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Set Up to Win – Behaviour Expectations

January 30, 2025

While we all know students work better in a secure, structured, safe and supportive environment, how do we set students up to win? How do we make the boundaries clear and support students to learn when they don’t stay within those boundaries? Building a strong foundation for learning by making expectations about behaviour and work standards explicit to students from the beginning saves time, energy and stress. We all need to know the rules of the game before we can win! Off task, disruptive behaviour of students can be one of the biggest stressors for teachers. Having consistent, clear expectations reduces uncertainty and anxiety for students and teachers increasing opportunities for success.

Making A Personal Plan For A Successful 2025

January 23, 2025

The research on the success of making New Year’s Resolutions isn’t compelling. Apparently only 8% of people who make New Year’s resolutions are successful in keeping them. I’m not surprised! Most resolutions are alcohol fuelled and some people make outlandish statements. In planning for a great 2025 it is important to reflect on what has helped you in the past and what has hindered you.  Now is the time to reflect on the past year, what will you do differently? What areas are there for most improvement?    

The Anti-Resolution Roadmap

New Year’s Resolutions often fizzle out faster than champagne bubbles. They’re great for party chatter on December 31st but rarely survive beyond January. What truly works? Embracing small , impactful habits that create lasting change.

Simplify Your Life Through Routines- part 2

In Part 1 we shared the first 5 tips to survive the craziness at the end of the year and avoid feeling overwhelmed with work, deadlines and personal responsibilities. The key to managing these demands and simplifying your life is to establish routines. Here in Part 2 are tips 6 to 10 to help you create routines that can simplify your life and make your workday more efficient. 6. USE THE TWO-MINUTE RULE The two-minute rule, from David Allen’s, “Getting Things Done”, suggests that if a task takes less than two minutes, do it immediately. This keeps minor tasks from piling up and cluttering your to-do list, allowing you to stay organised and maintain momentum throughout the day. 7. SIMPLIFY…

Simplify Your Life Through Routines- part 1

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with work, deadlines and personal responsibilities, especially at this time of the year. The key to managing these demands and simplifying your life lies in establishing routines. When you structure your day with effective habits, you reduce decision fatigue, save time and ultimately get more done. Here are the first five of ten simple tips to help you create routines that can simplify your life and make your workday more efficient. 1. START YOUR DAY WITH A MORNING ROUTINE A solid morning routine sets a positive tone for the rest of your day. Wake up at the same time daily, hydrate and spend a few minutes doing something calming like stretching…

Technology is NOT a substitute for teaching (Part 2)

July 25, 2024

In part 1 last week, I described an activity utilising technology to present student research. Producing the movie took much longer than doing the research. Whilst the additional learning is beneficial, the problem here is two-fold. First, the actual subject-relevant learning portion of the assignment (research and writing) took up a tiny fraction of her time. The additional learning (how to use the video-making software) may be valuable as a future workplace skill but the actual process of making the movie was really ‘busy work’. Once you’ve edited images to match one 5-second audio segment, you don’t learn anything more by editing the remaining 59 segments! It was an utterly ineffective use of potentially valuable study time. Second, the point…

Technology is NOT a substitute for teaching (Part 1)                                         

July 18, 2024

Infusing education with technology is a wonderful idea. Classrooms with access to the internet and mobile devices have marvellous opportunities to make learning relevant to 21st Century students. Technology offers new ways to enable and encourage self-learning, engage students with content and build capability in vital workplace skills. However, as with every other educational strategy or tool, technology is only effective when embedded in a well thought out learning experience and specifically applied to support learning outcomes. Unfortunately, the rush to incorporate technology into our schools and classrooms       (eg BYOD) has in some cases served to undermine fundamentally sound teaching and learning strategies. The overwhelming notion seems to be that, if we incorporate a computer, mobile phone or iPad somewhere…

Cut Them Some Slack

We rarely know what is going on in other people’s lives. Whilst we might be frustrated by the behaviour of our students (and at times by our colleagues or boss) we rarely know all of the information about what is going on in their lives. We don’t necessarily know about health issues, financial pressures or other challenges they, or their family, are currently facing. We don’t necessarily know when they have had a sleepless night or an argument before coming to school. Many of our students also have additional demands placed on them.  Many students are coping with health issues in their families, living with chronic sickness, surviving the death of a loved one, the break-up of a family, helping…

Relationships Are Important in Managing Student Behaviour

April 11, 2024

I’ve often heard the statement ‘students don’t learn from people they don’t like!’ In ‘Kids These Days’, author and psychologist Jody Carrington says, “Kids won’t learn from people who they think don’t like them.” This statement resonates with me and is consistent with behaviour management guru Bill Rogers’ position that the best teachers are warm-demanding. They have that balance where they have the warmth to relate to students but are also demanding and have  clear expectations of their students. Teachers who are too warm and want to be every students BFF are unlikely to be respected. However, teachers who are too strict and gruff (They follow the “Don’t smile until Easter” philosophy), are unlikely to engage students. The sweet spot…

Decide Like A General

April 4, 2024

In the ever-evolving landscape of education, where challenges can often feel like battlefronts, the wisdom of military strategy can offer valuable insights. Just as generals must navigate complex terrain, staff in schools must navigate the intricacies of molding young minds and managing educational environments. Here are some key principles borrowed from the world of generals to help guide decision-making in schools: Vision and Mission Like generals, educators must have a clear vision and mission. What are the overarching goals of the school? What values do you want to instill in your students? By defining these objectives, every decision can be aligned with the broader purpose of education. Situational Awareness Generals excel at understanding the battlefield and educators must similarly grasp…

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