The Flow

We have been thinking and learning about when we are in the flow. 

Flow By Charlotte

What is the flow? 

The flow is when you are really focused and ideas just come to you.  I am in the flow in the flow when I’m doing writing or art and maths sometimes. I get in the flow when I am writing poetry. You can get in the flow by being focused and not getting distracted by other people. You can get in the flow by only focusing on the one thing you are doing so that you're not multitasking.

'Ta Da' Goals to Enhance our Wellbeing

We have been thinking about ways to enhance our Positive Health. We started to make our own "Ta Da" lists. These are lists of things that we will try and do every day to enhance our wellbeing. We are taking small (Kaizen) steps to achieve our goals.

'Kaizen' is also known as continuous improvement or a 'change for the better'. Kaizen is a philosophy we implement at Worser Bay School. Kaizen is a Japanese word. Kai, meaning change and Zen meaning good. The type of change is small and incremental. Small changes in the right direction add up and eventually we are able to meet our big goals.

The "Ta Da" list idea was inspired by Sue Langley, a leading advisor in the practical application of positive psychology. In her 'Walk and Talk with Sue' podcast she discusses “How do small actions and behaviours propel us towards reaching our overarching goals? Research shows that being accountable in one area of our life, leads to improvements in other areas too. Creating a ‘Ta-Da’ checklist of 10 things for 10 days is a great way to start!”

Here are some of the things that ākonga added to their "Ta Da" lists: 

Drink 7 glasses of water

Do 3 star jumps

Run 100 steps

Do 4 burpees

Do 10 push ups

Eat 2 pieces of fruit per day

Do 5 finger breathing at least once

Practise my handwriting for 5 minutes

Practise my typing for 5 minutes

Do 5000 steps

Add 3 new Māori words to my Māori book

Read for pleasure at least 10 minutes

Say 3 things I am grateful for

Write down one Art idea every day

Do 10 minutes of yoga

Do something kind for someone

Help mum and dad with a chore at home

Practise my Maths skills for 5 minutes

Run for 200 steps

Practise the trumpet for at least 10 minutes

Work with someone different in class

Eat all of my lunch every day

Tell my parents what went well at school

Go to bed early (without complaining!)

Practise gymnastics for 10 minutes

Do 10 minutes of walking

Walk to school, instead of going in the car

Draw

Spend some time in nature

Spend some time each day in the ‘Flow’

Climb a tree

Have cuddles with my dog

Attempt the splits

Spend 5 minutes in the garden

Tell my friends a joke

Go rollerblading for 10 minutes

Limit my device time to 20 minutes

Get my heart rate up for 10 minutes

Make sure that I sweat

Bounce on the trampoline for 10 minutes

Practise my spelling words for 5 minutes

Dance!

Getting into the Flow

 We’ve been putting in extra effort to get in the Flow this week.

What is Flow?

Flow is when we are working on a task that challenges us but we aren’t overstretched. We lose track of time and we might forget about the world around us (Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2005). Professional athletes talk of Flow or a feeling of ‘being in the zone’, when we are totally engrossed in what we are doing.

In addition, Einstein who, as he was working on the Theory of Relativity, came out of his office to play the piano and violin.  He would play, lose himself in his music and then make notes (on his scientific work), then go back to his music. It is said that he ‘imagined’ his best work while doing something completely different. Playing music helped him get in the Flow.

This is our aim, to get into the Flow. We asked:

When am I most in the Flow?

How do I get in the Flow?

What does it feel like to be in the Flow?

Why is Flow important?

Flow is an important factor in engagement. Research by Kashdan et al. (2010) shows us that engagement is a predictor of motivation, commitment and performance in tertiary education. So this mahi is important for us to practice now! 

Some students thoughts on Flow:

Charlie - "It’s easy to get in the Flow, you don’t really notice you’re in it. I find I get in the Flow while writing and in Maths occasionally. "

Olive - "Being in the Flow is ideas just keep coming into your head and you can’t block them out."

Otto B - "Flow is easy when you’re not stressed, when you have lots of time. You can think about things and think ‘Hmm.. this could be good.’ I’m usually writing or reading when I’m in the Flow. I know I’m in the Flow when I keep telling myself ‘a little bit more, oh just a little bit more.’ I can’t stop!"

Akonga in the flow as they created this mural!

Positive Engagement at Home

My sea life diorama

The 'Flourish' model is a road map of what we want for ourselves, our students, our teachers, our whāanau and our communities. This model is at the heart of what we do at Worser Bay School. We strive to develop a culture of wellbeing towards ourselves and others. Social and emotional learning is inextricably linked to academic learning outcomes. It’s this holistic approach that we value the most - where supporting the building of a student’s character is just as important as the academic. It’s not a case of either/ or.

Our Year 6 leaver profile states that students leave Worser Bay as connected, curious and confident thinkers. This means that they leave with a strong sense of Positive Engagement. it is important that our students experience concentration, interest, and enjoyment while taking part in activities that they find motivating.  

