Showing posts with label trustworthiness. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Sunshine In The Storm
As August ends, I hear rumblings; can it be that more rain is headed our way. If you're in the south, then you know it has been a stormy, soggy month.
We're ready to see more of the sun, that's for sure.
In leadership classes this week, we've been reading What Do You Do With A Problem? by Kobi Yamada. In this engaging text, the narrator is trying to figure out what to do with the problem that finds and is following him. The illustrations are drawn in such a way that the problem starts out looking like a black cloud and continues to grow to almost-hurricane proportions. As he talks his way through the problem, he realizes that the secret to problems is that they actually hold an opportunity. So I said to my students that it was kind of like finding blessings in your burdens, sunshine in your storm. That's when a new student challenged me with, "What if your problem is so bad that there's no way to find anything good in it? What then?"
Such a melancholy yet beautiful segue into a discussion about the role of the school counselor, someone to guide you when you're lost, to comfort you when you're sad, to light the path in your darkness, to help you move in right direction.
Someone to spread cheerfulness.
Someone to remind you that you matter.
Someone to remind you that you matter.
Someone to share joy.
Someone to listen.
Someone to understand.
Someone to care and hold your heart when you're hurting.
Here now, some pictures of where I get to do what I love:
The stage to the right, for our role plays.
The Puppet Palace in the far back corner.
The Counselor Cafe kidney table in the center.
Behind it, through that opened door, we have a Peace Room ...
filled with lots of different textures to help soothe our senses.
Feelings books, a reflection mirror, warm fuzzies, oh my.
Here's our Crayons to College bulletin board behind the stage
and a close up of our Pillar Power board.
Team Trustworthiness? I choose YOU.
Just outside of Leadership Central, a 7 Habits of Happy Kids display.
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| Click the picture to download the lettering from Mel at From The Pond. |
I am abundantly blessed to do what I love and love what I do.
In case you missed my guest post about trustworthiness
at Free Spirit Press earlier this week, click the graphic below.
Here's to a daily dose of that glorious Vitamin D.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Opening Doors
Today I'm excited about a $5 purchase I made at Half Price books.
It's a doorstop for the heavy door at the entrance to Hero Headquarters.
Perfect, right?
And, if you know me, you know that I see more than just a doorstop. I see an acrostic for four critical aspects of leadership.
S is for service.
T is for trustworthiness.
O is for open-mindedness.
P is for passion.
Effective leaders start with the heart. They're on the lookout for ways to make things better because they're all about serving others. Effective leaders are also trustworthy. We can count on them because they are honest in their dealings, they keep their promises, and they show integrity by being in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing. Effective leaders have a growth mindset. They're lifelong learners who firmly believe that anything is possible. Anything. And effective leaders live life with great passion. They go to great lengths to enthusiastically and wholeheartedly transfer energy and light to others.
But those are just my thoughts about what STOP might stand for.
I'm so eager to hear what my superheroes at Bales think when I pose the inquiry: What leadership skills will open doors for us?
If you're in the area, please stop by Hero Headquarters;
we'll keep the door opened for you!
Friday, July 10, 2015
Perfectly Imperfect
It's Friday and it just feels like time for a book review.
{Am I the only one who misses PPBF?}
Yesterday I went to Barnes & Noble to pick up a book I'd ordered,
and here's the bonus find that made its way home with me.
(As an aside, I was going to be named James had I been born a boy).
Anyway, this little treasure is packed with valuable gems ready for mining.
Here's my favorite page, where the problem begins:
The beauty is ... this is so so real.
And, just like in real life, the story morphed.
It wasn't that James said she thinks she's perfect.
It's that James said he thinks her artwork is perfect.
But you know how misunderstandings go ... and now ...
they're in a fight ... or at least ...
in our narrator's heart and mind they are.
I see this jewel as the perfect springboard to target and help stop
rumors, gossip, and distrust in their tracks.
The protagonist never does go to the source, to James, to get the truth, which is perfect, because it allows the reader to arrive at that solution by him or herself.
For enrichment, the Telephone Game? What a perfect idea!
Or adapt this lesson and let the glitter represent rumors instead of germs.
You might want to also treat yourself to this intriguing article:
Just for fun.
Get yourself a red balloon and inflate it to show how
quickly rumors grow before they eventually explode.
Then ask your children to draw something perfectly imperfect.
To stretch them.
To nurture their creativity.
And grow their mindset.
Check out this book; I think you'll be perfectly pleased.
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