The Making of Awsome

From Bounce to Black Box Thinking Mathew Syed has inspired many an adult to achieve more. His books have also become perminant fixtures on a lot of teachers bookshelves. His latest book ‘You Are Awsome’ is focused on engaging with children. Its colourful and creative illistrations grab your attention immediatly. Inside tha pages are a mix of large fonts, small paragraths and illustrations highlighting the key points. At 156 pages, the book is also short in length.

The language used by Syed is easy to understand and desceiptive. He paints pictures in your mind and allowing your imagination do the rest. With activites and an accompaning workbook this could be a very useful tool for parents and learning support mentors. This ‘how to’ guide could be utilsed by schools and parents to help children achieve their their dreams. A book such as this could inform the development of an motivational curriculum aimed at those learners who seem a little lost.

Full of useful stratergies and quotes this is a book for all children. However, for parents thinking about using this book with their children, think about the delivery. How will you break the book down? How will you use language to deliver the key points? How will you reinforce the behaviours you want your child to adopt? Can you adopt the very same behaviours and in so doing role model what you expect from your child? Be your childs coach!

The Pressure Principle: Final Thoughts

After writing several times about The Pressure Principle I just wantes to write a summary of my thoughts. I found this book insightful and educational. It is clear from, both, the book and Dr Alreds coachees the performances of his coachees that his coaching philosophy is grounded in years of diliberate practice.

Dr Alred is something of a legend in rugby circles. He has worked with kickers and fly halfs for decades. His most famous coachee being Jonny Wilkinson. However, Dr Alred has gone out and done what many coaches dare not do, cross sporting boundaries. It is safe to say he has worked with the whos who of striking sports. Golf, polo, rugby and football he has worked within them all.

The sections of the book build a picture of the fundimentals of his practice. Reading the behaviour and enviroment sections gave me ideas for my teaching practice while the language and anxiety sections opened my mind to the personal development opportunities.

I don’t know whether this was intentional but I felt like Dr Alred was managing the learning of the reader at all times. It read as if Dr Alred was planting seeds rather than painting pictures. Not much is written about stratergies. Rather Dr Alred focuses on supplying frameworks for you to dress with your own content. In so doing, the content is easily applicable to a whole host of settings.

In fact, as a former teacher you can link many of his practices to teaching. After all coaching is just another form of teaching. Unlike many books on similar topics it is not weighted down by psychological theory. Rather Dr Alred gives real life examples of his frameworks in action. From his years of experience at the top end of eilte sport his stories from a range of sporting arenas demonstrate his effectiveness.

At the end of the book I reflected on his coachees Wilkinson, Sexton, Donald and molinari. It grabbed me that success is not a short term project. Dr Alred has worked with all these elite level sports men for many years before they reached their ultimate. All the athletes display one similar charateristic, a determination to continually improve. In a few cases this determination could be deemed an obsession.

It is easy to see how working with Dr Alred could encourage this mindset. His passion for continual improvement and success is infectious. At one point he questions an why an ex-coachee who did not enjoy the year he secured the number 1 world ranking spot. In fact, there is not much talk about lifestyle balance in the book.

I would suggest this book to a coach, teacher and manager looking to get the most out of their team. The key points and frameworks will significantly improve your own practice and the practice of those around you. I would offer this method of reading, stop for a day or two after each section and reflect on what you have just read. Think about how you can adapt what has been written to your own enviroment. Enjoy!

Sunday Morning Brunch 2

Lets start a conversation over breakfast, just like you would after reading your sunday morning paper. Imagine, your steaming hot coffee in your right hand as the paper is folded and crinckled in your left hand. You look up after reading a piece thats grabbed your attention, the writer has caught you off gaurd on this relaxed Sunday. You suddenly have a wave of excitement, your moved by the subject matter and want to explore the topic more by sharing ot with a friend or a loved one.

