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Sarah Creegan explains why self-reflection is a great coping skill for children to have. She's been filming in and around her house for 10 weeks now, so we can only apologise for her garden-related gags!
Taking time to reflect on situations is a chance to engage our brains to think of learning opportunities. Take this challenge with Victoria Maitland to reflect on the last couple of months and shape your story.
The most successful learners are reflective; they think about their thinking (metacognition) and they learn from their mistakes. If things go wrong, they don’t keep doing what they’ve always done.
Because that would be the definition of madness, right?
In this think piece on The Recovery Curriculum, Barry Carpenter and Matthew Carpenter recommend that, in order to reskill and rebuild pupils’ confidence as learners, it is vital that we make metacognitive skills explicit.
At Laughology, we have been running training sessions which look at the importance of self-reflection and metacognition skills – in adults and in children - for a long time now. Here are some ideas on how teachers can do this in their classrooms:
When children are learning, it helps if they understand the stage that they’re at and the emotions they’re feeling. This Laughology slide explains ‘The Learning Pit’.
When things go well (and, sometimes, when they don’t), we tend to move onto the next thing, without any reflection.
Last, but not least, remember it’s going to take time. It’ll need the right mix of nurturing and support for kids to become independent learners once more.
We know school staff will get it right though – because you’re brilliant!
Being able to reflect is a life skill, which helps us to cope. In the busy world we used to live in, many of us charged from one event to the next, without giving them a second thought.
For example, have you ever done or said something that you weren’t especially proud of? Of course you have, we all have! But, if we don’t spend time reflecting on our thoughts, actions and behaviours, guess what happens?
We do it again!
As adults, we can help children learn to self-reflect and continually develop. Here’s how:
For a lot of people, including children, self-confidence may have taken a bit of a knock and anxiety levels have been raised because of COVID-19. If your child is upset or having a meltdown, now is not the time to try to talk to them – their brain will be in fight, flight or freeze mode.
Now is the time to give them a hug, if that’s what they want. Or to give them time and a safe space to calm down.
As life begins to return to normal, use Steph Caswell’s blog: Strategies to Develop Your Child's Self-Confidence to help reduce your child’s worries and support them to regain their confidence.
Then, when a similar situation arises, guess what will (hopefully) happen?
That's all folks, for our Mind The Gap: Back To School series.
All in all, during lockdown, we've created 4 FLIP It Thinking modules, 3 Home Schooling modules, as well as the Relationships, Routines and Reflections Mental Health and Wellbeing modules. Phew!
We hope they've been helpful and, if you'd like to know any more, just drop our Education Team an email: sarah@laughology.co.uk
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