Engagement

Just as there are rules of engagement on the battlefield, there are rules of engagement in the classroom. The fight to get – and keep – students’ attention is the key to effective learning. Here are four rules to keeping students engaged in the learning process. Rule #1: Let Them Think. Learning occurs best when we deliver information in short bursts. This means offering new information in chunks of approximately 5-10 minutes, then allowing students to process and encode the information in memory. Once students have fully grasped an idea, we can build on that point and add more information. When we teach this way, the amount of material students retain rises dramatically compared to the more traditional approach of…

AAGHH!!! – stress, frustration, anxiety, feeling overwhelmed….you know the feeling, especially at this time of the year? Stress and anxiety increase your levels of the hormones adrenaline and cortisol, within your body. In excess, these hormones dampen your immune system, leaving you exhausted and reducing your capacity to think clearly. Not a great combination! So, what can you do to combat the detrimental effects of an overload of stress in today’s busy world? The answer lies in the ‘Happy’ tonic! The three, simple, proven ‘Mind tools’, to lower your stress levels, increase your longevity and increase your inner happiness are: 1. STOP and Breathe (Try not to breathe! – it doesn’t work very well does it?) Next time you are…

There is a clear link between our health and our happiness. We know that the happier we are, the healthier we feel. The more that we can manage the stress in our lives and experience happiness, the more resistant we are to ill health. Working in schools means working with people. At times people can be unpredictable and difficult to deal with, especially when our reserves are running low. This can create challenging situations. Ultimately it is how we respond to these situations that has an impact on our stress levels and our happiness. We do have choices. Recognising that we have the power to choose how much things affect us is the first step in increasing our own happiness.…

To outsiders, working in a school probably seems simple enough! The aim or purpose won’t have appeared to have changed. Schools and staff in schools work towards helping young people learn, achieve their potential and become citizens who contribute to society. The big picture remains the same. However, most who work in schools feel inundated with change. The ‘goal posts’ appear to be constantly moving. This constant state of flux can be stressful, unless people have a way of looking at change that helps them to understand it. I believe Dr Spencer Johnson’s book ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’ is essential reading for all who work in schools. The story, a parable about change, involves four interesting mice characters who are…