LISTEN! ... in Order to Discern

"Every human being needs to listen consciously in order to live fully."

"We need to teach listening in our schools, as a skill..."

 I recently heard these statements from Julian treasure in his Ted talk below and I couldn't agree more. Essentially he is talking about the recent catch word 'mindfulness' however framing it in a way that shows how the use of or lack of can impact on our connectedness to each other and our daily interactions.

 

Crawling into Site

It has been a slow journey, however, whenever I enter my class site to add new tasks for the children each day or week I still get excited about the record of learning and the capability of my class site.

Maths has been the easiest to get started on. Maths ability groups, already in their small group structures, were perfect for teaching the students to access their tasks and visit rewindable teaching videos. The other day I added a photo of a child's learning as an example of how to correctly complete the learning tasks. This added a whole new level: pride in her learning, acknowledgement of her learning, a way to share with others and for others to learn from her!

Writing was the next step, helped along by a lovely colleague who is quite an expert in literacy and class sites. Kate set this up as an example and it was a quick update to turn it into a workable slide.

Yes, my site is only beginning to take baby steps but every step is rewarding.

Back to Blogging

A question I always like to ask myself in many contexts is: What is the point? This can be expressed in many ways, occasionally in frustration, but more purposefully as a mindful reminder of why I am doing this. Asking ‘what is the point?’ always provides a purpose and suddenly a task is far more meaningful in a time when every second is precious and every person and device seeks to steal your attention.

 After having been absent from my blog for nearly a term now I was reminded of ‘the point’ since starting my class site.

The point of blogging for me is:

Time for reflection

Do I give myself enough time to reflect on the things I learn from my children everyday?

Do I give myself time to reflect on the changes and teaching I put in place each day and the effects it has on myself and the wider classroom?

Do I give myself time to process and solidify learning from other and from the PD I receive?

I concluded that I often didn’t prioritise time to process, reflect and respond and that this would add to the reward, enjoyment and quality of my teaching.

Record of learning

Just as the children are learners so I am learning from my teaching experiences, the children and an incredible work environment. Opportunities for PD spring up in short staff sessions, visiting experts, colleagues, classroom epiphanies, out of school courses and when connecting with outside agencies within the school. I am both excited and occasionally overwhelmed with the information and opportunities to both seize and address.

Do I celebrate this knowledge and these experiences?

Do I record them as a professional collection of knowledge and understandings that have been learnt or are now impacting my teaching decisions?

Do I articulate them with enough clarity and vibrancy to solidify it clearly for myself?

To remind myself why I teach

Just as blogging itself requires a ‘so what’ teaching does too. For me, teaching is not just a career, a job, or the general ebb and flow of life and community. At this current time teaching represents much more. It is an outlet for creativity, provides purpose, challenge and, at the centre of it all, family. Each of these aspects can at times be highly frustrating especially if one has thrown in oneself as a major personal investment. Blogging then becomes a reminder in those tricky moments of the reward, growth, energy and joy teaching generates.

Avoiding Chaos with Mindfulness Jars

Tips and tricks for making mindfulness jars in a collaborative classroom.

Buy packs of bottled water.

I am not an advocate for buying bottled water and most definitely support the reuse of jars. However, I have had a few troubles with getting children to bring in their own jars from home. One is the lack of lids and another jars which often happen to be too small. Many children regularly don’t bring in any jars which in a collaborative classroom is usually around twenty percent. That’s quite a few jars to source. So far using bottled water packs in a collaborative setting for making mindfulness ‘jars’ has worked brilliantly because preparation is minimised and the bottles are already full with water!

I have found that the most effective way of adding to the ‘jars’ is in stations. (Eg. The food colour or dye table, the glue table and the glitter table.)

Have the children name their own bottles with vivid before opening the sealed lids.

When bottles are damp they do not take to being written on very well. When the children name their own bottle beforehand this is a great opportunity for them to chat and share the Vivids on the mat. It also means that their arrival at the stations is naturally staggered. They don’t all go rushing up to the stations at once.

Metallic paint can easily be sourced from dollar stores. Adding two teaspoons to a jar helps to thicken the water. The most beneficial aspect is that the glitter particles in the metallic paint take over two to three minutes to settle allowing the children to watch the different weights of glitter settle at different times.

What I usually add to our jars: stars, sequins, heavy glitter (larger uneven flakes) fine glitter, metallic poster paint.

Adding glue is a great way to slow down the settling of glitter and papier-mache paste is an easy option. Have an ice-cream container made up and ready at the ‘glue station’ two teaspoons of thick paste works well. (Papier-mache paste is not the best option and after a month or less it will lose its viscosity. It is however the cheapest and most available option.)

A lovely adaption to a mindfulness jar is a jellyfish jar.

In the classroom I have jars along the window sill which look lovely when the light shines through however they also offer a mindful reminder to both myself and the children and are accessible for the children to use when they need to. I have made a few jellyfish jars which work in a similar way.

