HAIS Learning Walk

On Friday last week I visited Le Jardin Academy (LJA) in Kailua as part of the HAIS learning walk designed to encourage communication between independent schools. Visiting other schools is such a healthy way to get new ideas for the classroom--I loved it.  In each room a student “classroom ambassador” came up to us and explained the unit question, the area of interaction, and a brief summary of the work at the moment--the teacher just kept teaching.

LJA is doing so many things well it was nice to just walk around and observe them in action.  Things going well:

 1. An environment of collaboration
Several teachers had breaks between classes and shared lesson plans, book lists, summative assessments, and rubrics with our group. 

 2. Classrooms you can decorate
Many of the rooms we visited seemed to be inhabited by only one teacher and they put up student work, rules, and decorations that made the space unique and fun. At the brain conference speakers argued that what is on the classroom walls does affect students’ aptitude for learning.

 3. Printing access for students in every classroom
 We watched students write an in-class essay on their computers and print it in the same room. Very efficient.

4. Maximum 16 students to a classroom
 The classrooms themselves were small, but they fit the manageable number of bodies there.

 5. An administration firmly in favor of 21st century skills
 I don’t know if any school ever has all faculty members, parents, and administration personal moving together towards just one objective, but it appeared that this was very high on the school's list of priorities, and it showed in the student's focus on the material.

More from Christine Carter

Continued from last week, this was the last of Christine Carter’s suggestions for how to increase happiness in schools.

#3) Foster a culture of kindness

Apparently the research shows that you get a little squirt of dopamine in your brain every time to do things for other people. It boosts your immune functioning like an anti-depressant. Also, people who have received from others are more likely to give to others. This is all a very cursory overview, but similar to the way stress has harmful effects on the body and mind, positive emotions do too. The more students get out of the “fight or flight” mentality the more space they have to absorb the lesson of the day. Carter’s specific suggestions to use with students were:

 A) Show students how kindness can spread by modeling it. It can be small, like smiling at people a lot, giving up your seat on the bus, or tipping outrageously.

B) Help students broaden their giving vocabulary. Talk about different ways they can give (being forgiving, celebrating someone’s birthday etc.). Ask students: what kind thing did you do for someone else today? What is one kind thing that someone did for you?

Carter chose to present on the conceptual level rather than the research level and I’m glad because I was able to follow everything she said. I hope to read her book soon!

Raising Happiness in Schools

I feel so energized by my trip to San Francisco and the Learning & the Brain conference that I’m dusting off my blog to document the highlights. The focus this year was "Educating the Whole Child/ Student: Using Brain Science for Smarter, Happier and Healthier Learners." I have dreamed of attending this event since I first heard about it four years ago and it met my expectations as an inspiring opportunity for professional development (all except for the fact that the Fairmont Hotel doesn’t provide internet for a conference of this magnitude which was perplexing and frustrating).

Christine L. Carter, PhD gave a talk entitled “Raising Happiness in Schools.” Her primary thesis is that while we once assumed that getting students into good colleges would be followed by good jobs and lead to happiness, the research shows that happiness is more of a precursor to success than a resultant. According to Dr. Carter there are 3 ways to increase happiness in schools.

#1) Motivate students using the concept of a growth mindset as opposed to a set mindset. Students who operate under the assumption that it is their hard work that produces results as opposed to their innate talent tend to outperform students who think they are just “smart.”
Specific strategies:
A) Praise their specific process. “Nice job! You must have tried really hard” as opposed to “you are so smart!”
B) Create an environment where it is ok to make mistakes or fail as long as you get up and try again.



C) Help students identify their own fixed-mindset and beliefs about themselves. Many students believe they “suck at math” or “can’t sing” but really they just haven’t put in the hours of effort it takes to develop a skill.

#2) Consciously teach and practice gratitude
The idea here is that we foster what we see. If we only see hassles in life, we will find them. If we are looking for joys, they are all around. Some ways to practice gratitude are:
A) Positive affirmations

B) A gratitude box in the classroom where students can put in things they are thankful for
C) Gratitude posters in the classroom to be written on at any time.
D) A time at dinner when family members talk about three good things that happened to them in a day.
E) When people ask you how you are instead of telling them how busy you are, tell them something you are grateful for.

365grateful.com from hailey bartholomew on Vimeo.