EHV Teaching Techniques

SATHYA SAI COLLEGE

Character Development With Academic Excellence

Mind-Mapping

Outcome: Mind mapping the values from brainstorming or the picture of the lesson’s context. They are creative thinking tools that reflect our brains natural way of functioning.

A. Benefits: mind maps can help us to:

Plan
Communicate
Be more creative
Save time
Solve problems
Concentrate
Organise and clarify points
Remember better
Study faster and more efficiently
See the whole picture in context
Save trees!

B. Mind maps crack creativity as they:

activate your whole brain
clear your mind of mental clutter
allow you to focus on the subject
help demonstrate connections between isolated pieces of information
allow you to group and regroup concepts, encouraging comparisons
require you to concentrate on your subject. Which helps get the information about it transferred from your short term memory to your long-term memory

C. To create a lesson plan we can start

with a mind map to brainstorm values with students and create a connecting context for the lesson.From the mind map or memory map, teachers can select the concept appropriate to the age and educational maturity of the children via the syllabus outcomes. We develop lesson plans from these outcomes.

Silent Sitting

Outcome: Mind mapping the values from brainstorming or the picture of the lesson’s context. They are creative thinking tools that reflect our brains natural way of functioning.

Benefits:

Calms the mind and improved receptivity
Improves concentration and focus and facilitates learning, memory, retention
Develops self-confidence due to clear mind, uncluttered and steady
Improves self-discipline, single-mindedness and determination
Improves capacity to regulate moods
Enhances moral judgement, problem solving, capacities of negotiation & refusal
Focussing the mind on light enhances the ‘other-centred’ drive (compassion etc)
Enhances intuition as the mind is calm and can access inner sources of wisdom

EHV requires that the child learns to harness the energy of the mind to become calm, concentrated and focused. Control of thoughts arising from the sub-conscious brings emotions under control so that any situation can be perceived objectively. A calm mind is essential for learning; absorption and understanding of lessons and values are more thorough.

Using light to quieten and focus the mind Imagine a bright light in the middle of your chest. It is becoming brighter….and brighter. You notice that it is becoming brighter and pushing out all darkness and with it all feelings like anger, sadness and upsets. As the negative feelings leave you, you feel warm, gentle, happy and peaceful.

Now your whole body is filled with the bright light which is very….soothing. Notice how the light fills your whole body, head, and neck, arms, down to the tip of your fingertips, chest, tummy, legs, and right up to the toes. You are radiating rays of light which are carrying joy, fun, kindness, happiness and peace. You are feeling bright and happy. Whatever and whoever comes in touch with you, your rays fill them with bright and happy light. Everyone and everything around you is filled with joy and peace with the light that has come from you.

Sit quietly feeling the joy and peace…when you are ready open your eyes. Smile quietly; feeling the peace and joy…when you are ready open your eyes. Smile and gently stretch yourself.

Quotes & Affirmations

Outcome: to heighten awareness of the operation of a value and sub-value.

Quotations, affirmations and prayers are statements of profound truth and wisdom. They set the tone for the lesson and fortnight during which the value is the focus.

It is now well recognised that positive thoughts give rise to positive emotions. Positive emotions in turn have been shown to result in optimism and in building mental and emotional resilience against anxiety, depression and anger. There is evidence (Seligman 2002) that those who have positive emotions live longer, are less stressed and have less illness and disability.

Quotations, affirmations become embedded in the sub-conscious from where they influence thoughts. Thoughts…Actions…Habits…Character…Destiny! They focus the attention of the child on a significant aspect of the sub-value and its importance in life. Thus they heighten awareness of the operational aspect of the sub-value.

Benefits of affirmation as a technique

Gives the wisdom of the message in a short punchy manner
Opens the child’s mind to his/ her own possibilities
Encourages positive thinking
Develops memory as well as the language of values
Encourages positive behaviour

Benefits of Quotations as a technique

Develops memory as well as a language of values
Develops understanding of application of the value
Improves concentration and sharpens focus
Encourages positive thinking, positive emotions and optimism
Encourages intra-personal, interpersonal and spatial intelligences
Sharpens intuition, moral judgement and moral reasoning
Encourages positive behaviour often involving self-control
Enhances capacity to delay gratification as it charts a preferred course of action
Encourages tranquillity, flexibility of mind and purposeful activity

Story telling

to paint a mental picture of characters, situations, moral dilemmas and resolutions that enables a student to relate to the context of a value

Storytelling is an ancient method of conveying values, wisdom and traditions. Story paints a mental picture of characters, situations, moral dilemmas and resolution. In this way a child is able to relate to the context of the values. This creates sensitivity to societal norms, expectations, acceptable attitudes and standards of behaviour.

