Resilience Across The Board
Promising Practices was an experience I've never had before. I can't remember ever attending a conference like this. I had no expectations, but was overall impressed with the keynote speaker the most. Clearly Robert Brooks has done this many times he probably has lost count. He kept the audience engaged with slight humor, personal stories and points that made sense. I jotted down just a few things as I listened that stuck in my mind. The power of "mind sets" and the effect we can have on people, "paying it forward" and "connecting the dots backwards". The biggest question he asked for me anyway, was "How do I create a positive emotion in class to promote success in learning?"
His answers were so obvious, yet not the route that most of us take. How you speak to your students using positive phrases, rather than negative, can help the students achieve a higher self esteem, and a greater capacity to learn. Below is a slide I took a picture of during his power point presentation. I choose this one, because it has so much meaning. I wanted to take more, but wasn't sure if I was supposed to and didn't want to disturb anyone.
Onto the workshops, The two that I chose were Embedding Growth Mindset in Everyday Elementary School Lessons and Healthy Lifestyles: Your Health, Your Choice.
The first workshop was presented by a first grade teacher from Henry Barnard School. Describing two sets of mind sets that we can have. Open (growth) and Closed (fixed). The teacher explained to us the difference between the two, and how we want students to answer questions open minded. She then went on with passing out children's books for us to read in pairs. We had to read the book and then say whether or not the story was open minded or closed. It was interesting to see the results from each story. She the broke us into groups with a project. Building a tower out of marshmallows and spaghetti. Build the tallest tower she said. The experiment was to promote conversation and see how we tackled the task as small groups. Open minded, or closed.
This is one of the handouts I received at this workshop. Examples of questions on how we should ask students, to keep them open minded. Below are some sites shared I thought I'd share on here as well.
The next workshop wasn't quite as engaging, or interactive at first, but just as informative.
Healthy Lifestyles:Your Health, Your Choice, was about a new program developed by the State of RI for students with disabilities ranging from 14-24. It focuses on teaching children of this age how to have a healthy life style and how all aspects of life affect one another. From emotional health, to physical health this program teaches the kids how to be more independent. How independence will teach you new skills, give you spiritual growth and better social health. This program is great for students with disabilities who have already graduated and aren't going to college, but need to learn basic life skills to get them a job and create the independence they need for their next step in life. Here is a link to have a better understanding of the program. www.ripin.org
Overall I though Promising Practices was a well put together presentation, very informative and I got a lot from it. I just wish it wasn't on a Saturday!
No comments:
Post a Comment