On Engagement, Flow and Education

ALAMY. By Graeme Paton, Education Editor

In the Early Childhood Education course I took last month there is a section dedicated to engagement that might be interesting to talk about, as well as children's optimism of course (see my article).

Let's start with the definition of engagement: 

We are engaged with something when we are involved in some activity, that might be challenging, and once we succeed in doing it we feel a great pleasure. 

Using simple words it's when we are doing something that we feel we are really good at, and we enjoy doing it a lot. 

It is a state of mind strictly connected to the psychology of flow.

But, what's flow? 

Flow is a mental state in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does (wikipedia article).

It has been studied and proposed by Mr Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

Flow's presence has been detected in many fields of the human production and it is connected with happiness and creativity.

Here you can watch a TED conference about it and if you go to minute 14:09 you'll see a summary of the main points that describe flow.

Now the question is: How do engagement and flow have an impact on children's learning process?

Imagine 2 axes on a graph. On one of them we have the level of challenge of a supposed activity and on the other we have the level of skill of the child.

If we assign an overly-challenging task to a child who hasn't got the right level of skill he needs to accomplish it, the kid will feel anxiety and fear.

On the other hand, if we assign a less challenging task to a child who is overly-skilled for that activity then it is likely that he will feel boredom.

However when we give the task with the appropriate level of challenge, maybe just a little bit higher, to the child who has the appropriate level of skill, then we'll witness flow and engagement. In addition we will have provided them with a real learning experience.

And that's really true. Very often we can see children who don't pay attention or aren't doing what they are supposed to do in our classrooms. 

However when we would investigate those 'issues' we can easily find out that, most of the time, they are caused by the fact that the task the children are assigned is too easy or too difficult according to their skill.

Time is another important aspect: children should be given time to develop the whole process. 

So far, a more flexible education model seems to be the most effective tool for improving the unique learning experience of each child. Mr Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has demonstrated in his articles, where he analyzes the flow experienced in traditional, nontraditional public and private schools around the world, that a different and adequate approach to teaching would produce a greater learning experience. 

This one specifically talks about Montessori schools and this one provide an analysis of a wider number of schools.

--> Quiero leer este post en Español

Lucy dedicates a lot of time and love to thinking about and writing the posts she shares with all of you. Because she believes that a better teaching is the key for a better future. If you find any help, value or joy in this blog, please consider becoming a supporting reader. A donation, in any amount, will be gratefully accepted. 

                                                   

  

The Natural Optimism of Children

I've recently discovered MOOCs and I've enrolled in many courses. 

Last month I took one about Early Childhood Education offered by Open Universities Australia and even if I already knew quite a lot about the subject I decided to give it a chance to surprise me and teach me something new.

And that's exactly what happened!

Therefore, I'm here today to talk about children's OPTIMISM!

According to the founder of positive psychology, Martin Seligman, children are naturally optimistic. They are born with a strong sense of hope and a sort of immunity to feel helpless.

The adjectives that define optimism are: Personal, Pervasive and Permanent.

Optimistic children take events and look at them from a very personal point of view.

They might say: 'I'm really smart' or 'I'm really strong'

And then they apply this statements to everything they do.

Consequently they might arrive at the conclusion that they are just good at everything (pervasive) and that actually they are going to be that way forever  (permanent).

According to my personal experience I can say I've heard something like 'I know a lot of English!' 'Me too!' Or I'm very smart! or I'm strong!  And these children are 4!

And it's true that they act as if they're constantly keeping in mind those statements.

But also the opposite is true. Children who say 'I can't use scissors' sometimes don't even grab them to give it a try.

But what else can we do to preserve this amazing aspect of their personality or correct misjudgments about themselves?

What to do when they make a mistake, misbehave or do something that needs to be talked about?

The way we speak to them will have a  positive or a negative influence depending on how we do it.

So, for example, your daughter (or one of your students) has an argument with her playmate and tears off her doll's dress.

Instead of saying 'you're a naughty girl' etc. or in general using a negative style that will influence the child toward pessimism, you can use a positive approach: 'Gee, that's not like you. You are usually a really nice girl to your friends…' and then explain her what's the right thing to do.

However the other side of the coin is that too much empty praising can be counter-productive. 

Take a look at this article about how super smart kids avoided those school activities which required effort just because they were raised with the wrong idea that being smart supposes that you can succeed in everything automatically and with no effort.

Nobody has ever told those kids that some effort in addition to their intelligence would have led them to success in any field. 

'You're smart' should be a statement about children's potential, not about a fixed quality. Something that would make students feel good about the hard work they are doing to accomplish challenging goals.

In the end, depending on the way we approach our kids we have the power of influence the way they feel about themselves and how they interpret what happens to them.

So let's use our power to keep developing their optimism!

More about Optimism

--> Quiero leer este post en castellano

Lucy dedicates a lot of time and love to thinking about and writing the posts she shares with all of you. Because she believes that a better teaching is the key for a better future. If you find any help, value or joy in this blog, please consider becoming a supporting reader. A donation, in any amount, will be gratefully accepted. 

                                                   

Winter Lesson Plan

Winter has definitely shown up here in Madrid, therefore it's time to dive deep into this topic with my preschoolers!

I discovered, thanks to a Montessori blog, a Ukrainian folktale called The Mitten written by Jan Brett.

The story is about a white mitten, laying on the snow in the wood, that  soon becomes a shelter for several animals: a mole, a rabbit, an owl, a badger, a fox etc. 

To see how it ends take a look at this video.

The story teaches sequencing and a lot of vocabulary related to forest animals and the winter.

The tale is easy to retell so you can shorten it, printing out the characters cutting out a big white mitten and setting up a little drama time instead of reading the original book. 

At the end sneeze aloud and send the animals flying into the air… The children will be happily surprised!

