David Castelanelli is working with the Year 5 and Year 6 students on how to improve their llife skills, focus and productivity, and how to set great goals. As part of Quintilian’s ongoing commitment to providing our year 5 and 6 students with important life skills, we are excited to partner with David Castelanelli, 2018 WA Youth Ambassador.
Session 1 : Managing Social Media Distractions
Did you know that it takes 23 minutes to reach a focus zone? The Year 5 and Year 6 students certainly do!
Our first session of the Cubs Program with David Castelanelli began with a very exciting and relevant topic. Year 5 and Year 6 students learned how to manage distractions and improve their focus and productivity by reducing their social media usage and avoiding distractions.
Some of the key points that were covered in this session were:
- How to unlock the ‘focus zone’ (a state of flow where the brain becomes more productive and creative)
- How to reduce your screen time on devices/phones
- How to minimise other distractions whilst doing homework
Students were challenged to do the following:
- Download/explore social media reducing apps such as Forest, Freedom and Flipd (allow students to reduce their social media time)
- Move all addictive social media apps to one folder on their device and have this folder located on the 2nd/3rd screen of their device to remind them of this week’s presentation each time they have to open it
- Try and reduce their screen time this week (share screen time with their parents)
Session 2 : Goal Setting
This year, the average person will spend more time planning a birthday party or a trip down south, than they will planning their life and goals.
In this session of the Cubs Program, students learnt the importance of developing a plan and setting clear goals for 2021. Students learned that ‘if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail’ and also discovered the importance of writing their own goals down.
Some of the key points that were covered:
- How to set and write out a list of clear goals
- How to form and maintain positive habits that will help you achieve your goal
- How to use the help of an ‘accountability partner’ to achieve your goals
Students were challenged to do the following:
- Write out a list of their key goals (2 or 3 main objectives)
- Under each goal, write out 2 or 3 positive habits that need to maintain to achieve the goal
- Share their goals and habits with an accountability partner (for example, a fellow student or parents) who can check in on them in the future
Setting goals and objectives is something that remains important, whether we are 10, 40 or even 80 years old. For if we continue to do the same thing that we did today, we will continue to get the same results tomorrow.
Session 3: Sleeping Smartly and Break Taking
What’s the best way to start your day? You might think it’s a cup of coffee and a dose of the daily news, but our Year 5 and 6 students would tell you that isn’t always the best option.
If your child came home this week insisting on having a cold shower in the morning and using the ‘sleep calculator’, it may be because it was sleep week in the Cubs Program.
Some of the key points that were covered in this session were:
- How to hack and take advantage of your natural sleep cycles (90 min cycles)
- How to utilise the sleep calculator to improve your sleep quality
- How to win the two most important times of the day (the morning and the night)
Students were challenged to do the following:
- Download and utilise the sleep calculator app/web app
- Write down and stick to their morning and night routines (first twenty minutes and last twenty minutes of the day)
- Not use their devices/phones at least 60 minutes before going to sleep (avoiding blue light)
Getting a strong start to the day is always important. No one wants to be that person that ‘woke up on the wrong side of the bed’ so to speak. In the book ‘The Miracle Morning’, author Hal Elrod mentions that ‘the very first thing that happens to you in the morning has more impact on your day then the next five things combined’. An interesting thought for the week ahead!
Session 4: Relationships and Communication
We all know the golden rule. That is to ‘treat others the way you would like to be treated’. However, in this session the students learnt a new rule, the platinum rule. The platinum rule says to ‘treat others the way THEY would like to be treated’. A small difference that goes a long way. This week’s cubs workshop placed incredible importance on the ability to listen and build emotional intelligence.
Some of the key points that were covered in this week’s session were:
- How to become a better listener and improve the quality of your conversations/relationships
- How to make other people feel important every day
- The importance of developing strong connections and building a network of positive friends
Students were challenged to do the following over the coming week:
- Focus on the other person in conversations (asking them questions and becoming a great listener)
- Be selfless in their actions, be willing to do a good deed each day without any expectation of reward/recognition
Stay tuned for more exciting tips and tricks from David’s workshops, and expect your Year 5 or 6 student to come home with some important new life skills.
David will also be presenting a parnet seminar in term two.
Technology and Sleep | Wednesday 5 May at 5.15pm | Register here.
To find out more about David you can visit his webiste.
