Showing posts with label character training. Show all posts

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Big Bucket, Big Sky

Posted by Amazing People, on 1:30 PM
Today I'm feeling blessed beyond words, in part because of the best Bucket Filling interaction ever that happened last week, between one of our new third graders and me. He stopped by the window sill where I sit every morning {with my ukulele, surrounded by my band of musical friends} and said, 
"Hey, you're getting pretty good at that!"  


I responded with, "Wow, thanks. That compliment overflows my bucket!" and, without missing a beat, he pulled what appeared to be an imaginary bucket from his pocket and replied, "Here's a bigger bucket for you." 
Perfect timing, too, because I needed that bigger bucket 
under the big sky in Montana this week!


So before I get to the point of today's post, 
let me share a few character cam shots of the breathtaking beauty.


The fog blankets the terrain as we head into
Custer National Forest,


the birds flit from pillar to post, 


and a red fox camouflages against the rocky road. 


We crossed over into Wyoming at some point;


and the picturesque scenery gave me pause.


Fall foliage peeking through ...


paints a colorful canvas along the Creek in Red Lodge.


Did I mention that my bucket is overflowing with peace, hope & joy?



And the restorative road trip wasn't even the best part.



Meet Tanya, Julie & Jeri, my three new friends from Billings Public Schools.


If you've been a visitor at the Corner for awhile, you already know Tanya from her guest posts about Empathy in a (Shoe) Box, Being Wendy, Fr(I) Statements and Vision Boards. Well, she got the idea that she'd like for me to come to her district to do some training, so this determined Montana Counselor of the Year wrote a grant last Fall and, voila, in March I got an email from her, asking me to pack my bags. We set my visit for September 22nd, Character Day 2016,
 and what a day of character development it was. 

I started the morning singing, dancing, laughing and building character with about thirty counselors, principals and administrators, then spent the afternoon doing much of the same with the combined faculties of Highland Elementary and Boulder Elementary. On Thursday night, I got to hang out with about fifty new friends at Family Character Night.


We sang together.


We read Flight School by Lita Judge.


And we talked about the power of that one little word: YET.


As I flashed up this picture from my friend Kristina, whose fifth grade teachers at Whitcomb Elementary made this visual display with the students' SMART goals for the year, I asked the children to share out loud something they can't do or haven't done yet so that we, as a group, could encourage them to keep on growing by chanting the word YET. Engagement and emotion grew as our growth-mindset Padawans shared their authentic answers:

I can't dance ... YET.
I can't bake a cake ... YET.
I can't play the ukulele ... YET.
I haven't found a friend ... YET.

Tears came when the Principal at Boulder Elementary sent me this note and explained that first thing next morning, one of those Padawans was waiting at her door, to share this thank-you treasure:


And, because of your note, Brady, and these kind comments
from workshop participants ~

This is how Professional Development is supposed to be.
I could have listened to you all day.
Just the shot of inspiration I needed.
I loved everything you had to say.
It was very good and really opened my own mind-set.
I learned so much; what a great presentation.

~ my bucket continues to overflow
bigger than Montana's big blue sky.



And the rainbow on the way home, a promise ...



that one day my plans (and a plane) would take me back in that direction.

Thank you, Tanya and Billings Education Foundation, for giving me this 
once-in-a-lifetime, picture-perfect opportunity.







Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Mindset Matters

Posted by Amazing People, on 1:38 PM
Happy March.
Today I'm excited because my guest post on resilience is now live; click the graphic below to go to Free Spirit Press and read all about it. 


I'm also delighted that I've been invited to present a parenting workshop on Mindset tonight in a neighboring district.


Click {here} to view and/or download the handout.



I use this tangible to show what our brains look like
when they're in fixed mindset mode and growth!

Here's a guest blog post at Free Spirit if you want more info.
And a bulletin board we used to unlock fixed beliefs:


 Here's one of the slides I love to share:



Want more Mindset info? Check out my
Growth Mindset Pinterest page {here}.

