Portfolio – Happy Schools

Serotonin Seeker

August 1, 2024

What you eat and when you eat it, the amount of exercise you take and the amount of sleep you get are among the key factors that affect the production of neurotransmitters. This means that by controlling these factors you can control your internal ecology to maintain abundant supplies of your feel- good chemical, serotonin. Humans appear to have a survival instinct to eat fat. Fat is OK – you need some fat on your body to function. But if you’re carrying excess weight you’ll feel low because you’re placing extra load on all your physical systems. Losing unwanted fat is a crucial step in achieving and maintaining a natural high but the worst message you can send an overweight…

Adrenalin Junkies

March 14, 2024

Stevef

Portfolio

Teachers and other staff in schools often live an action-packed life, typical of the adrenalin junkie. You only know two speeds. You’re either on — full-on — or asleep. The feeling of an adrenalin high is addictive, without realising it you may be trying to be ‘ON’ 100% of the time. You may not be aware that this is how you go through your day. You’re simply moving fast in response to a high-speed life and the expectations of your peers and students. The downside of the adrenalin high is the adrenalin crash! This is the feeling of anti-climax you get when you finish a major project or the restlessness you feel on holidays, the boredom you endure when you…

The Joy of Change (Part 2)

February 16, 2023

Stevef

Behaviour Management

In part 1, I talked about the neuroplasticity of the brain and the importance of the heart level emotional connection of the “what’s in it for me if I change” component. Learning If we want someone to do something different, we have to give them enough information, knowledge and training to feel supported and confident that they can do what is being asked of them. Learning makes a huge difference. It is also the way to keep our brains young and vital; and not just simple stuff – we have to learn things that are completely different or something we have never done before. Even before I learned about this, I had always had a dream to play the harp.…

The Unwritten Ground Rules (UGR’s)

July 28, 2022

Stevef

Communication

I have read many articles and books over the years that have focused on the concept of an organisational culture. For many years I passed the concept off as an academic one that had little practical application in the workforce. During that period however, I remained confused. As a consultant, going into various organisations, I could ‘feel’ the culture. In one organisation there would be a positive, upbeat feel to it. In another, there was a little tension in the air. In another, you could cut the air with a knife! The confusion I felt centred on recognition that culture played a fundamental role in every organisation. Yet I could not understand it in simple or practical terms. That remained…