Dear Parents,

There are so many books about personality types on the market. There are the Facebook posts about personality types – you know, the ones where you find out what kind of animal you are, with the results indicating your personality type – a golden retriever (gentle, loyal), bulldog (aggressive, feisty), chihuahua (punch above your weight). There are the established personality tests – Myers Briggs. Everywhere, people are trying to learn how their personality types interact with others and what is the best way to connect with different personalities.

I came across an article in Teachers Matter, Issue 45, called Teaching to Temperament. Celebrating our Feisty and Gentle Students – Maggie Dent.

This article struck a chord as I deal with both feisty and gentle students. The author calls them ‘roosters’ and ‘lambs’. Dent says that roosters, strong feisty children can be yearning to have more power and influence and often feel they have a strong sense of their self-importance. They like to rule the chook yard! It is exhausting for teachers who have a number of roosters in the class. Typical roosters tend to be: independent, stubborn, argumentative, selfish, power-driven, self-important, dislike sharing, impatient and impulsive, fast learners, energetic, entertaining, adventurous.

Lambs are gentle, caring, quieter children, more accommodating and content with life. Typical lambs tend to be: sensitive to discipline, tire easily, dislike loud noises, like solo time, often withdrawn tend to be shy, struggle with large social situations, are patient, prefer routines, are easy going.

We do not want to turn roosters into lambs or lambs into roosters. We don’t value one animal over another, we recognise their differences and try to put the optimum conditions into a classroom in order that both rooster and lambs have a chance to shine. Dent says that our job as parents and educators is to help put a little bit of rooster into their lamb and a little bit of lamb into their rooster!

In the classroom we can help build empathy and understanding of each other, acknowledging that we are all different. We try to design activities that encourage listening, looking, concentrating, turn taking and respect. Roosters need to learn to sit quietly and listen as others take turns in talking and lambs are encouraged to be brave and share their ideas with the class.

Obviously, across a continuum, all personalities have a little bit of rooster and a little bit of lamb in them. Trying to understand where each child sits is helpful as we try to cater for all learners.

Speaking from experience though, lots of roosters in a class was exhausting but there was never a dull moment which I loved!

Year 6 Camp

I visited the year 6 camp at Lakewood Lodge in Huntly last week. What a fantastic place, with a number of challenging activities well suited for this age group- flying fox, rock climbing wall, horse riding, kayaking, low ropes, co-operative activities, archery. I was at the rock climbing wall and was so impressed by the perseverance one of the girls showed. She was struggling low down on the wall and was getting frustrated and I thought she was going to give up. Her team mates were so encouraging, and that along with her absolute determination to succeed meant that she regrouped and ended up at the top of the wall. This epitomises the camp experience for children; challenging and rewarding.

Huge thanks to the parents who transported children as well as those wonderful parents who stayed at the camp supporting the teachers and the children. Thanks too, to our wonderful teachers who made the experience such a great one for the children (and were exhausted on Friday night!).

Covid-19 (coronavirus) Update from Ministry of Education as at 5 March

Kind regards
Janice Adamson