One final note to my faithful readers: Today marks post number 1300 at The Corner On Character. That being the case, it's nearly impossible to make sure that links that are live when I post will continue to work in the days, months, and years ahead. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause as you connect to learn and grow with us.






Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Singing My Song

Posted by Amazing People, on 4:00 PM
Today I'm excited because the leaf-sized hearts, filled with the things we're grateful for, are filling up this tree in the entrance to our school. 
The most beautiful, heartfelt things. 
Families & friends. 
Sunshine & rain. 
God & Jesus. 
Gratitude, from the bottom of our students' hearts. 
I can't wait to share a picture of it once it's complete.


I'm also eager to share this recap of my visit to
Charlotte Anderson Elementary in Arlington, Texas, last week.

I arrived on Thursday evening in time for Family Character Night. Picture the scene: 50 families coming together for dinner, for a singing performance by their kids, and for some time with an author and character educator, me. The coolest part is that those angelic voices were singing one of my songs. 
On stage. 
Live. 
To me.
I wish you could have been there to hear them singing my song, 
the one called Talk, Walk, Then Tell, 
set to the music of The Chicken Dance:

If a bully bothers you, 
and you don't know what to do,
out at recess or in school,
talk, walk, then tell.

I'll be a buddy, not a bully.
I'll be a friend and take a stand.
I can swarm or go get a grown-up,
so we can all lend a helping hand.

What an honor, to have those superheroes singing my song. It was a hard act to follow, that's for sure. For my part of the program, I chose to read aloud Maria Dismondy's Chocolate Milk Por Favor, and intersperse the text with a few of my other poems, ditties, and songs. I drew a parallel between my story about Carlos (how he came to live on our farm not knowing a lick of English and how his predicament taught me empathy) and Gabe in Maria's masterpiece. When I'd finished, a young boy came to thank me, and his mom shared that that was his story just two years prior, coming to America to school and not speaking the language. Then she asked if she could take a picture of her children with me. 
Be still my beating heart.

Friday was equally as heartwarming. I played my ukulele as students arrived at school. They'd stop to talk - Thank you for the music. - and ask questions - Do you get paid to play that for us? and more questions - Wait, are you the author? And I felt right at home, in my element. 

Kindness: The writing's on the wall at CAE.
Routines changed a bit that morning because the school was on an early dismissal schedule that day but it didn't seem to phase the kiddos one bit. I met them in the gym where they were sitting respectfully and the Art teacher and I led an impromptu ukulele-guitar sing-along using the song You Are My Sunshine. Such an AmAzInG way to launch into a fantastic Friday!

Don't you love the kid-friendly LOOK?
I spent two hours with the Character Crew before being interviewed by this Viking News Network Crew. Here are two excerpts from that time with them; prepare to be WoWed by these articulate budding reporters.






I truly could have visited with them all afternoon, without question. After their dismissal and our lunch, I led a two-hour afternoon session with the staff on school climate. Before I was whisked away to the airport, I was given a very special gift, one that I'll never forget. The CAE school family has commissioned a Buddy Bench to be built and installed on their playground in my honor. Such a generous gesture of caring, support, kindness, enthusiasm and love.

Oh yeah, they're singing my song alright.

Who's singing your song?




Thursday, November 5, 2015

Sometimes It's Frightening

Posted by Amazing People, on 7:28 PM
Today I was telling my students the story of how teacher-authors Dave and Shelley Burgess bought us ten ukuleles for our UKE lab when one of them said, "That's so generous." Then he added, "Why would they do that for us?"


I explained that we'd connected on Twitter and that our teachers, as a staff, are studying Teach Like A Pirate this year. I told them that they love it when educators use hooks, strategies to engage and excite students. For fun, I asked my students what hooks they've noticed that I use. And I loved hearing their answers:

*puppets
*friendliness
*kindness
*a smile
*forgiveness
*stations
*ukuleles
*music
*fun games
*funny-ness (yes, humor is a hook!)

It warmed my heart. I especially liked the forgiveness comment, until the student further explained that my classroom is a place where it's okay to make mistakes.
Wait, what? Aren't all classrooms just mistake-making labs?

