Discussing Reality in the Classroom: A Values-Based Model for Grades 5–6

 Many of us as educators constantly reflect on how to discuss complex social, political, and national realities with elementary school students.

I have written in the past about facilitating dialogue and navigating complex topics in the classroom. This time, I want to introduce a simple model I began implementing this week. It is built entirely on the children's own knowledge and questions, operating within a dedicated space for current events.

Current events are the actions, processes, and events unfolding around us that directly or indirectly impact our lives.

Upper elementary students (grades 5–6) are deeply curious about these ongoing processes. However, they do not always possess the full picture or have access to a structured space where they can break them down. Engaging with current affairs in the classroom allows us to translate complex developments into concepts and language students can relate to, helping them make sense of the world through two organizing axes: multiple perspectives and core values.

(Personally, I like to connect these discussions to a broader framework of national and international relations—though this is entirely optional; you can easily keep the dialogue focused purely on the concrete issue itself).

The Power of Student-Led Topics

The main advantage of discussing student-raised issues is their sheer diversity. As shown in the board layout below, vastly different topics sit side by side—global warming, the return of hostages, the Russia-Ukraine war, and more.

Lesson Structure: Step-by-Step

1. Elicit Current Events: Ask the class to share what they have heard recently in the news, from their parents, or on social media.

2. Map it on the Board: Write down a list. Making these topics visible and reflecting them back to the class is essential for the lesson itself, and creates a visual record that can be photographed for future reference.

3. Identify Core Values: Ask the students: "What values are at play in the issue or event you raised?"

4. Examine Dilemmas: Ask: "What tensions or ethical dilemmas exist here?"

5. Connect to Broader Knowledge: Link the topic to prior knowledge, previous class discussions, historical processes, or international relations—tailored to your class's readiness, depth, and learning objectives beyond current affairs.

Resilience is the Opposite of Conformism

 

Published in "Tevel Spirit" in Hebrew, on 10.2.26

Sharon Michaeli-Ramon leads the School for Nature, Environment and Society in Tel Aviv–Jaffa. She develops pedagogy and guidance in the areas of learning in real-world spaces, literacy and critical thinking, activism and education for action, and movement-based learning. She is a Lieutenant Colonel (res.) and an expert in emergency situations and establishing educational frameworks in crisis zones. She is a graduate of the first cohort of the Tevel Program.

"Resilience, at its origin, is a concept from ecology — concerned with habitats — and from there it was borrowed into the social world. In my view, resilience is a combination of flexibility, a clear internal backbone, and a narrative, which is the organizing thread that holds everything together. This structure holds true at the individual level as well as at the level of a group or organization. To these three components, two additional important parameters are added: durability and the ability to persevere through difficulty."

The Three Components of Resilience

Resilience does not exist only in emergencies and trauma. It is a constant state that reflects a person's ability to function in the face of challenge, change, and uncertainty. If we want to educate and grow teams and students with resilience, all the components mentioned above are required within every type of engagement — social, emotional, and academic. Even when working on a complex text, I need to activate mechanisms of self-criticism, perseverance, and literacy comprehension, and then create a dialogue between the learner and the text.

What is a narrative? Every person has a personal narrative, conscious or latent. A narrative also exists at the group level, according to its purpose. In a classroom, for example, the teacher builds the narrative together with the students: who we are, what we love and want, what kind of class we are. For example — we are a class that loves sports, we are curious, we help each other. When there is a class narrative, it empowers and provides a sense of uniqueness. This is our class backbone.

A narrative does not need to be built in opposition to another person or group, but rather from within what I want to be. When an "oppositional" narrative is built, resilience becomes fragile.

The process of building resilience is not unique to advisory periods and cannot be addressed only during special events, peak days, or moments of crisis. Resilience-building processes must be part of the school's routine. Resilience exists at all levels: relationships among students, among staff members, between teacher and students, with the community and families — and even gender dynamics carry weight here. If any one of these levels is ignored, we fail the goal. Everything is connected to everything.

The Ability to Be Both/And

Resilience, as noted, is connected to an internal backbone — knowing what I want and making my voice heard. For example, in my classroom I speak in the feminine grammatical form. It is interesting to note that girls actually take longer to adapt to these language changes than boys do. In general, society — across its different segments — sends messages, often unconsciously, that can suppress girls and lead them toward self-abandonment. They are accustomed to the fact that they are not always listened to. For instance, in a math lesson where girls don't always raise their hands, I as a teacher can decide to alternate giving the floor to a boy and a girl. Or if a boy interrupts a girl while she's speaking, I can stop it. Not to position girls in a vulnerable place, but to raise awareness that everyone has a voice, that the treatment is equal. I teach that there is no difference between boys and girls, and that differences between people do not define them — they are merely part of who they are.

The ability to be "both/and" is part of social resilience. The world today is highly dichotomous — everything is black or white, right or wrong. In such a state, the ability to find the middle ground is nearly zero. But when I have a complex and non-absolute identity (a woman, an Israeli, a leftist, a leader, a Lieutenant Colonel, an athlete), I am a stronger person.

Strengthening Parents

Over the past decade, we have seen a decline in the ability of the family unit to be a meaningful space in all its aspects for children. This happens due to livelihood pressures, leisure culture, the social and security situation in Israel, and more. The state, welfare services, and schools are trying to fill this gap. But is it the school's role to build children's resilience? Does a school — which already responds to a wide range of students' needs — truly have the capacity to educate them in the face of the home's power, which, even if it holds challenges, will always be the essential foundation for children? I am not sure the answer is yes. In my view, it is more important to strengthen families than to continue "outsourcing." Parents need to be given tools so they can take responsibility for their children's resilience.