Benefits of storytelling:

Capture child’s interest and imagination
Recapture real life situations
Create models of operational behaviour
Give knowledge of strategies that may be used to solve problems

Characteristics of good values stories:

Short stories with limited number of characters
The story should create a situation that is relevant to the child’s life
The resolution of the moral dilemma in the story should be clear so that the value or sub-value is firmly imprinted on the heart of the child
The story should be told rather than read, with all the emotions and intonations
Stories should be considered carefully for their message, content, values, faith, social harmony, trust, optimism etc. There are good models for such virtues within all cultures and the reverse is also true.

Storytelling as a technique requires:

Story has shape, plot, sequence and a flow— visualise for recall
Small numbers of characters make the story most impactful
No one way is right way to tell a story
Brief global introduction: beginning and end are the most important parts
Story should be short
Develop your capacity to give it a sense of place: textures, flavours, sights, smells etc.
Experiment with standing. Sitting, using hands, faces, body effect
Children sitting in a semi-circle creates an atmosphere of intimacy
The part of the brain that imagines is not the part that remembers’ language and imagination use different brain functions
Language must be appropriate to the age level of comprehension of children

Group Singing & Music

to infuse students with inspiration and engage all of each person’s multiple intelligences, cognize all cortical areas of the brain restore balance, harmony and health and develop a spirit of unity and teamwork

Quotations, affirmations and prayers are statements of profound truth and wisdom. They set the tone for the lesson and fortnight during which the value is the focus.

Music develops ‘musical’ intelligence and all of the other intelligences at the same time. Group singing and music have been used since ancient times to enact dramas, pass on information, celebrate joyous occasions and find personal fulfillment through employing creativity. Music has also been used for healing, restoring physical and mental balance, sublimating emotions and as a mode of devotional worship.

Music & group singing impacts on many levels and has many benefits for teaching:

1. Increases vitality and relieves tiredness
2. Changes moods and calms anxiety
3. Develops concentration
4. Improves learning and memory
5. Develops intuition
6. Develops creativity
7. Enhances self-confidence, particularly overcomes shyness
8. Develops all 9 intelligences including musical skills
9. Focuses on a sub-value as a worthy aim
Keep it short and sweet, around 10 minutes; teaching a new song, listening and recording, changing the state in a room, refreshing and makes a good combination with silent sitting.

Group Activity

to elicit from each child, the dynamics of values, conveyed through social interaction and so deepen their understanding of the values and how it is put into practice

Benefits: Each child develops:

1. Deeper understanding of values through experiential learning
2. Confidence, initiative, self-reliance, self-discipline
3. Understanding, co-operation, sharing, helpfulness and tolerance of others
4. Concentration
5. Creativity
6. Leadership skills
7. Assertiveness, refusal skills
8. Negotiation and conflict resolution skills
9. Intra and Interpersonal intelligences

Creative Visualization

Outcome: to cultivate and balance imagination that releases positive creativity and LOVE

When we recall the past or imagine future events we think in images. Dreams too are made of images. Such images are not static as in a photograph; they have movement, sound, touch, smells and taste although visual and auditory images are the most common

When we imagine the future or recall the past and evoke images they are associated with appropriate bodily changes e.g., in a nightmare our heart rate goes up and we generate a strong emotion of fear.

In anxiety states we have highly developed negative images of the future. Negative states of anxiety, fear and terror can be overcome by strongly formed visual images, which are associated with positive emotions. It is important to realise that when we hear a narrative real or imaginary, a series of images are formed in our minds. A well told narrative has power to form strong images and evoke appropriate emotional responses in the listener. We have varying capacity to visualise images.

Benefits of Creative visualisation

1. Enhances understanding of values, their operation and the good feelings they generate
2. Enhances empathy and social skills
3. Enhances spatial and intra-personal intelligences
4. Enhances imaginative skills and creativity
5. Enhances capacity to control impulsivity
6. Enhances self-image and capacity to visualise success
7. Enhances control over negative emotions e.g. capacity to regulate emotions
8. Increases optimism
9. Enhances determination, perseverance in face of difficulties and set-backs as well as self-management skills

Did you know that…?

The cells that fire in creative visualisation are the same that are active during the activity envisaged in creative visualisation i.e. the creative visualisation is equivalent to the actual experience in neurological terms? It is just as successful as the real experience in creating neural pathways!
It is known that in depression the ratio of negative to positive thoughts is equal. In optimism the ratio is more in favour of positive thoughts. Creative visualisation enables this shift in ratio by increasing positive thoughts.

Did you know that…?

1. Focus activity (breath, light, music, relax one minute).
2. Begin with “Imagine”… so that you set the mood and provide choice
3. Highlight the benefits of using the value, for the child and others.
4. Closure: stay with feelings for a while, open eyes and stretch.
5. Visualisation should be a reasonably sized paragraph, shorter for younger children.

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We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work, learn and play, the Bundjalung people of the Bundjalung nation. We pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to our school, community and region.

SATHYA SAI COLLEGE