindsets

Everything is hard before it is easy- looking at this aspect of being in the learning zone 

Brene Brown: 

The power of vulnerability- exploring the feeling of vulnerability and seeing the powerful and positive that can be found in it (great for our own learning and development) 

The Game of School

One of the problems with the game of school is that there are rules but I am not sure many students are actually told the real rules which makes it harder to win at this game. And it's a game that they haven't even chosen to play, they've just been nominated to play it by a system and by a social convention that I am not even sure has been proven to be correct. 

Recently I read an article (I can't remember what it was exactly) where the author questioned whether modern learning environments, national testing and use of technology were beneficial for student learning as they were largely untested in practice. (I know people are doing inquiries on these things and studying them but I could understand the author's intent) As I was reading this it occurred to me that putting children in 'school' for 'formal education' so they can 'become learned' starting at 5 years of age is largely untested in terms of improved outcomes for our modern children too. Nature however provides a plethora of evidence that learning through play and at developmentally appropriate times seems to be effective. But I digress... let's get back to the current game of school... 

Now I think it is unfair that we don't explain the rules so I will do my best to start a list, if you know any other rules that I have omitted please feel free to add them in the comments, it can be quite complex: 

1. Firstly sit down, sitting down is important... it shows that you are listening (I know your ears are what you hear through but apparently your gluteus maximus has a part to play too) 
2. Now talking is good at times when it is invited and you talk about the topic at hand, do not get distracted by something exciting happening outside or what might be happening in your own life right now. 
3. We have standards that you need to aspire to and should reach by the prescribed time, these are mostly in literacy and numeracy. If you do not reach these standards you are losing the game. (Word for the wise, there is not much of a lead in period to this, at the end of your first year you will be measured so make sure you measure up) 
4. If you are losing the game you may be offered extra help that you must take, this will likely be more literacy and numeracy so I hope that you like those areas of learning or this is going to be one very long game for you. 
5. Play is what you do at morning tea, after you have eaten your lunch (and you need to eat your sandwiches and fruit first even if your biscuits look really yummy) and after school once you have done your homework. 
6. Don't argue with those in power, you are not in power. Do as you are told and all will go well. If you please your teachers this game will be easier to win. 
7. Be good, it is good to be good. Be good as often as you can. Avoid being naughty or bad, that is not good. 

Technically if you win at this game you will be considered educated and equipped to play the game of life (yes a new game but if you are smart and/or lucky, this time you get to make some of the rules- choose wisely)

Please note:  teachers do not make all these rules but they are expected to enforce them and at times are punished by the media and those in positions of power if they don't. 

Also note: there are many other rules and regulations that you will learn in one way or another during your participation as a player in this game. Some of them will prove useful once you leave this game like being kind does make a difference and persistence can lead to great things for you, others less useful like you are a failure because you communicate better through pictures than words. Be discerning about the rules that you take away with you. 

Disclaimer: I am a teacher and I believe strongly in education and learning, I am proud of my chosen profession. I believe in childhood and developmentally appropriate learning opportunities. I believe in relationships based on trust and love being the foundation of great learning for all. I believe that we all have talents and school can be a great place to nurture our talents. I believe that literacy and numeracy are important as are the arts, health and wellbeing, engaging with nature, understanding people etc. I believe that school should be a safe place for our children, where they are accepted and appreciated. I believe that our students are wanting school to be a different game to the one we played when we were young, I won at that game, I was (and still am) a people pleaser... it isn't always a healthy thing. 

Image from: http://pixgood.com/hopscotch-chalk.html

Teachers Matter Conference 2015

I know it has been quite a few weeks since I last wrote- I haven't been idle but focused on enjoying our summer in New Zealand and preparing for our new teaching year. A highlight of January was preparing for and attending the 10th Annual Teachers Matter Conference in Rotorua.

Karen Boyes in action in one of the workshop sessions

The conference was two full days of learning, connection and challenge. 

