Self Care > Stress

This year I am excited to have a Senior class again. I really enjoy teaching Seniors for a variety of reasons. Majority of the time they have chosen to be in that class and I like being able to have 'real' conversations with the students. I have a Year 12 SACE Health class - which is the equivalent of a Year 13 NCEA class. My biggest challenge for this class is learning about SACE and the Health course on the go, especially because Health as a SACE course is new in general, not just to Marryatville.

The first unit of the year is based around stress and stress management. Over the last few weeks the students have been involved in an Australian online learning platform called This Way Up. This website has been developed by a myriad of medical professionals, with the aim to help support people and their mental health. There are several programs people from anywhere and of any age can access for support, resources, strategies and tools for several areas of mental health. The creators of the website intentionally designed This Way Up to be accessible, to help reduce the barriers some people may face for self help.

My class have been individually completing the 4 lesson Coping with Stress program. I completed the program before the students, so that I could determine what the in-class activities and tasks were going to be. The program is scenario based and throughout there are several strategies taught and 'implemented' to help the character to identify, prevent and reduce stress. 

To encourage students to apply their knowledge of the tools and strategies they learnt from the program, I gave students tasks to do after each of the 4 lessons, as can be accessed here. These lessons are screenshots of One Note pages students received. One Note gives me real time information about what the student is working on (like Google Docs), which I have really missed! This has helped me to give more feedback to students and to track their progress. These tasks gave students the time to reflect individually on their stress levels, created opportunities for peer conversation and provided a foundation for class discussions, so were a great addition to the Coping with Stress Program. (Sidenote: I am finding it really challenging to ignite full class discussions with this group of students, but they are great chatting within their tables... watch this space!).

There are several great learnings from the program, but I did find there could have been some adaptations to make it more accessible and engaging. For example, the program could be available in multiple languages, there could be a variety of audio and video added and/or there could be interactive tasks throughout (it was mostly a story to click through). I did like that the students were able to access and complete the program at their own pace, which directly impacted on how much they 'got out' of the program. Students commented that the program itself 'wasn't very memorable' and that it was 'too long', but overall the stress unit (combination of the program and the additional tasks) was 'beneficial towards helping [them] to reduce [their] personal stress factors'. If you would like to learn a little more about stress and stress management in general, I blogged about this a few years ago.

I would recommend any teacher to complete this program to determine whether it may be beneficial for your students to also complete. If not, you will still learn/reflect/create/ponder some key thoughts/ideas/tools that you may be able to embed within your teaching. Irrespective of teaching though, these programs have been created with a great intent and will be helpful for anyone who would like further support for their mental health.

Remember, if you need help, don't hesitate to ask for it.

Australia: 1300 22 4636 (Beyond Blue)

New Zealand: 1737 (Need to Talk)

Lockdown Learnings

After the first three weeks of online teaching and learning, I asked my Senior students for feedback about the challenges they were facing, but also the things they were enjoying. After reading through their comments, I kept these in the back of my mind when planning lessons, communicating with the students and setting tasks for them to complete. 

Three weeks later, at the end of lockdown, I asked the students if they'd comment again. I was interested to see if there was much of a change. Many of the messages, as highlighted below, remained much the same. However, there was a positive change in attitude towards learning online/from home from many of the students, when compared to the first Google Form. I thought it was particularly interesting to note how honest they were, not only with me but with themselves!

See here for the students' comments in April, and then see here for their end of lockdown comments. 

The most common positives across the three classes were:

• Flexibility: Many enjoyed being able to work at their own pace, and complete tasks when they felt comfortable. If they completed that subject, they liked they were able to work on something else they needed to do, or they could look ahead at other tasks for that class to do.
• Feeling part of a class: Rather than the teacher just asking if they had questions, or just explaining the task and leaving, the kids enjoyed opportunities to connect with each other, time to do things that weren't related to work like quizzes and chats, and also doing some tasks online with others in a similar way they would in class such as group discussions.
• Increased independence: Although there were clearly some students who struggled to manage their time, several commented that they enjoyed the opportunity to further develop their independence and self management skills.

