Kate Mckenzie

Collecting interesting ideas and important information! MFL teacher still!

[Kate Mckenzie @k8mac24]

@gianfrancocont9 Thank you. Sadly we cannot afford the books and website. If I had known they existed , I would have chosen the website and not bought the books.

[Kate Mckenzie @k8mac24]

@gianfrancocont9 I have bought the French Trilogy books and would love to see the supporting PowerPoints. How can I do this? Thank you

[helen warlow @HWarlow]

Watercolours painter
Olivier Violin
He lives in Brittany and he doesn’t just paint Landscapes ( although he’s good at them! ). Portraits and pusscats are more subjects. I like his Landscapes

[Geoff and Margaret @RetirementTales]

We've had a few requests for a slower version of our Old School Days montage. Apologies if it was all a bit too fast!

There's no sound with this one but here's a slowed down version:

[Brendan O'Sullivan 🇮🇪🇪🇺 @ImtaBrendan]

Very nice Bloom's Taxonomy cheat sheet! Fantastic for planning, questioning and skill development.

[M.A. Rothman @MichaelARothman]

"If you like Jack Reacher or Dirk Pitt, you must meet Levi Yoder." - Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling author.

#MArothman #LeviYoder #thriller #operasinger

[NC_Languages @NC_Languages]

Another EPI GCSE Spanish unit ready for next year on the topic of role models, on TES, with audio included for the listening exercises =) (Link in bio)
Preview:

[Alex Quigley @AlexJQuigley]

I am delighted to share my new website...

https://t.co/mbQAfjrzRE

All my blogs, newsletters and resources are now in one place. You can sign up to access to my free resources, including lots of exclusive new resources.

[Laura Webb @LauraLolder]

Exam season is upon us! I am in my third school and thought I would share some of the things the school does at a systems level to really improve student outcomes, and also alleviate the pressure for middle leaders and teachers.
A quick thread of things that work 🧵 1/-

[Paul Hammond @paulkhammond]

Liking this "grab a past paper" feature of the corridors in @AcleAcademy

[Dementia UK @DementiaUK]

Good afternoon from parliament! 🌄

We're on our way to the #FixTheFunding parliamentary event. Today MPs across England will hear from people affected by the flawed continuing healthcare funding (CHC) process.

Thank you to everyone who invited their MPs to attend.

[Linda Magistris OBE @lindamagTV]

We know the importance of signposting the bereaved to early support.

Knowing that others are there to help when you need it, is vital.

Wearing our little umbrella badges can open conversations, & let those grieving know they are not alone from day one.

https://t.co/6WVnSxRxjj

[Bev Turner @beverleyturner]

4 and 5 year olds arriving at school in nappies would not have happened 5 to 10 years ago.... Why?
Because basic #Parenting has bizarrely vanished.
Toilet training, eating at a table, cleaning teeth, making a bed, tying shoe laces, crossing a road, reading, writing.... These things are boring and can be torture to teach to toddlers who scream if you take away the ipad.
And for parents it's much easier to sit scrolling, addicted to screens, unaware that hours have passed.
We've got a generation of lazy, tech-zombies waiting for a teacher to be a proxy parent.

[Dementia UK @DementiaUK]

“I was appalled by the CHC assessment process. I had to appeal twice. My dad died but I continued to appeal the process.

Families are physically and emotionally exhausted – they should not have to navigate their way through such a stressful process.

Assessors should be equipped with dementia specialist knowledge to ensure people’s needs are understood.”

Thank you to Annette for sharing her experience at our #FixTheFunding event in parliament today.

[Christopher Hughes MBE @chrislinguist]

Languages are about communication & discovery. Don't worry if genders, cases & irregular verbs aren't your thing. They'll come in time. The main thing is to give a language a go, don't be afraid of mistakes & see where it takes you. The journey is so rewarding & it's open to all.

[Nate @Nature_Nate1]

~470,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year in the US.

When it comes to ticks, what you don’t know CAN hurt you.

Here’s 7 tips that’ll keep you safe from these tiny parasites and their diseases:

[A Thread]

[Jason Helmes @anymanfitness]

Just finished this book - Bad Therapy by @AbigailShrier

This is one of the most eye-opening books I've ever read. It's a must read for any parent, any teacher, and should be required reading for any school administrator as well.

The book dives into trying to figure out why kids are having so many mental health problems, when there are so many resources devoted to improving mental health outcomes.

Anxiety, depression, suicide, etc are all higher than they've ever been with kids, even though their lives are arguably better than ever before. It just doesn't make sense.

A few key takeaways from the book:

A constant attention on how kids are "feeling" or "thinking" is causing negative outcomes.

Constantly ruminating on your emotions and how you feel negatively impacts your mental health. If all you do is focus on your emotions, you are destined to be anxious or depressed.

We incessantly ask kids how they're feeling, if they're happy, how their mental health is, etc, and this is creating kids who think they're fragile instead of resilient.

Trying to solve every problem for kids has caused a generation who can't do anything for themselves.

We (Gen X) were told to "suck it up" or "you'll live" or "rub some dirt on it" all the time. Many of us came to the conclusion this is "bad parenting" because our feelings were neglected, and we vowed not to do this to our own children.

Because of that, kids immediately over-dramatize everything that happens to them, making mountains out of molehills, and thinking the world must revolve around their emotions and feelings.

You develop confidence and strong mental health by doing things, not by thinking or via therapy.

You can't think your way out of anxiety. You don't gain confidence by analysis of your thoughts or mental health issues.

You gain confidence and eliminate anxiety by doing gradually more difficult tasks, excelling at them, and realizing you are a competent, capable person.

The non-stop attention therapy gives to these small, common emotions we all feel blows them out of proportion to their seriousness (not talking about genuine disorders here, just normal anxieties that millions of people go to therapy to try to avoid).

One of the best ways to decrease your happiness is to chase it.

Our society constantly tells kids they should be "happy" and asks them if they are.

Happiness isn't a state you should be in 24/7. That's not realistic. Joy and bliss aren't permanent states - they are fleeting.

Contentment, stillness, and being even-keeled are much better goals to aim for mentally.

The happiest, most well adjusted kids come from families with loving parents that have strict rules for the household.

This one really set off the confirmation bias in me... I feel really blessed we have 2 well adjusted middle school kids who do great in school, are very respectful and well mannered, and we barely even need to parent them.

But for years, we were very strict with them. Bedtimes, family rules, how we do things, etc. The in-laws and lots of friends thought we were totalitarian.

In reality, we just had high standards. And it's really paying off right now. I found it really interesting that strict rules equals happy kids. Makes sense, though, as kids need to know what their boundaries are.

Constantly surveying school-age kids about their mental health causes more issues than it solves.

Mental health resources is big money. Districts need to validate all the resources allocated towards mental health, and they often do that via surveys.

Asking kids non-stop questions like:

- Have you thought about self harm?
- Have you thought about suicide?
- Have you been so anxious you can't get out of bed?

Etc, etc puts into their heads the idea that themselves, or many of their peers are broken and cannot function properly in the real world.

It normalizes situations that would be incredibly rare at any other time in history.

There's a lot of other takeaways, too, but I'll stop there.

It's a fantastic book. Go pick it up and read it. This isn't an affiliate thing or a promotion thing at all. I just really enjoyed it, and it will further shape the way I parent moving forward.

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

It is possible to want trans people to be safe and happy while recognising that there are risks to women and girls in eradicating single sex spaces. Women and girls are being pressured to surrender their hard-won rights to a group that poses a proven danger to them. 1/3