This is not your or my kitchen table and I have no paper in front of me. But I would like to pose this question: In concentrating on the extremes of educatiom do we miss the learners in the middle? Do we miss those learners who do just enough to remain unseen, like MI5 agents following a suspect.

The Ugly Zone

Dr Alred does not pull any punches when describing the learning process. His honest account of the different stages of the learning process really paints a stark picture. Full of failure, frustration and instruction. The very name he assigns to this process, ‘the ugly zone’, is demoralising. Now imagine you have no support network, low self-esteem and your starting point is well below that of your fellow performers.

This is what awaits many learners as they enter a classroom. With very minimal support from home, with no self-esteem and poor social skills learners are thrust in to an alian enviroment. An enviroment with alien rules, structures and constant assessments. How do we get around this? We know that assessments for learning are a good thing. The feedback generated from these assessments can drive progress and see a young person flourish.

I was grabbed by Dr Alreds discription of the learning process. Specifically his insights into behaviour brought about by his experience of Dolphin training. Both his Rapair, Training and Match process and his discription of Pryor’s Ten Laws of Shapping got me thinking about my approach towards learners behaviour. As identified above, some learners arrive at school without the mental maps to behave in the way the school expects.

A lot of learners need to be taught how to behavior in a fashion that the school suggests. While the repair, training and Match process may fit more neatly with a short term, intense intervention. Pryor’s Ten Laws of Shapping could be a good framework for teachers to follow on a day to day basis. I particularly like the “catch them doing something right” motto that Dr Alred uses. I could use this motto placed above my desk to focus before the chaos starts.

Repair, Trainning and Match

According to Dr Alreds process we should start at the Repair stage. This stage consists of technique learning, breaking down the behaviour into its constituent parts and work on updating the areas that dont fit with the expectations of the school. Embued with in this is a process of discovery, where the tutor looks at the “why” of the behaviour. Digging below the behaviour to see what the learner is actually communicating with their behaviour can be enlightening.

This section is also about practesing the behaviours without worrying about the outcome until it is firmly embedded within the subconscious.

Training is about repitition of the updated skill or behaviour in a low pressurised enviroment. Its also about being supported during this phase, ethier by positive reinforcement when the behaviour is performed correctly or in the form of key coaching points at critical times. In schools, training could take place in classes where the learner feels comfortable. Weekly mentoring meetings can be used to review learner performance, repair any questionable behaviours and prepare for further training.

It is through the processes of repitition and repair that the learner can start to relegate the actions to the learners subconscious. This is important, with out the new behaviour being etched into the subconscious the learner would have to concentrate on their performance. Concentration takes effort and effort uses a great deal of energy. Both are not limitless, especially when the learner is also under pressure to perform. Energy also comes from food which for some learners is sadly not as avaliable as they need it to be.

Dr Alred has utilised small sets of performances while training. Just expecting the learner to perform perfectly, with full concentration, for a whole day, a whole period or even a whole class with out making a mistake could be misjudged. Instead breaking down sessions into small sets, 15, 20, 30 minute segments with a small break inserted between sets to allow the learner to relax and rest before starting the performance again. These small breaks could ensure the learning is repeating the correct skills and behaviours rather than loosing concentration and repeating poor performances. If the learner looses concentration they may return to the behavioural maps in their subconscious. The same maps that got them sent to isolation.

This time is the perfect opportunity for positive reinforcement of the amount of effort the learner expelled during that period. Questionning could be used to help the learner reflect, make identify possible improvements and clear their head. This is does not have to be a complete break, the learner could practice another skill or behaviour. Insted of concentrating on behaviour the learner could practice their 1:1 communication skills, work on a computer or use their phone. Remember that the learner will be in the ugly zone at this point. Going against instrinct, and probably swimming aganst the current towards a far off peir. They are preparing for that once a week performance in the class they hate because they constantly get sent out of it.

Getting the learner to reflect on their performance is an essential element of the learning process. Through reflection the learner is able to deepen their learning and understanding. How do we show progress? This is important, demonatrating progress is essential not only for OFSTED but for the learner as well.

