Thursday, November 25, 2010
The Literacy Blog: Emotional literacy key to better results
The Literacy Blog: Emotional literacy key to better results: "Emotional literacy key to better resultsI subscribe to an e-newsletter 'Education Review'. The importance of including social emotional pr..."
Emotional literacy key to better results
Emotional literacy key to better results
"Social emotional development programs must be integral part of schooling, US expert to tell Australian audience.
Many teachers and parents should learn better emotional and social skills in order to help children boost their school or university performance, according to a leading US research scientist.
Dr Marc A. Brackett, deputy director of Yale University’s Health, Emotion, and Behaviour Laboratory, is in Australia to present a keynote address to the Australian Psychological Society’s College of Educational and Developmental Psychologists national conference, to be held at the University of Melbourne tomorrow.
Speaking ahead of the conference, Brackett said that programs to help combat social problems in schools, such as underperformance, anxiety and bullying, were becoming more common. However, the most lasting results – and the greatest improvement in academic results – occurred only when family members and adults working with children also improved their emotional skills, he said.
Brackett has devised a program called RULER (therulerapproach.org), which sets out five skills that helps children and adults to better manage their emotions. Since its creation eight years ago, his team has helped children and adults develop the skills of recognising, understanding, labelling, expressing and regulating emotions. RULER has now been adopted by hundreds of schools in the US.
Research into the program suggests that students armed with the RULER program had 17 per cent fewer problems such as learning and attention difficulties. They also recorded 19 per cent better study, social and leadership skills, and 11 per cent better marks.
“Most schools invite us in because they want students to be better at regulating their emotions, but you can’t succeed at one aspect of this without developing the other RULER skills
“These programs are often seen as an add-on, but in fact they must be fully integrated into every aspect of the day. To be effective, teachers, school leaders and even parents or other family members need to make sure they are living these principles,” Brackett said.
In Australia, social and emotional education has been pioneered by the Federal Government-funded KidsMatter Primary program, which has been piloted in more than 100 schools since 2006. The Australian Psychological Society is a development partner in the initiative, on which Professor Lyn Littlefield, executive director, will give a keynote address at the conference.
Professor Andrew Martin, of the University of Sydney, will also speak on motivation and engagement and local psychologists will present research papers on the effectiveness of whole-school anti-bullying policies and the heightened prevalence of autism among hearing-impaired children."
Go to www.psychology.org.au or www.kidsmatter.edu.au
Many teachers and parents should learn better emotional and social skills in order to help children boost their school or university performance, according to a leading US research scientist.
Dr Marc A. Brackett, deputy director of Yale University’s Health, Emotion, and Behaviour Laboratory, is in Australia to present a keynote address to the Australian Psychological Society’s College of Educational and Developmental Psychologists national conference, to be held at the University of Melbourne tomorrow.
Speaking ahead of the conference, Brackett said that programs to help combat social problems in schools, such as underperformance, anxiety and bullying, were becoming more common. However, the most lasting results – and the greatest improvement in academic results – occurred only when family members and adults working with children also improved their emotional skills, he said.
Brackett has devised a program called RULER (therulerapproach.org), which sets out five skills that helps children and adults to better manage their emotions. Since its creation eight years ago, his team has helped children and adults develop the skills of recognising, understanding, labelling, expressing and regulating emotions. RULER has now been adopted by hundreds of schools in the US.
Research into the program suggests that students armed with the RULER program had 17 per cent fewer problems such as learning and attention difficulties. They also recorded 19 per cent better study, social and leadership skills, and 11 per cent better marks.
“Most schools invite us in because they want students to be better at regulating their emotions, but you can’t succeed at one aspect of this without developing the other RULER skills
“These programs are often seen as an add-on, but in fact they must be fully integrated into every aspect of the day. To be effective, teachers, school leaders and even parents or other family members need to make sure they are living these principles,” Brackett said.
In Australia, social and emotional education has been pioneered by the Federal Government-funded KidsMatter Primary program, which has been piloted in more than 100 schools since 2006. The Australian Psychological Society is a development partner in the initiative, on which Professor Lyn Littlefield, executive director, will give a keynote address at the conference.
Professor Andrew Martin, of the University of Sydney, will also speak on motivation and engagement and local psychologists will present research papers on the effectiveness of whole-school anti-bullying policies and the heightened prevalence of autism among hearing-impaired children."
