Ellen Ronalds Keene in Toowoomba, Queensland | Educational consultant

Ellen Ronalds Keene

Locality: Toowoomba, Queensland

Address: 625 Ruthven Street 4350 Toowoomba, QLD, Australia

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24.01.2022 I was recently featured on the 'What She Did Next' podcast! "Ellen Ronalds Keene, founder of Self-Care For Teachers and host of the Teacher Wellbeing podcast, offers a fascinating insight into the lives of teachers and the incredible way they've responded to the upheaval of COVID-19. She also talks about her career change journey from teacher to podcaster to wellbeing coach and advocate, and the perks and pitfalls of starting your own business."... Thanks for having me Jacqui! Visit the show link: https://player.whooshkaa.com/what-she-did-next Follow the podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/whatshedidnextpodcast

22.01.2022 It's time again for the Self-Care for Teachers Survey of Australian teacher health, happiness and wellbeing. Take the 2020 survey here: https://ellenronaldskeen...e.typeform.com/to/SJj0Wq The answers to the 2017 and 2018 surveys helped me shape the direction of the work that I have been doing over the last 5 years, and in particular the podcast, so that I deliver information that is really useful and valuable to you. This year, I'm taking things a step further. I've expanded the survey to deliver some more detailed results that I will publish here in later in 2020. The survey is open until midnight July 12th 2020 and anyone who is teaching in an Australian school in 2020 is eligible to participate. There are 2 sections: Section 1 is the main section, and your results will be completely anonymous. I know this is important to many teachers, who worry about being totally honest when asked for comment about their experiences in case it gets back to somebody at their school. Section 2 does ask some more detailed identifying questions, but the second section is optional, and even then, names and other details won't be published in the survey report. So, if you would like to contribute to data about the health and wellbeing of Australia teachers in 2020, grab a cup of tea and complete the Annual Self-Care for Teachers Survey here! Read more about it here: https://selfcareforteachers.com.au/survey Or click directly through to the survey here: https://ellenronaldskeene.typeform.com/to/SJj0Wq

21.01.2022 I'm proud to be a part of this series put together by My Smart Community and Outbackhubs to support regional Queenslanders (and beyond!) learn new digital skills in this time where suddenly we all need to think about building online footprints. I'm presenting as Perk Digital on Tuesday 14th and Thursday 23rd April a session called "What's the Deal with Podcasting?" (Brilliant title, thanks Zoe!) If you're looking to build your digital footprint during these covid-19 times, join us for this excellent workshop series!

19.01.2022 This is my first adventure into the world of podcast sponsorship and I’m so proud to be aligned with Feminist Coach Academy and can’t wait to see how this body of work unfolds in the world! Amidst all the crazy news and keyboard warriors (don’t read the comments, don’t read the comments, don’t read the comments) it’s nice to be reminded that the internet can be a force for good

18.01.2022 If the only prayer you ever say is thank you, it will be enough. ~ Meister Eckhart. Unbelievably grateful for and to @stukeene. So glad I get to do life with him. Ten years ago today, we were just friends, hanging out on msn cos neither of us had anyone else to be with. We made a joke about being online valentines. I’d say that the rest is history but we’re still writing it, and I hope we get to keep doing so for decades and decades to come