Defining progress towards a pre-defind goal is essential for motivation. Think about going to the gym or driving to somewhere new place and getting lost. The wondering around in circles, the constant checking of the map, and the asking strangers for help leads to frustration and thoughts of giving up. Where as seeing positive changes in weight, strength and endurance after going to the gym helps keep us going to the gym. Its no different for our learners, they want to know their goal, know their starting points and know their progress. Obsevable facts will help the learner to see their progress, much like Google maps will demonstrate your progress towards your destination.

Match learning is about replicating the the intensity and pressure we experince in real life experiences within training activities. This is difficult for a school or college or school. How do schools provide opportunities for learners to practice in this way, with out actually being in lessons? This is where the cross over hits the brakes. In order to follow Dr Alreds advice we would need to seperate the learner from their original enviroment for a period of time to undergo intense training.

The main difference between sport and education is that we are asking teachers and learners to perform in a match enviroment 5 days a week for 32 weeks. In sport it may be 90 minutes every 2 to 3 days. Does the Repair, Trainning, and Match process work within this structure. The Match Behaviour Matrix may help.

The Match Behaviour matrix utilised in this training programme is enlightening. Ireally think a similar approach can be used. However, what would the criteria be? To answer you would probably need to know the original criteria, for that please buy this book.

In my next blog I will try to talk about Pryor’s Ten Laws of Shapping.

So I am Dyslexic: Part 2

In the second enstallment of this series I am going to focus on the difficulties I faced in my day to day working life as a result of my Dyslexia. As I reflect on my current academic performance, I know I am a millon miles away from the 14 year old who was told he would never take his GCSE’s. However, I am still frustrated by the difficulties I face as a result of my deyslexia. There are huge gifts associated with Dyslexia, but with our negitaively skewed brains I tend to focus on the frustrations a lot more than the gifts.

These struggles seem to impact upon my self-esteem and confidence. Not just at work but in every aspect of my life. For me, these struggles have become larger as I have taken my first steps into management. Producing reports and statements need to have perfect spelt and grammer. If not the readers percieve this is down to sloppy workmanship. Suggesting that you have rushed the report or not read it through properly. When in fact the oppersite is true. I will have spent longer on the report than anyone else, just to get it to the same level as everyone else. I will have read through the report endlessly and used all manor of electronic writing aids. This tends to lead to the over complicating and writing of reports.

So I compound the extra time it takes to write reports by over writing them. This leads me on to my second hurrdle, because they can be jumped over, executive functioning. The easiest way to describe this cognitive module is as your mind manager. This helps regulate behaviours and organise your life. I have poor executive function, I leave work to the last minute, organisation is poor and forget about controlling impulses. All these behaviours are impacted by stress, in periods of increased stress these hurrdles grow higher. As my planning and organisation is poor, the stress is only going to increase.

In the last 3 years I have found this ‘stress cycle’ does not work for me or the learners I work with. So I started to research a lot of productivity stratergies, by reading books such as Stephen Covey’s ‘Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ I have started to become a lot more focused. Using Covey’s weekly planner and by focusing on a small number of role specific goals I am becoming a lot more efficent in my working practices. By repeatedly practicing these habits, I have started to see my workload decrease and my confidence at work sky rocket.

Dyslexia comes with struggles, by consitently working to address these struggles I have become resiliant. This resiliance and determination to constantly work at ‘being better’ has infected the rest of my life. I have my Dyslexia to thank for these two amazing charateristics.

So I am Dyslexic …..(part 1)

Its not easy having Dyslexia, spelling the word is hard enough, it does come with gifts however. Reading, sadly, is not one of those gifts. In fact at the age of 12 I had to completely restart my learning. I remember tracing my pencil around dots that formed the individual letters of the alphabet. I had a reading age of 6 when I was 14. So recently completing a 760 odd page book was a massive achievement for me.