Some activities to do after the reading and strictly related to the story are: color and decorate your own mitten or color only the animals that appear in the story. 

Here you can find the worksheets.

Then, you can go a step forward and talk about winter clothes, cut them out and stick them inside a handicraft wardrobe to practise there is and there are  

Finally for those of you who have a lot of time to spend in the classroom I would suggest to take a look at this interesting Snow Pack

Happy February!!!

More about WINTER? Take a look at this board game

---> El post en español

Lucy dedicates a lot of time and love to thinking about and writing the posts she shares with all of you. Because she believes that a better teaching is the key for a better future. If you find any help, value or joy in this blog, please consider becoming a supporting reader. A donation, in any amount, will be gratefully accepted. 

                                                   

LESSON PLAN: Exploring Feelings With Cat and Mouse

Teaching the different kinds of feelings is important because it helps children recognize and express their emotions.  

But, how can we arrange an interesting and fun English class for preschoolers about this topic?

Pictures and drama will surely be useful tools to help kids learn about and explore their feelings.

So let's start with a picture book.

One of the books in the Cat and Mouse collection is exactly what we'll need: 

boredom, happiness, excitement, tiredness, thirst, hunger, sickness, fun, surprise, fear, anger, etc. are presented by the two protagonists who decided to go to the circus that has just showed up in town.

As in all the other books of this collection there's an audio CD and a dictionary at the end of the story to learn the right pronunciation and spelling of the new vocabulary.

After reading the book you can arrange a drama game, calling a child to the front of the class to pull a face to express a feeling that the others will have to guess. 

It might be necessary to hand out flashcards for clearer instructions. Here you can find some. 

In addition, once your students have learnt how to pull a face you can teach them this song about feelings.

Mr Printables.com

Finally, I found this handicraft somewhere on Pinterest and I think it would be interesting to reproduce it and let your students play with it. You'll just need some cardboard and patterned paper.

Have fun!

More about Cat and Mouse:

Meet the Animals 

Learn the Colours

Let's go shopping

Eat Good Food

---> lee el post en castellano

Lucy dedicates a lot of time and love to thinking about and writing the posts she shares with all of you. Because she believes that a better teaching is the key for a better future. If you find any help, value or joy in this blog, please consider becoming a supporting reader. A donation, in any amount, will be gratefully accepted. 

                                                   

THE NEW CHALLENGE FOR 2014

Hello everybody and happy new year!

I'm definitely facing a new challenge this 2014. It was already in the air at the end of 2013, but now the time has definitely come to start teaching reading and writing to Spanish children who can already speak and understand English and, are also attending primary school!

As you know I've been teaching English to Spanish children in Madrid for 6 years and I must say that Madrid has always led the English trend in Spain.

People here, in some way, are more conscious about the importance of speaking English and especially parents have become really sensitive to the subject.

Spanish people have always studied English at school, but classes were focuses on writing and grammar. Besides, English was a secondary subject.  

Until the economic crisis began.

From the beginning of this milestone event, the perception that English is a fundamental skill in order to find a good job or to simply improve life opportunities has dramatically increased.

According to this new,  sudden and almost desperate need, the educational system introduced a new project of bilingual schools where at least one or more subjects,  besides English as a second language, usually science and art, have to be taught in English.

I have personally never dedicated too much time to writing and grammar because those areas are still extensively worked inside the classrooms.

Therefore my classes have always been focused on speaking skills, listening comprehension and just a little bit of reading. 

But something is changing here in the capital of Spain...

This year, I mean scholar year, I met 3 Spanish children who can communicate themselves in English, listen and understand almost everything they are told, but they cannot write correctly or read very well.

This means that, here in Madrid, we are getting closer to something extraordinary and, at the same time, really natural.

Children have always learnt how to speak first, and then, at school, how to read and write. It's natural and strictly connected to the survival needs when they are babies.

These 3 children started English classes in kindergarten. They needed to learn the language so that they could communicate with their English teachers.

What is extraordinary is that they are Spanish and English is not their first language. 

Due to this new unexplored field I'm looking for resources that can help these children to improve their reading and writing skills.

I've always dealt with pre-reading and pre-writing stuff for preschoolers, but I can't present those kind of activities to 9 year olds. Even so, I'm perfectly conscious that phonics and word sounds are the basic concepts to start with.

So, if any of you is a school teacher, I would be really pleased to receive any suggestions, pieces of advice or online resources you could share. 

Thank you very much!

Lucy dedicates a lot of time and love to thinking about and writing the posts she shares with all of you. Because she believes that a better teaching is the key for a better future. If you find any help, value or joy in this blog, please consider becoming a supporting reader. A donation, in any amount, will be gratefully accepted. 

                                                   

Merry Christmas!!!

Using Cartoons to Teach English

Yesterday, I came across the children's section of  RTVE's website, the Spanish Radio and Television broadcasting company.

Of course, it is full of videos of TV series for children and pre-teens, in Spanish… and in English!

So, since Christmas is around the corner and our little kids will spend a great amount of time watching cartoons anyway, why not to make the most of it?

There are series for each and every level of English: from PocoYo to SpongeBob SquarePants, passing through Peppa Pig, Dora the Explorer, Baby Looney, Pokémon, Scooby Doo and many, many more.

The project is supported by the British Council that has prepared some parents' guides that analyze the type of language, the grammar and vocabulary, common words and phrases used in each cartoon.

Don't even think about parking your child alone on the sofa watching TV in English and expecting him to learn it!

It won't work at all. 

I'll explain to you why in my book Mi Hijo Habla Inglés - Consejos Para Padres 

Fortunately the British Council people are wise and they have prepared a list of tips that you can follow for helping your child fully understand every episode.

Don't miss them!

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