The most common negatives were:

• Too much work: There was significant feedback from the students explaining they were feeling overwhelmed across the board with how much work they were needing to complete. Some felt they were being asked to complete more than when we were at school!
• Lack of motivation: This was evident throughout the 6+ weeks. Due to the comfort of their own home, distractions, lack of self management and/or feeling overwhelmed (and who knows what other reasons!), there were lots of students who struggled to motivate themselves to complete their learning. This lack of motivation is what concerns me the most - have we now got an even bigger divide between the students who are ahead and the students who are falling behind?
• Less 1:1 time with the teacher: I found this hard too. Much less opportunity for face to face feedback, and less 'teachable moments'. It seems many struggled not being able to ask questions as often, or able to seek immediate feedback. I don't know how they expected us to reply to their emails instantly though! (Certainly an admin nightmare, that I didn't enjoy!)

I previously posted about the things I was enjoying about online teaching and learning. They mostly related to student creativity and having those 1:1 chats with the kids. I plan to continue to provide opportunities for them to be creative where possible, and of course being online has made me rethink/be creative about the ways I can teach too! I would also like to try and continue some of the positives from lockdown (from my own experience, in addition to student feedback);

• In class flexibility: I certainly enjoyed having a less regimented timetable, and it's clear the students did too. I will be giving opportunities for my Senior classes to develop their self management, and choosing how they utilise their time. If they want to work on another subject, then they can... here's hoping that doesn't backfire! This also relates to Ako Orewa, and the importance of students prioritising tasks/ deciding what is important to complete at that time and working at their own pace.
• Knowing ahead of time what's happening: I always gave a vague plan of what was happening in the few lessons to come before home learning, but didn't always upload the actual activities or tasks they were going to complete. I am going to try give students time to check out what they are doing before class, so they are more aware of where we are heading.
• Some time not related to work: A few students commented on the enjoyment they found from watching movies that reinforced or showed what they were learning about, or having quizzes and games with other students, or just general chat. I think sometimes with the pressure of NCEA, the pressure of time, the pressure for students to do well, we sometimes forget that they are kids. That they want to connect, share, reflect, analyse and sometimes they need a break. Just like we do.

Like many, I have felt nervous being back at school the last 10 days. Like online learning, it's going to take a bit of adjustment to get back into a routine, but we will get there! 

Why are you learning this?

As previously blogged about here, underpinning our teaching and learning is Ako Orewa. This is the school vision, which aims to empower students, and promote learner agency. Within the department, we have been focussing this year on the learning process;

What are we doing? Why are we doing it? Where to next?

I have been attempting to include these key questions into my lessons, especially with my Juniors, to make greater meaning of the learning related to the wider world, as well as encouraging students to take ownership of their learning. I definitely feel this is something I am improving, but need to actively include in more lessons, to shift the locus of control and continue to question why we are learning, what we are learning. 

I am finding myself this year teaching new units, and as a result needing to get my head around new assessment tasks too. I have struggled not to teach to the assessment, being completely honest. So over the past few weeks I have tried to often ask myself why I have planned particular lessons, and if the answer is 'because they need to know it', I try to reshape the lesson to be more about what the students want to know (based off student voice collected both formally and informally). Then, the 'why' shifts slightly.

To assist with the implementation of Ako Orewa (a five year plan, which includes a huge curriculum shift over the next couple years), teachers are encouraged to complete 'Ako Orewa observations'. Instead of visiting classes to observe a teacher (even though teacher observations are great learning experiences), we are to visit classes and discuss some of the key questions alongside, with the students.

I completed two Ako Orewa observations in Term 1 - one in an 11PE class, and one in a 12PE class. I found the conversations with the students incredibly insightful, as they were really able to explain the importance of self management and being in responsible of your own learning. I was surprised how the students were able to articulate how their achievement is determined by what they put into their learning. However, many were also able to (guiltily) describe the lack of understanding they had related to their learning tasks (which they identified was due to what they had not put in). I was not surprised either, that some students were unable to explain why they were learning about what they were learning, as we were only at the beginning of this shift in mindset. 

