Showing posts with label peace. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
The Path To Peace
Today I'm excited because we're having our counseling classes on conflict resolution this week outside on our Peace Labyrinth that former Bales Principal Jay Stailey and his friend Reginald Adams designed for us and helped us paint.
The lesson goes something like this:
First I share this funny and engaging Sesame Street clip,
featuring the late Robin Williams,
to show students what conflict is and what conflict isn't.
Then we watch this clip featuring a common conflict, a fight that ensued between two students after one cheated from another.
Before we head outside to the Labyrinth to role play what happens the next day between Jimmy and Max, we talk about what collaborating using the five steps to problem solving would look like on our conflict-resolution Peace Labyrinth.
It's interesting, because as they predict what the steps are, most of the students want to go straight to a solution. Instead, the steps include:
1. State the problem.
2. State your feelings.
3. State the other person's feelings.
{We're calling this one the empathy stop!}
4. Brainstorm solutions.
5. Choose the best solution.
So we head outside, and role play an easy one first, to review the steps: I want to eat at McDonald's, and the student who volunteers to walk the path with me wants to eat at Chick fil A. Then, we select a volunteer to play Jimmy and a classmate to play Max, and we let them walk the path to peace.
We're so happy even our Labyrinth is smiling!
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Being Strong
As I close my eyes for the night, I've got this weekend's renewal retreat on my mind. To be perfectly honest, I didn't want to go. I told myself it wouldn't be the same without my cousin Amy, who went with me last year. I told myself that I didn't have the energy to go. I told myself I wasn't feeling strong enough right now, to be social, to connect, and to share. The truth is that I needed to go, Amy or no Amy, to find that energy, to regain that strength. It wasn't by accident that I wore my Ellie's Explorers shirt to climb the Challenge Tower yesterday.
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| Click the t-shirt to support Ellie's Stroll Against Epilepsy. |
Ellie is one of my heroes;
She was on my heart as I ascended that fifty-foot tower.
I decided to take the climb slow and steady,
to stay in the moment.
I noted the breeze as I rested on the ledge
and was keenly aware of the warm sun on my skin.
Sometimes those blocks seemed just out of reach
and at one point, I almost said enough.
That's when the coach on the belay pointed out that
I was only a body's length from reaching my goal.
So despite shaky legs and weakened hands, I kept going.
You'll have to take my word about the breathtaking view at the top.
Life's a climb like that.
Sometimes things get challenging and it seems like our goals are
just out of reach.
But we forge on,
cheered on by those who love us,
stopping to rest when we need to,
and making sure
to be in the moment,
to breathe in the journey,
to enjoy the view along the way.
Thank you, Ellie, for showing me what
being strong
looks like, sounds like & feels like.
Friday, January 29, 2016
PPBF: Turn! Turn! Turn!
Today's post will be short and sweet as we wrap up
The Great Kindness Challenge and get ready to celebrate
National School Counseling Week.
Today's PPBF perfectly complements both.
To everything, there is a season ...
Title: Turn! Turn! Turn!
Author: Pete Seeger
Illustrator: Wendy Anderson Halperin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing
Date: September 1, 2003
Suitable for: age 5 and up
Themes: inspirational, peace, circle of life
Brief Synopsis: Based on the inspiration of Ecclesiastes Chapter 3, this book uses text from the Byrds song Turn!, Turn!, Turn! to explore and enjoy the ways people turn through the pages of the book of life.
Opening page:
Resources:
*Listen to the song on CD, included in the book.
*Have students draw a time line of their lives; challenge them to make it circular rather than linear.
*Encourage students to write and illustrate another line.
A time to ____ , a time to _____ .
What would you add?
Why I like this book: I've always been a fan of that verse from the Ecclesiastes and this song. Then when my friend Ann brought me a copy of the book, I fell in love all over again. Look how pretty it is sitting on my shelf among my angels.
To everything, there is a season ...
The circles on every page are beautifully illustrated to put this poetic text into a peace-filled picture. Such a simple yet important concept to remember, especially as we grieve the good-bye of something special and bounce forward into something new.
This week, some of our students worked with our high school PALs to paint a conflict-resolution peace labyrinth and it reminds me of the circular concept in this book.
To everything, there is a season.
We also hosted singer, songwriter, and expert bucket-filler Red Grammer on the Westwood side. Here he is teaching us to use our lids to keep ourselves happy and safe. Click the picture to see Mrs. Quigley's first-grade students teaching him and our audience the motions they use for his song The Power To Change The World.