Silvia Rosenthal-Tolisano, of Langwitches fame, opened the conference. Her call to action wasn't the least bit subtle, through sharing stories of her own life and family she challenged us to change what we do in schools so our children will learn how to learn in meaningful ways that they need to as 21st century citizens who are likely to live into the 22nd century. We need to see modern learning as so much more than just knowing more stuff. Her call to action was built on by subsequent speakers and so the conference developed a thread that went something like this:

We need to change:

Hey there super cool teacher,
I need you to help give me the
opportunity to learn what
I need to in a meaningful way so I
can thrive in the world
I will live in! 

• because the world has changed and it isn't going to change back 
• our kids have changed and they need something different from us now! 

We need to take risks:

• our kids need to be allowed to and supported to take risks 
• risk adversity is something we are faced with more and more with our young people and how can you learn and solve problems if you are afraid to try something new? 

We need to make connections:

• with our students, with their lives and what is important to them 
• through sharing our stories and the stories of others 

We need to change:

• there are so many challenges, where do you start?  
• just take one step on the path to change... just one step at a time... but do it NOW! 

Steve Gurney shared some of his stories to support the notion that risk taking is healthy for our young people and we are doing them a disservice by protecting them from failure. Steve is an adventurer, inventor, engineer, risk taker and in sharing his story conveyed that by embracing our failures as part of our learning journey we can grow and achieve so much more than if we sit in the warmth of our comfort zone. We need to find ways to let our children learn to get comfortable with the uncertain and uncomfortable. As Steve spoke I realised this is not only such an important message for all of our children but for us as educators and parents as well. We need to take risks too, especially if we are committed to changing what we do for our children, we have to get out of our comfort zone and into the growth zone by embracing risk and failure as part of the adventure.

My Gen Alpha... ready to
take on some new challenges! 

The next keynote speaker was Michael McQueen who discussed generational differences and highlighted some challenges and opportunities presented for modern teachers with the young people that now sit in our classrooms. There were many moments where I smiled as I related to what was being shared, my son is apparently a Gen Alpha kid and when Michael was talking about them I recognised so much. Our children now are able to access so much information so they have a width of knowledge but not so much a depth, as Silvia had spoken about the day before it is not about knowledge itself but what you do with it that is important (I loved the term AMPLIFY that she used when taking information/knowledge and doing something with it then sharing it, which I guess I am trying to do here) Michael spoke about our kids being connected, and that when they ask 'why do we need to know this' it isn't just to be annoying, it is a genuine question and "because I told you so" isn't a sufficient answer any more as the notion of truth has changed. Our kids can check facts online before you can even start to defend your position. He reinforced the need to share stories as a way to bridge the gap between their truth and yours, sharing a perspective of the truth rather than declaring it as an absolute.

Our last keynote speaker was Chic Foote, a passionate clever educationalist who is driven by the need for relevance, meaning and authenticity to create real learning opportunities for our children. She helped pull the threads together with the advice to start somewhere, just one thing, and then build from there. Just one thing.

In amongst these thought proding and provoking presentations were a marvellous mixture of workshop presenters who gave us some opportunities to explore different topics in more depth... all things that worked in with what the keynote presenters were offering us. Ideas and learning that we could take back into our classrooms and schools (and homes) to start shifting and changing. I am only sad that I could not attend more of these myself.

I was impressed by the energy in the room, watching teachers actively sharing their learning and ideas with others, participating in the various forums provided and reflecting on their own practice. I felt proud to be a teacher in amongst this group and wished so much that reporters and politicians would see and feel what I did about the teachers in this room over these two days.

Karen Boyes, founder and director of Spectrum Education and the Teachers Matter conferences, ensured that this conference was about honouring teachers as well. As Karen said 'teaching is the profession that makes all other professions possible' and so the TM Conference is about creating a place to energise for the new year, make connections, learn and be given the opportunity to be inspired by some fantastic presenters. She has done this for ten years with determination, energy and enthusiasm and I am extremely grateful to have attended and been a part of this adventure particularly in recent years. For me it was a wonderful two days that I had prepared for in advance and am still processing three weeks later... thank you Karen.