When the rest of my class were fluent in decoding the strings of shapes embedded on paper that had been bound together to form a book. I was still, and to a certain extent I still am, learning my alphabet and learning dot to dot. At about the same age there was a big meeting, well I say big it was my tutor, my SEND teacher, deputy head and mum. During which my mother was told there was no way I would pass my GCSEs and should concentrate on a more vocational route to employmemt.

By this point I had met with an Educational Psychologist and been diagnoised for around 6 years. My parents, with this information and resources, had placed me in a small private school set within a quiet hill side village. Very English, cricket club, rugby club, beautiful church and a vista to die for. None the less, they told my mother, a teacher of English at a local state funded school, that I would not gain my GCSEs.

My mother flashed her famous temper, the school agreed to persist with me. They actually did more than just enter me, alot more! They provided me with a short, well built red noised terrior of a lady, a true force of mature. A cocktailed smell of tic tacs, coffee and ciggeretts followed her around.

We will call this woman Miss A. Our sessions would take place in, what I can only discribe as a cell. Situated at the top of a 1970s block constructed out of concrete and breeze blocks. When the sun shone through the window, we would sweat, when it snowed we would wear coats and gloves and when it rained we would put pots out.

Miss A built me from the ground up. She started with the very essentials and worked tirelessly to ensure I had the foundations to build a life upon. Because of what was taught in that room was more than just reading and writing skills but life skills.

Life skills like time management, organisation and argument building. When you’re dyslexic sometimes it can be infuriating, you know the answer, you’re verbally intelligent however because of something beyond your comtrol you cant get it on paper. Because you cant, you’re labelled, labelled as unintelligent. How frustrating is that!

It gets to you, you loose yourself and start to believe what others say about you. But Miss A, Miss A would not let that happen for very long. This teacher, this strong stout woman would pull you up by the scruff of your neck, her blood shot eyes staring in to yours and tell you seven simple yet devestating words “you’re better than you know you are”.

It does not sound like much, its no Jim Telfer speech (click here) but for me that was like spinach to Popeye. Once, when a teacher put me up against a wall, while poking me in my chest and spitting all over my face his coffee breath still fresh in my mind, and told me “you will make nothing of yourself Laurence”. Well Mrs A went on a war path only Rambo would have dreamt about. First she destroyed the teacher, of very high standing, in the staff room. Then she came for me, red faced, eyes poping out of her head and a march you see on movies.

She told me this simple message “Dont you ever, EVER! let another person tell you your not good enough. You didnt even say anthing back Laurence. Where is your fight!! You never again sit there quietly and let someone say that about you. You stand up for yourself or I cant help you anymore!”

Well…I was never quiet at school again. I focused not on getting my GCSEs but on proving that stale breathed teacher wrong. I did do that, I got my GCSEs, my A-levels and a degree. I am currently undergoing a Masters and I have carved a career teaching young people who have challenged education.

I’ve never given up that fight, I fight for the young people I work with. I fight just like Miss A did. I dont give up. So when people ask what my ‘why’ is I simply say “I had every advantage in the world, yet people still gave up on me including myself. Except for 5 people, my family and Mrs A. I got my GCSEs and my life because of these people. Now, imagine if you dont have these advantages. Imagine everyone giving up on you. This is why I do what I do. Because some of these young people have no one in their corner fighting for them, being there crutch when they need it. This is why”.

So my advice to anyone with Dyslexia is clear, dont give up on yourself, work with the great gifts it gives you, and fight for everything you want to achieve.

Ten Humans: My Take away

I am in utter awe of Dexter Dias, he has written a truely inspiring book about the nature of humans. Where Dr Peterson asks you, in one of his 12 rules, to seek to live a life of meaning. Dexter Dias tries to give you that meaning, or at least help you discover your own. Dexter challenges you to see the experince from a variety of angles. His discriptions of his ten humans and the inspiring stories that accompiony these discriptions open a door way to a whole new plethoria of possibilities.

