5 Top Tips for Lowering Stress
Working in schools can be very rewarding but it also can be stressful and demanding. The following 5 tips can help to lower stress at times when you feel under pressure. Choose a positive attitude – our attitude has a HUGE impact on our stress levels and our effectiveness each day. It is vital to realise that our attitude is NOT imposed on us. We have a choice each and every day. We can choose to be positive and enthusiastic or negative and at the mercy of others. The choice is ours! The attitude that we have is probably the most important decision that we make each day. On tough days, when things just don’t seem to be going our…
How Engaged are Your Students?
It’s not surprising that one of the most consistent findings in educational research demonstrates that the more times students spend engaged, the more they learn (Gettinger & Ball, 2007). It also won’t surprise that the more engaged students are, the less stressful it is. Instead of trying to ‘manage’ students to comply, engaged students are on-task and ‘in the zone’. As they are interested and actively involved in the learning experience they don’t require ‘management’. This lowers the demands on the teacher and reduces our stress level. Reflecting on the level of student engagement that exists in your classrooms is worthwhile. Schlechty (2002) defines five levels of student engagement: Authentic Engagement—students are immersed in work that has clear meaning and…
1000 Awesome Things
In “The Book of Awesome”, author Neil Pasricha provides a catalogue of universal little pleasures we all share. The book is intended to help us focus on the many little things that give us pleasure rather than the few things that annoy and frustrate us. In his book Pasricha offers a hearty cheer for all the things we take for granted. This philosophy applies in schools too! Inspired by the book I have started a list of things that happen in schools that add pleasure to our day… feel free to add to the list! A thank you note from a parent The first five minutes after 3 o’clock A ‘free’ afternoon when an after-school meeting is cancelled A staff…
Mindfulness- Bringing Calm to your Day
Mindfulness is one of the best ways to combat stress and anxiety. While mindfulness and meditation are no longer reserved for Buddhist retreats, you might still be unsure about how to integrate this practice into your life. Meditation can be broadly defined as any activity that involves controlling your attention. Mindfulness is about focusing on whatever is happening moment-by-moment without being judgmental. In mindfulness meditation, you actively choose to control where your mind goes. For example, you can choose to pay attention to your breath or the sounds around you. While that seems fairly simple, you’ll quickly discover that your attention easily wanders. Developing the ability to regulate our attention ultimately helps you to live more in the present moment…
Engaging Students In Learning Activities
Students who are genuinely engaged in their learning are easier to manage and achieve more. It is helpful to reflect on the following key elements in planning learning activities that engage our students. Make It Meaningful It is essential that students perceive activities as being meaningful. Research has shown that if students do not consider a learning activity worthy of their time and effort, they might not engage in a satisfactory way or may even disengage entirely. (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004). Connecting the activity with students’ previous knowledge and experiences is one way of trying to make learning experiences meaningful. Asking great questions that stimulate and challenge students is another great strategy. For each unit try to identify an…
Using MS Autocorrect to Save Time
So much of the everyday tasks in schools today revolve around Microsoft Word. From reports, to letters to parents, to minutes of meetings….. What if you could fast track some of the common pieces of data you enter? If you can save yourself a few minutes here and there it all adds up! Saving 5 minutes each day works out to be almost ½ an hour each week. Multiply that by the school term of approximately 10 weeks and that’s 5 hours you could get back. So “How can I get Word to do the work for me” do I hear you ask? You just need to “train” it and unlike a new staff member, some of the hard work…
Overcoming FoMO and the Hurry Bug
FoMO and the Hurry Bug are by-products of technology, connectivity and a fast-paced life. FoMO or the Fear Of Missing Out is the pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent. It is driven by our most basic desire to feel connected and have a sense of belonging. FoMO is often evident in a desire to stay continually connected through social media with what others are doing. We are flooded with digital stimuli. The prevalence of social media allows us to instantly connect with others and ‘share’ in their experience. However the tendency to selectively post the best aspects of our lives can contribute to a competitive environment and ‘one upmanship’. This contributes to…
Assuming Positive Intent
Covey in, “The Speed of Trust” says that we judge ourselves according to our intentions but we judge other people according to their behaviour and make assumptions about their intentions. The assumptions that we make impact on whether we trust them. Assuming positive intent means consciously choosing to assume that our colleagues are operating to the best of their ability and are acting with the best interest of the school and their colleagues in mind. The principle of positive intention is that at some level all behaviour is (or at one time was) “positively intended”. Another way to view it is that all behaviour serves (or at one time served) a “positive purpose”. We should therefore look for the positive…
Successful Parent – Teacher Conferences
Successful parent – teacher conferences are important in establishing good relationships with parents. Well planned and conducted parent – teacher conferences establish a solid foundation for a partnership that is in the student’s best interests and prevent further problems developing. Preparation is vital for effective meetings with parents. Parent – Teacher Conferences are ‘Moments of Truth’ for parents. They are important times where parents come into direct contact with us and form an impression of our school. Be prepared – ensure that you have notes about the key areas you want to discuss and the key messages that you want the parent to understand. As well as discussing progress and achievement in academic areas it is important to consider pertinent…
Reducing classroom stress with explicit teaching
There is no doubt that many classroom behavioural issues result from baggage which some students bring to school but certain issues arise as a result of uninspiring lessons which bear little or no relevance to students’ lives. The saying that, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail,” is well known. Another saying is, “Ownership leads to motivation”. If we were to use the framework of Bloom’s taxonomy of the cognitive domain, we notice that when we are asking students to remember, explain and apply information we have previously taught them, they have little ownership of that information since the teacher ‘owned it’ in the first place. However, as soon as the teacher asks students to discuss, examine, debate…
Back to Basics Behaviour Management, By Brendan Zischke
We have all had that one class we dread going to. In my experience with difficult classes I have found that the way a class behaves seems to “snowball”. It either becomes better or worse, depending on how you behave. Obviously the earlier you correct behaviour the better however, the tips below are aimed to improve classroom behaviour despite its current level. 1: Always use a students’ first name. This will improve your rapport with them as individuals. The two most pleasing sounds to the human ear will not surprise you. They are the musical key of C (found in poker machines) and your name! 2: Use Thank you verses Please. An instruction such as, “Take out your books please,”…
Making 2016 Your Best Year Yet… As a Teacher
Wherever possible we try to provide useful information for all staff who work in schools, not just the teaching staff. We acknowledge that staff in other roles within the school make a huge difference and are important to the success of schools. However some areas are particularly relevant to teaching staff. This week’s Happy School article is specifically written for teachers. Starting a new school year is an important time to reflect on what is working and what aspects of your teaching ‘could be even better’. What are your key priorities for refining your teaching practices in 2016? The following suggestions are intended to prompt reflection. Keep it simple – a max. of 3! Deeper technology – add one area…