Karen in action 

Below are some poems I wrote during the conference to summarise the keynote speakers and thank them, as Silvia pointed out it was another way of creating and then sharing learning/knowledge which I hadn't considered at all but it makes sense... there are so many ways we can respond to what we have learned and share our insights to create new understandings.

Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano

Global citizen, global teacher

Digital diva, connected leader

Sharing with us, some of the new rules

That we need to consider for the kids in our schools

Embracing the MOST IMPORTANT skill

Learning how to learn, so we will…

Teach for the NOW

Learning anytime, anywhere, anyhow

Steve Gurney

Inspirational goal setter who breaks *some/most* of the rules

Steve has asked us to take risks so we don’t become fools

Learning through your stories will stay with us heaps

And we’ll pass on what we have learned with our peeps

Success comes from belief and determination in pursuit

Of your dreams and desires with the attitude you choose

Check in on your beliefs and the changes you have made

Be curious and keep trying. You could just amaze.

Failure, Risk and Mistakes are part of the trip

So get out there, have a go, try again and let rip!

Michael McQueen

You started us with a trip down memory lane

And illustrated some key shifts with generational change

Truth, Resilience, Affirmation and Risk have moved

So this sets post modern challenges for us in classrooms

Story telling to offer guidance and share lessons for living

Build confidence, allow risk and let go of esteem giving

Our kids are different, they’re switched on and know heaps

But keep in mind that it’s wide and not deep

They’re also plugged in, grown up and empowered young peeps

Changing climate of classrooms and parenting too

Teachers are changing so embrace colleagues older and new

For helping us build empathy across generations we thank you

Chic Foote

Thank you Chic for helping us to see

That we need to look ahead and at our own history

Overwhelmed is a word many of us are likely to feel

Thanks for acknowledging this and keeping it real

Thank you for sharing your stories with us

Reinforcing that relationships and empathy build trust

We’ve celebrated where we have got to and reflected on where we’ve come

Then we will take action so we grow and have more fun

ONE THING you said, take action we will

With ONE THING for a start up this challenging hill

Embracing the future one step at a time

One step is a start so we will all shine

End of conference

Simply the best is what we’re about

But it isn’t perfection we looking out……………… for.

The best are the learners, dreamers and risk takers

Those that connect and become mistake makers

We are excited, overwhelmed and challenged it’s true

And that’d just the presenters, so how about you???

Let’s take what we’ve learned, share our stories and grow

You are simply the best so go out there and GLOW…….. like the stars you are!!! 

   

Same bat time, same bat channel- can TV help us improve student engagement?

Here's a little thought I have been having for a while... what if we looked at what TV stations do well to capture and maintain an audience and applied that learning in our classrooms?

I know it sounds a bit odd and in our day where we have varied forms of visual/digital entertainment perhaps the analogy is redundant but I'll let you decide that.

This is some of what I have been considering:

• On TV channels they have specific programmes airing at certain times but it shifts and changes depending on the day. There are some regular programmes and some variation, there are also thematic times such as Christmas or special days of remembrance where the schedule reflects that theme. 
• There are regular ad breaks, often every 10-15 minutes, which can be entertaining in themselves or provide us with an opportunity to shift focus or move around a little. 
• There are a range of programmes scheduled which are designed to meet the interests of varied parts of the target demographic. 
• The target demographic is carefully considered and monitored. 
• Programmers use cliffhangers and other strategies to hook their viewers in and make them want to tune in next time (as the old Batman series said 'same bat time, same bat channel') 
• Sometimes programmes that are less popular are sandwiched between two more popular programmes to keep their viewers tuning in. 
• What is coming up may be talked about in the credits from the previous programme to ensure that viewers do not switch channels. 

