Shining Lights Week 1, Term 2, 27/4/2023
Walking Together
As I looked around the crowd at the ANZAC Day ceremony, I wondered at this ritual that brings young and old together - what motivations do they share in commemorating this annual event? Do the prayers and hymns reflect a shared perspective? Are the words of sacrifice and mateship reflected in our everyday actions?
It reminded me of Graeme George’s words to the staff on Monday during our session on Restorative Justice: that we are working together to help students develop a sense of identity and community. He emphasised relationships rather than strict adherence to rules where we work with students rather than doing things for or to students.
In a similar vein, I recalled Fr Joe Tran’s painting of the Emmaus Journey, that depicts a younger and older disciple conversing with the risen Christ about the meaning of the Scriptures. However, it wasn’t until they shared a meal with him that they recognised their good friend and spiritual guide. It was through action, not simply words that their hearts were enlivened and they had hope for the future.
As we begin another busy term, I pray that we prioritise relationships, have meaningful conversations and actively support each other as we walk this world together, knowing that God will always “abide with me”.
“But I don’t have any homework”
It is a saying we all have heard and probably used. Lots of research and commentary is available around the benefits and non-benefits of homework. However, no matter the stance you take, there will always be the need to engage in learning activities outside of normal school hours. One of the crucial things to do is ensure students have a good routine and time set aside for this. Sometimes, there will be formal tasks and assessments to do as homework. However, the absence of these does not mean ‘I don’t have any homework’. Here is a list of tasks students can undertake to help form good routines for study and homework: (taken from 10 productive things to do when you don’t have homework, Katie Azevedo, M.Ed).
https://schoolhabits.com/10-productive-things-to-do-when-you-dont-have-homework/
- Clean out your backpack.
Take everything out, empty all the pockets, throw away the squished stuff at the bottom, and go outside to shake your bag upside down.
- Go through your folders and notebooks.
Remove all the papers from each of your folders and sort them: throw away junk and expired papers as well as duplicates, and move papers to their proper folder if they ended up in the wrong spot.
- Sort your writing utensils.
Collect all the pens, pencils, highlighters and markers in your backpack or workspace. Sharpen the pencils and throw away dried-up pens and highlighters. Keep only what you like and use.
- Clean your devices.
Use a screen cleaner or a wipe made for eyeglasses and thoroughly clean the screens of your phone, tablet, laptop and/or desktop. Lock your keyboard, tap it upside down to shake out crumbs (ew), and give that a wipe too. Don’t forget to clean your mouse.
- Clean up Google Drive.
Go into Google Drive or wherever your store your digital files, and do some housecleaning. First, delete junky or old files. Next, do a search for the work untitled to give you a list of files that have no names: give these unnamed files names or just delete them. Lastly, move any stray files into appropriately named folders. Don’t have folders? Make some, starting with school year dates.
6. Manage your inbox.
Managing your email inbox as a student can be challenging if you don’t know what to do. At the very least, go into your inbox and delete some junk / old emails and unsubscribe from promotional emails you don’t want.
- Create or revamp your study space.
If you’re getting bored with your study space, spruce it up. Even a subtle shift like switching your lamp from the left to the right or swapping out your chair can have a motivating effect due to novelty. If you don’t have a study space, can you create one?
- Rewrite your notes.
I’ve talked about the benefits of rewriting notes before. It’s one of the secrets of good students, and if you don’t already do it, now is the time. Find the most recent notes you took, and rewrite them neatly, filling in missing information and organizing the material in a way that’s better to study from.
- Get ahead.
I know it’s such a relief when you don’t have homework, so this tip might feel contradictory, but why not use this free time to get ahead on some of your reading? Read the next chapter in the novel you’re reading in English class, read the next chapter in your history book, get started on the essay that’s not due for two weeks, or start studying for the test that you know you’re going to have.
- Do a brain dump.
Any time is a good time to do a brain dump, but especially if you’ve been feeling overwhelmed lately. Write down everything you need to do, remember and/or ask about.
One final thing – especially as students get older – is to pay attention to current events, issues and media. Watching the news or chat shows, or reading online articles, watching Youtube clips of topics and issues being covered in class can help deepen understanding and retention of knowledge.
This list of productive things to do is not all about go-go-go until you pop. I’m not suggesting that you spend every second of your free time being productive. That’s actually not productive at all! But the message is that sometimes when we don’t have homework or we’re just not feeling like jumping into our homework quite yet, we can use that time to plug away at the little things.
Parent involvement in children’s education is highly valued and is key to children’s academic and social success. Studies have shown that children who have parents and carers who are actively involved in their education tend to have better academic outcomes, increased motivation, and improved behaviour in school. This is because when parents and carers take an active interest in their child's education, they create an environment that supports learning and development.
At Lumen, we strive to foster a close partnership between parents, carers, and the school community. We believe that it's essential to create opportunities for parents and carers to get involved in school life. This term, we have events such as the Mothers Day Breakfast, Grandparents and Friends Day and Open Day which provide some of those opportunities to come and see what is happening in the classrooms and to share your child’s learning and success.
We encourage all parents and carers to attend our primary school assemblies and to get involved in school life in any way that they can. Thank you for your ongoing support and involvement in our school community.
