Today I'm excited because we have a winner for the three-month FarFaria App subscription. Congrats, Sarah Crist. I will be in touch with you to connect you with my friends at FarFaria so you can download your app directly.
Sarah's favorite B2S book is The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. Such a sweet, sensitive story with a built-in strategy to help young ones stay connected with their loved ones even when distance separates them.
Sarah's favorite B2S book is The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. Such a sweet, sensitive story with a built-in strategy to help young ones stay connected with their loved ones even when distance separates them.
Did you know that there's another book in this series,
one that targets the problem of bullying behaviors?
Click the book cover graphic for a reading on You Tube.
Watching this video from Conscious Discipline might very well be the most important ten minutes that you'll spend today. OK, that might be a stretch, but I promise you that you will not want to miss this look at how bullying happens.
It goes all the way back to birth. The part about children with "difficult temperaments" stopped me in my tracks. I especially connected with the explanation about what a parent says our of frustration and angers and what that parent actually means. How many times was that me?
A problem in the making ...
Now that we have this powerful information,
how do we meet the needs of those children she refers to as
"desperate for connection" effectively? Or at least a little? Because to them, a bad connection is better than no connection at all. And the part about "I don't care" meaning their brain is shut off, we've got our work cut out for us to reverse their "I don't feel cared for by anyone" feelings, because kids can't learn from someone with whom they don't have a relationship.
The virtue of "empathy is offline." WoW.
Ok, so the video kind of ends quickly, leaving us hanging. That's because it's produced by a company that'd like you to attend their training and use their program. But you can also elevate empathy and counteract that "problem in the making" by creating a climate of caring attachments in your classroom, with your class family. Put your focus on relationships and linking our students to one another and to you. Let them talk and teach them to listen. Help them express their feelings in a healthy way. Empower them to take responsibility for their own learning so that they don't feel unworthy or disconnected. You could be the one who helps that child connect. One of the slides in my presentation has some challenging Buddy-Buzz questions:
One by Kathryn Otoshi is a powerful tool
with an anti-bullying, be-the-one theme.
One by Kathryn Otoshi is a powerful tool
with an anti-bullying, be-the-one theme.
Using simple color blots to serve as its characters, Otoshi makes it easy for us to connect feelings to her tale about Blue. Yellow is bright and sunny, for example, and Purple is regal. Like fire, however, Red is hot and its anger translates into bullying behavior. Red pushes Blue around and no one intervenes to make it stop. Because the other colors won't stand up to Red, they are all eventually berated and belittled. Until One comes along. One helps the other colors understand that what Red is doing is wrong. One encourages the colors to be upstanders rather than bystanders. And, in the end, when Red gets so mad that he's about to roll away, it's his true Blue friend who suggests that they co-exist ... and maybe even get along? ... with this reflective inquiry: Can Red be hot and Blue be cool?
Want a glimpse into your students' world?
Make a Be A Buddy, Not a Bully T-chart before reading One aloud:
Check out this great review with activities for One {here}.
Watch a Vimeo using kid-made stick puppets to act out One {here}.
Don't miss this Pinterest page dedicated to One {here}.
This year, as you work to build relationships with your superheroes,
why not challenge them with this question:
How will you be the one?
Oh, and be on the lookout in Sept. 2014 for Two!
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Want a glimpse into your students' world?
Make a Be A Buddy, Not a Bully T-chart before reading One aloud:
Check out this great review with activities for One {here}.
Watch a Vimeo using kid-made stick puppets to act out One {here}.
Don't miss this Pinterest page dedicated to One {here}.
This year, as you work to build relationships with your superheroes,
why not challenge them with this question:
How will you be the one?
Oh, and be on the lookout in Sept. 2014 for Two!
************************
I can't wait!
I love, love, love that book ONE!!
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