The link to making a jellyfish jar can be found here:
http://themetapicture.com/homemade-plastic-jellyfish/

Ipads, Goals, and that new catch phrase...

Just a few notes from today's catch-up with with our cyclone PD person!

That new catch-phrase:
Rewindable learning

Ideas for ipads:

Emoji labels can be used for non-readers

When teaching an app

-       Let them play/explore on it after introducing

-       Then talk about common questions

-       After this explicitly teach

Set up a student drive on the google Drive app

Have this logged on in all class ipads

Teach separately how to save on the app and then how to export to google drive

 

Ipad teaching structure:

Half class model and teach the app- other half exploring or following a simple app task.

QR codes

-Download QR reader

-camera needs to be turned on in settings in app

-create a QR code by clicking on the plus sign

Goals:

Create folders on each class ipad for Learn, Create and Share

Make sure all apps are turned off

Set up class drive on ipads

Organise app folders

The Pig of Happiness

Booork, boork, boork, book, book... Titles from ULearn!

One ‘thing’ that is often a feature at ULearn is the many references to speakers, authors and fabulous book titles. Seeing as knowledge and learning is universal and in general we all learn from each other it is exciting to know the gateways of inspiration that lead these ULearn speakers on their own innovative journeys.

‘The End of the Average’ Todd Rose

The assumption that metrics comparing us to an average—like GPAs, personality test results, and performance review ratings—reveal something meaningful about our potential is so ingrained in our consciousness that we don’t even question it. That assumption, says Harvard’s Todd Rose, is spectacularly—and scientifically—wrong.

In The End of Average, Rose, a rising star in the new field of the science of the individual shows that no one is average. Not you. Not your kids. Not your employees. This isn’t hollow sloganeering—it’s a mathematical fact with enormous practical consequences. But while we know people learn and develop in distinctive ways, these unique patterns of behaviors are lost in our schools and businesses which have been designed around the mythical “average person.” This average-size-fits-all model ignores our differences and fails at recognizing talent. It’s time to change it.

‘Art as an Experience’ John Dewy

Art as Experience (1934) is John Dewey's major writing on aesthetics, originally delivered as the first William James Lecture at Harvard (1932). Dewey's aesthetics have been found useful in a number of disciplines, including the new media.

‘The Seventh Sense’ Joshua Cooper Ramo

A book that shows you how to build (design) a life you can thrive in, at any age or stage.

‘The Future of Learning’ Mark Tredwell

Having a theoretical model for how the brain learns allows us to develop a Learning Process that optimises how the brain applies its four+1 learning systems. The model is based on the latest neuroscience, sociology and psychology research

‘Drive’ Daniel Pink

From Daniel H. Pink, the author of the bestselling A Whole New Mind, comes a paradigm-shattering look at what truly motivates us and how we can use that knowledge to work smarter and live better.
Most of us believe that the best way to motivate ourselves and others is with external rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That’s a mistake, Daniel H. Pink says in, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, his provocative and persuasive new book. The secret to high performance and satisfaction—at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.

‘The Mindful Leader’ Michael Bunting

The Mindful Leader combines scientifically-proven mindfulness principles with world-class leadership practices. The result is a practical guidebook that provides all the tools to transform your leadership style and dramatically improve all areas of your life.

‘World Peace and other 4^th Grade Achievements’ John Hunter

In John Hunter’s classroom, students fearlessly set about tackling global problems-and discovering surprising solutions-by playing Hunter’s groundbreaking World Peace Game. These kids—from high school all the way down to fourth grade, in schools both well-funded and under-resourced—take on the roles of presidents, tribal leaders, diplomats, and military commanders. Through battles and negotiations, standoffs and summits, they strive to resolve a sequence of many-layered, interconnected scenarios, from nuclear proliferation to tribal warfare.

Now, Hunter shares inspiring stories from over thirty years teaching the World Peace Game, revealing the principles of successful collaboration that people of any age can apply anywhere. He offers all of us not only a forward-thinking report from the front lines of American education, but also a generous blueprint for a world that bends toward cooperation, rather than conflict. In this deeply hopeful book, a visionary educator shows us what the future can be.

'Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration'

Ed Catmull, co-founder (with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter) of Pixar Animation Studios

The Academy Award–winning studio behind Inside Out and Toy Story, comes an incisive book about creativity in business and leadership—sure to appeal to readers of Daniel Pink, Tom Peters, and Chip and Dan Heath. Fast Company raves that Creativity, Inc. “just might be the most thoughtful management book ever.”

‘The Myth of the Perfect Girl' Ana Homayoun

The Myth of the Perfect Girl explores the changing dynamic of today's culture of perfectionism, and offers practical, thoughtful solutions to promote the healthy social, emotional, physical and spiritual wellness of today's young girls and women. The book is an  inspiring look at how we can help our youngest generations create their own blueprint for personal success and happiness.