And today, we say good-bye to our Principal, Terri, and hello to a new leader, J.T. It's a time of change again at Bales, the perfect time to get quiet and contemplate the circle of life.
Turn, turn, turn.
For more PPBF picks today, turn now to Susanna's blog.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Planting Our Peace Promise
Yesterday we celebrated International Day of Peace
and today I'm still feeling it.
The energy, the excitement ...
the passion, the peace.
This year instead of making the pinwheels in Art class, students took the Pinwheels for Peace template home to work on them as a family.
And wow, did we get some AmAzInG homework back.
It's our gift to the community, this peace sign, one thousand pinwheels strong, whirling our promise to be peacemakers out into the world.
Decorated with colorful symbols and reflective words that depict peace, each pinwheel, like the family that created it, tells a story.
How incredible it was to congregate for our annual planting event under beautiful blue Friendswood skies, to share with the world
that peace has to start somewhere ...
why not let it begin with us.
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Strength, Comfort, Hope & Peace
Today is a somber Sunday for my extended family;
a season of sorrow enshrouds us as we say good-bye to little Jack.
a season of sorrow enshrouds us as we say good-bye to little Jack.
This is how I want to remember my young cousin,
ready to take on the world of Kindergarten,
with his John Deere lunchbox in his hands
and a sweet sweet smile on his face.
ready to take on the world of Kindergarten,
with his John Deere lunchbox in his hands
and a sweet sweet smile on his face.
That's why this isn't a post that's coming very easily to me.
In fact, I wasn't going to write it at all.
But I don't want to miss the opportunity to honor and thank everyone who prayed with us during Jack's short illness and share our gratitude for the compassion and kindness you have shown during this difficult time.
You've lit prayer candles to give us hope.
You've lit prayer candles to give us hope.
You've written heartfelt poetry to make us smile.
You've sent us beautiful music to lift us up.
You've hosted a bootcamp to support us financially.
You've unified to draw on strength that we don't have right now.
And you've found inspirational words to help us heal.
You've called, texted and emailed; all of these treasures wrap us in a huge hug and bring us strength, comfort, hope and peace.
We are grateful to everyone who is willing to journey through this grief alongside of us. Because it won't be easy, to wade through this season of sadness.
In fact, because we love so deeply, it's going to be painful.
Excruciatingly painful.
Heartbreakingly painful.
Some days, it may seem impossible,
especially for those closest to Jack,
to keep going now that he's gone.
We might look lost.
Or feel angry.
We might just need you to sit and cry with us.
But our family's faith is strong, just like little Jack was,
and it will get us through what lies ahead, until we meet again.
So today, we ask that you remember Jack's parents, Jason and Renee, his big sister Ella, and his extended family and village of friends in your thoughts and prayers.
We celebrate the gift of five years that this little angel was here,
to make us laugh and bring us joy . . .
and we take comfort in knowing that Jack's guardian angel made an appearance in the nurses' station monitor just as he was about to fly to his heavenly home.
Friday, September 4, 2015
Motivating Peace
Today I'm thinking about International Day of Peace as it quickly approaches. This year will be our third time to formally join the global celebration by creating and planting our Pinwheels For Peace.
Peacemaking must begin with the children ...
Have you met Rosie the Red by author Rosemary McCarney?
My friend Pat from Children's Books Heal introduced me to Rosie back in June and I couldn't wait to get my hands on this little superhero's story.
Check out this post to see why.
You can also read a review from the CanLit blog {here}.
Basically, she's a precocious seven-year-old who loves to wear that red cape, a cape that she checks at the door when she arrives as school, where she's not allowed to wear it. Not until, that is, she needs to come to the rescue of a friend from a foreign land who is being teased and excluded because of her differences.
Check out this post to see why.
You can also read a review from the CanLit blog {here}.
Basically, she's a precocious seven-year-old who loves to wear that red cape, a cape that she checks at the door when she arrives as school, where she's not allowed to wear it. Not until, that is, she needs to come to the rescue of a friend from a foreign land who is being teased and excluded because of her differences.
I don't want to spoil it for you, but let's just say that Rosie's cape comes in handy as she finds the perfect way to model empathy, compassion, kindness and peace.
Need some enrichment resources to use with this little gem?
*Make Pinwheels For Peace and plant the promise.
*Create your own superhero cape from a T-shirt:
*Make Pinwheels For Peace and plant the promise.
*Create your own superhero cape from a T-shirt:
*Sing along with the SuperYou FUNdation's I Am A Superhero:
*Ask your students' parents to write on a 4x6 index card what makes their child a peacemaking superhero. Then ask your students to do the same.
