Who is taking responsibility for your learning?

For many teachers, performance management reviews have come and gone for the year. Consider your responses to these questions:

• Who is in control of your learning choices for the coming year?
• If not you then who is and what can you do to regain control?

I learn best when I am control and I chose what I learn, when. However, left to my own devices, I would apply a ’scatter-gun’ approach and end up starting many different learning strands and not finishing any of them satisfactorily.

It helps me to be accountable to someone, but for me to have made the decision for my direction is very influential on my motivation to achieve. Don’t you just hate being told what to do?

I stay in control of my learning by:

1. Create a Personal Learning Goal
2. Sharing this plan with someone that I respect and trust (perhaps by agreement at a performance review)
3. Write out the first steps to achieve my learning goal (action plan) and allocating a reward for achieving each step
4. Stick the action plan above my desk and review it monthly.
5. Reward myself for achieving the big and little steps.

In practice, the step I most struggle with is planning my learning. I am great at learning, it is one of my strengths, but like any achievements, I am poor at setting the direction.

Rewarding myself is also a struggle unless I allocate a reward in advance, i.e. in step 3. It helps me to jot down my favourite rewards.

• What parts of this process are you doing now ?
• What parts are you avoiding?

Coaching4Teachers.com has more tips for planning you learning.

If you liked this article you can sign up for e-mail updates on my latest musings here.

What have you done recently to create energy?

In his latest blog Paul Blogush writes:

“The work that the kids do that is the best is always based on spontaneous ideas, not the ones that are slowly shaped over time, edited and revised.

It seems as though sudden light bulb moments create an energy within them that carries through to the end.”

Ain’t it soooo true!

Paul is on the verge of creating an experiment around this observation in his classroom and this got me thinking…

As an activist (and low natural reflector) I tend not to leave much downtime either for myself or those I encourage to learn. However, I too have been experimenting recently and the results have been impressive.

• Allowing natural pauses during coaching conversations => my learner taking a more leading role in the conversation
• Allowing time for a room full of learners to play with a new software tool at their own pace => great questions and more learning than if I hand-held them step by step
• Going for a run after a break of 5 months => 3 quality implementable ideas
• Cycling to the shops in middle of working day => renewed enthusiasm to engage with task in hand
• Listening to same CD over and over again on long journeys => amazing creative insights
• Slowing the pace of my day to day existence => enjoying the time spent with loved ones even if doing no more than cuddled on the sofa watching CBeebies.

Add a comment below to share what have you done recently to create energy.

Building Resilience

Last week Robert Latham from Teacher Support Network answered questions on the Times Educational Supplement (TES) Forum. His response to a question about Ofsted inspections really works for me on many levels:

“Building resilience is an essential part of managing stress. If you want to build your resilience, work on developing these attitudes and behaviours:

• Think of change as a challenging and normal part of life.
• See setbacks and problems as temporary and solvable.
• Believe that you will succeed if you keep working toward your goals.
• Take action to solve problems that crop up.
• Build strong relationships and keep commitments to family and friends.
• Have a support system and ask for help.
• Participate regularly in activities for relaxation and fun.”

Learn more about developing your resiliency and why it is important by reading “Bounce!: Failure, Resiliency, and Confidence to achieve your next great success” by Barry J. Moltz.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking to develop a robust inner confidence. I read this engaging book cover to cover in under a week making many notes in the margins that I regularly return to for inspiration.

West Berkshire Council pioneers engagement study in schools

Today, my friend Sian Bryant sent me an article which supports my conviction that measuring staff satisfaction can really yield value when deciding and prioritising resources.

In West Berkshire some schools have action plans to address issues raised and some have formed working groups to implement changes after their school participated in a staff engagement survey.  Lisa Poole, HR co-ordinator for schools in West Berkshire Council, said ”headteachers who had initially not understood the value of an employee survey became “a lot more interested” in the initiative after they had seen the responses from the first survey.”

It is really easy to participate in some training because it is ‘in vogue’ or looks interesting, but when was the last time you planned your learning priorities in advance based on quantifiable evidence of ‘need’ rather than ‘want’.