Israel is a strong country, a welfare state, and within that, it is a country where the third sector fills in the gaps where needed. There are a million and a half people in Israel living on the social-Israeli periphery, below the poverty line; in addition, there is the Arab community, and families of high socioeconomic status who are not home for most of the day, and more. The work of building children's resilience must be a subject of public conversation — not the exclusive domain of schools alone, or of private actors alone. This topic certainly deserves deeper discussion, though the scope of this interview allows only this much.

Teachers' Resilience is Also Eroding

The Israeli education system does not invest enough in cultivating individuals who can cope with challenges, including learning boundaries, the ability to persevere, critical thinking, decision-making, and non-conformism. Resilience is, in fact, the opposite of conformism. It is the ability to express an opinion, to articulate disagreement in a rational way.

The Israeli education system has been in a dramatic crisis for seven to eight years, and regrettably, it does not appear it will emerge from the current crisis stronger. For there to be systemic resilience, all parts of the system must be strengthened. Yet in the current crisis, teachers' resilience is being eroded — their ability to meet their personal and family needs has been damaged. The result could be a mass exodus of teachers. There are ways to raise resilience through intensive teamwork, but flexibility is also required from the environment, the community, and the local authority, all of which must provide support.

The staffing structure of educational teams, the social status of the profession, and above all the narrative that we, as female educators, will shape, are the best chance for creating change in the system.

Creating Certainty in a State of Uncertainty

In my past, I established schools and kindergartens in refugee camps or in neighborhoods destroyed by disasters. I had to build a routine for children within the chaos and create certainty in a state of uncertainty.

It begins with identifying a team and starting training. In practice, a school can exist under a tree, in a tent, or in a building. A school is really the sum of the actions that take place — it doesn't matter for how many hours or whether it operates in shifts. This requires flexibility and depends on the needs of the place, the psychosocial needs, and also the wellbeing of parents.

When I provide a response for children in disaster zones (including emergencies), it frees up the parents. In a certain sense, the parents here are essentially a "captive audience," and this fact allows us to be a healing space for them as well. They come to school anyway, or are invited to activities with their child, and there is real potential for communication with them. We can, for example, pass along relevant and focused information and expand the resilience to the level of the whole community.

Key Insights:

1. Resilience includes three components: flexibility, backbone, and narrative. These are joined by two parameters — the ability to persevere through difficulty and the ability to function amid change and uncertainty. A strong and stable backbone does not change in the face of crisis but displays great flexibility under unexpected circumstances. It is important that the narrative be positive, provide a sense of belonging and uniqueness, and not be oppositional — that is, the narrative should be based on "who I am" and "who I want to be," not defined against someone or another group.

2. The central purpose of school is learning. Resilience is part of the school's educational work and is also built through pedagogical engagement with meaningful academic challenges. The two additional goals of school — developing social understanding and capabilities, and emotional development — inherently contain built-in resilience.

3. Resilience in school is present at every level — in the academic and social dimension, the personal and the classroom, toward students and staff alike, on routine days and in times of crisis.

4. Resilience is in fact the opposite of conformism. It is connected to one's ability to form a position, to express one's voice, to agree and to disagree. Therefore, resilience is also linked to gender dimensions and requires us to empower a vision of equality — one in which differences between people do not define them but are simply part of who they are. It encourages "both/and" thinking and grants legitimacy to identity and social complexity.

5. School as a resilience center — the school must nurture resilience, but it should not replace the family unit. The school can amplify the capacities of parents and the wider community, while at the same time the resilience of the school and its teachers rests, in part, on the flexibility and support of the environment and community.

How Do We Speak with Elementary School Children About Complex Reality?

 

People ask me all the time how to speak with children in elementary school about complex, difficult, or controversial realities.

Below is the approach I have used successfully for many years:

1. Make a Values-Based Decision That This Matters

Teaching children to engage with complexity begins with an ethical choice by the educator:
to believe that this is important.

It also requires understanding that this is both:

• a personal process for the educator, and

• a developmental process the class will undergo together.

2. Recognize That Children Are Already Exposed

Children and adolescents are exposed to enormous amounts of information.

What they often lack is not exposure—but:

• context

• understanding

• answers

• and a safe space for discussion.

Beyond this, education grounded in real-world complexity is essential for developing active citizenship.

3. Build a Team Culture That Welcomes Complexity

Schools must create a staff culture in which complex and controversial issues can be discussed.

This can begin small:

• with one grade level

• or with several committed educators.

Not every school changes all at once.

4. Adapt Thoughtfully to the Specific Class

Clear pedagogical adaptation is critical:

• Which materials are appropriate?

• Which issues are relevant?

• What do students already know—and what knowledge gaps need filling?

• Which students may find this especially difficult?

• How and when should parents be informed?

There are no two identical third-grade classes—just as there are no two identical twelfth-grade classes.

5. Use Student-Guided Inquiry

Complex and sensitive lessons become significantly easier when students are given the floor.

When we begin with their thoughts, questions, and language:

• we meet real curiosity rather than assumed curiosity

• we respond to actual needs rather than hypothetical ones

• and we create authentic engagement.

A Real Example

During a sixth-grade sex education lesson I taught as a principal (with boys, while the counselor and homeroom teacher worked with the girls), I asked:

“What do you think sex education is?”