When we apply this to the classroom here is what it might look like:

• Lots of consultation with the students so you understand your 'demographic'. What are their favourite subjects, least favourite, how do they prefer to learn, what are their goals, strengths and needs... then consider how you can cater for that (hint: they won't be the same as the class you had last year, or the year before and they will probably change preferences throughout the year too)
• Short snappy lessons- don't drag on boring your audience or they will tune out! 
• Previews of what is coming up as we round off what we have just done e.g. (after a summation of what was learned) "so that was maths folks, coming up we will be exploring the fascinating world of adjectives in our writing...".  
• You can also preview a new topic coming up next week or next term at different times to build anticipation and buy in.  
• There will be predictability with daily scheduling but there will be variability between lessons and you may adjust your schedule seasonally. If we do things the same way all day engagement will drop off (hint: being talked at for long periods of time in the classroom is exhausting and encourages tuning out). 
• If something is a less popular subject then schedule it between two other more popular subjects or parts of the classroom programme e.g. if there is a general reluctance with math and written language don't schedule them immediately one after the other.  
• Stop regularly to allow people to move, shift focus, stretch, ask questions or talk. (Click here for some reasons to consider more action in your classroom) 
• If something isn't working then consider changing it, do something new or different, find another way. You could trial different things to see if they work, like pilot programmes.  

We want our students to tune in, buy in and engage just like a TV station wants their viewers to do, the big difference of course is that we don't want our students to be passive 'viewers' of the learning but active participants whose opinions, interests and needs do matter. And to finish here's a really bold thought, what would it look like if every student had their own schedule designed with them in mind? Just an idea...  

So, how do you get your students to tune in to the learning offered in your school or your classroom? 

By the way, please excuse the spelling for some folk out there, I come from New Zealand :)

Why we need space for mindfulness in our schools

A friend recently shared a news report about a school community debating the teaching of mindfulness in the school, some thought it was a great idea whilst others did not want it shared with their children.

It was a fascinating piece to read.

I think perhaps there was a little of the fear of the unknown playing in the minds of some so perhaps there was room for further explanation and sharing of research to support the adopting of the practice. Who knows and it's not my place to be debating the rights and wrongs of that particular school issue but it did get me thinking about mindfulness in our schools and if there is a place.

Photo sourced from:
 http://sustainable.org.nz/sustainable-business-news/your-mind-at-work-is-mindfulness-good-for-business#.VCk1ifmSwyk

For me mindfulness is about being aware of our own thinking and bringing ourselves into the present moment so we can fully engage in what is happening right now rather than worrying over what has happened or might happen.

I am no expert in the field at all but I thought I would share some ideas that I have from my perspective as a parent and teacher. I have been thinking about why mindfulness is an important habit for our children to learn and then about how we could create opportunities for developing and practicing mindfulness in our busy school days.

Why focus on mindfulness in our schools? 

If our children are able to calm their minds and be 'in the moment' as it were then I see that it could lead to some positive outcomes such as:

• better stress management
• students could be better able to identify where they are having a difficulty and generate possible solutions or seek help in a timely fashion 
• improved concentration through avoiding distractions 
• encouraging better self management enabling students to respond rather than react to conflict or negative situations 
• more harmonious playground activity 
• enabling the teachers to concentrate on learning opportunities rather than behaviour management in the classroom meaning everyone gets a better deal

And the potential good news is not only for our children, their mental wellbeing and their learning... it has the potential to help teachers too! If we practice mindfulness with our students we could enhance our own health and wellbeing at the same time as creating a healthier, more harmonious working environment for our students, colleagues and families. There is a lot of evidence to support mental health benefits for adults with mindfulness. 

It is great to see some research being done in the field of mindfulness in education to support the practice and offer a road map for future progress in schools. Check out this link for one useful paper about the process written by Grant Rix  from NZ Mental Health Foundation with a focus on the NZ context. 

How to encourage mindfulness in our schools? 

There are a whole range of techniques that I believe could be used to enhance mindfulness, many of which are about calming down the chatter inside our minds. 