I work with headteachers who are keen to develop their leadership style, but are not sure where to start. With this in mind, I have just created my first set of 360 degree feedback questions designed specifically for school leaders. The questions are based on Emotional Intelligence competencies. The answers will allow school leaders to reflect on the trends and get a deeper understanding of what their staff really think and feel about their leadership style.

Read my top tips for planning your learning here as published this week in GTC Teaching Scotland.

Early Headship Funding Changes

The way that Early Heads are funded is changing, the flexible grant is being phased out and all heads will need to have spent any monies left from their flexible grant by March 2011, or 3 years from date awarded, which ever is sooner.

I have put together a mindmap of the options available to Early Heads in London and the South of England click on the extract below to download the full version in PowerPoint format:

I am currently working with several individuals in their first headship role. I would love to discuss your needs and how I may support you to develop your leadership skills too.

Friday FUNdays

How often do detach ourselves from the problems of today and really give ourselves space to develop our futures? I know a fabulous lady who has built a successful edubusiness doing just that:

Jessica Higgs is passionate about enabling children to learn and does so through her pioneering brand of coach-tutoring. She has spent the past five years establishing a thriving tutoring business called Wizard Tutors, in South Wiltshire. Always on the look-out for her next challenge, Jessica is busy researching innovative ways of bringing her skills and expertise to new learners.

She has created herself ‘Fun Friday’ as a day each week where she allows herself to step away from her business and to develop ideas for her future. It was my pleasure to spend time with Jessica this Friday morning and I definitely had lots of fun sharing ideas about using coaching skills to benefit teachers and students.

Jessica writes:

“Friday FUNdays started when I was at University. I just thought there should be one day a week where people on my course went out and did something different, something more exciting than Biochemistry! (Which geekily, we mostly found pretty exciting in itself!). We used to do things like canoeing and long hikes and cycling and train trips to different places we’d never been. It was really fun to get everyone together doing something different.

I’ve tried to guard Friday fundays since then, with moderate success but I am now committed to keeping Friday’s a truly fun day again! That can mean anything really, whatever comes up. Just as long as it’s not doing laborious energy sapping things like my invoices! My favourite days are meeting new people, in new places and talking about things that I never even new existed! I love wandering around new places, looking at it with my eyes really open. Just noticing, thinking, questioning. I’m sure that some of my best ideas have come out of these moments of relative quiet. Don’t think, too, that Friday funday has to take up the whole day, it could be just half an hour if that’s all I’ve got. It could be just a diverted car journey home, through a pretty village, into a farm shop I’d never seen before. It’s just a little bit of what you want, following your curiosity, just noticing.

Maybe that will help you spark your own ideas for how you’d like to use Friday fundays for you! “

Related Posts

• My top 10 guilt-free free reward

• Recognising Achievement

• Guilt-free Day

How often do we detach ourselves from the problems of today and really give ourselves space to develop our futures? I know a fabulous lady who has built a successful career doing just that:

Jessica Higgs is passionate about enabling children to learn and does so through her pioneering brand of coach-tutoring. She has spent the past five years establishing a thriving tutoring business called Wizard Tutors, in South Wiltshire. Always on the look-out for her next challenge, Jessica is busy researching innovative ways of bringing her skills and expertise to new learners.

She has created ‘Friday FUNdays’ as a day each week where she allows herself to step away from her business and to develop ideas for her future. It was my pleasure to spend time with Jessica this Friday morning and I definitely had lots of fun sharing ideas about using coaching skills to benefit teachers and students.

Jessica writes:

“Friday FUNdays started when I was at University. I just thought there should be one day a week where people on my course went out and did something different, something more exciting than Biochemistry! (Which geekily, we mostly found pretty exciting in itself!). We used to do things like canoeing and long hikes and cycling and train trips to different places we’d never been. It was really fun to get everyone together doing something different.

