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Hi Phil,

Truly fascinating!

Violeta

Happy Belated B.day Phil :-)

Thank you, Nadia!

I have to say that forty-four was the best one ever! I've never enjoyed a birth-day so much as I did this year.

And what made it different, you might ask...

...this year, I focused on giving presents on my birthday instead of receiving them!

Be well, and at peace,

Phil

Your Welcome Phil,

I do believe Birthdays become more enjoyable as time goes on and "one" has learned an appreciation for such things.

What a blessing to give and anticipate joy from others receiving your gift.

Nadia.

Happy birthday, Phil!

...this year, I focused on giving presents on my birthday instead of receiving them!
How lovely!
Always be well and keep being our inspiration...

Christine,

As a friend recently told me...

"we are all made of the same stuff as the stars..."

...and I believe that! Cool, innit?

Phil

Hello, everyone!

I had some great teaching experiences this morning.

I have a class of eight year-olds that are just giving their classroom teacher fits in regards to paying attention, so I am now on a mission to help them do this better.

We started out the music lesson by simply doing a series of tasks, and I built them up to seven in a row from memory. I made it really easy for them by having them do the third thing three times, the fourth four, etc. They really had a lot of fun with this silly little game, and it had a strange effect on them...

Let's just say that for some of them, it got them out of their less useful trance, and into a more useful one! Can you say learning state?

And, as I have often said,

"my best ideas are stolen from someone else!" I have seen other teachers use this little trick to build attentiveness in a class.

I also reminded them of using expanded vision to get in the optimal learning state.

The result was amazing! One of the boys that the classroom teacher complains about being in "la la land" the most, actually ended up being focused the most! I guess he has the most practice at getting in and out of trances!

That was fun, and made their lesson fly by for me, as the class was much more well-behaved, and did a better job of paying attention and learning!

Be well, and at peace,

Phil

Hey Phil,
I had a good laugh with this last post of yours! Mainly, because I think I'm in my own la-la-la-land most of the time!

I have a request: can you please explain "expanded vision"? What exactly do you do and how?
Thanks,

Chris

Phil,
Would that be our magician who told you that?

Christine,

Otherwise known as soft eyes, or using your peripheral vision to take in more information. As a teacher and choir director, I use "expanded vision" so frequently that it's really almost the norm for me! I also find it helpful when I'm performing as a singer.

Tony, it was Jay Budzynski who said the quote about the stars.

Phil

I love to do simple, silly, elegant state changes with children! Just a few words can help a child move quite quickly to a better place!

I was just teaching a group of six and seven year-olds, and we were doing a beanbag passing game. One boy in the class is extremely SLOW...not necessarily in terms of IQ or ability, just personality. He talks really slow. He moves really slow. He answers questions at a pace that would make a turtle seem like a jet plane.

Of course, his tempo did not match the rest of the class in the game. I just looked at him and said, "I think you need some of my super duper energy juice! How much do you think you need? A cup, a quart or a gallon?" Practically the whole class replied for him, "A GALLON!" He said the same answer. I looked at him with raised eyebrows and said, "now are you sure? It's powerful stuff! You really want a gallon?" He nodded his head (often he chooses nonverbal communication over verbal). I said, "oh you have to say yes, in order for it to work."

"Are you ready?"

"yes."

"open wide!"

I poured it in while the rest of the class watched, waiting to see what would happen.

When it came time for him to pass the beanbag, he was perfectly in tempo, with a smile on his face!

I never know if it's going to work until I do it, but it works every time!

Happy Halloween!

Phil

Hi Phil,

Of course it does, it's magic!

Violeta

Violeta,

The strange thing is...I began this thread in search of resources to help me impliment NLP into instructional strategies in the classroom, and ended up discovering that I had the resources already--in me!

Now that's the real magic!

I can't wait to take my Prac this summer. It will be a real treat!

Happy Halloween!

Phil

Oh, it was quite a bad day for me today...
I was teaching a class of 26 8-year-olds and whenever I turned to write something on the board, these two started to punch each other...It happened three or four times...Bad, isn't it? I feel soooo tired...It's me who needs your magic super duper juice, Phil...

Chris

Oh Chris I feel for you and thank you for admitting its not all rosey. Those folk out there who think teaching is an easy number should just try it. Here are some tips for you to try next time.
The next time it happens stop ( freeze frame) look at them sideways and think - you are not going to like what happens next!!!
Believe this with every atom of your being!
Wait -do nothing until they stop - however long this is - it will feel longer than it is.
Then say 'thankyou I know you are really nice boys/girls and you just showed me how responsible ( nice, helpful, caring, etc) you can be. This means that the next time I turn my back to write something interesting on the board you can easily pay attention and think of a great answer ( question etc) I don't know whether you will become great friends now or in a few minutes but I do know that the more you learn the more fun you can have and the more you can be really great friends....'
Milton patterns are our saviour!

Chris,

Kate gives you excellent advice!

The thing with children is...you must communicate with absolute congruence (I love the "with every atom of your being" statement), as they are supremely elegant communicators (somewhere along the way we lose some of the subtle skills that they have), and easily pick up on whether your communication is sincere or not.

And the Milton Model will save your day, that is for sure. Once you make eye contact, the eyebrow raise, in particular, as ambiguous communication, will begin to get them thinking, "oh, what is she going to do next," and help stall out their behavior. I also love doing quick shifts in tone of voice--often from something rather firm (without raising my voice much at all) to a gradual softening. Shift the attention, and then lead them into a more useful state...

Being perfectly still will begin to shift their attention; carefully calculate how much proximity is necessary for the communication level you desire...for some children, it will not take much, and others it requires moving much closer to them.

Chin up! I would agree with Kate, not all days are peaches and cream. We take the pleasant and the unpleasant...the surprises of all kinds, because we surely can all learn from them!

All the best, Chris!

Phil

p.s. I'm shipping you a gallon tomorrow...

We had a work experince girl for week in our office this week...I always feel I learn more the young ones than they cna learn from me..

I think they are so tuned in a wise... more than I ever was at the age... It was so great to help her - I loved it

Nina x

Hello, everyone!

Today's gem is on calibration.

I had two five year olds who had a conflict, and I did not see it happen (contrary to popular belief, teachers do not have eyes in the back of their heads!). One girl said the boy touched her, and he denied it.

Simple. I said to myself, "calibrate."

I looked at her. "Someone isn't telling the truth." Nothing.

I looked at him. "Someone isn't telling the truth." His face read like a novel. Eyebrow up, mouth shifting to the side, change in breathing, shifting position.

I had them both sit down until someone confessed. At the end of the lesson, he did.

The moral? Faces never lie. Just use your sensory acuity!

No time with the kids today--I had planned to take the day off for an appointment, and I ended up sick anyway! Oh, well...

Hopefully I'll be up and running tomorrow.

Phil

Phil.

Still enjoying your gems from the workplace. Sorry to hear you are ill and looking forward to the next installment.

Wendy