We have just finished our session with Sue Blair and she was absolutely incredible. Her knowledge, presence, experience and fun really shone through the day and our staff all said it’s one of the best PD Days they have ever had and are so looking forward to continuing to work with her.
I fully recommend her for other schools/ business to use as she truly is an expert in this field .
Thank you so much for this amazing training session you provided.
Ingrid May – Deputy Principal, St Thomas’s Primary School
It’s honestly one of the best sessions I’ve ever been on. I learnt so much about myself, my colleagues and how to deal with the students who either are the same as me or who aren’t the same as me.
I’m still buzzing about the session and can’t stop talking about it.
Sarah Rouse – Tourism Educator at ITC – International Travel College
Other comments from ITC participants:
- I don’t know where to start as that was how great it was!!! I enjoyed every part of the training from beginning to end and also learnt and absorbed a lot. Not only about myself but just how everyone is different in general. The good and unfortunately the sad facts that need to be improved here in the NZ education system. Most of the things we learnt I can also apply in everyday life in general as well as my kids. It would honestly be awesome to do more training workshops with her in future as she mentioned a few that will benefit us. 😊
- Sue was a great facilitator and given us techniques and tips in terms of dealing with different types of learners. She was resourceful and has given us lots in information that we can apply in our teaching. Also I can say now that I know more about myself in terms of the type of person and learner I am.😊
- Just wanted to let you know our training on Friday was phenomenal, we learnt so much about ourselves, our colleagues and how to deal with our students. It was honestly one of the best training sessions I’ve ever been in. I can’t stop talking about it. Thank you for setting this up for us, I’m sure this is going to help us so much moving forward.
- It’s amazing and loving every bit. It’s great that we can learn about ourselves and engage with the tutorial team.
- She was very professional, approachable, relatable and just made us feel comfortable.
- I learned a lot about how we can be differed from a personality perspective and how we can cater to the different needs arising from those differences. She also provided lots of activities which help us understand more and enjoy the time more. Her presentation was fantastic! I would like to take the sessions further from her if I have an opportunity.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Sue Blair recently facilitated staff training for teachers at St Thomas’s School. Her workshop was an outstanding success.
Sue is an energetic facilitator who quickly engaged with the teachers. They had a great deal of fun while learning practical and simple ways to deal with their student’s differing personalities.
The positive, unexpected spin-off was that teachers gained a better understanding of their colleagues’ personalities and behaviours, something that has been much discussed since the workshop. It has contributed very positively to the ‘EQ’ of our school, both staff to students and staff to staff.
I thoroughly recommend Sue’s workshop for any organisation. Through her dynamic style and interesting anecdotes she is able to set teachers on the road to understanding where their students are coming from and why they act as they do.”
Janice Adamson – Principal
St Thomas’s School, Kohimarama
Quotes from teachers at St Thomas’s School
“I could tell straight away which children in my class have each personality style.”
“It made a lot of things make sense.”
“It reaffirmed that I am on the right track.”
“I now understand that my way is not always the best way.”
“This workshop provided me with greater insight into the way
the children in my class work.”
“Sue ran a fun and informative workshop that kept me involved and awake, even after a long day teaching!”
“This course reminded of the rich diversity of skills and talents in any given group of children and has encouraged me to celebrate these differences rather than get annoyed with kids who don’t get on board with the (my) programme.”
“What a fascinating course! I learnt a lot about my personality and personalities of my co-workers. I am now able to start to cater for different personalities in my very dynamic class.”
“I’ve done a lot of stuff about personality type but I’ve never thought about how that relates to kids learning in the classroom. It was really cool.”
General comments or observations from teachers at a primary school in north Auckland after a one day Type for Teachers seminar with Sue Blair and Nicky Gumbrell
Thanks for a wonderful Teachers Only Day Presentation on Friday. It was definitely the most valuable Teachers only Day I have been to, and was perfect timing!
I have come across the Briggs Myers Personality Type before but had never fully understood the fact that it was preference that was the key; and just how the characteristics of these types impacted on our relating to other types. You explained it all so brilliantly, and suddenly everything fell into place!
The fact that you and Sue are different personality types added even more clarity to the things you were saying.
Well structured and interesting to find information about yourself and others! Thanks heaps.
