This book is the base of this leadership growth plan. The experts of this Educational Leadership program and the topic in which they are specialized are written bellow. To learn more, please consult their websites, blogs, articles and books: Kathryn Yamamoto: Building Community; Leadership growth plan; Inclusion and diversity; Collaboration and conflict; school improvement and change. Bruce Beairsto: Leadership Principles and Practices. Kathie Cornell: Canadian Education System; Inquiry and innovation. Kristi Blakeway: Role of the leader. Monica Tang: Bilingual/French Immersion Education in Canada. Peter Dubinsky: Social Emotional Learning. Kelly Chow: Professional Development. Ruth Foster: Teaching natural science in Mossom Creek Hatchery. Belinda Chi: Curriculum and assessment. Thanks for sharing all your expertise and enthusiasm!
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Here you are some pictures of classroom decoration from Elementary school in Canada: A positive attitude to learn starts in our walls. It would be nice children invent the sentences, draw and decorate by themselves. First, we can begin modelling with some examples.
Here you are some tips to build a class team for the very beginning: 1. Say Hello in a special wayMake your pupils feel at home with a welcoming activity: a handshake, a song, a routine... Let's feel the sense of community for the very first time. 2. First, my story...Talk first about you; your family, your hobbies, your expectations as a teacher, etc. I would be nice prepare a presentation with some photos. Then ask the children to do the same and they will have confidence to tell the group their biographies. This 2 inspiring ideas come from the lesson "Social Emotional Learning" by Peter Dubinsky. 3. Classroom agreement: developing expectations with studentsWhen students' ideas and words are used, students understand the expectations and feel committed to the agreement. Steps: - Ask the students what kind of classroom do we want. Make a list of students' ideas. - Discuss with the students what it means to agree to something or to make a promise. - Read the list and ask the students: "If we want a classroom to be like this, what will need to agree to or promise to do?" - Write the class agreement in a big poster and sign it. Then, all the students will sign it too. - Read the agreement as a part of the classroom routines. Also it's important to agree about alternatives of movement -many kids need it- without breaking the rules. 4. Who am I? Using personal artifactsLinked with the second tip, children need to introduce themselves to the group to feel as a part of it. One way to start an interesting conversation is to ask students to bring in things that they really care about and that represent who they are. Steps: -Bring personal artifacts to the classroom and show and talk about them. Take approximately 2-3 minutes to model the process, so students have an idea of how much time each person has to "show and tell". - Each day, 4-6 students will present their artifacts -so the whole group will have a turn within a school week-. - Invite classmates to make brief, specific comments or connections when each presenter is finished (For example: I like your toy, I have one like it). -Set aside the classroom a space so students can put their items on display. 5. Do a cooperative art&crafts work to decorate the classroom.In our visit to Malborough School, I found this interesting example: This ideas come from the book: Thanks to Kathryn Yamamoto for your recommendation: The complete work is amazing!