Here are a few that I have used in my own classrooms or for my own wellbeing, some of these may work better than others and I would be interested in your feedback: 

• breathing techniques- deep diaphragmatic breaths to calm the mind. I have used this with children who have anger control issues... when something happens and you feel angry before you do anything else move away and do 10 deep breaths where you focus on breathing in and out slowly then come and see someone. For more about breathing click here 
• relaxation- a mentor from my teachers college days took us through a muscle relaxation exercise which I know still helps me to relax my body and mind at times. Basically you lie on your back and systematically tense different parts of your body then release them starting from your toes and working your way up the body (so you scrunch your toes up tight and then release, do this two or three times then move into tensing up your feet and up the body). The focus is on feeling the tension release when you let go. 
• visualisation- when I have dozens of things spinning around in my head I sometimes need to stop, accept them then let them go and I have found visualisation really helpful. There are several that I use and have used with children as well, here are a couple. Imagine you have walked through a forest and you come to a deep clear pool in a clearing, it is warm and safe, around the pool are big round stones, as you pick each one up imagine something that is worrying you and write it on the stone, then let the stone drop into the water, watch it float to the bottom, you can pick that worry up any time you want but for now it can stay there. Another one is walking down a hallway with lots of doors and putting my worries or concerns into each door and shutting it before going through the end door where the room is empty. There is also the balloon idea, which can be done physically as well as in your mind, imagine blowing up a balloon, each breath you put in something that is worrying you, when it is full, tie it off and let it go, watch it float up into the air and away. 
• being grateful- I know that this seems to be creating more to think about but every so often, stopping and working out what I am grateful for right now helps to even things out and bring me back to reality when I am getting bogged down with negative thoughts.  
• having down time- if we are always moving from thing to thing to thing without finishing something off or having down time then there is no space for mindfulness... and it is stressful for our learners. We need to be able to wrap something up before shifting to the next thing. I do think that integrated learning helps create flow and seemlessness which makes the shifts and changes throughout the day more organic. I also think summarising our learning, reflecting on it if possible, before we move on can help create that space as well. 
• juggling- giving your brain a repetitive task that takes your focus and attention to complete helps to quieten the extraneous noise as well. I taught one class to juggle at the start of the year and they did really well, it was amazing how focused some students became. It works with other tasks like knitting. I found earlier this year making a pom pom with my little boy incredibly calming. It is about being present with that task however, rather than multitasking... in fact it can be an opportunity to practice letting thoughts come and go whilst staying focused on the task at hand. 
• yoga- in one class we would do 10 minutes of yoga every school morning before getting into
  
  maths, I used a children's book of yoga positions (Isabelle Koch- like a fish in water) and we would do 4 or 5 positions most days sometimes with music sometimes without. It was amazing the calmness that would descend over our classroom, for myself and the class. The focus was on breathing and moving slowly.  
• focus on our senses- mindful eating is one suggestion that comes up often, it is focusing on the whole experience of eating our food, smell, see, taste and even touch. When you go for a walk outside focusing on what you can see that you might not have seen before or what you can see, hear, smell right now can be helpful, it is all about bringing your attention to what is happening in the here and now. It amazes me with what my little boy notices when we are out and about that I haven't spotted. 

As an aside: I do wonder if when we start 'educating' children that we inadvertently unlearn their natural sense of mindfulness, if perhaps we create more internal 'chatter' or bring in more distractions (think about our classroom spaces for example, are they visually noisy?). Do we often demand that they focus on what we are wanting them to right now when they are actually fully engaged in something else? Might it be best for our children to adopt a mindful pace? This education isn't only what happens in classrooms either.

There is much to consider. I guess in my way of thinking I wish this wasn't something I had needed to learn (or perhaps relearn) as an adult and perhaps having opportunities for our children to practice mindfulness in our schools will help us all.

Links:

• http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/newsletters/view/article/27/407/2012/ 
• http://teach-learn-lead.blogspot.com/2014/05/sing-your-song.html
• http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/like-a-fish-in-water-isabelle-koch/1112144111?ean=9780892817733
• http://teach-learn-lead.blogspot.com/2014/08/stimulating-or-visually-noisy-does-what.html

Can one size fit all?