Interactive – moving around activities was good to break up thinking as quite intense information. Loved it – you were fantastic Sue and Nicky – can’t wait to use this at home and school.
I feel like this workshop has opened the doors to more wonderful, meaningful interactions, relationships and understanding within our staff. It’s as if a huge door has been opened. A lot of the personality stuff talked about quietly can now be discussed more openly and with a lot more acceptance. Such fantastic timing in terms of our school.
Lots of gems for the school environment. Great team work between the two of you. Nice tag work. Key idea for school might be activities to identify/group students. E.g. give kids clear personality type options and record decisions. Could give a creative vs organisation task and see where they position themselves over time.
Great self awareness of how we interact and are perceived by others. Empowering and making us more aware of others perceptions of our actions. Great workshop. Important for teachers in our profession in teaching ALL children.
Very timely for us as a staff dealing with our difficult/busy 3rd term.
For me personally, today – your course – gave me the courage to stand up and speak in front of a group. I always imagined that I was the only “introvert” in the school! It has given me a huge amount of confidence to go forward and know that it’s “OK” to be an introvert. Your course I’m sure will help a lot more people with my type. Thank you so much.
Sue and Nicky your presentation was awesome. I am so interested in people and how they work, tick. I thoroughly enjoy working with kids and young people and can see the benefits of developing a deeper knowledge of this. You guys are awesome!
Very insightful and hugely beneficial – thanks so much.
Fun and entertaining, light but extremely enlightening and informative. Feel better able to meet the needs of my children and work more effectively and with greater understanding with my colleagues.
Being made self aware will, I hope, make me more sympathetic towards the differences of others.
Great info. Clear speakers. Relevant information. Eye opener.
Very relevant for team dynamics – reflecting for next year. Understanding differences of viewpoints and reactions!
A really interesting day, thank you for all of your input. I look forward to using this to inform my classroom behaviours and my planning.
Lots of fun. A great pace. Fantastic ideas in booklet.
Fabulous presentation skills.
Great to learn how other staff think. It will help me rationalise their reactions to me or decisions at school.
Today has really helped me to see our differences and how I can cope and deal with those differences. Also how I can change my way of working with different personalities in our children. Thank you.
I would like to communicate more about what we have talked and shared with our colleagues – i.e. to be ongoing!
Thank you for helping me to understand myself and others.
Huge reflection on not only my professional life but relationships and friendships. Awesome! Thanks.
Really awesome.
Inspirational and enlightening. Enabling in respect of other personalities.
I had a conflict with another staff member recently and we sorted it out but now I can see that we were just reacting in the most natural way for our types!
Responses in answer to “What was the most valuable part of the workshop?”:
Identifying how to cater for the children in your class who are opposite to your own type.
Learning about the personality types of those people I work closely with, and their needs.
All the “ah ha” moments of why staff are/act the way they do “It’s not good, it’s not bad, it just is!”
Learning that I was good at listening!
All of it!
Grouping people together in their type codes. Very insightful!
Loved every part of it, really valued the break down of each part, working relationships with other staff.
The break down of the preferences which made me realise that how I perceived myself was different to how I was perceived by others and how much came from my upbringing and how I was raised and the change with me now being an adult.
Understanding how to deal with/respond to different personality types.
Understanding others and being able to honestly share who I am. Identifying like minds among my peers.
Characteristics of children’s learning style as related to their personality type
How to work with different types.
All of it – sharing of each others’ perceptions.
Explaining in depth each of the different types. Given me a greater understanding of myself and my students and colleagues.
Getting together with other types and sharing our similarities and also our opposite traits.
Identifying student needs that are opposite to me.
Knowing colleagues different personality types – from a leadership point of view.
To consider the personality types of the children I teach and how I might accommodate them by using different practice.
Getting us to physically move helped me to see actually the differences in all of us and giving us the space to evaluate and re-evaluate our decisions of our type.
Discussing in our various groups and listening to others’ view points.
Learning about all of the personality types and seeing what I am and how that affects the way I teach.
How to help students who have a different personality type to me.
Understanding my own traits and also gaining an understanding of others. Also advice on how I can relate to others was helpful.
Would you recommend the workshop to others? 100% said “yes”.