 Here's a non-negotiable I've learned in my 32 years of service:
Our kids deserve a safe environment to engage, explore and create.
A school where they're reeled in, hook, line, and sinker.
A place where they're firmly planted with permission to bloom and grow. 

In my work, I've had the pleasure over the years of visiting lots and lots of schools where I get to see AmAzInG things happening. With that privilege, I also see lots and lots of areas for improvement and growth. I've witnessed teachers who at frustration point resort to yelling so bad that a student once shared that, "Sometimes it's frightening." My own son experienced this in sixth grade, a scolding so fierce that he was still visibly shaking with fear after school. He stayed scared for days. And weeks. 

The respect we think we're demanding when we yell isn't respect at all. 
It's just fear. 
Don't our kids deserve better than this?

With so many positive approaches to classroom connections and management, two of which include Capturing Kids Hearts and Responsive Classroom Morning Meetings, there's really no need for an educator to be reduced to belittling, to shaming, to screaming. Ever. In fact, when we yell at kids, guess what they learn? Yep, they learn that yelling is okay. 
That yelling will help solve our problems. 
That yelling is an appropriate way to respond to our frustration. 
Or to get our needs met.
Simply put, they learn to yell.

Let me say it one more time: 
 Our kids deserve better.

Click for source ~ @BethHouf blog
 So there you have it, one of the reasons I'm so passionate about finding hooks that invite kids in, and helping reduce the undesirable practices that might chase them away. I don't ever want to hear the words "Sometimes it's frightening" at our school, on my watch. 

Tomorrow I get a chance to help with some Character Counts! implementation training in Angleton. Then next week, I'm headed to the Dallas area to Mansfield ISD to lead a Family Character Night workshop and then work with the school family at Charlotte Anderson Elementary, and I can't wait. I am super proud of the commitment of both of these districts to a creating a caring climate and I'm honored that they'd let me help them build a brighter and better tomorrow.







Monday, October 19, 2015

Lunch 'n Learn

Posted by Amazing People, on 4:00 PM
While chatting on Twitter early last June, someone mentioned hosting a brown bag Lunch 'n Learn. That's my sort of thing, I remember thinking, mostly {if I'm being completely honest} because I liked the way the alliteration made the idea to gather and grow during lunch sound more appealing. Tasty, even. 

The very next day I went walking with my friend April and we started cooking on an idea for this year's first Lunch 'n Learn at Bales.


Our topic would be Morning Meeting and I would invite someone with some experience, say a veteran teacher like April, to share her expertise. To sweeten the invitation for both the speaker and my staff, I'd even offer to make the lunch, {How do chicken salad sandwiches sound?} with the help of a few of my favorite volunteers, of course. Well, that created a win-win, and April's presentation last Friday was AmAzInG.



She talked about her roots as a pioneer, the lone teacher in her building, actually, who was doing a morning meeting when she started teaching twenty years ago. She said it transformed her teaching. And she fondly reminisced about how she recruited a few other teachers to try it, just by modeling how tightly it connected her class. 


She talked about the why behind the coveted circle time 
and she shared benefits of the four (now five) parts to each meeting.


She gave some examples of how her class meetings 
would look, sound & feel.



And she shared resources ... 


to enrich our Morning Meeting ritual and experience.


 So today I'm grateful, that April would share her time and talent with us, and that some of our teachers would give up their duty-free lunchtime to learn and grow.

The important take-away?
You may think you don't have time, but you
do have time. And it'll be a valuable investment!

Next up, a Lunch 'n Learn for caregivers? 
Who knows!
Have you ever hosted a Lunch 'n Learn at your school?
If so, we'd love to read your reflections in the comments.





Friday, August 21, 2015

Building Relationships, Changing Lives

Posted by Amazing People, on 6:00 PM
Today I'm excited because we got to spend this morning
Building Relationships with passion. 
When the Mr. Whitlock asked me before my workshop if I thought it'd be life-changing, I wasn't exactly sure how to answer. My plan is always to plant seeds that will sprout and grow; it's always my goal to make a difference. And tonight, as I reflect, I'd have to say that yes, it was life-changing, because every time we're reminded to love a little extra on a child, with intention and on purpose, 
it absolutely has the power to change a life.

