“Hinengaro refers to the mental, intuitive and ‘feeling’ seat of the emotions. Thinking, knowing, perceiving, remembering, recognizing, feeling, abstracting, generalizing, sensing, responding and reacting are all processes of the Hinengaro – the mind.” Rose Pere (1981).
Teaching involves the heart and the mind. These are some of my musings.
Something I am grappling with at the moment is how to balance the use of technology in my classroom. I have come from a 1:5 ipad environment to a 1:1 chromebook environment. The students are comfortable using the tool but I haven't quite found those systems that fit my teaching and my routines. For example, giving feedback on writing in books that get handed in... something I thought I wouldn't miss, well it is much easier to read and comment and be organic with writing in the paper form.
So discussing this issue with my colleagues allowed me to see some possible next steps and to give myself permission to provide that balance that will meet the needs of both myself and my students.
Not all work needs to be done digitally (permission granted!)
Get them to print stuff out - blend digital with pen
Have a look at what other teachers are using to manage so many online documents
Use the Hapara workspace
Try out some tools like kaizena for voice notes.
There is no quick fix or perfect solution but I am interested in how other teachers manage the constant online viewing and storing of google docs?
NB: this is part of my ICT goal for this year around "What exactly does blended e-learning look like in my classroom?"
As per usual the beginning of the school year has been a wild rush of go, go, go and already I have fallen into a terrible routine/ rut of being too busy, rushed and feeling like I have too much left to do.
I actually need to implement a plan in which I can balance school and life and really look after myself physically and emotionally.
Teaching mindfulness to children was a debated media topic at the end of last year. But what about mindfulness for teachers. How often to teachers get to totally disconnect? I know that I have real trouble doing this. I think about stuff for school constantly - while I'm driving, watching tv, doing chores, walking, breathing... it just doesn't stop. Could teachers benefit from having a period dedicated to mindfulness during the school day? Do we need to disconnect in order to reconnect?
Recently I was introduced to an online yoga guru by the name of Adriene Mishler. She has a website and youtube channel and she is nothing like you would ever imagine. A native Texan, she has a lovely colloquial way of relating to her audience. I feel like I've known her for ages. She's fun and even though I am totally unflexible (extremely tight hamstrings) she makes me feel like I can do it. She also has one motivational saying. That is, to find what feels good. I'm adopting this as my mantra for this year.
A photo posted by Adriene Mishler (@adrienelouise) on
Yoga is a great way to help you discover mindfulness and I really hope that I can incorporate it more into my week. I thought I might look at some meditation too. +Karen Melhuish Spencer has mentioned in her recent blog post that she uses the Headspace app to get her mind set for the day. I'm imagining now what a 10 minute "disconnect" at lunchtime could do for my brain each day... I'm hoping that it "feels good".