Imagine a world where we only made one shoe size... UK size 8 and a half for arguments sake. Now this one shoe size system would work for me because I actually wear UK size 8 and a half shoes, nice one! But what about those folk with different sized feet? It would be uncomfortable for most, for many downright painful, for some even dangerous by increasing tripping and falling and could even cause permanent damage. For many it would slow them down and impede their progress. I imagine all that would make folks feel rather disgruntled, not me or people like me because we would be comfortable, but the other people. So let's apply this to standardised teaching and testing... are we not trying to make diverse human beings 'fit' into a one size fits all model which can work for some but for others be uncomfortable, painful, potentially dangerous and even damaging? Could this impede learning for some of the diverse range of human beings we teach? Could this be part of the reason behind behavioural issues we are faced with in schools, disgruntled learners who know that they just don't fit?

                              
Lately I have noticed a lot of articles talking about the importance of play for children's development, wellbeing and learning. I have also spotted a number of articles despairing over educational systems that are becoming testing laden factories removing the joy of learning from our children and teachers. There would appear to be a disconnect between what is suggested as good practice for learning and what the target is for some of our systems. 

I believe that Sir Ken Robinson clarifies the concerns around this disconnect well in his talk about changing educational paradigms, if you haven't seen it I thoroughly recommend you click on the link below for eleven minutes of food for thought.

He is arguing that we need to change to meet the needs of the 21st century, rather than rehashing the assumptions around intelligence, teaching and learning from the past. Sir Ken talks about the system deadening inspiration and interest rather than igniting it. He argues that we need to change the paradigm.

So what if we just stopped for a wee moment, put away all of our assumptions and asked ourselves some questions like... what is the purpose of education? What outcomes do we really want for our kids and the future world they will live in? What sorts of things are important in our society? What about the future? You get the picture.

When we ask these sorts of questions where does the one size fits all model fit? If it does, is it a comfortable fit or are we doing an ugly sisters impression with the glass slipper?

For me when I think of what I want for my little boy's learning journey I want him to be in a space where he is valued, where he can learn in any number of ways, where mistakes are celebrated as a wonderful part of the learning process, where he has freedom to play (in so many ways!), where his creativity is embraced, where the people who work with him get to know him and help him to discover his talents, where they help him know what makes him tick so he can use this to manage his learning journey, where he will learn about how to work with others and embrace diversity, where he is treated like a human being not a number or a piece of data... and as a teacher, I think my profession wants something like this for every child in our care but it seems to be at odds with many of the systems we work in.

At the moment my little boy is an unbridled learner, a delightful explorer who has recently discovered the pure joy of running fast and dancing (with or without music). He has a fantastic imagination, loves books, is fascinated by numbers and sings beautifully. I am totally biased, I guess that goes without saying really, but I do worry about whether becoming educated will be detrimental to his natural inclination to learn through play and exploration and talking and questioning and moving.

I wish I had clear answers to ease my mind as a parent, a teacher, an active member of the community, a tertiary student and a leader but I don't. I have more questions. I have ideas and opinions and I have a commitment to keep exploring what we do and how we do it to deepen and challenge my own understandings of learning especially for those who don't fit the UK size 8.5 shoe model that worked (for the most part) successfully for me. I guess the big question I am left with tonight is how do we truly celebrate and embrace human diversity in our education systems?


More viewing:
Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk- Do Schools Kill Creativity? http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity

More reading:
A thousand rivers: this post offers another perspective around children and their learning that challenges assumptions and has the potential to open the dialogue even more. http://schoolingtheworld.org/a-thousand-rivers/
Technology Learning and Adolesscence- another blog post- http://teach-learn-lead.blogspot.com/2014/05/technology-learning-and-adolescence.html
Education's culture of overwork turning teachers and children into ghosts- a newspaper article from the UK exploring the merit of slowing down to allow deeper learning to occur- http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/16/culture-overwork-teachers-children-ghosts-schools


Disclaimer: I am sure that the shoe size analogy has been used by others more than once but cannot attribute it as it occurred to me as an analogy the other night while I was reading A Thousand Rivers as a simple idea to explain my perspective in a conversation with a friend. So to me it felt like a new discovery but seems too beautifully simple to be original so if you have used this in your own work please know that I have not plagarised you deliberately.  