However I was reminded of Steven Covey at many points, the double ended stick analogy Covey uses become prominant in my minds eye at these points. This comparrison drove me to think of the 10 humans as the two ends of the responsibility stick. Once you enter a situation you can either take on the more supportive and compassionate human characteristics or you can take on the more aggressive and distructive characteristics. We all hold, within us, the ability to display both sides, I get the feeling it is up to us to choose which end we want to hold.

So my meaning is clear, I have written about it within ‘Goals’ section of this blog. I think the important concept I will take away from this book is the quote pictured above. We each hold the power to distroy and support, but at points we wont be consciously aware of which human is driving our bus. The distroyer or the supporter, however we do, once we know, have the power to choose who is in charge. As Covey says we are, as conscious Beings, “response-able” to alter our approach.

Sunday morning brunch

Lets start a conversation over breakfast, just like you would after reading your sunday morning paper. Imagine, your steaming hot coffee in your right hand as the paper is folded and crinckled in your left hand. You look up after reading a piece thats grabbed your attention, the writer has caught you off gaurd on this relaxed Sunday. You suddenly have a wave of excitement, your moved by the subject matter and want to explore the topic more by sharing ot with a friend or a loved one.

This is not your or my kitchen table and I have no paper in front of me. But I would like to pose this question: ‘how do we reduce the inequality within our state funded schools?’ The 16/17 exclusion data indicates that learners with additional needs are significantly worse off in our education system than learners without additional needs.

The work of Allen, R., & Sims, S. (2018) adds to the inequality debate started by the 16/17 exclusion data by discussing the attainment gap between young people on free school meals and those not. Forty percent of young people on free school meals compared to 70% of young people not in recipt of free school meals achieve 5 or more GCSEs (grade A* to C). This gap is present at primary school and widens as young people grow towards age 16. Is this good enough for a developed country? Sims is building an evidence base that demonstrates the problem of inequality in our school system.

There is a lot research showing that this gap has not changed for decades despite the best efforts of academics, schools and teachers. How can we reset this inequality? Lets give every body the same opportunity to achieve their potential.

Language

After a ‘Pivitol Education’ training day on learner behaviour, within which there was a focus on the use of language, I was reminded of Dr Dave Alreds great book ‘The Pressure Principle’. Spured on by the training session and the recent Open win by Francesco Molinari I have started to re-read sections of the book to develop my feedback and language skills. However, I have been consumed by two thoughts “How does self-talk effect our performance?” And “how can we improve our own self-talk inorder to improve our use of language with learners?”

There are lots of self help books and gurus who proclaim the constructive and destructive power of our own monologe. Dr Alred tries to harnes this strength in the development of mentally robust sports stars who continually look for maginal gains in their performance. More pertinant, however, is the development of mindsets through the use of how to statements and affirmations.

It made me think of the mindset I put ourselves into before we teach. To be honest I caught myself reflecting on whether I intentionally put myself in a certain mindset before I teach? I am talking about recognising the needs of the learners, realising that we need to be in a specific mind set to meet the needs and then planning to intentionally put myself in that mindset through self talk. So, following Dr Alreds advice, that may include having specific affirmations for specific sessions, situations and/or learners.

In my 5 minute lesson plan or taped to my folder Icould write a set of affirmations or ‘how to’ statements that put me in a frame of mind that improves my feedback, behaviour management or questionning. I am quite interested in how this could aid in the coaching of teachers following an observation. Especially when the feedback looks to cultivate inclusive practises.

Dr Alred goes on to explain the minute details surrounding feedback. Such as universal statements (“thats great”), tone, being specific about what made an action a success, and intentiom. Being specific this includes matching abjectives and tone with the behavioir you are trying to elicit in yourself and others. For instance aggresive language will influence a more aggressive mindset ans negitive language will influence a more negitive mindset. The oppersite is also true, by using positive statements and calm tones we can place ourselves in that optimal teaching mindset.

