The longest term in school history
James Anderson CSP- Learnership and Growth Mindset Expert
Learnership and Growth Mindset Expert - Speaker, Consultant, Advisor, Educator and Author on Learnership. Australia | Singapore | New Zealand | USA
In this weekend's?Sunday Age ,?educator Adam Voigt recounts the story of a principal who describes this term as being "the longest term in school history".?Students have been struggling to return to learning following lockdown interruptions,?and schools battle daily not knowing how many staff will be off classes required to isolate that day.?Because of this, for many students, teachers and school leaders, this week marks the end of a particularly challenging term, and thankfully the start of a well-earned break.
Looking forward to next term, how do we avoid repeating this feeling? How do we address the "covid catch up"??How do we get to the end of next term with both teachers and students not just surviving, but thriving?
I wish I had all the answers - I don't. But I do have some of the answers. Answers that will accelerate student learning, and energise teachers.
As you settle into your break, I?invite you?to revisit?important insights?to help you foster?Learnership,?nurture?a Growth Mindset,?understand?the Learning Zone and?improve?student motivation in the blogs below.
And if you'd like to learn more about how to help your students become better learners, I'd invite you to join me?May 31st - June 4th in the Learnership Intensive .
Best wishes
James
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The focus on?quality teaching?has unbalanced the learning equation.?As John Holt, pioneer in educational theory, said,?"learning is not the product of teaching. It is the product of the activity of learners". To ensure we're heading in the right direction, we must rebalance?our focus to pay more attention to how we develop quality learners in our classrooms.?Read more in the blog .
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From the perspective of someone with a Fixed Mindset, giving up is the sensible, logical thing to do. They aren't being negative or uncooperative. They just believe that what is hard to today, is going to be hard tomorrow. And they believe the step beyond that is going to be even harder. No changing that. And if this were true, then quitting early would be the smart thing to do! The challenge is that it's not true.?And we can begin to help our students?shift their mindset?and change their beliefs by helping them understand their Learning Zone.?Read more in the blog.
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Most of the differences in student performance can be attributed, not to what teachers do in the classroom, but rather to how students engage in the learning process - what I call Learnership.
In fact,?John?Hattie's?research tells us that?quality teaching matters because teachers have an important influence on student achievement.?But the often overlooked fact is that STUDENTS have the biggest impact on student performance.?Read more about Learnership and how to apply that in your classroom and school.
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Sometimes it feels like no matter what we do to make learning more interesting, relevant and engaging for students?they're just plain uninterested.?But there's a good reason?why most?of our motivation strategies aren't working, and can't work.?And that's because our students are struggling with a Fixed Mindset. It's not that they are disinterested or un-motivated. It's because they are de-motivated. They simply don't??believe that anything they do will make a difference.
For these students we need a very different set of strategies. We need strategies that focus on developing a Growth Mindset before our engagement and motivation tactics will have any effect at all.?Read more on the blog.
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We come to the end of "the longest term in school history",?and it's time to put our focus back on student and teacher wellbeing.?This includes fostering good mental heath,??reducing anxiety and creating safe and supportive learning environments.
It's important to remember that "safe and supportive" doesn't mean that there are no challenges in the school learning environment. And it certainly doesn't mean that there is no effort required.?But it does mean that we should be supportively challenging our students to push out of their Comfort Zone and into their Learning Zone in order to thrive in the classroom. After all, in?the words of Fred DiVito, "if it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you".?Read more on the blog.
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Learnership?Intensive - May 31st - June 4th 2022
Join me?for four three-hour workshops beginning Tuesday May 31st, as I equip you with everything you need to develop more skilful learners in your classroom.
What you can expect to achieve:
- Scope and sequence for developing Learnership
- Practical classroom strategies for improving student Learnership
- Nurturing of a Growth Mindset
- Accelerated student learning
- Energising your learners and yourself!
You'll Learn:
-?How to?use "nudges" to nurture a more growth-oriented mindset.
-?How to?get your students comfortable with the discomfort of the Learning Zone, and improve their relationship with challenges.
-?How to?develop your students Habits of Mind, teaching them how to make hard things easy.
-?How to?move away from "celebrating" mistakes, to having students understand how to use mistakes to provide information for learning.
-?How to?tailor feedback so it's not designed to help students grow, but also perfectly matched to your students personalised learning needs.
-?How to?help students recognise effort as the currency of growth, and to invest their time and energy more effectively.
-?How to?best focus your teaching strategies to ensure your students are becoming better learners and gaining more from every learning situation.
- Much much more!