I wonder how closely the two cards would match.
How will you be motivating peace today?
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Small Acts Big Change Guest Post
Today I'm delighted to introduce my guest blogger, a ten-year-old named Gracie, a real-life superhero who's making the world better, one kind act at a time.
Thank you, Gracie, for your leadership and inspiration.
Hi! My name is Gracie Dundee, and I am 10 years old. I have always wanted to make a difference in the world, and I started volunteering when I was 2 years old. In 2012, my sister and I started a nonprofit charity called Small Acts Big Change.
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| Click to follow us on Pinterest |
Small Acts Big Change is all about kids helping kids change the world. Our goal is to teach kids how important it is to give back and show them that they can make a difference through kindness and service. We coordinate many projects each year that benefit animals, people and our environment, including 9 Small Acts of Kindness, the Neighborhood Grocery Bag Campaign, Operation 500 Books and The Write Stuff.
My dream is to help create a world where everyone is kind and good, a world where people want to work together to make life better for everyone. I want to grow Small Acts Big Change so that someday we have over 1 million kids working on kindness projects with us all over the world. I think we can make the world a wonderful place for ALL animals and people, and I know this change starts with kids. Each of us really can make a big difference through small acts of kindness and service.
Please don't let anyone ever stop you.
Doesn't our future look bright
with Peacemakers like Gracie lighting the way.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Empathy & Chocolate Milk, Por Favor
Happy Sunday.
What does empathy have to do with chocolate milk?
Make room for Chocolate Milk, Por Favor!
What does empathy have to do with chocolate milk?
Make room for Chocolate Milk, Por Favor!
Today I'm delighted because I get to introduce you to the beautiful
Maria Dismondy multicultural newcomer for your book shelves. |
| Check out the book's brief synopsis on the back cover, left side. |
Love Maria's tag line: Actions speak louder than words. Truth!
Our personal, classroom and community libraries simply can not have enough diversity titles as we help our littlest leaders learn about, appreciate and celebrate cultural and other differences. Check out this flavorful find and see what happens when two unlikely things ~ soccer and chocolate milk ~ connect these boys and help them speak one common language.
Dismondy's Gabe, Levine's Mei Mei, and Ludwig's Brian are all thrown into a situation where they're having to not only navigate a new culture, but also master a new language and/or different school situation. How are their stories similar? How are they different? How would you help each of them if they were in your class? What would you want? What would you need?
For other compare/contrast titles, my alma mater has made this list of 50 multicultural tales available. And check out my friend Shawna's refreshingly comprehensive extension and enrichment ideas for Maria's book {here}. Then read 5 Ways to Cultivate Empathy from our friends at Happify.
Use Maria's signature Tips For Teachers/Parents page, written by my friend Elizabeth from Fun In Room 4B, to connect with and assist English Language Learners like Gabe as they learn and grow.
Follow Maria for more inspiration:
And for the real deal, listen to Maria reading her newest delicacy!
Author Bio: Maria Dismondy is an award-winning author, specializing in books about challenges children face. A topic close to her heart, Maria�s own childhood experience inspired her first book, Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun. Maria�s dedication to empowering children with courage and confidence has reached new heights, touching the hearts and hands of children the world over. Grounded in her belief that all children deserve a voice, Maria�s latest book, Chocolate Milk, Por Favor, drives home the important message of celebrating diversity with kindness, inclusion and empathy. As a sought-after speaker, Maria spreads her message by presenting at schools and conferences across the country. She holds degrees in education and child development. Maria lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband, Dave, and their three book-loving children.
Are you still reading? If so, you just stumbled on the secret bonus: Maria has graciously offered to give away a signed copy of her delicious treasure to one of you, my fabulous readers. Just leave a comment below (or on my book's Facebook page) telling us your favorite children's book with a diversity theme for a chance to win.
{It will also help if you leave your email, but if I know how to find you, no need.}
We'll put all of the comments into the Gruener Generator and select a winner this Wednesday, April 15th (Tax Day in the USA) after school, at 4 pm CST, to be announced in my Wednesday evening blog post.
Won't you join me in lifting our glasses to Maria to toast her efforts in
elevating empathy and celebrating diversity
one kind act at a time,
one child at a time,
one book at a time,
to make our world a better, more peaceful place to be.
Oh, and don't forget to stop visit my friend Sylvia at
Learning With Mrs. Parker for tomorrow's tour stop.
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