A term later though, I visited the two classes again, and spoke to different students. Many more were now able to identify why they were learning about particular topics and relate them to their lives. Some students were also now able to explain how they use exemplars and marking criterias to determine their level of learning, and where to go next. Therefore, starting to shift the focus onto the learning process in our classes is supporting the Ako Orewa vision/pedagogy.

I really enjoyed completing these observations, and I am looking forward to someone popping into my class so I can gauge where I need to further question or ignite discussions. Having discussions with the students really made me reflect on the learning process in my own classrooms, and actively think about the three key questions. Next year my challenge will be to relate the learning process to the Ako Tools.

Do I Have The Tools For Learning?

Fortnightly our PLGs meet. To further understand Ako Orewa and how to implement into my practice, I chose to be involved in the PLG which is breaking down the 'tools for learning'. We have discussed how these tools are discussion starters to have with students, and the aim is to increase learner agency. My plan is to get my head around the tools, begin to think about how I can use the tools in my lessons and then hit the ground running next year, possibly next year's inquiry.

I feel these tools are great stepping stones to decrease the teacher being in control and increase student ability to self manage their learning. In the future I would love to give students the ability to design their own courses and how they will assess their learning! I think a major affordance of using these tools within the classroom will mean that the students have greater 1:1 time with the teacher, and there will be much less time spent on managing behaviour

Last week we focused on the orange tool. Our task was to design a swimming pool in small groups, but before doing so, we broke down the time required to complete the task and the resources we needed. Leanne and Bev (the facilitators of our PLG) then walked around the room and asked the groups key questions related to the tool such as "How are you going for time?" and "What resources do you think you could have used if you had more time?" As the student in the situation, I became more aware of how much I needed to do, and when I needed to do it by. I was held accountable for my task as others relied on me and the teacher asked lots of questions during the design process. We debriefed the activity by then thinking about what to do next and reflecting on how we used our time - which then started to link into the blue tool! 

I walked away from this session with greater understanding of how to include this tool within my classroom, and I am looking forward to experimenting with the others too. Below are the Slides Leanne created and talked us through last week, about how she has implemented the tools in her own practice so far.

Tracking Student Learning

Throughout 2016, some of my colleagues shared their use of tracking sheets within their classrooms. I decided to try and include tracking sheets within my practice this year, to see how students would respond. I hoped this would increase student motivation and empower them to take responsibility of their tasks. To see how the tracking sheets were used in a classroom, I visited Karen (DVC) in a Year 8 Tech class (see observation here), and read through Hinearu's reflections throughout the year (example 1 and example 2).

I started off using tracking sheets in Term 1 in my 10Health and 9Health classes, with student names down the left column and then the tasks students needed to complete (see right example). I found some students responded well to the tracking sheet, feeling motivated to try get ahead of others, and knowing exactly where they were up to. However, overall I reflected midway through Term 2, and decided they weren't working effectively in my Health classes. 

As I only teach Health one period per week for each class, and had 10 Health classes, it was really difficult to keep up with all students' progress. Students were sharing links to their tasks through a Google Form, which I then used to track student progress on the alongside Google Sheet. But, I couldn't keep up. With so little time with the students per week, it took a long time to develop 100% trust to give the students editing access to the Sheets, so they could link in their own tasks. But, giving students editing access to the Sheet definitely would've helped with my admin time. 

On the flip side I found the task tracking sheets to be more effective in my 11PE class. Not surprisingly, I think this is because I had 6 periods per week with the students, therefore closer relationships, and more time to follow up with students' tasks. As the screenshot shows, there were a couple of students who I struggled to motivate to complete their tasks. These students became my priority learners (read more here). I wondered whether having individual tracking sheets for each student would be effective for some of these students, as some have low self confidence. 

Next year I think I would like to try individual tracking sheets, which all have the same tasks, to reduce potential embarrassment or lack of confidence some students may have being visible to others. I will have to think further about how I could ensure there is a competitive element, for the students who responded well to competition, though. Possibly the inclusion of some gamification, or points system of some regard. Obviously this takes away tracking sheets as a tool for visible teaching and learning, but I didn't find the tracking sheets to be effective for this component of my practice.

