lizzzyyy051

I've gotta stop my mind Working overtime It's driving me insane It will not let me live Always so negative It's become my enemy (From Save Me by Jem) Last month I was presenting at the Teachers Matter Conference in Wellington. It is a real privilege to attend these professional development events and to be invited to present is a huge honour indeed. And one I didn’t take lightly. When Karen asked me if I would be interested in coming along I didn’t hesitate, I was in and I was excited. This would be my third opportunity to work at the Teachers Matter Conference and the previous times had been massive for my own learning as a presenter as well as providing me with the opportunity to be inspired both personally and professionally as a teacher, parent and general human being. As the time passed I started to become anxious… I didn’t recognise it as such at the time however, I just thought I was uninspired, stressed, tired. I found it hard to get what I wanted sorted easily, it ...

Lately I have been reading a book called Presence by Amy Cuddy and it has been a really interesting read. The text is exploring the role of 'presence' in self confidence and gives practical suggestions using body language to build our sense of personal power.  One aspect is exploring the impact our posture has on our sense of self and it is suggested that an upright posture creates a feedback loop that supports greater confidence. Amy Cuddy shared some thoughts from a NZ physiotherapist Steve August who is concerned with the damage he is seeing from people hunching over phones, and other devices. I share this as I am sitting here writing this on my laptop and very much more aware of my posture.  As reading, one small paragraph really made me sit up and take notice, literally and figuratively. The Going to do more looking up and out at the world just like this wee guy.  average head weighs a little over 5kg and when our head is balanced over our shoulders then that is the ...

"We can no longer ignore the neuroscience" Dr Judith Howard In education, we can no longer afford to ignore the neuroscience. This was a statement shared with us at a course I attended last year. As a neuro-nerd I couldn't agree more with this sentiment, we need to embrace the learning that science can share with us and let it inform what we do in our classrooms. It is also important that we share this knowledge with our learners.    With this in mind we have started our teaching year with a focus on our brilliant brains and how we learn. And so far it's been fun. There is a wealth of great material online and we have used video, movement, art, discussion and writing to support our learning.  One of the clips we started with was Ned the Neuron. We actually watched it three days in a row and it is on our class website for further revisits if individuals want to. The first time we watched it I paused at various spots. The class loved being able to say neuroplasticity! W...

There is a question some researchers ask young people to begin to establish if they are more likely to engage in antisocial behaviour, it is a simple question and by no means definitive but it is indicative. The question is: does anyone at your school know your name? Sounds simple huh? It is suggested that if an individual believes (and it is believing that is important here) that no-one knows their name, or knows them, then they are more likely to engage in antisocial behaviours as there is no need for them to follow the norms of the group. As a school teacher I know that often we all know the names of the students who are more antisocial but, as I stated above, the important thing is what they believe. Today I was supervising an inflatable slide for our local A&P Show and I know several of the children as they were locals but there were many who I didn't know. As they lined up I asked each of them their names and introduced myself then would use their names when they were cli...