Authentic leadership in education

Authentic leadership for me is about integrity... doing what is right even when no-one is looking, it is about having your ethical antennae up at all times, it is about relationships and it is about people.

Focus

To lead authentically in education I think there are two key places the leader needs to focus their energy. Firstly and most importantly is the learner. Trevor Grice, the founder director of Life Education Trust NZ, often quoted that with all decisions we needed to ask ourselves one question "will this make a difference for our children?" It makes decision making a whole lot more simple. If it is going to make a positive difference, especially a significant one, then that would suggest it is a path worth pursuing, if not then don't go there.

The second area of focus needs to be the people you have in your team. In schools these are your teachers and support staff. If you don't have them working as well as they can then the learners suffer.

Expectations

Now if we want our team to work as well as they can for the learners in our care then we need to be clear about expectations and these need to relate to making positive differences for our learners. I am not talking statistics here necessarily, sometimes we get too focused on numbers and forget the stories and the people that sit behind them. What I am talking about is the range of differences that could occur from fulfilling these expectations, and these may be social, academic, well-being, spiritual, physical etc.

We need to review the expectations regularly and ask ourselves, are they still appropriate? Do they reflect the needs of our learners today and in the future? And don't forget to ask ourselves if the language is appropriate. Once we have agreed on these expectations then we need to reinforce these valued outcomes by living them, promoting them, sharing the good news stories relating to them and whatever else we can to help them stay alive in our community.

I am sure many of you have heard theories around an individual or group usually aiming for the expectations that are held for them, meaning if you don't expect much of me then it is likely that I will not aspire to do much more than you expect. This is a generalisation of course but is interesting when we relate it to the workplace. We need to reflect on whether the expectations we have for individuals meet the wider expectations we have established.

Managing poor performance

If you have an underperforming staff member, and there are staff like that, then first you need to review the expectations you have around that person... do you expect them to fail? If so then it could be that they are living up to your expectations, which aren't particularly high. So you raise the bar.

There are many ways to raise the bar but ultimately we have two outcomes, they either improve or not. Some of this rests with the approach taken and this for me is where authentic leadership really comes in to play. It is suggested that people fail in the workplace for some major reasons; they need more training, this workplace is not the right fit for them or the job itself is just not the right one for them (aside from other circumstantial and motivational reasons of course). As an authentic leader how we have a conversation around expectations is vital, if the outcome is going to be one where the individual is left with their dignity as intact as possible then you need to be really mindful about how you construct this. For me it all hinges on relationships, finding a place and space where it is comfortable for them to have a conversation with you.

To be able to address the underperformance in relation to expectations that make a difference for our learners is important. To listen to the human being you are talking to and hear them is vital. I don't believe for a second this is easy at all, as a leader it can make you feel vulnerable especially when you are dealing with vulnerability in another person at the same time. That being said I don't think it is an excuse to hide behind procedure or process and forget the impact we are making on another human being. In the ideal world the other party leaves feeling heard and comfortable with the decision going forward, if they are in the wrong workplace or wrong profession they have had the opportunity to talk things through and understand it for themselves. If they are in the right place or profession but need to improve, again it has been discussed and they are now able to move forward knowing the expectations and that their leader is behind them in their development... both of these outcomes are positive for all parties and ultimately the learners benefit which is our primary focus.

Of course this isn't always the outcome despite our best efforts. We cannot control how another person will think or feel, we can only offer them the best opportunity to engage in professionally led dialogue for improvement.

Sometimes we will be faced with ethical dilemmas and the decisions we have to make are not going to be easy but we do have opportunities to do things as right as possible, and when given that chance I say go for the authentic leadership path!