Mindfulness is a exercise in meditation used throughout professional and academic life. Some benefits include relaxation, reduced stress, centering oneself, clarifying one's priorities, increased focus and attention and increased self-control. A short daily routines help our pupils to achieve their goals as students, as well as help them grow as people. The ideal moment is after the break: When the students return from recess, they are able to get back into their lessons faster. 1. SIT DOWN ATTENTIVE AND CALM. Goal: Children will learn how to sit down in a mindfulness posture: feet on the floor, straight back and hands on your legs. When each pupil would find the posture, he/she will breathe 3 times deeply. 2. FIND YOUR ANCHOR. Goal: Children will work on self-contol. They will learn how to manage their states of anxiousness and anger. We will seat in a mindful posture with the eyes closed and we will try to find in our body this point of wellness -related with the breathing process- when we would come back when we are nervous or worried. After the routine, children can talk about where is their anchor -usually in the chest or in the tummy- and how do they think it can help to feel better. 3. BELLY BREATHE. Goal: Children discover the importance of breathing and how it helps to find state of calm and to increase our attention to the present moment. 4. LISTEN TO YOUR CLASSMATE. Goal: Being patient and respectful with the others. Pupils must internalize the listening skill to create a community in class. In this routine, children will work in pairs -sitting down knee to knee-. During 1 minute, the student A will listen to the student B without speaking any word and after that, the student B will listen to the student A. At the end of the routine, pupils will comment how did they feel and how can they help each other, We also can talk about the experience with the whole class if there is any volunteer. 5. CONSCIOUS SNACK. Goal; In this routine we learn to develop our awareness of our senses and how to be focused on the present moment. Also it is related with healthy habits as the necessity of eating slowly and calm. Each children will eat his/her snack using the five senses: touch it, listen to it, smell it, observe it and finally, eat it. There are many other mindfulness routines; I invite you to practice with your pupils! Thanks for reading Ler's think about all the time of our lives that we have been at school: First as students and now as a teachers or principals... A HUGH AMOUNT OF TIME! So let's make this time in our schools be "the time of our lives". So the next question would be: What makes you happy at school? The psychologist Shawn Achor invite us to practice 6 daily routines: http://goodthinkinc.com/project/cbc-news-shawn-achors-6-exercises-for-happiness/ I've adapted this daily routines to our schedules, so I invite you to practice just one of these 4 exercises during 5-10 minutes per day. Whatever you'd like depending on your own personality and the peculiarity of your group: 1. GRATITUDE EXERCISES. A nice writing activity -whatever in English or in Spanish-. And It could be dedicated to a classmate or someone from the staff -as in the picture bellow-. 2. THE DOUBLER. The pupils can write about one episode or moment that made them feel happy the day or the weekend before. Then we can share some of the stories. That's a way to re-awake good feeling and live them twice.
3. THE FUN FIFTEEN. Our body needs to move it and even more our pupils -at least, 15 minutes per day-. So It would be nice include a warm-up choreography or exercise to get the children engaged in learning. 4.MEDITATION. I'll explain some Mindfulness routines in my next post. Everybody is good at something: everyone is special. Let's start to know each other with this inspiring activity. - Each pupil takes one ribbon and write his/her name and one strength (I'm good at). - Then, they tie the ribbons and weave the ribbons together. You can hang the tapestry up in a visible place of the class. That's your team flag!
WITH THE STUDENTS Our classroom is the first environment we must look after constantly: If the pupils love coming to school, the learning process is "a piece of cake". Let's set up 4 key moments along the course to build this sense of community: - September: At the beginning of the school-year. The first week we would be focused on activities of getting know each others and create our team. - December: At the end of the first term. - March/April; At the end of the second term. -June: At the end of the school-year. Also every celebration day or festival would be a perfect date to reinforce this sense of unity. Besides this, it's important to work systematically: -Every day: I invite you to find 5-10 minutes to practice a daily routine. - Every week: Friday afternoon could be the right time to dedicate one session for this purpose. Would be in any subject -CLIL methodology-. WITH THE STAFF Let's re-imagine our environment. As Kristi Blakeway suggested, if we want to create a cooperative atmosphere among the staff, we must transform our physical spaces and the way we meet together. I will show you some examples: -Re-imagine your staff meetings: Implementing cooperative learning techniques in our meetings; Working in changing and small groups; with games and role-playing dynamics; outdoor meetings; classroom hosts, by twitter, etc. -Re-imagine your staff room: Make your staff room a better place; decorating with rewarding quotes and including personal belongings -as a teacher's mugs for breakfast-, etc. -Re-imagine conversation: Always listening before talking; showing your gratitude; etc. -Re-imagine teacher orientation: Listening to the expectation of the new ones; creating a welcome committee by a group of senior teachers. WITH THE FAMILIES -Re-imagine parents communication: Broadening new ways -twitter, apps, etc.-, starting the interviews talking about the goals that the student has achieved and then proposing the new challenges; inviting to the classrooms to share experiences with their children -"open doors days"-; recommending how to listen their children: "Allow your child to be the teacher", etc. To sum up: When we build community we contribute to create happier schools. Let's start! Here you are 2 pictures from the inspiring lesson by Kristy Blakeway: "Role of the leader". Thanks for reading! |
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