18.01.2022 We know what to do to protect our physical health during this pandemic: wash hands for 20 seconds, don’t touch your face, stay 1.5m away from people when you ha...ve to go out in public and whenever possible, stay home. But what about ways to protect your mental health during the pandemic? I have a lot of teacher Facebook friends, and I’m in a number of teacher Facebook groups. I expect you are the same, so it’s likely that our newsfeeds look similar. Over the last month I’ve witnessed an increase in the level of angst and anxiety being expressed by teachers on social media, not just over the actual changes to life and work that Covid-19 has brought, but increasingly over the treatment of and rhetoric about teachers during this time. There are a lot of posts getting shared, either from teachers’ expressing why they are so concerned and frustrated, or from people who do not support us expressing why (in their minds) teachers are the worst ever. And of course all of these posts end up with many comments, going back and forth, riling everybody up and achieving nothing but distress. And look, I get it. The science behind this is two-fold: Firstly, our brains have a negative bias: in trying to keep us safe, they are constantly scanning our environment (which now includes our digital world) for threats and they amplify anything even slightly negative. This also means our brains often downplay or completely ignore things that are neutral or positive - they’re not potential threats so they don’t need focus. We have all experienced this playing out in the classroom when we leave a lesson thinking it was awful because there were 1 or 2 students off task, and in fact we have completely ignored the 26 other humans in the room who were following instructions the whole time! Secondly, social media algorithms are programmed to show content to you that it thinks you will like. The ways it gauges whether it thinks you will like something is what you have shared, liked or commented on in the past; what your friends/connections post and share; and how much attention/engagement posts are getting in general, from your friends and across the whole of the online population. What this means unfortunately is that as well as that picture of your friend’s new baby that has a million hearts and comments, you will also see a lot of stuff that is likely to fill you with anger and outrage. It’s the same strategy tabloid news has been employing for decades, only now it’s crowdsourced and instant and can reach you in your bedroom when you’re scrolling from bed. None of us are immune to this. We post in anger, we comment back and forth trying to convince people of our views, and we share things before thinking because it takes a millisecond to share and thinking is hard work, especially for already exhausted minds. (Heck, last night my tired brain knee-jerk shared a cute picture of a baby platypus that was very obviously fake and within 5 minutes of sharing it, not only had I had a moment to reflect and realised my mistake but several people had pointed it out to me! *face-palm*) The end result of all this outrage-sharing and comment-warring is more dollars for Zuckerberg, more damage to teacher status nationally, and more anxiety and distress for you. But there is a very simple (although not necessarily easy) remedy to this: You have the power to curate your newsfeed, and even more than that, you can practice social media distancing. Going back to that bit about the brain having a negative biasonce you know that you can counteract it by intentionally looking for the positive. Not in a ‘everything is fine’ denial kind of way, but just in a proactive ‘catch them being good’ kind of way. Choose to focus your time and energy and attention away from things that increase your levels of anger and anxiety (i.e. social media) and towards things that lift your spirits and fill your cup. I believe very strongly that we have a problem with teacher status in this country. So strongly in fact that I’m applying for a Churchill Fellowship this week to research that very issue. I also believe that this is an incredibly delicate time for teacher status in Australia. On the national level, there are some sinister ways certain pockets of our society are using this crisis to point the finger at teachers. At the community level there are less sinister but no less distressing ways some pockets of our society are venting all their anger and unhappiness related to this crisis at teachers, too. I also know that the chances of you convincing anybody of the facts (that teachers are still working, schools have never been closed for the most vulnerable, and the educators calling for school restrictions have the best interests of Australia’s children at heart) in the comment section on Facebook are extremely, extremely slim. It just ends up upsetting you and stressing you out, and depleting your very limited mental and emotional resources. In the worst cases, when the comment section devolves into a total sewer, it can also damage teacher status furtherwhich is why, if you do need to vent, at least do so in closed teacher Facebook groups not on your own or your friend’s posts. Or better yet, hit ‘Snooze for 30 days’ on anyone in your friends list who is sharing teacher-bashing rubbish (or y’know, delete them!), put the phone down and go and do something else to express and manage your frustration and distress. Journalling is helpful. So is talking to a trusted person. Exercise is great tooif you have boxing gloves, that is the perfect way to vent ;) I know that this is so much easier said than done, and I am still a work in progress here, too (case in point: fake baby platypus post). I also know that the science backs me on this. Apart from preventing you from wasting your limited inner resources on inflammatory junk online, making conscious and intentional choices about where you direct your focus and how you spend your time and energy does make a big positive difference to your mental and emotional state. But you have to deliberately ask your brain to shift focus and notice the non-negative stuff, because its natural instinct is to stay in the muck. And there are good things going on out there, if you only look for them. Two real world examples for you? Last Thursday, amidst all the problematic and at times plain incorrect media coverage of schools and teachers, ABC Local Radio across Queensland (and maybe across the country?) devoted the whole day to thanking and celebrating teachers in their ‘#ThankYouThursday’ segments. I was featured on ABC Southern Queensland and was able to share my quick thoughts (it was only a 2 minute bit of audio!) on how amazingly teachers are doing in this time, and the wonderful ways schools and parents are working together to serve our nation’s kids. And all of last week in the Teachers Thriving Lounge Facebook Group, Trudy from Teachers Thriving was running a gratitude challengethe comments on the posts are so uplifting and proof that even in the strangest week of our collective teaching history (so far) there is good to be found. As Dumbledore says in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light. This week, make a decision to turn off social media or at least to be more intentional about your use of it. And remember turn on the light, dear teachers x

