Helping Kids Find Their Brave

Recently I went to listen to Karen Young speak. Karen is an Australian psychologist, author of Hey Warrior, Hey Awesome books and Hey Sigmund website and a Mum.

The main focus was examining anxiety and how this effects children and their families. Karen has written two books to help spark discussion for young people. I have been utilising them in class to help students to talk about and 'normalise' anxiety. 

In Aroha Pod we have read both Hey Warrior and Hey Awesome. The students have started to have discussions about what anxiety is and how it makes them feel. Having a character and those feelings described in a relatable way helps our tamariki to start those conversations and see that everyone at times feels anxious. 
                                                

How we feel when we are anxious and what we can do about it. 

How we feel when we are anxious and what we can do about it.

We have also looked at how anxiety makes us feel and the strategies we can take to help ourselves. Talking openly with family, friends and classmates can really make a difference in our students wellbeing and hauora. 

Ngā Mihi, 

Bex

                                                                                                

Managing Anxiety in Gifted Students

Earlier in the year Professor Debbie Clelland, a visiting teaching scholar from Adler University in Vancouver Canada spoke to a group as part of  a giftEDnz seminar. Her PhD research explored the needs of parents of gifted children, and she also conducted research on acceleration policies and counselling families of gifted children. Debbie teaches in the counselling psychology program and values her role as a scholar and teacher at Adler.

She has two gifted children currently aged 22 and 24. 

Kia ora to my friend Rebecca for these notes!

 What is anxiety?

• a natural reaction to stress
• a survival instinct-elevates fight/flight/freeze responses
• is the opposite of the relaxation

It is not necessarily a bad thing but there is a continuum. It is necessary to get rid of the bad, overwhelming, parts. Well practiced relaxation helps alleviate stress. 

What does it look like? 

• Physiological: Heart racing. Stuck in negative thought cycles.
• Sociological: Fearful of what others think.

"Problem" Anxiety from the audiences perspective:

Some children can:

• constantly seek reassurance
• be angry but the cause can be anxiety about something that hasn't happened yet
• exhibit physical symptoms such as upset tummies and be reluctant to go to school
• be prevented from engaging in life such as sleeping, healthy eating etc. 
• have so much going on in their lives that they don't know where to begin. It can be overwhelming for the person AND those around them

It is a major problem if it is evidencing in many locations resulting in a loss of hope. 

Gifted Children

This presents a new layer of anxiety with over excitabilities and sensitivities. Add anxiety to imaginational, intellectual, sensory, physical and emotional intensities and the result is challenging.

They imagine the worst, pick up cues differently and ponder them.

In gifted children:

• The world is too big
• Developmentally they have early awareness which leads to vulnerability at an earlier age. They may become anxious about e.g. death. They have the capacity to understand but do not have the life experiences to cope. They cannot emotionally handle some conversations. 

Helping to Manage

• Parents and teachers are "the boss" who set limits and help children be children
• They need to be valued but still know they are children
• They don't need to know everything straight away
• A safe and secure environment is essential 
• "Hold on to your kids" attachment and limit setting i.e. discipline and attachment. 
• A safe and secure environment is essential. Debbie felt there may be problems where the child has peers rather than parents as the attachment point

Teach Emotion Regulation

• Emotion coaching- help them learn which emotion is evident and which is an antidote to the emotional roller coasting. Use their smartness to help them control themselves. Name the emotion.
• Acknowledge the experience. Think about the emotion rather than becoming lost in it. 
• Set limits and move on. 

Teach Relaxation

   

• Breathing exercises e.g. Four Square Breathing ( In for 4, hold for 4, Out for 4, hold for 4)
• Practice it because it will lead to faster relaxation response during anxiety onset. 
• Other suggestion: specific numbers of "see, hear, feel, smell" responses around them; use detailed visualisation e.g. waterfall scene. 
• Do something physical like a walk or scootering.

