WE Rock

Today I started in the hallways, with the ukulele, playing the one song I know, so far. Sometimes I'd just strum, other times I'd sing the lyrics. I started switching chords and asking, "Is this a happy chord or a melancholy chord?" Most agreed that C is happy - to which I'd say "that's cause I'm happy to C you" - and C7 is a bit more melancholy. {I might be on to something for a future lesson} Anyway, this fourth-grade girl whom I'll call Grace {because that's her name and I so needed a little grace this morning} asks me if she and her sister can sing the song with me. You can pretty much guess what I said. And how I felt. When we finish, she tells me it's National Day of Forgiveness. As I'm about to respond to her, her sister quickly adds,

"Let me guess, that's your favorite day."

Uh, yeah!

I can't confirm that today actually is National Day of Forgiveness,

 but here's what I do know: ♥=warmed. 

Here now, my first week back-to-school in review.

On Tuesday, I made a WE Rock (and wrote a little ditty) for each staff member at my new school. It was a follow-up to our staff development time together, during which I encouraged them to always be on the lookout for intentional ways 

to move from me to we.

Together we're rock-solid and can splash bigger, so seize those opportunities to circle up and feel the power of WE!

Speaking of together-power, a cyberspace collaborator from one of my Facebook groups graciously shared this editable template, so I customized it as a visual for when students visit for our Meet The Counselor circle time next week.

And another collaborative ... our reflection mirror.

This spring our Crossing Guard, who also happens to be a mom on our campus (and a former student of mine from a lifetime ago), stopped by to see my new space. I shared with her my excitement about this mini-dressing-room mirror that our maintenance hero, Fred, had found for me. Before I even fully explain my plan to use post-it notes for the reflections, she offers to create the inquiries on her Silhouette. To be honest, I really wasn't sure what that was, but it felt so incredibly kind and generous and perfect, so I said yes! 

Consider this one of those times that I hope a picture truly is worth a thousand words so it does justice to convey how thrilled I am with how our Reflection Station turned out {especially since taking a picture of a mirror proved particularly tricky!}.

My feeling tiles went in this week ...

and my feelings carpet is scheduled for delivery tomorrow.

I think I'm ready. Here's what the character cam caught

as I walked the halls and checked in on my school family.

Check out this collage of the hand-drawn-and-painted banners outside of Pod B; what can you tell about our brand from these visuals?

And inside Pod A, I spied some supercharged third-grade work!

Yep, the 2015-2016 is off to a stellar start.

Six other resources you might useful today include:

Small Acts Big Change 9 Acts of Kindness Calendar

Can you learn empathy?

The Kindness Offensive

Traits of Good Character Freebie from Savvy School Counselor

Ten Little Lunchbox Notes download from Mama Miss

And, my favorite inspiration, Kid President, to share some 

serious fun, some end-of-summer passion,

 and an incredibly important reminder for us all.