17.01.2022 It’s been 10 years since the scariest day of my life. The day when one phone call from the doctor about biopsy results changed everything. It was a line in the sand, a marker in time, the end of innocence and the beginning of becoming who I am today. There is my life before that day, and my life after. Not unlike the changes the pandemic has brought the world, for me it was incredibly scary and full of uncertainty, life as I knew it pretty much shut down for the next 3 months..., and then there was a gradual reentry to the world but it wasn’t the same. I was forever changed, in ways I’m still discovering, and that wasn’t the last time I’d face scary medical news and have to make major decisions about health and work and life. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, and yet 10 years on I can’t imagine my life without that day. I don’t know who or where or how or if I’d be. I know people moan about getting older but I’m honestly so looking forward to it. I’m grateful for every year. And even amidst this pandemic, there’s never been a better time in human history to be alive, especially as a woman. It’s been a bumpy decade. I’m so glad I’m on this end of it. I’m just getting started! See more

16.01.2022 Just a little something I recorded over on Instagram earlier this evening!

15.01.2022 Inspired by our Prime Minister, I made an alternative 'plea to teachers' as we all prepare to begin the most unusual Term 2 ever.

12.01.2022 Beautiful weather we’re having (which feels so strange amid the looming Covid-19 threat). @stukeene and I went for a walk around our neighbourhood this afternoon and there was this humongous flock of corellas...they flew off and then landed on the powerlines. Each is holding a little seed pod in one claw, knowing away on it! So cute and funny! Can highly recommend a walk outside to help calm the mind and body. We saw one family with walking a dog and of course stayed more tha...n 2m away (which I do anyway with dogs these days). Tough times ahead but there are things we can do now and always to stay present and look after ourselves. I’ve fallen into a bit of a FB rabbit hole this weekend and it really wasn’t good for my psyche. I’m committing to better digital boundaries this week coming, as well as social distancing as much as possible. How about you? See more

10.01.2022 This resonates so deeply with me! Are you an HSP?

09.01.2022 Early start for me today tuning into #wearepodcast. Was really looking forward to going to the event in person this year after missing out for various reasons the last few years. But the pandemic had other ideas and by the time it rolled around I honestly wasn’t that sad on this very chilly morning that the event went virtual because I didn’t have to get out of my pyjama pants for the morning sessions Some really interesting speakers so far, lots I agree with but also lots that I don’t (which is cool, I’m not their audience, and that’s ok!) but super Keene for @karlosophies session up next!

06.01.2022 Well this was a nice FB memory to pop up for me. This episode, and the feedback, was a bit of a turning point for me last year in my work at Self-Care For Teachers. Still working on getting more honest and more brave and more disruptive. I get the feeling it's the work of a lifetime so I am patient and compassionate with myself. It's really easy to critique and criticise but say nothing when we agree or are in support, and it's even easier to do that in this social media world. Take a moment to send some positive feedback to somebody you follow online who you appreciate. I bet it'll make their day x