Dealing with Thoughts

• Noticing negative thoughts or circular thoughts
• Evaluate 'does this thought love me?'
• Manage by thought stopping- think of something else and switching it.
• Add positive affirmations
• Have conversations such as "What are we trying to do? What is our goal? How do we help each other?

Managing Expectations

• Of Self
• Of Others
• What you believe others expect of you-which is the cause of much anxiety

Teach about OE's and Brain Development

• So they understand what is happening
• So they 'ride the wave' first and make decisions later

Seek counselling if necessary. Methodist Social Services can help with family counselling.

Remember to have self compassion and take time as an educator and parent for your own wellbeing too!

Smart Moves

Yesterday Lynsey Taylor came in to share her Smart Moves programme. She built on her last presentation about Primitive Reflexes and the learning issues around the lack of these. 

Smart Moves can address lots of these learning issues with the added benefit of little or no equipment. 

One big takeaway was asking the student to draw a picture of themselves and write. Then redo this in 6 weeks time. The example she showed us was pretty amazing in regards to detail and body awareness in the second drawing, improved writing capability and moving 4 reading levels as well. 

We will add some of the Smart Moves exercises in at the beginning of learning times and in transition times to start with. Then as we explore the resource and tap into student needs we can expand from there. 

Nga Mihi

Bex

Aroha Collaborative Teacher Inquiry

Kahui Ako- Wellbeing Meeting Tahi

Today we met for the first time as a group for the Kahui Ako. We discussed what makes our schools special and potentially what could be shared to benefit teachers, students and whanau. The photo below shows a brief overview of our school: 

As a group we decided for our next meeting we would share a 'snapshot' of our learners and their day. From this we could decide which schools we would like to visit. Primarily to find out more about how things are run and what we could use to support in areas such as student transitions. 

I'm looking forward to meeting again to get more insight into how different schools approach learning and supporting student and staff wellbeing. 

Nga Mihi,
Bex

Aroha Literacy

This term we have been supporting our Aroha readers in a number of ways.

Everyday our red, yellow and blue readers have a guided reading lesson with a Pouako.

We see the importance of students seeing the connection between reading and writing and therefore have a big book each day, which is our inspiration for writing. We also have a writing support group who work with our TA everyday (Blake, Zac, Mason A., Tanner, Alicia, Alexa, Lachlan, Mason L., Dominic).

During this support group they are practicing fine motor skills (figure 8’s and handwriting). In Creative Exploration time there are lots of opportunities for students to be immersed in literacy.

We also do targeted 15 minute phonics sessions daily. These are run after our 15 minutes silent reading or pouako supported reading groups.

Reading aloud to the class from a chapter or picture book is also an important part of our daily reading program.

Tanner, Sophia and Alexa with Pou Bex for Raukura Readers 3 times a week. Dominic was also supported twice a week in ESOL with Pou Bex until in left in week 7.

So what growth have we seen so far?

Dominic moved reading levels from Blue 1 to Green 1 before he left in week 8. Tanner and Sophia both moved levels from yellow 1 to blue 1. We have almost completed the running records for the remaining Year 2 and 3 students. So we can analyse that data and see our focus areas for each student from there.

Nga Mihi

Pou Bex

Raukura Readers

This term has started a little slower than usual and this has meant that my learners have begun with me in week 4. I have had a focus on Science experiments as part of our oral language and writing programme. My students have been really engaged in these activities which has generated a lot of discussion and questions. 

 

We begin the week with observing, discussing and drawing. Each day we come back to the experiment observe, discuss and add to our first thoughts. 

Alongside this we read and discuss to broaden our exposure to oral language and text. This may mean talking and reading in a group or by ourselves in a tent!

We also spend time writing in different formats and working towards independence and building confidence in our writing abilities. 

Alongside this we have also looked at crossing the mid line activities. In a variety of ways.

Currently my students are really engaged and right in the zone for 'having a go' or a 'growth mindset.' 

I'm looking forward to seeing where our learning will take us this term.

Nga Mihi,

Bex