May 2019 – Happy Schools

See the Forest for the Trees

May 30, 2019

Successful people work well under sustained pressure. For some, pressure acts like a laser beam – focusing their energy and sharpening their mind to make clear and accurate decisions. For others, pressure acts like a fog that scatters their thinking and impairs their good judgment. The difference in how sharply you operate under pressure, pivots on your ability to step back and gain perspective. When you experience pressure, your body’s instinctive reaction is to place all physical energy and mental focus on the essential tasks. This narrows your focus – like tunnel vision – on the specifics and gives you a hit of energy (which is why some people find that pressure helps them to get things done). However, as…

Are You Addicted to Your Phone by John Shackleton

May 23, 2019

Stevef

Communication

I was sent a post today about someone attending a wedding ceremony and having their phone confiscated at the door! She was furious and wondered how she could ever enjoy things without being able to take photos of everything. But afterwards she realised that she’d really enjoyed the event and had much stronger memories of everything because she was actually present and not watching the whole thing from behind a screen. In her own words: ‘We are surrounded by so much content and have infinite ways to express that content. We believe that EXPERIENCING something isn’t valid without CAPTURING the experience in pictures – Pics or it didn’t happen’. She went on to say that the main reason we all post so much…

How to Handle New Enrolments

May 16, 2019

Stevef

Teamwork

We live and work in a transient society. This brings many enriching experiences for us but can also increase stress and anxiety for both staff and students in schools. Whilst this is now more consistency in the curriculum across schools there are other factors that also affect how smoothly these transitions take place. Acknowledging the inevitability of ever-changing school populations and addressing the challenges these present, can improve the outcomes for everyone involved, especially if a collaborative and systematic approach is used. For students, research shows that not only can moving schools be detrimental for them socially, it can also have an adverse effect on their academic achievement. This means it is doubly important that schools do everything within their…

ABOVE or BELOW the Line?

May 9, 2019

Stevef

Communication

I get really frustrated when I find myself surrounded by negative people, who appear to be filled with doom and gloom. I feel at risk of being buried in their negativity. You know the people, they light up a room….when they leave! Recently I was made aware of the concept of operating ABOVE or BELOW the line of life. Below the line all we hear are denial, excuses or blame. “We’re doing pretty well, considering!” “These students are from low socio-economic families; they aren’t real bright!” “Communication at this school is terrible, I never know what’s going on around here!” “We’d get better results if we had more money for teacher aide time or resources.” Whilst these statements might be…

Getting MORE Satisfaction From Your Work

May 2, 2019

Stevef

Engagement

Working in schools can be demanding. More is expected of us than ever before and we are often expected to do MORE, with LESS. Increases in accountability, the accelerating pace of change, high expectations from busy working parents and the challenges of working with people all add to life in a busy school. It is therefore not surprising that staff morale can suffer. This leads to a lower sense of job satisfaction. However, according to Herzberg, “the factors that lead to producing job satisfaction (and motivation) are separate and distinct from the factors that lead to job dissatisfaction.” Harvard Business Review, Sept 2007 According to Herzberg the opposite of job satisfaction is NOT job dissatisfaction but, rather, NO job satisfaction.…