Steve - 5/12/18 - God's Girls - Devotions - PLD

A report from the Leaders of God's Girls.

God’s Girls – Report to End of 2018

God’s Girls began after the Christian Schools Conference last July when God prompted me to begin a lunchtime group with our Senior Girls (Year 6,7 and 8) and talk about issues relevant to them. The focus is on being secure in who they are in Christ and being “Gritty Girls” – girls with purpose, diligence and passion. Sandra Clark and I began meeting with the girls weekly over their lunch break.

I have used some resources from Vanessa Gatman from Kingsway School in Orewa who runs an organisation called “You-are”.  Their aim is to equip teenage girls to be the best version of themselves through conferences held in Auckland and Hamilton.

To date we have discussed issues such as influences of social media, characteristics of Gritty Girls that we would like to develop, looked at Biblical and modern day women displaying these characteristics. Personal matters such as resilience, positive self-talk, anxiety, modesty, friendship, forgiveness, gratitude, power of our words have been discussed; along with physical health – sleep, exercise, healthy eating etc.

Once or twice a term I email the Mums to let them know what we are chatting about, and have had numerous positive messages back from them, and the occasional suggestion of things we could cover in our time. 

Most of the girls commented in their recent report reflections on how much they have enjoyed our group, and gave specific things they have learned. I was surprised by some of the comments as it showed that God is doing beyond what I think we are setting out to achieve – isn’t that so like our God?!

What a privilege it has been to meet with these girls and share life with them. Sandra and I look forward to next year with a new bunch of Year 6 girls joining us.

Thinking:  Professional Development Outcomes.

The drive and emphasis of our school is not restricted to what the Education Department requires,  nor is it what we (staff, proprietors, BOT) seek. This is an example of Professional Development of our Spiritual selves, including all staff, to go beyond what we see as an outcome.

Next Steps: Ensure we  (I) provide opportunities for each of us to grow in our Spiritual walk, noticeably PLD among other Christian Teachers.

This is the result of an enquiry led by support staff. Never undervalue the resources we have.

TBCS-Steve-Dancing-Devotions-4-Learning -Focused Cultured-Devotions

• Providing opportunities for ākonga engagement in co-operative learning, and reciprocal teaching. 

• Monitoring ākonga closely to ensure they are treated respectfully and are included in all aspects of school life.

• Promotion of positive and appropriate relationships with and between ākonga.
• Monitoring of all ākonga closely to ensure they are being included and treated respectfully by their peers.

Paul Mullany Dance lessons teach children respect and discipline. It helps to build social awareness in children, so they not only learn how to dance; they also learn how to respect one another. The maturity necessary to dance together fosters respect, civility, teamwork, cooperation, confidence and a sense of joy, accomplishment and achievement. Through experiential learning, they learn valuable life skills and lessons of self-discovery, self-expression, and self-confidence. Their posture and confidence improves and awkwardness is replaced with physical grace & poise.

The Many Positive Benefits of Children's Ballroom Dancing:
- Strong Discipline & Teamwork
- Builds Self-Esteem & Confidence
- Better Social Skills
- Teaches Proper Etiquette
- Respect for Themselves and Others
- Improves Coordination and Balance
- Encourages Creativity and Self-Expression
- Exercises the Mind & Body- Most of all, it's Fun & Exciting

I organised for a dance instructor to come and give four one hour lessons to the class on the Waltz, The Fox Trot and the Cha-Cha. This tied onto our Devotions topic of co-operation.
The students were paired as per my choosing. This was the start of co-operation.

Outcome: all students learnt to dance, some will even put on a demonstration at our Celebration Night where parents are invited to share in the students achievements and improvements. For the first lesson many students were reluctant to 'hold' their partner. By the end of the lesson only two students were having difficulty. One due to "I don't want to dance' attitude (not an uncommon statement). The other is closer than I thought he would get. By lesson three the gaps had closed, the steps shorter to match their dance partner, eyes had come up from the floor and we were dancing.

Even before the last lesson I believe we have changed our culture towards boys and girls to partners. They are reliant on each other to enable the dance to work.

Next Step: definitely do this again. The way it supported our Devotions topic was superb.

TBCS - Devotions with Louise - Judy-Anne

I asked for parents to come in and help with something that was a skill and passion of theirs. Louise volunteered to come in regularly and do a devotions and craft session from the children's storybook Bible we were reading in the first term. It was great to have the story read again and learn some other things I didn't know about some of the stories. I had never really thought about it I guess but creation had to have happened in a specific order for instance.

Louise has had great crafts to go with the stories and works really well with the children. 

There are still quite a number of sessions to go in her plan.

Story of Noah

Tower of Babel

Abraham and his dedscendants

Moses in the bulrushes

Joseph and his coat

Joseph and his coat

Moses and the Red Sea

The 10 commandments

Moses and the bulrushes

Moses and the bulrushes

Noah

Creation

Creation

TBCS - Alone - Judy-Anne

Couldn't have said it better so won't even try to! Suffice to say that I need some 'alone' time - things are getting overwhelming in my life and I need time to just stop and rest.

Alone By Bret Lamsma, Sunday, July 1, 2018 12:00 AM Scripture Reading: Mark 1:9-15 The Spirit sent Jesus out into the wilderness. . . . Mark 1:12 I’m kind of an introvert by nature, so my friends know that I like to spend time alone. Don’t get me wrong—I like spending time with people too. But there is something about being alone that energizes me. My drive to church is about 25 minutes, and that’s an important part of my day. Along the way I can spend time alone preparing for my workday ahead, and on the way home I can spend time preparing to be a dad and husband. Jesus often spent time alone. At the very start of his ministry, he spent 40 days alone in the wilderness, being tempted by Satan. What did he do in all that time? He no doubt spent a lot of it praying, fasting, and being energized for his mission by his Father in heaven. This was a vitally important time for Jesus’ preparation to do the work he had come to do. Likewise, we need time alone with God. When we are alone with God, spending time talking to him and listening for direction through his Word, we are being prepared for our mission here on earth. Our faith is formed as we seek God’s guidance and wisdom. But in the busyness of life often the first thing we skip is time with God. Schedules get in the way, and time passes. We’d like to spend more time with God, but we can’t seem to fit it in. Here is your challenge for today: find some time to be alone with God as he prepares you for his mission in your life. Father, help us to find time alone with you today. Prepare us for the mission you have for us, and form our faith in amazing ways. In Jesus, Amen. .

Sharing PLD knowledge, relevant readings and research with colleagues.

Margaret - Writing songs using cooperation

(Video still to come)

During our devotions unit, the students were learning about cooperation.  Part of this was learning that cooperation makes music - meaning we create great things through cooperation.  The students task was to work in groups - randomly selected - to turn their own chosen nursery rhyme into one new song.  The class focused on 1 cooperative skill ( listening, pulling our weight, working well together) each session and rated themselves and their group at the end.  The unit ended with the students performing their song in front of the class and having the class judge how they thought their group worked together.  The class came up with some neat songs ( a little bit silly) but most managed to put differences aside and get the task done.

Next steps: 
- video the students performing their songs to post on seesaw for parents
- Self Assessment on their group linked to the skills learnt.
- in future cooperative tasks link to skills learnt in this unit.

Standard
Learning Focused Culture
Strategies:

• Understanding and using a range of innovative, co-operative and inquiry learning approaches.
• Monitoring ākonga closely to ensure they are treated respectfully and are included in all aspects of school life.