Positive Engagement is about getting into the "flow." This is a concept describing those times when you are completely absorbed in a challenging but doable task. 

We have loved seeing many of our students getting into the "flow" during lockdown. 

"This is my car and truck that I made. It took me 386 pages to make it. It took a lot of time and I finished it."

"This is our bird feeder we made with the help of dad"

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was one of the first psychologists in Positive Education to identify and research flow. He describes 8 characteristics of "flow."

1. Complete concentration on the task

2. Clarity of goals and reward in mind and immediate feedback

3. Transformation of time (speeding up/ slowing down)

4. The experience is intrinsically rewarding

5. Effortlessness and ease

6. There is a balance between challenge and skills

7. Actions and awareness are merged

8. There is a feeling of control over the task.

"My construction project. I’m really enjoying building."

Jake: This was the Huia I finished yesterday! It was very hard. We didn't make it its natural colour of black because you couldn't see the lines and the separations of everything.

"We’ve made some superhero puppets, writing a script and painting a background and putting on a father's day puppet show for dad."

Cleo: I was inspired by abstract artist and thought that I could do something similar of Gus (my dog).

Kura: My Art inspired by Matisse

Haru: We put some Shapes on top of the painting to cover stuff and that's how we got the shapes. We used a toothbrush and a paintbrush. I put the colour on the toothbrush then I hold it at the end where you use on the canvas. I pressed the toothbrush on the end of the paint brush and went back in forward. The paint splattered on to the newspaper and painting. When we took the newspaper shapes away there was white shapes there. My grandma show me the technique. She is an artist.

By Emelie

"for the art competition, I made my dream vacation HOBBITON, even though I have already been there. I still like it."

"We made some burgers with some sesames seeds and rosemary."

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi says,"When we’re challenging ourselves with a task, our mind reaches full capacity. If the activity at hand happens to be something we enjoy and we’re good at, we achieve a flow mental state — and it can leave us feeling ecstatic, motivated and fulfilled."

We need to be in stretch zone!

The more we (or children) spend in the stretch zone, or flow the better our lives will be for well- being and overall happiness!

Arts Celebration: Weds 21st Aug and Thurs 22nd Aug

Please come along to our Arts Celebration to be inspired, motivated and moved... It is called an Arts Celebration because we are Celebrating The Arts. We are yelling it! We are on the go, we are in flow, we are breathing life into ideas. The school will be a gallery. See the new Pou which welcome you into the grounds, the waka that we arrived on, the classrooms lit, festooned with the brightness of the child’s mind. This is a dance. Students have been exploring themes of identity, who we are and where we come from, our environment. The explorers, like Kupe of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa, or of the stars, this galaxy and beyond. We have been thinking about social cohesion too; how do we connect and feel connected to our community? One way to do that is to have an art exhibition; no a celebration and make sure you invite everybody to come. Tell them to put on their finest outfit and bring their friends and their friends too. Artists models for inspiration include: Miro, Banksy, Van Gogh, John Pule, Arnold Manaaki Wilson, Alexander Calder, Emily Karaka, Matisse, Picasso and Eva Rothschild. One group have been inspired by the digital art of Semiconductor, a recent exhibition at the City Gallery. Wow! And we have been making music to go with it too! To ensure the evening runs smoothly, please read the following: Bring a torch to navigate the way as the sun sets. There will be QR codes linked to children’s artwork in order to listen to music, stories and background information relating to their art. A QR reader on your cellphone and headphones will be essential! (See below.) Parents, please note that children need to be managed at all times during the course of the evening as there are delicate pieces throughout the spaces. QR Codes This year we are trying out something new. We want to give parents and whānau more information about ideas behind artworks. Some spaces will have links to the process or music that has been created by the students, some will have links to the artists that inspired our amazing finished products. A QR code looks like this: It's a machine-readable code consisting of an array of black and white squares. The QR code then links you to a website. In the case of the Arts Celebration, you will be linked to Soundcloud, our Blogs or Seesaw. Download the reader onto your phone at the App Store to be ready for the night. Parking Parking is always tricky. If possible, walk to school and make it a night out for the family. If you do need to park - please think “will the bus get through regardless of whether you parked legally or not…?!” or this could be the result!

Flow and Independent Learning

Today we begun to use our Independent Task Sheets. These are things that we should be doing when we are not working with a teacher.

This helps us to have some choice about our learning and hopefully will help us to get into the "flow."

FLOW: In short, flow states are enjoyable, challenging and interesting experiences. The concept of flow is defined as a state of intense absorption and optimal experience that results from taking part in intrinsically motivating challenges. Flow is a peak experience of engagement, when people are most immersed, focused, and energised. The concept of flow is closely related to positive engagement. Engagement is said to consist of three related components: concentration (absorption and sustained attention); interest (curiosity and inquisitiveness); and enjoyment (feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction) States of flow represent times in life when these three components are maximised.