The board was divided into two columns:

• What I Know

• What I Want to Ask

Simply making students’ knowledge, questions, and thoughts visible created an extraordinary platform for discussion.

Two concepts were intentionally left outside the discussion:
with a clear boundary, a very general explanation, and clarification that some topics were not yet relevant developmentally—while leaving the door open if they arose again.

6. Use Indirect Materials to Open Direct Conversations

Books, poetry, television, and stories are powerful tools for opening sensitive conversations indirectly.

They allow us to discuss values, dilemmas, and social realities through mediated material rather than immediate confrontation.

Examples

“Ozo and Mozo from Kakaruza Village”

• Grades 3–4: Teach the text as written and hold a social discussion

• Grades 5–6: Add the question: Have you seen situations like this in real life?

• Middle/High School: Discuss the broader issue for which the text was originally written

“Children Are Laughing” by Zakaria Tamer
Use the story to discuss:

• War and peace

• Why peace is preferable to war

• Syria’s location and regional context

• What it means for countries to have peace or conflict

Adapt the discussion according to age and developmental level.

7. Do Not Avoid Existential Questions

Questions such as:

• What does it mean to die?

• Have you ever thought about death?

• Why are there so many memorial days?

• Why do children hear so much about death in the news and adult conversations, yet rarely discuss it directly?

Children create explanations when adults leave informational voids.

When there is no conversation, children fill the silence with their own narratives.

That is precisely why these conversations matter.

---

Teaching children to engage with complexity is not about exposing them to more difficulty.

It is about giving them language, structure, and support for the reality they are already living in.

Avoiding complexity does not protect children.
It simply leaves them alone with it.

Trauma based education - key principles for education teams

 Israel, 9/4/26, Second round Iran War

And here we are, returning to our educational settings.

In many cases, school leaders receive information late—and consequently, so do their teams. On the one hand, we understand that this is often how sudden “back to routine” moments unfold. On the other hand, it is unreasonable that such uncertainty persists. How is there no organizing framework, familiar to everyone in advance?

With almost no transition time—the kind all of us need: parents, children, and staff alike—to sleep, breathe, do something enjoyable at the end of what was officially a “Passover break” but in reality a period of war, and prepare for the return of the most important system we have.

To support a high-quality return to routine within educational spaces, we must apply the principles of trauma-informed education.

These principles matter in every educational setting—this is a well-established field internationally—but in our context, given the shortage of therapeutic and support professionals, they are essential.

Core Principles for Returning to School After Crisis

• Time – transitions should be clear, but must allow room to breathe

• Autonomy – educational settings need flexibility to adapt to their communities

• Connection – relationships come before curriculum

• Transparency – students, staff, and parents need clarity

• Order and Routine – structure restores a sense of safety

At the Staff Level

Leadership teams should conduct personal check-ins with staff before reopening, identifying emotional or logistical barriers and recognizing that supporting staff readiness is our responsibility.

A staff preparation meeting should include:

• How the first days will be structured

• Guidance on how to speak with children and adolescents about what has happened

• Building a transition narrative that supports a healthy return to learning and functioning

Staff should also receive space for decompression. Even shortening the learning day slightly to allow this may be worthwhile.
Staff well-being sustains the school.

Professional support during the first weeks can help create:

• Practical guidance for educators

• Attention to vulnerable students

• A clear and unified school-wide language

At the Parent Level

Parents need clear communication:

• What the coming days will look like

• Why the return may be gradual rather than immediate

• What challenges the school anticipates

Homeroom teachers should personally reconnect with families and invite updates if children need additional support or time before returning.

In some communities, a parent Zoom conversation may be valuable—acknowledging that “returning to normal” may look simple externally, while in reality it contains accumulated fear, adjustment difficulties, and the need for shared communal understanding.

At the Student Level

Students should receive communication before returning:

• When they are meeting

• What the first day will include

• What to bring

• An invitation to share what they may need

The first days should be intentionally structured around:

• Emotional check-ins

• Guided discussion about returning to routine

• Collaborative planning for the coming days

• Explicit conversation about the learning process ahead

Movement and music should be integrated intentionally; both reduce stress and improve attention, calm, and motivation.

Academic learning should resume gradually, beginning with shorter lessons and increasing toward full schedule over time.

Students should also be invited to reflect on remote learning:

• What worked?

• What failed?

• What tools do they need to strengthen?

This is not only preparation for future emergencies, but for stronger independent learning overall.

Education Must Also Engage Reality

From approximately Grade 5 onward—or at least from middle school through Grade 12—we should connect current events to educational language and critical inquiry.

Whether through civics, geography, history, international relations, or facilitated values-based discussion, students deserve frameworks for understanding the world they are living in.

This includes concepts such as:

• International relations

• Territorial waters

• Ceasefire agreements

• Political interests

• Power dynamics

And equally, thoughtful discussion of the dilemmas raised by prolonged conflict and its effects on civilian life.

Returning to school is not merely logistical.
It is pedagogical, emotional, communal, and ethical.

If we want schools to hold children well after crisis, we must design re-entry with the same care with which we design learning itself.

Available for questions.

About Me
I am an educator, school principal, and activist in the fields of education and society.
I specialize in emergency contexts, with international experience in establishing educational spaces during disasters, building communities, training teams, and developing psychosocial support systems.

