This is the premise for what my friend/colleague and I will be presenting at the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) in October in Austin, TX!  Building a Successful School Community through Accountability and Kindness.  Cannot wait!

7/30/16:  #beingkindmatters always.

7/29/16:  #beingkindmatters always.

Witnessing & Choosing Joy

A few months ago I had to run to the grocery store to pick up a cake to celebrate a fantastic first week of school with our staff.  I was in a rush trying to get back quickly.  When I got to my car I noticed a guy sitting in the passenger seat of the car next to mine.  He was rocking out... I mean really rocking out to the music blaring from his car radio.  The world around him didn't seem to exist.  I can just imagine the face I must have made... I probably raised my eyebrows making a strange "what in the world are you doing?" kind of face.  To be honest, my first thought was - 'what a weirdo' and then quickly put the cake in the car and headed back to school.

 

 As I pulled away I started thinking about the guy in the car and instead of raising my eyebrows, I smiled and thought, "Wait.  Why did I think he was a weirdo? The guy wasn't hurting anything.  His actions did not impact me or anyone else in a negative way whatsoever.  He was having a good time.  He was being - joyful."

This occurrence has encouraged me to look at a lot of things differently.  I think many of us, me included, sometimes rush to judge others a little too quickly and what's worse than being judgy is being judgy about things that don't hurt or impact us.  It's important to recognize that everyone doesn't find joy in the same things or in the same ways; but that's okay. 

 

This is a silly example but it's an example I used when talking to my boys about this topic.  When you drive around during the holidays you will see lots of festive lights and decorations.  Most are not my style or taste but instead of saying, "Ugh, that's so gaudy!" or "Over do it much?" I choose to remind myself, and my boys, that someone else's taste in Christmas lights and decorations has no negative impact on us and obviously it must bring them joy or they wouldn't have put them up. So now, when we find ourselves being judgy we just say, "Christmas lights" to each other.

 

I guess it's similar to a 'live and let live' attitude but I elect to take it a step further.  I want to be a witness to other people's happiness and choose to find my own joy in witnessing theirs.  I find myself stopping and smiling when I notice others being joyful.  It's a  good feeling.  It makes me feel connected with others and getting the opportunity to share in the joy they are experiencing is pretty special.  It reminds me that joy is all around us - even if sometimes we need to look for it, create our own, or soak in some that someone else is experiencing.

 

Yesterday I was traveling by train and sat across the aisle from a man who, with about two hours left of our 16 hour trip, put a video on his laptop.  He started bursting out laughing at funny parts in the movie.  A few other passengers started looking and shaking their heads- probably thinking he was weird... but I sat back, smiled, and thought to myself, "Christmas lights" and choose to soak in the joy he was experiencing for the last stretch of our trip. 

 

This new year, go out into the world and witness & choose joy!  Spread some, too, if you can!  #beingkindmatters

Instant Study Cards

Just Sharing...
When I taught special education I found that many of my students struggled with identifying important information they needed to study so I created study cards (and eventually taught them how to make them themselves) from the study guides they received from their other teachers.  Below is an example of a quick, easy, and neat way to create study cards.  You can provide them to students with the information already generated, post them to your teacher page for all students to access, give them just to the students who may struggle with identifying the important information, or you can create a template and have students make their own by typing the information into the template.  What do you think?

Just Sharing...
 

Why can't interesting, important work be fun, too?  We think it can! My colleague and friend, Kira, and I facilitated a three part flex series based on the book The Essential 55 by Ron Clark. The first session consisted of watching the movie, The Ron Clark Story, based on the book. We discussed the connections Mr. Clark made with his students and what practices we feel are 'essential' to enhance the positive culture in regards to behavior and respect for everyone in our building.

 

Over the past few weeks, several of us read the book, explored each of the Essential 55 Rules, and chose/tweaked the ones we feel will benefit our Middle School community (we chose 5).  We then created a proposal to share with our colleagues at a later date. We hope to have the opportunity to discuss and agree to implement these "rules" consistently across the board in every classroom in our school.

 

Some individuals and teams were unable to make it on the dates that we met but they watched the movie, read the book, and provided input on their own time anyway!

  

During the session that we watched the movie we moved the lobby couches into the Large Group Instruction Room (LGI) and ate popcorn! Just a few fun things to make the session more enjoyable- in addition to the great company and discussion!
 

 

Leave your titles and tenure at the door...

Just Sharing...

Today was pretty cool.  We had a rough winter that left us with TEN snow days to make up.  That meant losing days of our spring break, students attending school instead of being off on in-service days, and staff having to make up THIRTY hours of professional development by attending flex hours after school.  I facilitated several sessions and today's was one of my very favorite. 

Today 8 of us met for a "Think Tank."  We all brought articles, book excerpts, and/or video clips to share with the group and discuss.  We talked about making connections with students, ADHD, changing education paradigms, rubrics, programs that address student needs, technology, how to stay motivated as a teacher, and learning difficulties.

Our Think Tank Rule: "Leave your titles and tenure at the door.  When you enter this room we are all just educators and colleagues."  Everyone was encouraged to be honest and share their perspective and to be open and respectful to others' views.  We learned a lot about the topics we discussed, each other, and had a really good time!  You should try it!