 |
| Brain Break ran by Steph |
Showing posts with label Teacher only day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teacher only day. Show all posts
Sunday, 3 February 2019
Goal Setting: Teacher Only Days
We explored the website: https://upstart.vitalityhub.co.nz/ and set goals and challenges around our own health.
 |
| Walking our 1km loop |
Monday, 5 February 2018
TO Day 2: Stephanie Sinclaire Lightsmith, Artist
Stephanie Sinclaire Lightsmith
came in and talked to us about using art to express emotions. We did some exercises together that she has done with children and adults around the world, and she did with our seniors last year.
Painting emotion:
First close your eyes and feel into your body.
Write down the first emotion that comes to you. No judgment, be authentic (sometimes people need help clarifying their emotion).
Then paint what that feels like.
We were encouraged to use our hands to paint with, to deepen the experience and embody it.
Sometimes the emotion changed as we were painting, and we painted again to express the new emotion.
The science behind this is all about expressing emotions in a positive, creative way so that we don’t hold onto negative emotions, and enjoy our positive emotions.
We shared what our paintings meant to us, giving us all some understanding of what was alive for each other.
This is a great exercise for children to teach them a positive way to handle emotions that they are struggling to manage constructively.
Tapping into your body’s wisdom:
Close your eyes and focus on any body part that you choose for a couple of minutes. Feel into it deeply.
Now write from that body part to you - what is it’s wisdom that it is trying to tell you? Write for 5-10 minutes then read it over. What have you learned?
A third exercise Stephanie shared with us (but we didn’t complete) is to write to an authority figure in your childhood (parent or caregiver, etc) fully expressing whatever you want to and then also have them write their response to you.
We ended the session with a lead meditation to the stars and beyond...
Blog post written by Gabrielle
came in and talked to us about using art to express emotions. We did some exercises together that she has done with children and adults around the world, and she did with our seniors last year.
Painting emotion:
First close your eyes and feel into your body.
Write down the first emotion that comes to you. No judgment, be authentic (sometimes people need help clarifying their emotion).
Then paint what that feels like.
We were encouraged to use our hands to paint with, to deepen the experience and embody it.
Sometimes the emotion changed as we were painting, and we painted again to express the new emotion.
The science behind this is all about expressing emotions in a positive, creative way so that we don’t hold onto negative emotions, and enjoy our positive emotions.
We shared what our paintings meant to us, giving us all some understanding of what was alive for each other.
This is a great exercise for children to teach them a positive way to handle emotions that they are struggling to manage constructively.
Tapping into your body’s wisdom:
Close your eyes and focus on any body part that you choose for a couple of minutes. Feel into it deeply.
Now write from that body part to you - what is it’s wisdom that it is trying to tell you? Write for 5-10 minutes then read it over. What have you learned?
A third exercise Stephanie shared with us (but we didn’t complete) is to write to an authority figure in your childhood (parent or caregiver, etc) fully expressing whatever you want to and then also have them write their response to you.
We ended the session with a lead meditation to the stars and beyond...
Blog post written by Gabrielle
Sunday, 4 February 2018
TO Day 2: Natalie Hogg, Sports' Psychologist
On our teacher only day, Natalie Hogg, a sports’ psychologist and parent at the school, came and spoke to us about making 2018 even better than last year. She spoke to us about some of her work with the Hurricanes and other sports teams. We ran through some visualisation exercises and talked about wellbeing and its importance to mental health. We were each asked to give one word that represented what we felt we needed to make this year better than last. The team ranged in ideas from unity and vision, to communication, to growth mindset and action. We discussed some of the perceived barriers and made a small action plan for where to next. We’ve already begun implementing some of our ideas with our This Week/Next Week whiteboard in the staffroom to improve our communication and keep everyone on the same page for what’s going one. Natalie also showed us a few helpful diagrams.
This is to help check in: be present in what you’re doing, commit to what you say you want to do, accept that sometimes we are slightly diverted, don’t beat yourself up and carry on.
If you can imagine the big picture goal is at the top of the line and we are walking the line, we are often diverted from the big goal to either avoid or have immediate gratification. Keeping the big picture in mind and not straying too far from it helps you stay grounded, mindful and in good mental health.
Lastly, as a tool to stay on track we have this diagram for actions on a minute to minute basis. Just being mindful of whether your actions are leading you towards or away from your big picture goal is important and being mindful of what is driving you to those choices.
The session was incredibly informative as it gave us practical tools to use to keep us on track towards our big visions. It also helped us clarify what we, as a larger team, feel we can do to improve upon what we already do well. Thanks very much Natalie!
This is to help check in: be present in what you’re doing, commit to what you say you want to do, accept that sometimes we are slightly diverted, don’t beat yourself up and carry on.
If you can imagine the big picture goal is at the top of the line and we are walking the line, we are often diverted from the big goal to either avoid or have immediate gratification. Keeping the big picture in mind and not straying too far from it helps you stay grounded, mindful and in good mental health.
The session was incredibly informative as it gave us practical tools to use to keep us on track towards our big visions. It also helped us clarify what we, as a larger team, feel we can do to improve upon what we already do well. Thanks very much Natalie!
By Gillian
2018 team actions/improvements to support the ‘Campaign’
1. Cohesion/Unity
Increase transparency
The why are we doing this- big picture
Ask questions
Challenge each other
2. Communication
What’s on top- whiteboard in staffroom- advertise what’s going on
Emails- check audience/detail/ timeliness- especially with parents
Trips- improve systems and processes- delegate/clarity
3. Growth
Being open and flexible
Take risks
Quality of feedback
Dream BIG!
Commitment
Be open
Just do it-action!
Monday, 29 January 2018
Teacher Only Day 1: TED Talks
Welcome back everyone! A new and exciting year for lots of growth and learning...
Today we all had a chance to share a TED-type talk with each other- anything goes under 'Educating for the Future'
Jude started the day with a session called Know thyself and be thyself where we were able to explore our passions in our personal and professional lives and how we can use these in our teams.
Nicola and Ximena spoke about Number Talks and how this has a big impact on student outcomes.
Steph shared ideas about communication and how we connect with our parents- not always easy!
Jude started the day with a session called Know thyself and be thyself where we were able to explore our passions in our personal and professional lives and how we can use these in our teams.
Gabrielle spoke to us all about resilience and how we can teach this to our students.
Susie talked about Positive Purpose, what she has been researching and how she has been focusing on this when working with her students in Tautoru.
Anna discussed the importance of getting students moving. You can read her notes here.
Cloe spoke about the changes that she has been making, moving away from a traditional way of teaching to a focus on Positive education. She compared this process to Metamorphosis.
Suz shared the learning that she has done with David Keane and how this has helped her to be present in her professional and personal life and the importance of working in Quadrant 2.
Hayley spoke about ‘Heroic Recovery’ and the benefits of working together to try new things accept challenges and reflect together.
John talked us through the model of the Hero's Journey and how students can relate to the characters.
Gillian talked about the importance of language. She said, "I spoke about the power of language, looking at both our internal and external language. I looked at the power of the words we think to create our realities and the words we speak to affect those around us. With little words like yet, we can change a statement from one of despair, "I can't do it," to one of hope "I can't do it yet!" The words we speak can change our mindsets and those around us. Let's use our words to make better worlds for ourselves and for our learners!"
Scott shared his thoughts about the Environment and why it is important that our learners take action!
Therese and James (Masters of Teaching and Learning students) spoke about teachers and people who inspired them connecting this to what kind of teachers they would like to be in the classroom.
Shona showed us some valuable resources for students for English Language Learners:
Steph shared ideas about communication and how we connect with our parents- not always easy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)