Phonological Knowledge

 Phonological Knowledge

a workshop by Jannie Van Hees

Letters vs Phonemes

There are 26 letters and 48 sounds

Phonological Terminology

BICS - basic interpersonal communication skills

CALP - cognitive academic language proficiency

Phonemes - smallest units of speech (consonants, long and short vowels, diagraphs & other sounds). English has 44 phonemes, they are critical building blocks that dyslexic & ESL students have difficulty with

Phonetics - concerned with describing the speech sounds;

• articulation
• sounds moving through the brain
• difficulty - audio processing

Phonological awareness - what you hear (can be done with your eyes closed) - clap syllables, break into phonemes.

44 Phonemes - video

Grapheme - symbol of a sound

Digraph - two letter grapheme

Homophone - same sound different meaning. eg, flour and flower

Homonym - said the same or spelt the same eg, right, write & minute, minute

Homograph - same sound, same spelling eg, close, close

Other notes of interest:

• when talking we clip out words, not sounding out every sound
• if you over sound it, it will be confusing
• breaking a text into word groups, as you do in dictation, works well
• When you work with word sounds they need to be in context (text)
• Mileage is the most important thing

- Eating Disorders - 

Mana Ake Workshop

Presenters - Louise Bennett, Clinical Dietician & Ursula McCulloch, Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Normal Eating - about 16% of NZers don't have breakfast and average 8 snacks a day.

When it becomes a concern - 

• weight
• nutrient deficiency
• restriction of food groups

Influences - 

• socio-economic
• food environment
• media/social media
• peers
• family/whanau environment
• teachers/educators

How to help build a positive relationship with food - 

• modelling, be aware of influence
• encourage a variety of food from the main food groups
• avoid labelling food as 'good' or 'bad'
• involve in food preparation and gathering

Picky Eaters - 

normal food stage for children 1&1/2 - 4 years old

concerns - 

• eating less than 20 different foods
• lack of nutrition
• missing out entire food groups
• particular about textures & stressed

The Whys of ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder)

• sensory issues
• super tasters
• association with negative events eg choking
• developmental concerns
• anxiety issues
• genetics
• environmental and management issues

The Whys of Anorexia (many unknown)

• low self-esteem
• anxiety. perfectionism
• genetics
• environmental issues

As a result of the struggles the parent - child relationship is often fractured

Parents/Whanau may feel - 

• like a failure
• judged
• manipulated
• over people giving them 'good advice'

Managing ARFID

What doesn't work

• force-feeding
• lengthy meal times
• dishing up guilt
• comparisons with peers
• punishments & threats
• ignoring
• tricking your child

It takes 20x of tasting to get used to a food.

Children need to know sometimes you have to eat foods that are ok but not your favourite.

Get the child to use their senses to learn about food and gradually build up to tasting and then eating ....

Images might help the child to visualise their progress ...

 Language

Challenge language around food. If a child says 'It's yucky," respond with "You are still learning about the taste. To me it tastes salty/or other." Say 'You can," rather than "can you." The child is a 'food explorer.

Implications for schools

• don't judge lunchboxes
• don't force feed or comparative shame
• don't offer advice
• do be empathetic
• do allow the child to bring their preferred food
• do celebrate success

Managing Anorexia

Myths around anorexia

• attention seeking
• passing phase
• mum's fault
• vanity etc

Externalise anorexia - it is in control not the child

Family Based Treatment - 3 Phases, generally lasts a year

1.    Phase 1 - weekly visits to home environment

• discussion
• family meal observation
• teach strategies

2.    Phase 2 - fortnightly sessions in home environment

• child gradually allowed to take more control
• finishes when ideal body weight is reached

3.    Phases 3 - monthly sessions

• address other related issues

 Gaming Addiction 

a Werry Workforce lunchtime seminar

Presenter - Caleb Putt, Portfolio Manager for Mental Health and Addiction

There is many conflicting information as to whether or not it really is a problem. But recently the WHO has added Gaming Disorder as an illness to its list of diseases, although they have also said that gaming is a good way to spend your time during a pandemic. It is all very conflicting and it is complex.

Caleb is a gamer so has an insight. There has been a shift from geek to mainstream in the last few years. Gaming is now mainstream.

- Geek is the new Black - 

The last few years have seen esports gain popularity. Drawing sports stadiums full of fans, with full fanfare. Eports games are generally shorter, have small teams playing each other and fast paced. In some countries high school give scholarships for gamers. NZ high schools have Esport competitions between schools. 