Go to www.psychology.org.au or www.kidsmatter.edu.au
Sunday, November 14, 2010
How can I help my child to read before they start school?
I am planning my talk to our new parents for next year and I cannot emphasize enough the importance of the partnership between school and home. Research shows that student performance and results improve when parents help at their school is some capacity.
Here are a few ideas that you as a parent can be doing with your child pre school and even in the early years of school to develop a love of Reading. If you would like a copy of the handout I am giving to the parents about how to develop a love of reading, please click the link below.
Cheers Christine
Building a Love of Reading handout
Here are a few ideas that you as a parent can be doing with your child pre school and even in the early years of school to develop a love of Reading. If you would like a copy of the handout I am giving to the parents about how to develop a love of reading, please click the link below.
Cheers Christine
Building a Love of Reading handout
Friday, November 12, 2010
The Literacy Blog: The Irlen Revolution
The Literacy Blog: The Irlen Revolution: "School Psychologist Response to CriticsI am in my 31st year as a school psychologist. I am so grateful to have learned of the Irlen Method ..."
The Irlen Revolution
School Psychologist Response to Critics
I am in my 31st year as a school psychologist. I am so grateful to have learned of the Irlen Method relatively early on in my career. Like you, I was very skeptical when I first heard of this process. It sounded too easy; another educational fad. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to witness first-hand the difference identification and treatment can make for someone who has this visual-perceptual disorder.
In my school system, we have seen test scores increase significantly when students are regularly screened for this problem. In addition, teachers report that the attitude their students have toward reading has greatly improved; students come to class eager to read.
The local community college now has students complete a Reading Strategies Questionnaire when they enroll in the Adult Basic Skills Program. The questionnaire helps identify students who need to be screened so that they can use a colored overlay, if needed, to take their placement tests. This process was implemented after test administrators saw test scores improve anywhere from 1.3 to 6.5 grade levels (as measured by the TABE) for students who had originally failed the test. (The students were screened after they failed the test, given an overlay, and took a second form of the test. No instruction was provided in the interim.)
By the way, students are allowed to use colored overlays on the GED in addition to other placement tests. They are allowed on End of Grade and End of Course tests in North Carolina. They are allowed on tests such as the SAT, LSAT, MCAT, etc., with prior documentation.
There is now a great deal of research documenting the effectiveness of this process. Among the most exciting are SPEC scans documenting the differences in brain functioning and the improvements made with color modification.
I have worked with the Irlen Method for over 20 years now. During that time, I have met many, many individuals who have suffered needlessly because this simple screening was not made available to them. This process should be available in all schools. I encourage everyone in this field to keep an open mind and look further into this process.
Susan Youngman,School Psychologist
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, North Carolina
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Do you want to be a great teacher?
It's that time of year when reports are due and teachers are busy finishing the testing of their students. They are exhausted! I have a mantra that I like to say : 'every day is a new day'. I really like that one because it works especially well when you have had a very bad day at school. It was then that a timely article came to my inbox from D. Trinidad Hunt, and I thought I would share it at our next Literacy PLT. I'm also pasting it here for you. Have a look.
Jim Collins in his now classic book From Good to Great said the hardest leap to make is the leap from good to great. Collins was talking about making the leap as an organization. Yet the same thing can be applied to leadership in schools and in the classroom.
The longest mile seems to be the stretch from being good at what we do to becoming great at what we do. There is a tendency to accept good as ‘good enough’. But this will never make you a great teacher and great teachers are made not born. There is a choice involved and practice required.
The first step in this journey necessitates becoming aware of this tendency to accept good as ‘good enough’. When you feel you are a good teacher, reflect for a moment… has good become good enough? Are you settling for less than your personal professional best?
If you became a teacher, as I did, because of the love of children and a passion for learning, then you won’t settle for good. But how do you recognize the plateau of rest and status quo Vs reflection and preparation (to move to higher heights).
I can remember the moment that I confronted this place in my own life. I had taught for twenty years. I was tired of it. I wanted to quit. In truth, I had hit the wall! And the wall was the barrier between being a good teacher and moving up to the level of great.
There was another mountain peak before me and I knew that it would require all of my resilience, my grit and my commitment. It would require a critical eye, and authentic self-assessment. I would have to be brutally honest with myself about my inner feelings as well as my outer actions.