20 Reasons to teach Poetry, at all ages

In the English language there is a difference between the word "song" to the word "poem", which does not necessarily exists in other languages, such as Hebrew for example. In elementary school, we give a lot of room to rhymes and recitations at the lower grades, and later on, we discuss poems or songs while discussing a certain holiday/season/poet. Later on in junior high and high school, we analyze specific literary works.

Personally, I teach a big variety of songs and poems throughout the school year, for various reasons:

1. Exposure to the material and expending the vocabulary
2. Exposure to different views and ideas
3. The connection between a poet/writer to their works
4. Word games
5. Developing the Imagination
6. Explaining and teaching grammar rules that apply only in poems and not in the daily language, Linguistic manipulation that exist only in poetry
7. Development of listening skills
8. Developing the ability for personal commentary
9. Discussing emotions
10. Developing a discussion
11. Discussing the connection between lyrics and music
12. Using art as a tool for expressing criticism - personal/expressional
13. Developing curiosity
14. Learning about a Historical period, general knowledge etc.
15. Creating logical connection to relevant issues – the cycle of a year, famous figures, personal events etc.
16. Developing a reflective, emotional and logical thinking
17. Enabling the children to express their inner-world in the class
18. Reading comprehension
19. Developing the skills for poem writing
20. Exposure to music tones, structures and mobility

I guess there are many more reasons to teach poetry and songs, and I want to present to you my way and to offer you a way to develop your own version. In my class the main goal of my teaching is to expose the children to a wide variety of songs and poems from different periods, different cultures and styles. The process is by reading-observations-understanding-discussing the poem/song. I sometimes add playing a related music from the same period/creator/subject/emotion before learning and discussing the relevant material.

I find the way in which the children draw the dots between the two works as very interesting, and I make it a point not to lead the discussion in the class, but to allow them to lead it on their own to the directions that seem relevant and important to them. I do sometimes try to add guiding questions or a summary of what was already said.

The sooner we will start to expose children to various poetry thus their abilities to discuss broader and deeper issues will grow.

Using Movies for Learning

Children and people enjoy watching a movie or a series because it feels like entering a different visual world, which is understandable. All in all, movies/series enable us to identify with a character, identifying with values, with acts/actions, and also the reverse emotional range – disliking a character or it's values.
In addition, we all know that children watch a lot of series and movies on a daily basis – did you ever wonder what do they take from them? Do they detect the nonsense? The sarcasm? The subtext or the emotional depths?
We can teach the children to observe and deepen their understanding while using the movie as a platform for opening many issues, exercise and exposure.

Why?
Built and structured content
Focused
Interesting
Help as a supportive to knowledge
Dynamic
Producing emotions
The ability to form associations

How?
Using series/ documentary series and fiction movies - using guided viewing:
Topics:
Language tasks – character description, information miming
Learning about an historical period
Geography
Religion – learning about different religious, discussion about religious issues
Sports
Emotional and social analysis- discussing a character layers, social situations, conflicts (personal and inter-personal), puberty, break-ups etc.
Nature and the environment
Biology
Economics
Law, ethics and morals etc.

An example – watching the movie "Clash of the Titans" – 6th to 12th grade
Objectives:
1. Getting to know figures from the Greek Mythology (History and Mythology)
2. Improving viewing understanding and data mining (Language and viewing skills)
3. Writing a phrase about a beloved character (language)
4. A discussion about conflicts (emotional)

Viewing task:
1. Trace all the mythological/ruling/philosophical characters in the movie
2. Line down all the conflicts in the movie – personal and inter-personal
3. List all the myths described in the movie.
4. Sum-up the information about a beloved character.

I'll be happy to answer any question, and will love hearing from you, Sharon

All right reserve to Sharon Michaeli- Ramon ©

How to develop creativity

Creativity,
Isn't it one of the most common words that people are using regarding education and business development? we really want to develop it since childhood, but research shows that it decreases from the point we are finishing pre school.

some will say that we need to create an environment that enable it, but it's too difficult to create it at home, school, afternoon classes etc. all together.
we can develop creativity in different ways, and I want to introduce you to some effective tasks and games we are doing on a daily basis in my class, and also in the teams I'm working with (when we are dealing with challenges and new designs).

You can use all those elements with any group/ class, define the difficulty levels, and most important- they are easy to use, and can take between 7 minutes to an hour.

1. Riddles, logic quizzes, logic missions, challenge tasks:
The element needed is thinking and creating multiple choices of solution while coping with the understanding that mistakes and trial and error are part of learning.
you can ask logic question from age 4- example- :why do we pound a nail on the wall?

I love giving an assignment that require an imagination and coping uncertainty, for example (from my 6th grade class)-
in groups of 4-
you are a group of archaeologists. the year is 1910 (no internet, no mega information libraries on line...)
you are working on ancient site in X
you have experience in the middle east/ South America/ Africa
Suddenly you see a written language you've never seen...
what will you do?

The group have 45 minutes for raising ideas and possibilities, then 45 minutes looking for answers on line, and then a class on the topic with me (you can read on the uncertainty model here)

2. Completion stories:
 when we teach language skills we teach how to write a story (structure); I use movies, inventing stories I tell, video clips, pictures and more to start an idea and let the children continue the idea, write it and develop a conversation on it.

3. Mazes, tracks and courses- building them for children and letting children build their own courses is an practical challenge. you can use every thing you can climb on, pass trough and underneath.
* you can use a rope or wool and create "spider net" in the room; ask the children to walk around the room while avoiding the net.