Another type of game is MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) roleplaying games. These are set in fantasy worlds and you take the role of a customisable character. There are multiple storylines/quests that can take hours to complete and are highly social with people becoming part of clans. 

The gaming industry makes more money than movie and music combined. More people watch esport final than the NBA final. Some of the most popular games are free to play.

Gaming is mainstream. Most young people will game. Only a small percentage will develop Problem Gaming. Gaming might cause some problems eg, difficulty getting off but this does not mean a person is a Problem gamer. 

Games employ Psychological Techniques to keep people gaming and spending more money eg, levelling up is easier at the start and then gets harder and selling things in the game. Games continue 24/7 there is no end - FOMO, others are leveling up etc.. They are always been updated so they don't become boring. Sometimes things are made purposefully frustrating so you need to pay to get passed the obstacle. Less than 2% are the biggest spenders, the rest spend very little.

There can be 'binge' problems at time like when a new game is released. 

Why do people game?

Meet their needs; a sense of purpose, reaching goals, predictable, sense of achievement & mastery, sense of belonging, connections with others, friendships, freedom & escape, a sense of identity (more confident as your character, and as a confident gamer)

This becomes a problem if what you experience online is better than off line then that can be a problem. If a game meets needs we have outside of the game it becomes a problem.

Casual Gamer - Highly Engaged Gamer - Problem Gamer - Gaming Addiction

It's all about CONNECTION VS DISCONNECTION

Tips for tackling the problem; 

ask what they do, be curious

find out what needs the game is meeting, how else can those needs be met?

connect them in with groups eg, robotics clubs etc, archery 

promote connection over disconnection

educate them about problem gaming ie what do they think it is

if they identify that they have a problem put together a plan for them

What we see is the top of the iceberg - what sits underneath? self-worthlessness, confidence etc

Resources -

Gaming Questionnaire

Monetization Fact Sheet

Gaming Continuum

Parenting Tips

Problematic Gaming Factsheet

This was a brilliant and very informative presentation from Werry Workforce!!

Video - https://werryworkforce.org/professionals/training-and-events/lunchtime-learning-young-people-and-gaming

 Emotional Wellbeing Resources

for 13-17 yr olds

Notes from Werry Workforce lunchtime seminar - https://werryworkforce.org/professionals/training-and-events/lunchtime-learning-emotional-wellbeing-resources-13-17-yr-olds

Presenter: Sam Rodney-Hudson - Director of Programmes and Partnerships at Melon Health

Work for Melon - based in Wellington, an online service for people who are struggling with mental health, work alongside primary care for intervention and support.

Website for resources (for everyone) - https://www.melonhealth.com/manual/

Several animation videos with tips to support, also available on youtube

Melon worked with to with a company involved with teenagers and animation to ensure the      language piques the interest of 13-17 year olds. 

Each page has a whakatauki

There is research behind each resource, most based in cognitive behaviour therapy.

6 different areas; Brain Breaks, Little Reminders, Facing Fears, Mini Mind Workouts, Anxiety Toolbox, Mood Booster. A 7th -  Understanding Anger is being developed.

Anxiety Toolbox does not have animation videos but people talking about their experiences, it also has 

5 sessions to work through to talk through the worksheets.

There is also a podcast called The Flip Side that can be accessed through the site. Each week a different guest is interviewed about their experience with mental health.

Melon also have resources to help 18+ plus people as a response to Covid19. We can direct caregivers/whanau who are struggling to this resource - https://www.melonhealth.com/covid-19/

Once I am back at school I plan on printing out some of the relevant posters and worksheets to do with students. I will also let other colleagues know about the resource.

The Zones in Practice

Emotional Regulation

 Background:

One student I work with has difficulty regulating his emotions. As the year went on he became more difficult for his teacher in regards to his behaviour. I would like to support him this year with regulating his emotions.

Strategy: 

To watch the video resource on the Leading Lights website and apply any ideas I get.

The Zones in Practice by Lynne Hazeldine

Notes:

The Zones of Regulation was orginal developed for students who are neurodiverse.

It is a curriculum not a programme.

You could work through the book cover-to-cover OR pick out the bits you need for your learners.

No need to do a training course, anyone can pick it up to use.

Can be used with an individual, small group, class or school, and by parents.

Implications:

I will apply to join the NZ and USA Zones of Regulation Facebook groups

I will check out the resources on the Zones of Regulation webpage:

http://www.zonesofregulation.com/resources.html