Universal Statements

Universal statements are the plague of every teacher, there is nothing worse than hearing a learner distroy themselves before the lesson even starts. This includes such statements as “I am rubbish”, “I cant do Maths” or “I am a bad kid”. But we, teachers, are just as bad, “thats great” with out a explanation as to what makes it great, how does the learner know which behaviours they need to recreate in order to get another great or welldone? How does that statement help the learner improve even more?

Maybe as teachers we have a responsibility to get rid of our universal statements and remind learners about the damage their universal statements have on their performance and confidence. Take a leaf out of recent Open winner Francesco Molinari, he came from the middle of the pack through hard work, a determination to keep learning and a change in mindset to win a major and is top of the money list.

Now we are not gonna make champion golfers, football players or rugby players but by looking at how we talk to ourselves can we drive the progress of out learners through the roof. Can this drive our own performance through the roof? If we have lost our mojo could our language help us rediscover our love of teaching? Or our love of the buggers in form 6c who bounce like tigger?

The Ten Types of Human: Part 1

Dexter Dias presents theories of neurological development and evolution in a captivating and challenging manner. His storys of the unknown worlds he has explored pulls you in and takes hold of you for hours after you have put the book down and moved on with your day. Many a night I experienced quite lucid dreams of unknown worlds and struggles. The central theme of the book, the evolution of the brain resulting in the development of modules (Humans) that help protect us, our offspring and the future of the human race, sinks into your consciousness through a process similar to osmosis. It is the stories, used to explain his argument are the delivery method for his argument.

Real life stories, experiences and research are interwoven to explain the 10 Humans (modules). Each section presents a new Human with Research that offers explanations as to why certain enviromental stimuli may elict certain behaviours. Dias offers a word of caution, he offers one view, one theory agmonst a pletheria of theories on Brain development and behaviour. However the evidence base he aludes to in most chapters is substantial. In some cases the evidence does seem weak, however if you have read Chimp Paradox, Sum and The Plastic Brain you will instantly recognise the evidence base for the Dexter Dias theory.

Dias is used to mounting and winning arguments. His background as a lawyer and a fiction writer has helped him craft a truly immersive story.

The book, like all great books should, challenged me to be totally honest in my reflections. It asked questions I did not know the answer to, however the stories motivated me to locate the answers. In a previous blog, I wrote about a guy who held up a sign at a Goo Goo Dolls gig. In essence this book challenged me to think about my core drives and motives. What do I want to write on my piece of paper? and who do I want to show it to?

I want to help learners with Additional Learning Needs who are at risk of, or have been expelled from school. I want to show it to the goverment and local school leaders. Maybe this blog is my piece of paper and my chance to put my hand up and fight.

As a teacher, I was caught thinking about school structures and teaching approaches. How do we, in education increase feelings of belonging while reducing moments of ostracization? How do we provide enviroments that nurture young people? With in this massive topic is a descrete idea. How do we ensure the learner is in the right enviroment for them from the start? Not after their behaviour and performance lead the school to exclude the learner. Rather, how do we make sure that their first day at secondary school is there last first day at secondary school? In doing so we reduce the emotional turmoil of being turned away from a group they wanted to be a member of.

Dexter Dias carries the stories of the people he interviews with him. He does not drop them after a chapter or a section, there names and stories haunt you through the book. Like we all carry the stories of the events and people that have impacted us. In this single effort he mirrors the effect the book has had on me.

If I can show half the resiliance that the interiewees showed during their darkest times I will be lucky. There are no heros, no one swoops in to save the day. For most, it is about creating a better tomorrow for themselves not a Walt Disney written happy ending. The people interviewed did what they had to do to get to a better place. This realism, this reality, this truth is the standout gem of the book.

‘Its about creating a better tomorrow’ seems like a good way to end the review. Focus on making tomorrow better than today and yesturday. Not just for yourself, loved ones and colleagues but for a specific cause. Find what you want to write on your sign and hold it up, show it to everyone. Then get to work, like the interviewees did, one step at a time, one tomorrow after another.