4. Object what?
give children / adults a practical object and ask them all the uses you can get from it- practical and imaginary.

5. Association games:
association games are amazing for improvement of response speed, creating contexts and increasing thinking speed.
you can play free association.
you can play association chain: every word lead to another that connected to it/ opposite/ parallel.
you can play association of a single term/ word/ concept:love/ food/ happiness etc.
you can play association regarding a question or a riddle that have up to 2 words answer.


I'm here for every question and every note, Sharon.

 All the posts and materials belongs to Sharon Michaeli- Ramon ©

The model of coping with uncertainty while solving problems, challenges and high volume tasks

I've decided to create a method of uncertainty in my class after I've noticed that children (and adults) are having all kind of barriers when they need to cope a challenge- difficult article, new question, new area, thinking missions, solving a problem and more.

I've decided to develop a model to help them cope, and I'm using it mainly in language classes (you can read on it here) and in a weekly lesson of solving a challenges, that is connected to the syllabus, but it's wider and demand different way of thinking (you can read about it here)

The model is build from 5 steps:

1. Excepting the fact that I (the student) will not understand some of the reading material (or task)-         and it's ok.
2.  brain storming all the ideas related to the question/ task.
     Read & summarize as we learned- high light difficult words/ expression, high light main sentence      in a paragraph and summarize each paragraph/ idea.
3. Trying in a group to build a logic flow of the article/ story/ task/ question- out of the box thinking, giving associations and answers (we work on the concept that assumptions in this stage can't be wrong).
3a. sometimes I give access after stage 3 to use technologies and the net.

4. creating data base of all the ideas, answers and information on the board/ app/ other and making sense and order.

5. Giving the holistic order, Giving the answer/s and all the information needed.

    Dialog on the subject.

All the posts and materials belongs to Sharon Michaeli- Ramon ©

5 reasons why coping with difficulties is important in the class - reading comprehension

In my class, sixth grade, I'm challenging my students every day. I've entered the public system four years ago, after managing different projects as an expert in creativity and being categorized as  a "problem solver". when I entered the school I'm working in today I've noticed that the children are dealing great with reading comprehension we have in the text book, but can't understand higher articles.

I've decided to use a method of uncertainty in the class, which build from 3 steps:

1. Excepting the fact that I (the student) will not understand some of the reading material (or task)-         and it's ok.
2. Read & summarize as we learned- high light difficult words/ expression, high light main sentence       in a paragraph and summarize each paragraph/ idea.
3. Trying in a group to build a logic flow of the article/ story/ other.

when the children started they were upset, confused and even angry. we worked step by step solving the articles I've brought to class (I can't share them with you, because they are in Hebrew; but the criterion to choose them are: suitable from 9th grade, have current affairs link to the students life and have a pedagogical context).

After a month I can say that I have 5 great reasons to continue with this method, once a week, a two hours lesson:

1. The level of expectations raised and the students understand the benefits and the wide range of      
    topics that are added to the class.
2. Higher use of reading strategies in all the language fields (history, geography, etc)
3. The level of the conversations changed and become broadly contexted to different areas, and I love
    connect areas of knowledge to subjects.
    Some students started to be herd in class.
4. While coping with higher language the understanding, the vocabulary and the expression and  
   developing.
5. I'm revealing difficulties that I couldn't see in a class of 36 students before, for example- the  
    difficulty of explaining a term with no examples- and working on it.

I'm here for any question, Sharon.


                         All the posts and materials belongs to Sharon Michaeli- Ramon ©

  

Four Activities for Starting a Relaxed Morning in the Class and Lowering Level of Stress and Pressure

Some classes need to go into a "silent learning zone", a kind of silence and tranquility that allows concentration, listening, work, collaboration and patience.
Schools are full of stress factors – social, educational, emotional baggage each child carries with him/her, thoughts, fears etc. The latest security issues are also not easy and add more stress to the kids, and even serve as a deflection on a daily basis.

The educational-organizational-personal discourses make a lot of use in tools such as Meditation, Mind-folds, Guided Imaginations and others in order to succeed in being "here and now" in our overloaded world, and kids very much enjoy playing or being concentrated in various activities that allow them to drift away on one side from all the stress, and immediately concentrate afterwards on the other hand.

Here are four simple activities that can be done with your class. There is no need to be anxious or worried if during the first few times there will be some jiggles and some embarrassment:

1. While sitting on chairs or lying on the floor on their backs – slow breaths with eyes shut, inhaling air and ballooning the belly, exhaling the air for 3-4 seconds. In each exhale the body sinks more and more to the chair/floor; there is no stress in the shoulder, pelvis, hands, neck and head. After 507 minutes the kids can open their eyes and open the day.

2. Every child sits in front of an A4 empty page, while pleasant music is played in the background (classical, acoustic guitars, melody, world music) and the kids draw the music (Take a look in the "seeing music" post). When the music ends the children place the page in their backpacks and continue to the next assignment.
*You can have a conversation of the drawings, how the music made them feel, thoughts etc.

3. Stand in a circle, and throw a ball while saying words that express fear/stress/anxiety/anger etc. Once each child has spoken, ask the children to say a trait or a personal ability to cope with different issues while throwing the ball to a friend. The friend in turn must remember what were the traits named before the ball was thrown to him/her, and after a sequence of 5-6 traits you start over.
The goal is to create a positive chain that shows the power the class and the kids have.
You can also play this game with naming good traits or behaviors in the class, such as listening, helping each other etc.