In fact, I would have to change and from my perspective at that time change took work! The stages I went through look like this:
Denial: In my mind I didn’t need to improve. I wanted to quit. It all looked too hard for me and I justified these feelings by saying it was time to change profession. I explained it as burn out. I denied that what might be up here was a breakthrough. If I admitted it, I might have to embrace the change and I was not ready to do that!
Acceptance: This is not the acceptance of a need to change. This was the beginning of a realization and an acceptance that something was going on with me. I started to become aware that something was trying to break through into consciousness. I sensed that there was a deeper message here. I began to feel that I needed to listen to it.
Willingness: Then came the stage of willingness. I was now willing to make a change. I was in the middle of a full teaching schedule and I wasn’t willing to leave all the people I was teaching in the lurch. So maybe, I thought, I better let go of my resistance and go with the flow, at least for the moment!
Decision: So I made a decision to put one foot in front of the other and really give it my all for the next six weeks.
Action: Having made this decision, I went to work. I taught with all my heart and at the end of the day I assessed my score on a metaphorical score card made of the questions below. I practiced my craft and I assessed my results with an intention to improve daily.
So here are a few mantras that have helped me continue my passage from good to great:
Jim Collins in his now classic book From Good to Great said the hardest leap to make is the leap from good to great. Collins was talking about making the leap as an organization. Yet the same thing can be applied to leadership in schools and in the classroom.
The longest mile seems to be the stretch from being good at what we do to becoming great at what we do. There is a tendency to accept good as ‘good enough’. But this will never make you a great teacher and great teachers are made not born. There is a choice involved and practice required.
The first step in this journey necessitates becoming aware of this tendency to accept good as ‘good enough’. When you feel you are a good teacher, reflect for a moment… has good become good enough? Are you settling for less than your personal professional best?
If you became a teacher, as I did, because of the love of children and a passion for learning, then you won’t settle for good. But how do you recognize the plateau of rest and status quo Vs reflection and preparation (to move to higher heights).
I can remember the moment that I confronted this place in my own life. I had taught for twenty years. I was tired of it. I wanted to quit. In truth, I had hit the wall! And the wall was the barrier between being a good teacher and moving up to the level of great.
There was another mountain peak before me and I knew that it would require all of my resilience, my grit and my commitment. It would require a critical eye, and authentic self-assessment. I would have to be brutally honest with myself about my inner feelings as well as my outer actions.
In fact, I would have to change and from my perspective at that time change took work! The stages I went through look like this:
Denial: In my mind I didn’t need to improve. I wanted to quit. It all looked too hard for me and I justified these feelings by saying it was time to change profession. I explained it as burn out. I denied that what might be up here was a breakthrough. If I admitted it, I might have to embrace the change and I was not ready to do that!
Acceptance: This is not the acceptance of a need to change. This was the beginning of a realization and an acceptance that something was going on with me. I started to become aware that something was trying to break through into consciousness. I sensed that there was a deeper message here. I began to feel that I needed to listen to it.
Willingness: Then came the stage of willingness. I was now willing to make a change. I was in the middle of a full teaching schedule and I wasn’t willing to leave all the people I was teaching in the lurch. So maybe, I thought, I better let go of my resistance and go with the flow, at least for the moment!
Decision: So I made a decision to put one foot in front of the other and really give it my all for the next six weeks.
Action: Having made this decision, I went to work. I taught with all my heart and at the end of the day I assessed my score on a metaphorical score card made of the questions below. I practiced my craft and I assessed my results with an intention to improve daily.
So here are a few mantras that have helped me continue my passage from good to great:- Put one foot in front of the other.
- As I make a positive choice, that choice begins to remake me!
- Remember to remember why I do what I do!
- Gratitude is my attitude of choice!
- What have I done today that demonstrates being a true and great professional in my field?
- What have I done inadvertently that might demonstrate something different from this?
- What do I need to do differently tomorrow to more fully express my love for those I serve and my passion for my profession?
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
The Literacy Blog: Types of Bullying-Harassment
The Literacy Blog: Types of Bullying-Harassment: "Bullyproof Your Child For Life: Protect Your Child from Teasing, Taunting, and Bullying for Good The last type of bullying to be discussed i..."
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