We began our session with an inquiry ~ What do you want to remember about the 2015-2016 school year? ~ and a Minute to Win It competition: 
Let's build goal posts to represent our end goal.




Fun is the ticket to engagement, and challenges like these really are wonderful hooks to engage our learners.


We talked about what the year would look like as we connect our classroom families and we reviewed and reinvigorated our commitment to Capturing Kids' Hearts, conducting Morning Meetings, and empowering students with Kelso's Choices.

One activity resulted in two visual displays showcasing the treasures that we bring, one in the Westwood Cafeteria ...


the other just outside my office in the front hallway at Bales.


It was an action-packed three hours.

We moved.
We laughed.
We listened.
We circled up.
We played with balloons.
We buzzed with a buddy.
We reflected.
We colored.
We connected.
We cried.

And after we wrote notes to express our gratitude to someone who has positively influenced our journey, we shared them with one another, out loud, to practice publicly appreciating and affirming our loved ones.


We launched with this clip from Parkway Schools in Missouri, to encourage them to experience school through the eyes of a child.


It's a passionate reminder that every day we get a chance ... 
to step into someone's story 
and change the trajectory of his or her future. 
For good. 
And that's a touchdown for both the gift giver and the recipient.
Click {here} if you want to see my slides.

Happy new year.





Monday, July 20, 2015

Because Of Carlos

Posted by Amazing People, on 11:00 AM
It has been forty years since he stepped into my story on my family's farm, that young man from Mexico who traveled to the frozen tundra to learn alongside of us how to farm the Wisconsin way, forty years since I signed up for Spanish as a high school freshman so that I could speak his language and help him better understand and be understood, forty years since he helped me become a global citizen who would wholeheartedly connect to and fall in love with another culture and its beautiful people. Four decades; that's a very long time. 

I joke that he stole my heart; truth is I did have a little crush on him. 

And though it has been forty years, I firmly believe that it's because of Carlos that I just spent four glorious days with some of the kindest, gracious, and most passionate people around. 

Here's how it worked:

Carlos moved to our place right before I registered for high school; I decided to learn Spanish, because of Carlos. And even though the winter was too harsh and he returned to his home down south before I could say much more than Hola and Me llamo Barbara, it's because of Carlos that I was determined to master the language. Because of Carlos, I crossed the border as a sophomore, traveling to Mexico City, Guadalajara and Guanajuato and racing up the pyramids of Teotihuacan with a small group from my high school. Because of Carlos, I continued my studies in college and, after ten years of studying the language, I earned a minor in Spanish. And because of Carlos, I taught Spanish for ten years.


Flash forward twenty years; if Carlos hadn't taken that step into my story, I'm not sure I'd have even learned Spanish, much less moved to Texas to teach it. From there, who knows if I'd have studied counseling and become so interested in character education. And if not, then I likely wouldn't have given the keynote address in D.C. at last year's Forum, where members of the Secundaria Tec de Monterrey school family first met me and extended the invitation to join them as a presenter this past weekend at their Character Congress in Juarez.

Because of Carlos, I said yes to Juarez ...


where I left a huge piece of my heart yesterday.


When I was in Mexico, this ad came across my Twitter feed.
It basically says, "After they washed me, nothing was the same."


It gave me the idea to turn the dial slightly and change it from a negative experience to a positive one, from a fixed to a growth mindset. 
I closed my presentation with this photo from Friday night's dance:

After the 5th Character Education Congress, nothing was the same.

I am not the same ... 
I am better ... because of Juarez ... 
and because of Carlos.

And whose Carlos will I be?



So today I'm wondering this: 
Who in the world is your Carlos? Who has taken a significant step into your story and made it better? Do they know just how far their influence has positively rippled? Have you thanked them? And how will you repay the favor?





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