I’ve tried to guard Friday fundays since then, with moderate success but I am now committed to keeping Friday’s a truly fun day again! That can mean anything really, whatever comes up. Just as long as it’s not doing laborious energy sapping things like my invoices! My favourite days are meeting new people, in new places and talking about things that I never even new existed! I love wandering around new places, looking at it with my eyes really open. Just noticing, thinking, questioning. I’m sure that some of my best ideas have come out of these moments of relative quiet. Don’t think, too, that Friday funday has to take up the whole day, it could be just half an hour if that’s all I’ve got. It could be just a diverted car journey home, through a pretty village, into a farm shop I’d never seen before. It’s just a little bit of what you want, following your curiosity, just noticing.

Maybe that will help you spark your own ideas for how you’d like to use Friday fundays for you!”

Related Posts

• My top 10 guilt-free free reward
• Recognising Achievement
• Guilt-free Day

Head Higher Competition Launched

Win an exclusive Head Higher session by writing a paragraph about a work challenge you have overcome.

For more details click here

Winners announced on Friday 16th October

A positive approach to leadership from within

This week I have been working with a forward thinking school who have recently established a Staff Welfare Group (SWG) with an aim of increasing the wellbeing of staff. This school knows that with happy, healthy and valued staff everyone benefits.

The school recognised that it needed to bring the Staff Welfare Group and Senior Management Team together to tackle a challenging staff-wide issue and brought me in to facilitate the meeting. A key outcome of the meeting was an action plan which aimed to deliver a measurable improvement over the next six months. There were some great actions within the plan but one interested me most.

The Staff Welfare Group members are positioning themselves as leaders in their school. They will be offering teachers the opportunity for a member of the SWG to participate in, and potentially lead, team meetings monthly. These team meetings are attended by the staff who work with a specific cross section of the student population, typically one-two teachers and about six support staff.

This initiative has many positive benefits including the potential to:
• promote a cross pollination of positivity and increased understanding of the pressures and concerns in other teams
• open up a new face-to-face communication route between the Staff Welfare Group and staff
• increase the support available to new staff in leading their teams from more experienced staff and everyone’s leadership skills benefit

The Staff Welfare group was formed from volunteers and includes a cross section of support staff, administrators, teachers and governors. The majority of members are not managers but they all have the potential to be opinion leaders. I look forward to watching the progress of this initiative and observing how individuals flourish within the leadership roles they are shaping for themselves.

Twitter Dos and Don’ts

Do you have your top 10 Twitter dos and do nots?

Here are ones that I put together after a Twitter workshop with Diane and Nigel of MorganPR in Newbury this morning:

1. DO use Twitter to build relationships
2. DO reTweet (RT) regularly and generously
3. DO use groups in TweetDeck
4. DO decide on an approach and use it consistently
5. DON’T ask too many questions in Tweets because threads can be difficult to follow
6. DO log onto twitter.com once a week to ensure you catch all direct messages
7. DO add pictures and videos for instant attraction
8. DO monitor what people are clicking using the analytics in Tweet Later
9. DO create short links directly in bit.ly so you can track these from their website
10. DO consider having a daily tips tweet loop

1. DO Use Twitter to build relationships

2. DO reTweet (RT) regularly and generously

3. DO use groups in TweetDeck

4. DO decide on an approach an use it consistently

5. DON’T ask too many questions in Tweets because threads can be difficult to follow

6. DO log onto twitter.com once a week to ensure you catch all direct messages

7. DO add pictures and videos for instant attraction

8. DO monitor what people are clicking using the analytics in Tweet Later

9. DO create short links directly in bit.ly so you can track these from their website

10. DO consider having a daily tips tweet loop

My top 10 guilt-free free rewards

My top 10 Guilt-free free rewards

1. Play ‘Ticket to Ride’ online with my sister [substitute your favourite online game here]
2. Play Scrabble with my husband.
3. Go for a swim in a lake/the sea
4. Call a friend/family member for a chat (thanks Bec and Helene for the chat yesterday)
5. Enjoy a DVD – raid a friend’s collection for variety
6. Read a selection of inspirational e-zines/blogs/tweets
7. Write a blog post
8. Go for a walk / run / cycle
9. Exploring outside with my children
10. Learn something new on the internet – thanks to Carolyn at Colporteur and Diane at Morgan PR I have recently reignited my desire to improve my Twitter presence

What do you do for fun for free?