Children’s Work – Growth Mindset

Neuroscience

16th November 2018 By andrewgraham

16/11/19

Today the children have continued to learn about the brain in a neuroscience session! The children learnt all about how neural pathways are made in the brain when we learn something new. When something is new to us we try and neural pathways are relatively weak. However, through practice, perseverance and hard work our neural pathways become stronger. As a visual example of this the children built neural pathways from one neuron to another using paper chains. By the end of the session the children all understood how we strengthen neural pathways to make us better at things. As you can see the children had a great time.

Growth Mindset

9th November 2018 By andrewgraham

09/11/18

Today the children were re-capping on the importance of having a growth mindset. We talked about how our brain is like a muscle and needs exercise. Exercise for our brain includes working hard, practicing a skill, persevering at a difficult task or seeking a challenge. In other words we can get smarter by working hard!The children were very knowledgeable about this. We then had to put this into practice. The children were given an egg and told that we were going to drop it from a height. Their task was to work as a team to make something to protect the egg. The task required teamwork, perseverance, problem solving not to mention emotional management.The children did very well and most eggs were saved from being cracked.

Teamwork

23rd March 2018 By andrewgraham

16/03/18

The children in Year 1 and Year 2 having been practising their teamwork today. First each group had a discussion about how we can work well in a team. Then the children spoke about what we need to do in school to learn and how to overcome challenges. Finally they got the chance to put this into practice in their challenge. The children had to work in a group of 4 to move the cups from a line of 6 into a pyramid formation without using their hands. Instead they had to use an elastic band with some string attached. The task required communication, perseverance and problem solving. As usual the children did a fantastic job.

Neuroscience Assembly

26th February 2018 By andrewgraham

26/02/18

Today Class 5 led an assembly all about the brain. The children shared their knowledge of the various parts of the brain using the pictures and props that they had created. They then talked about how we can help the brain grow, how mistakes and perseverance are key to learning.

The Importance of Mistakes

23rd February 2018 By andrewgraham

23/02/18

Today the children have been learning about the importance of making mistakes. We watched a video all about the importance of mistakes for our learning. Next, the children worked in teams to play a game similar to battleships. They had to work in teams to cross the grid without landing on a “no-go area”. When they made a mistake they had to start again. All children were able to learn from their mistakes and cross the grid successfully! As you can see the children had lots of fun!

Teamwork within STEM Curriculum

29th January 2018 By andrewgraham

29/01/18

Teamwork was the order of the day during some Year 2 STEM work. The children were put into teams and given as many balloons and as much masking tape as they desired. Their challenge was to build a tower as tall as possible using these materials. Before beginning their task they were given some time to design their tower and were also reminded about our previous work regarding emotional intelligence. We discussed how to recognise emotions in others, how to show empathy and how to compromise.

At the end of the activity we utilised thinking hats to assess how well the activity went for their team, judging not just the final product but their work together.

The Power of Yet

26th January 2018 By andrewgraham

26/01/18

Today the children have focused on the amazing power of yet. We talked about the tasks that we find difficult or challenging and strategies to help us to improve, learn and achieve. Through hard work and perseverance we can learn, achieve and do things that we never thought we would ever be able to do. Instead of saying “I can’t do this” we should say “I can’t do this yet”. The children worked in small groups to make wonderful posters to illustrate this point.

Neuroscience Continued

23rd January 2018 By andrewgraham

19/01/18

Today the children continued with their work learning about the brain. They matched common tasks to various parts of the brain. For instance the children decided that riding a bike would require the cerebellum because that part of the brain controls movement and balance.

Once they had completed this task they had another problem solving task to complete. They had to move into a specific order on the line without going into the “swamp”. The task required communication teamwork and some of the elements of emotional intelligence that the children have been learning about.

Neuroscience – Background Brain Work

12th January 2018 By andrewgraham

12/01/17

Today the children have been doing some more work on the brain in their role as young neuro-scientists! They have been learning which part of the brain makes you think, which part makes you move and which part makes you feel happy or sad. As part of this work they have been making and labelling some fantastic collages of the various parts of the brain.

Learning Behaviours

24th November 2017 By andrewgraham

24/11/17

Today the children in Year 1 and 2 have been learning about learning. We talked about what we already know about our brain and neurons and how we can be good learners. The children know that we learn best when we are happy and calm. Crucially, they know some strategies to help them to calm down in ties of stress. They know that perseverance, hard work and good team work can help us to learn. Listening carefully, looking for clues or other things that may help us to solve problems are also important. They were then given the opportunity to put this into practice in a team task. The children had to get all their team across the swamp with limited resources. They did a fantastic job. The ability of our children to work in a team is improving fast. This is a valuable skill for the future.