Using the lens of neuroscience to create BETTER ‘little’ Humans!
A school-based program that helps our little humans be better at being ‘human’!
Why?
Michelle Loch
CEO and Founder
Leading Humans
Author of the
BETTER ME PROJECT
It has long been a passion of mine to bring the work I do with adults and school leaders to our kids. Being a ‘human’ today is difficult. More and more our brains are in ‘survive’ rather than ‘thrive’ mode. Whilst we need to learn how to be fully functional in this VUCA* world as adults, our kids are going to need it more!
(VUCA stands for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous!)
I’ve been purposeful in aligning this program with the requirements of the Australian Curriculum V9 – General Capabilities requirements and it will support your social and emotional learning programs as well as the Respectful Relationships education framework.
The program comes with detailed teacher guides, presentation slides, professional actors delivering key content via video, links to videos, articles and ‘real world’ examples, and hands on, fun and practical activities for the students.
But the key success factor in this program is how the teacher shows up, engages students and helps students to reflect and see the value of real-world application of the strategies in this program to improve their lived experience and contribute to their future life success.
The schools I work with and have been trialling this program with have been heavily involved in guiding me and contributing great ideas so that we can be sure to target the right content with the right age group and their human age-related challenges. I thank those schools and the wonderful teachers in them for their past and on-going support as we continue to develop and evolve the BETTER ME PROJECT.
We’d love to have you onboard for this journey!
*VUCA stands for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous
About the project
The
BETTER ME
Project
The BETTER ME PROJECT for students is a self-leadership ‘project’ that provides a neuroscience-based, practical structure for students from Year 3 to year 10 to become a BETTER version of themselves. It aims to support students to reflect on who they are and who they want to become using neuroscience, psychology and the philosophy of the mind, and discovering how THEIR human brain works, as a lens for this exploration.
Students will learn how their brain is developing over time and how it influences their thinking and behaviour. They will learn how to use evidence-based strategies to improve their life experience to understand and modulate their impact on others. Importantly, they will also learn how to self-manage the impact other humans and circumstances have on them i.e. resilience, self-leadership, powerful communication strategies.
As students come to understand the ‘science of humans’ they appreciate what it means to be a human, and they come to understand that whilst humans are amazing, we also have limitations that can catch us unaware BUT that we have the power to create our own lived experience and take control of how our brain and mind grows and develops over time.
What’s in the ‘box’?
The BETTER ME Program is divided into Units e.g. AARMA ME, Brainy ME, Social ME, Leader ME, Wise ME, Friend ME, Learner ME and Human ME. The introductory unit at both the Primary and Secondary level – AARMA ME, contains 7 modules. Each subsequent unit contains four (4) modules and links back to the BETTER ME foundational AARMA framework. The modules are designed around 40 minute sessions though teachers can double this time by engaging students in extension activities, integrating the concepts into other subject areas, and engaging students in deeper discussion, self-reflection and real-work application.
With each unit you get …
- Comprehensive teacher guide with suggested activities, discussion points, facilitation tips, and ‘critical thinking (metacognitive) questions’ to pose to the students along with suggested responses and key messages to draw out in the discussions. Designed using Explicit Instruction principles.
- Colourful and engaging student workbook and activity handouts.
- Microsoft Powerpoint presentation slides and activity cards.
- Content videos using professional actors presenting the foundational concepts for each module so that teachers can focus on student engagement and reflection.
- Additional learning resources for teachers to expand teacher knowledge base and confidence in working with the neuroscience-based content.
Downloads
Sample Presentation Slides
Program Introduction Video
We’ve been working with Michelle on this program for the last three years, refining and perfecting it, and our students have loved it!
Download the BETTER ME PROJECT Brochure
What support will our school get?
We offer a number of support options to get you up and running with the program, to support your teachers in the classroom, and to tailor the program to meet your needs. There are also a number of optional extras you can purchase if you wish.
Support portal
Program managers and facilitators will have access to the BETTER ME PROJECT TEACHER SUPPORT portal where all accreditations, information and resources will be housed.
Program Manager onboarding
We will ask you to nominate up to two Program Managers who will be our key liaison personnel. Program Managers will be provided to an online, self-guided Onboarding Program and two virtual, one-hour personalised onboarding sessions.
Teacher onboarding
We provide your Program Managers with slides and a teacher handbook to onboard your teachers. You can also purchase a Teacher Accreditation program for your teachers to work through focused on the underlying neuroscience of humans and an overview of the BETTER ME PROJECT philosophy and program structure.
Quarterly Q&A sessions and BETTER ME - BETTER LITTLE HUMANS Blog
Program managers will be invited to quarterly virtual Q&A events. These sessions will be recorded and uploaded to the BETTER ME PROJECT Support Portal. All teachers at your school will be invited to subscribe to the BETTER ME – BETTER LITTLE HUMANS Blog where we will post articles, commentary and ideas aligned with the BETTER ME PROJECT Unit Content. You are welcome to provide the link to this blog to parents as well!
Parent articles for your school newsletter
We provide you with content you can share with parents. This includes explanations of what their child is learning about, and tips on how they can support that learning at home.
The Framework
Building your Human AARMA!
Our goal is for students to learn during their education years how to be Happy, Healthy, Helpful and Hopeful. Our AARMA Framework is how we achieve this. The BETTER ME PROJECT helps students to build their Human AARMA (Armour) – the mindset, skillset and strategies that will help ‘protect’ them in the real world and help them to support and protect others.
Happy
Discovering the real meaning of ‘happy’ and drawing on positive psychology to understand and embrace the different ‘colours’ of happiness!
Healthy
Exploring the concepts of mental and physical health and understanding the mindset and skillset needed to achieve both!
Helpful
Understanding that we are at our most powerful when we are focusing on helping others, because that helps US to be happy too!
Hopeful
Without hope, we have nothing. Mental well-being cannot be achieved without it, and hope is something we can create for ourselves!
Next steps …
What’s the process?
Once you have purchased one or more BETTER ME PROJECT UNITS, you will …
Sign your Licence Agreement
Nominate your Program Managers
Complete the Onboarding process
Complete the Teacher Accreditation process
Change the lives of your students!
AVAILABLE UNITS
Small school pricing available on request!
Contact
Phone:
+61 0412 380 124
or