Appleseeds
The phrase 'Mothers Appleseeds' provides the inspirational for us as a team engaging our students with digital stories from all sources of College life that promote positive attitudes, and the development of holistic human dignity–from tiny seeds to ripened fruit.
Our Appleseeds range in age from 60 to 6 and all have various ICT skills. Some will become great staff and student ICT support apples, others will join the Appleseeds Video Team. The opportunities are limitless - some seeds may take a long time to mature around the ICT space - that to is ok.
Our LOGO shows Mother Teresa looking over our students. The final seeds that grow are the colour of our houses.
All students in our College are welcome to participate at any level of interest in our team.
Yr Six - Reflections 2022
Junior Appleseeds
Nicholas - Potential
Why Appleseeds?
Unlocking our Student’s Inner Genius
Reflections from Trevor Galbraith
I recently listened to Andrew Fuller’s podcast ‘Unlocking Genius’. I have heard him many times and we have relied on some of his brain based learning research in designing our curriculum to ensure that it meets the development needs of our students.
His message was that we have forgotten, in our desire to label some people “a genius” that everyone has a “genius” within them. We all have a special talent or skill that sets us apart from others. Fuller promotes the concept that the contribution made by an adult, whether parent, teacher or grandparent, to a child or teen’s success in school, is enormous. Families who assist children to develop the skills to build and express their genius will be “future proofing” them substantially, through encouraging them to better concentrate and plan, make decisions and be motivated. He advises that we need to:
Be positive
Remind young people that the world is an amazing place, despite the problems that occur within it. Discussion about interesting things, new ideas and discoveries is key to modelling that adults are learners too.
Allow for creativity
Andrew says that becoming a genius is sometimes messy! Young people need space to create and experiment, it’s one of the ways that they learn about persistence. We have just started up our Maker Space in the The Learning Hub and our Year 7 curriculum is being redefined to ensure that creativity in all subject areas is celebrated.
Help children understand that mistakes are opportunities
We all know that the best learning comes from the mistakes we make along the way. Adolescents who can’t bear to make a mistake, won’t fully access their problem solving skills and build their resilience. In Year 7 we build this strength as we explicitly teach the skills of reflection and encourage students to reflect on their learning focusing on the areas where they need to improve.
Develop concentration
Concentration is a skill like any other to master and it’s hard to learn if you can’t focus or concentrate. Children concentrate on different things and it’s important to notice what these are and to build upon their natural tendencies. All subjects incorporate ‘thinking’ time where we ask our students to simply ‘stop and think’ before asking a question or writing or brainstorming with others.
Learn to plan and make decisions
Fail to plan, plan to fail! Children need to practise the skill of looking beyond the now and considering the possible courses of action and outcomes of situations. Mapping out possibilities and involving young people in decisions can empower them and reduce the dissatisfaction of life “happening around them”. Our end of year program for Years 7,8 and 9 forces our students to problem solve creatively and to think of different solutions to the same problem.
Reinforce their strengths
Andrew’s final point was to let young people know how incredible they are. With so much “improvement focus” these days it is easy to forget to praise accomplishments along the way. Successful people often remark that they felt that no-one ever told them they couldn’t achieve their goals.
We want to ‘unlock the genius’ of all our students so that they achieve their individual successes and become ‘all that they are created to be.’
I highly recommend accessing Andrew’s website. He has a whole section for Parents and is an entertaining read.
Reflections
