Unleash The Power Within

I know, I know, I'm supposed to be on a self-imposed, self-care blogging break, and this week without writing has been a much-needed respite. But this afternoon, I'm taking a break from my break just to share some super exciting stuff.

First, two superheroes bulletin boards. This is the one I put up for new students and had to take down because the room had been reassigned to the new first-grade teacher, rendering it no longer a board I would be in charge of managing. Jennifer Quigley kindly offered to take it and she created this slightly-modified version to go outside of her room, which is great because it's right across the hall from me and I get to look at it every time I leave my office. 

This one is on Helpful Highway in the just outside of our library.

It features a bunch of jobs that our superheroes have, like Watt Watcher, Cool Caboose, Honesty Hero, Wonder Worker, Loyal Leader, Colossal Cleaner, Book Buddy, Recycle Ranger, and so on. I purchased this editable set {here}. 

Need a few more bulletin board ideas?

Check out the Really Good Stuff post from earlier this week

by clicking on this graphic:

Next, an awesome superhero poster I came across this week

from our friends at Character Counts!:

I had so much fun co-training with Carrie in Somerset ISD.

Let me just say that their school leadership has it going on!

As I reflect about the many workshops I've led this summer, I've decided to share a crowd favorite. It's called Character Connections and it can be found {here}. Not only is it an excellent way to infuse a meaningful movement break into your day, it's also a great springboard for discussions about things like the importance of active listening and the conflict that results from peer pressure. Process the disconnect of standing when the person beside you is sitting and vice versa, or of trying to listen and keep up once you've gotten behind and think you're no longer on track to arrive at your desired destination. So many real-world applications, lessons beyond the lesson if you will.

If you try that one, please reflect in the comments below about how it went and what your students thought about it.

One of my favorite new object lessons has to be this one: 

Find the comprehensive Character Counts! lesson plan {here}.

Finally, I thought our newbie FISD employees did an outstanding job creating a bumper sticker to encapsulate character: 

There you have it, the reason I needed to check in and take a break from my break. Look for me to return from my break in another week or so. Until then, 

what will you do to unleash the power within?