In addition to using for student tasks, I used tracking sheets within my assessment of learning, specifically for my Year 11s. I created tracking sheets like the below as evidence of collection of student learning, and tracking their progress throughout a unit. When the tracking sheets were related to students' NCEA grades, like the interpersonal skills example, they were not visible. The second example below though, was publicly visible. I shared this link with staff and public on Google+ and Twitter, to seek authentic feedback and feedforward for students. I found this to be somewhat effective, but would have liked more comments left on students' blogs. As reflected in my post dissertation blogpost, I think one contributor to few comments was an uncertainty of how or why to leave effective comments for students on their blogs. Hence, this is something to address next year.

Overall, I think there is great potential for the inclusion of tracking sheets (in multiple ways), within teaching and learning. This year was a great taster for me, and I look forward to making small changes, to see how the tracking sheets can empower learners further, and possibly increase student achievement (as I don't think student achievement was effected directly from the tracking sheets this year).

Managing The Overload in Our Lives

As previously posted, in 11PE we are learning about self management, and strategies we can employ to increase our self management skills. One of the strategies has been stress management. Many people know what stress management is, but often don't take the time to consider what actually stresses them out, or how to recognise stress.

I feel stress management is something we all need to take the time to think about in our crazy busy lives. I know right now I am feeling very overwhelmed with everything, like my to do list is getting longer rather than shorter. I'm even writing this blogpost in procrastination of ticking off things on the to do list! But reflecting and sharing like this calms and focuses me a little - a resolution or management of my stress.

The students today needed to create their own stressor trees to identify the things in their lives which stress them out, how they recognise they are stressed and what they can do to manage stress. This reflection time enable students to analyse how they can manage their stress levels to ensure a balanced wellbeing. I recommend anyone complete this simple activity because I think it helps to reduce and control stress levels. 

Other strategies for self management we have discussed have been SMART goals, self control, motivation, resiliency, and feedback & feedforward.

Managing Oneself for Successful Futures

The first unit of the year for Year 11PE is Self Management (SM). Students are learning about what self management is and why it is important, and we have now started to discuss some strategies students can use to increase their self management. Although I have not taught this unit before, so I am struggling a little to create engaging lessons, I think we are off to a good start!

Last week we began the intro to SM by students brainstorming on this Lino-it what they think SM looks like, feels like and sounds like. This started conversations which helped me to formatively assess student understanding as well as a reflection for students about what they know. I want to refer to this throughout the unit, to see if students can build on their brainstorm.

After this, we watched the below video and then discussed the marshmallow test and the ideas discussed throughout, and the relevance to their lives. I really enjoyed seeing the students nodding, watching the lightbulbs go off and hearing the 'hmmms' and 'ahhhs' as we discussed the importance of SM for their lives and careers.

To conclude our intro week, students put themselves into groups and I gave each student a scenario which may happen at school, then asked them to create a skit, acting out their response to that situation (e.g. an assignment is due tomorrow and it's a family birthday, working in a group of people you don't get along with). This also started interesting conversations about what positive self management looks like at school.

To review the ideas from last week, and start to begin thinking about strategies for SM, below was our lesson on Monday morning. Their major task was to pick one of the latter slides as a small group and define/explain one of the strategies, to share with the rest of the class. This helped to provide students with an intro to the strategies, which I have started to build on this week.

We have explored SMART goals and self control so far. Students have begun to identify the goals they would like to work towards, with the knowledge of SMART goals. Soon I will be introducing the students to their assessment, which is based around creating goals to improve their self management in physical activity.

After the introduction to and discussions around self control, see below, we then went and played netball. Aside from four students, the rest of the class thought we were simply playing netball for the fun of it, but there were key messages within the game. Before starting to play, I gave four students a card with a task to fulfils throughout the game, but they couldn't tell anyone else what their task was. The cards were; mutter under your breath, cheat, contact as often as you can, and disagree with the ref. 

I was careful to choose students who I knew would act out their tasks well, without other students getting suspicious. This worked so well. I was able to see how people responded to the situations where we had blatant cheating, when someone was going out of their way to push their opponent, and someone told the referee his call was incorrect for example. Holistically, I was incredibly impressed by the self control the students showed, and their self management overall! This has made me so excited for the next few weeks in 11PE!