4. There are games in which the power of the group is of great importance, when after the game has ended you can discuss and analyze the subject projecting on any relevant issue, such as to our family, or to any specific personal or educational coping mechanism.

You can turn the method elected to a daily routine for a certain amount of time, thus entering the kids to a better zone of learning and listening for the rest of the day.   

All the posts and materials belongs to Sharon Michaeli- Ramon ©

Game of Flags - A Social Mirror and a Social and Personal Working Tool

I believe in the power of a group to create a change, and in the power of the game. This year I am educating 5th graders for the first time, and I have met the pupils for the first time on September. In order to reach different goals I have placed for us, I am using various strategies, and currently I would like to present the Game of Flags, which is a strategic-physical-social game, from which you can learn a lot on the class/group, and work on various issues with them.

Game of Flags is an intensive game in which two groups play against each other in order to obtain the opponent's group flag. 

You divide a court to two parts, one for each group, and place 2 different flags in each of its sides. Every team gathers and decides what will be her strategy, how to get to the opponents' flag, who is in defense and who is in offence, who will protect the flag, who will rescue team-mates etc.
The middle of the playground is marked, and you can captive any of the other group members that enter your side. The "prisoner" must wait where he was caught until he is rescued by someone from his group by a "high-five".
The game is a field for many interactions, and I, as the educator, stands on the side and observe. This is one game in which I only observe the teams, and I don't take an active part in it. Some of the things I take notes of are:

1/ the coherence of the group/class
2/ the way each group plans strategically
3/ the personal character of each pupil

4/ the way the pupils plan, their courage, patience etc. For example: pupil who try to save "captives" even at the risk of being caught themselves; pupils who will always be careful and stay at their group's territory, ambushing an opponent member when they enter this territory; a pupil who was caught but cheats and runs back into the court (and the reaction of their friends)  etc.

5/It is supposed to be a fun time of the group/class. Are they having fun? Are there any frictions? Does anyone prefer not to participate?

Through the game I wish to develop : A class's coherence and cooperation; girls and boys cooperation; patience; a joint strategic planning and not just the emergence of the natural "sporty leaders"; personal abilities such as patience, thinking and planning etc.; a reflection ability and feedback – both personal and in the group; elevating class value.

Work Stages:
You go out with the class to play the game a few times, when I keep changing the group composition, in order to balance the boys/girls numbers, balance athletic  kids with non-athletic ones etc, and also in order to gently break pre-existing sub-groups.

Seeing rhythm and music

As part of the work I'm doing with my class I try to stimulate all the senses, and to interweave different kinds of experiences and study methods - Both from the notion that every child has a different way of learning, and from knowing that different experiences (thinking, moving, imagining etc.) contribute to the cognitive-physical-emotional development.

The different experiences are part of the study material, all intended and contributing to my main goal and labor as a teacher - building and reinforcing the children's self-esteem.

Every other week or two we hold a rhythm session in class - drumming, playing by a certain rhythm, playing, dancing etc. 

Here, for example, is a sequence of four sessions we did in class:

Session no. 1 - 

We opened with this amazing video I found on alaxon.co.il 

http://vimeo.com/111593305 by Nigel Stanford.

After watching the video in which you see how music presents itself in different materials we discussed various ways to draw music. Is it possible? I asked the children how would  they draw different kinds of music. 

I played a rather melodic and calm song, and the children drew the music, The diversity was immense: musical notes, letters, pictures, colors, textures, thoughts and shapes.

We came to the conclusion that music can be drawn in many different ways and that it involves not only listening, but feeling, movement, thought, criticism etc.

Session no. 2 - 

I divided the class to several groups of three, and each threesome was guided to show me some sort of rhythm.

The originality blew me away! 

Some took a paper, placed it on a table, then drummed on the table causing the paper to bounce according to the rhythm. Others used sticks to play. Another group waved their sweatshirts in the air, creating sound and air-movement.

Session no. 3 - 

I opened with this video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlvUepMa31o

And then we worked with play dough and hand-colors. Each child received a big paper, and they created whatever they felt like according to what the music stimulated in them. 

Later on, each child presented his or her creation to the class with movement, sound, or

Session no. 4-

A mother arrived to the class and gave a lecture on Kandinsky and "music in the arts".

Working with music and combining it with unconventional demands encourages thinking, criticism, openness, curiosity, interest and lots of fun.

The children enjoy creating, playing, thinking, and collaborating. The challenges increase the experience and enhance it. Additional subjects also arise, such as musical instruments, different kinds of art, physics, science, creativity etc. 

Personally, I enjoy getting to know the kids in unconventional ways, not just by strictly teaching the formal materials, thus, enabling each and every one of them to express different and new parts of themselves.

All the posts and materials belongs to Sharon Michaeli- Ramon ©

  

What we learned in Haiti about psycho- social disaster assistance

Introduction

I arrived to Haiti a week after a 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti in 2010. I was part of an Israeli aid group, FIRST & Israaid, specialized in medical and psycho-social support, and later continued to work with the local NGO PRODEV, while collaborating in one camp with JPHERO.

As we started work in the first two camps in Port-au Prince, we immediately noticed that information given to children and adults was not received in a holistic way, for example, the use of the terminology "earthquake” referring to a geological phenomenon was problematic. The people of Haiti were processing the event in the context of their cultural and religious perceptions. Thus, we felt that they needed  to hear the information we were presenting in their own language and with their own terminologies. Accordingly, we adjusted our response.

Our team designed a questionnaire based on proven psychological tools and anthropological fieldwork methodology. The overall aim of the questionnaire was to help us better understand the Haitian people’s perception of the disaster. I assumed that, if we understood the cultural perception of the people and their perceived needs, we would be able to provide them with information they could understand, which in turn would reduce their stress and  feelings of uncertainty. For instance, we found that the people called the earthquake "gulu gulu", so we started using that word in addition to “earthquake” in our psycho-education sessions. We found that using local words and phrases helped us communicate better and build trust. Adding that we spoke about the universal phenomenon by giving examples that earth quake happen all over the world to all religions.

Key findings of our January 2010 survey

Over a two-day period in January 2010, we carried out a random survey based on the questionnaire we had designed of 100 volunteer participants in Petion Vile Club camp,consisting of a diverse camp population in terms of different age group, sex and socio-economic background. This resulted in the return of 73 completed questionnaires and the completion of six interviews. Among others, we found that 80% of the population believed that God had caused the earthquack and were surprised to learn that around 60% believed that another disaster would strike soon.

We also found that 95% of the survey participants had a wide range of physical symptoms, ranging from increased heart rates, to sleeping problems, nervousness and fear of noise (Figure 1).

Figure 1           Survey results: Types of physical symptoms experiences

Our cultural-based model for psycho-social disaster assistance

We integrated the findings of the survey into a modification of our program to better reflect the Haitian culture and belief system. We understood that if we wanted the community’s cooperation we needed to accept their basic perception of the world, their religion (both Christianity and voodoo, and triggers for reward or punishment). This new psycho-social approach respected the beliefs and knowledge of the community and, at the same time, facilitated the processing of universal and natural information, and also supported more appropriately self-coping and family-coping tools. The resulting model comprised of  three-stage intervention model (Figure 2) that allowed us to reach different community groups. This structure also enabled us to "fade into" the rehabilitation phase, particularly in the education sector facilitating the rebuilding of communities around shared institutions.

 Figure 2           Three-stage psycho-social intervention model

The three-stage psycho-social intervention model comprised of activities that were designed to be built on top of each other, starting with activities for children, followed by work with parents and adults, and finally joint community activities.

First circle of intervention: Children

1.      Social games that emphasize cooperation, positive experience, a sense of success, group encouragement and building trust between group members;

2.      Games that incorporate local songs and dances and emphasize creating common ground, mutual creativity, and incorporating group members as leaders and participants;

3.      Drawing and providing a psycho-social explanation for earthquakes, common reactions to trauma and tips for further treatment;

4.      Intervention for younger children focusing on drawing scary/ happy images;

5.      Older children (from second grade onward) drawing with a wider set of instructions.

Second circle of intervention: Group psycho-education for adults and parents

1.      What is an earthquake? Universality and objective geological explanations, using cultural objectivity;

2.      Explanations on common reactions to trauma and stress;

3.      The parental role and its derivative complexity after disaster;

4.      Ways to deal with stress and uncertainty.

Third circle of intervention : Mass community activities

1.      Restoring hope, mainly for children but including the whole community;

2.      Mass sport, drama and music activities, which also involve parents in order to create activeness and joy within the community [restore hope].

We witnessed that this activity was becoming more popular every day. More and more members of the community took part as dancers, assistances and watchers.

The theory behind the model

Children after disasters need interventions that support the functional continuity of life (Klingman, 1992). The impact phase creates high emotional insecurity and may cause anxiety and physical changes. In recent years, interventions are implemented within the community settings, and for children, schools are the primary institute that can provide help (Leo and Rato Bario, 2010).
The usage of physical education is fundamental. Physical activities include many elements that can improve the lives of those affected at the physical and mental level, but also enable improvements in other aspects, such as: body image, social skills, self-confidence, persistence and more. Physical activity is a combined factor inside a group that can create inclusion and equality between the participants (Ley and Rato Barrrio, 2010).

Siedentop (1994) has suggested sport education as a method of developing social skills and managing skills. Hellison (2003) has developed a focused model aimed at teaching responsibility through physical education. His model uses five levels, built of different levels of responsibility- from understanding to performing, in different circles - me,  and others  and transit it to real life. Eldar (2006) applied a wider model, using physical activity as "support context" for teaching and obtaining learning habits, social habits and emotional abilities.

Thus, physical education creates a "safe zone" for children and adults, while creating opportunities to determine a shared status and common goals . After playing together it is easier to raise common worries and needs.

The psycho-social education component was based on giving information and creating a safe space for raising questions, observations and developing solutions. It was a mechanism, through which we were able to identify needs and refer people to other organizations for specific assistance.

We wanted to implement a psycho-social interventions with a a different approach, that could offer an easy transition to rehabilitation:

§  We used local language phrases, because we believed that language is crucial for trust, understanding and perception of situations, feelings and action.

§  We built the intervention upon community characteristics.

§  We hired local educational staff members that implemented the program together with us from the fifth day, and continued on to lead the activities by themselves with us present 50% of the time after 15 days. We made arrangements so that they could continue for at least three months after our departure. Training the trainers was a main component of our program, so that local staff members would become proficient.

§  After a month, we opened schools in two camps as a focal institution and safe place for the children and the community. It was important to us that the program would have continuity for at least three months to help the community and identify children/ and adults, who needed more focused help.

§  We did substantial work through physical activities - an empowering intervention that matched the Haitian culture and the people’s perceptions and experiences they shared with us. The majority of those we interacted with said they were "feeling it in the body"- the fear, the stress, the memories from the quake. [Therefore, also working on improving physical well-being became a natural priority.?]

§  Consequently, using physical activity was a frame for the psycho-social program, and not a tool by itself. Although we knew that physical activity is an effective way to cope with stress, we knew that it could be much more useful in combination with other techniques.

  

Implementation into the psycho-social program

-          For the psycho-social program, we identified two areas – (1) religious beliefs and (2) physical stress - as the main important targets. We re-organized our psycho-social meetings accordingly:
1. The explanation of earthquakes was rebuilt as an international phenomenon that occur everywhere and in all religions.
2. We drew a map of the earth and provided scientific explanations for the occurrence of  earthquakes.
3. We used balls to explain the aftershocks.
4. We collaborated with the physicians to offer a detailed explanation of the physical symptoms they experienced, as individuals and as parents.
5. We explained how the stress may influence the children and the family.
6. We empowered the family and the community as the primary responders by talking on the situation and reflect that the community shares same "basket" of problems, and teaching stress coping mechanisms on several subjects:
- Sleeping problems.
- Physical calming by breathing, easy physical activities.
- Children in stress and how we can help them as family.
   and more.

-          

We aimed at transferring "control" back to the people through information and education, and away from rumors. We did not argue with the perception of the "act of God", but we provided information and taught skills to help them gain active behavior for their own well-being.

The next steps were to train local community members to lead the psycho-social intervention and rebuild schools as core institutions for the children that would provide a safe place and give parents time for themselves to cope, work and start rebuilding their lives.

Concretely, we started looking for community members to replace us. We aimed at young educators or persons with therapeutic or community experience who knew English and were open [to learn?], so we could apply a two-directional learning process and would be able to give feedback to each other. We identified three community members and trained them, learned from them local games and songs and, after ten days, the mobilized groups took over and carried out the interventions with our guidance. 

After three weeks, we decided to open a school in our main IDP camp (Petion Ville- club). At the time, we were collaborating with the  local NGO, PRODEV, and the camp manager NGO- JP HERO, and agreed to open a school, which would also serve as  a first community rehabilitation point.

The school program was design together by an Haitian education expert and myself. We integrated the basic core subjects of the Haitian education system and our psycho-social program, art, music and sports. We developed a teacher’s training program and an administrative component.  We gradually enlarged the school, added classes and opened a community center. Between February and April 2010, PRODEV opened 12 schools and 8 kindergartens in different camps and neighborhoods. All staff members were Haitian, to whom we provided intensive training and guidance, as the main leaders and resilience builders of the school.

Recommendations

Based on our experience in Haiti, I suggest a time line of psycho-social intervention post-disaster that includes four main components:

1. Fast intervention to reduce post trauma and stress symptoms.

2. Reliance on local community members.

3. Adaptive program to local needs and culture.

4. Fast progression to the rehabilitation stage.

Suggested timelines:

Day 1-5 after the disaster- entering the field: starting working with the community, mainly the children on "first aid" small interventions.

Day 3-10: cultural assessment and adjusting of programs accordingly.

Day 10-20: program implementation, connecting to local organization/NGO and the start of training local community members

Day 25-30: the opening or delivery of knowledge to the education system and to professional therapeutic organizations.

Summery

The Haiti model taught us much about  the implementation of psycho-social interventions based on a cultural understanding of the affected local community, that we believe re transferable to other disasters. I believe that the perception of the local community is the key factor in rebuilding community resilience. I found that building trust in the community by working with different age groups, relying on community members, advising the community and having a sound exit strategy were key elements in effective coping and the overall successes of the program. In Haiti, the main intent was to shift the weight from outside forces to internal individual forces, but in other cultures the main focus might be different. Integrating psycho-social interventions in the educational system offers the parents a safe place for their children, gives the community a new local center, and is the catalyst for building community resilience. The strength of this approach was the building of the intervention "language" while understanding the real needs of the community by working with them daily, and transferring the leading to them.

 References

Eldar, E. 2006. Educating through the physical- Procedures and implementation.

            International Journal of Behavioral and Consulting Therapy. 2(3): 399-415.

Hellison, D. 2004.  Teaching Responsibility through Physical Education. Human

            Kinetics.

Klingman, A. 1992. The contribution of mental health services to community- wide

emergency reorganization and management during the 1991 Gulf War. Social Psychology International, 13: 195-206.

Ley, C., & Rato Barrio, M. 2010. Movement, Games and Sport in Psychosocial

intervention: a Critical Discussion of it Potential and Limitations within Cooperation for Development. Intervention, 8(2): 106-120.

Siedentop, D. 1994.  Sport Education; Quality PE trough Positive Sport Experience.

            Human Kinetics.

Wolmer, l., Hamiel, S., & Laor, N. 2011. Preventing Children's Posttraumatic Stress

After Disasters with Teacher- Based Interventions: A Controlled Study. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 50(4): 340-348.

  

 About the Author (me):

B.A. in special Education

M.A. in Geography of Disaster Areas

M.A. in Anthropology

Project manager of education in emergencies, community emergency preparedness and response, and psycho- social intervention.

Haiti- January- October 2010 with FIRST & Israaid and PRODEV- project manager- psycho- social intervention and camp schools project.

Published in Sharon's Hebrew Blog- Flexibleducation 

All the posts and materials belongs to Sharon Michaeli- Ramon ©