Empowering Heart Smarts

Happy February; what an amazing few weeks we've enjoyed.

As the calendar page turned, I was on a quick trip to Michigan.
On the way, I read The EQ Intervention by Dr. Adam L. Saenz.

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Connecting Kindness

Today my heart is so incredibly happy because I just spent three glorious days in Washington DC at the Character.org National Forum on Character Education, where I got to serve as their first-ever guest MC.

I flew to DC with this heartwarming realistic fiction novel, 

kindly sent to me by the publisher, in hand ...

Click the image for more info.

... and I landed in DC with it imprinted deeply onto my heart.

As I devoured Maddie's story on the plane, I cried.

Twice.

Like big crocodile tears.

Tears of pain because of the pain no child should have to endure

and the connection to one of my own students this year

who is terminally ill with a brain dystrophy.

And then tears of joy because that resilient,

compassionate child decides to forgive, give grace,

and show kindness in an incredibly difficult social situation.

I mustache that you grab your tissues and check out this kindness giant by Chad Morris and Shelly Brown; when you do, please check back in and let us know what you thought about Maddie and her journey.

 My flight arrived in time for the last little bit of an afternoon workshop, registration, and a chance to reconnect over dinner with some friends from Dallas over an early dinner. My official duties would start by 7:30 am Friday morning, so I called it an early night.

Friday brought one joy after another.

This year's Forum was huge.

766 character educator friends.

23 states.

10 nations.

To illustrate the importance of moving from me to we, I took the mic and immediately asked some counseling friends from Clear Creek ISD to join me on stage to sing You Are My Sunshine. 

It was a powerful moment I will never forget and I will forever be grateful to these five peacemakers for showing conference-goers that together we're better.

After a full day of fun soaking in knowledge, wisdom and insight with Michele Borba, Byron Garrett, and my new friend Houston Kraft, it was time for the Promising Practices workshop. After all of the winners were announced but before I went back to the stage to introduce the Sandy Award, it came to my attention that we'd forgotten to announce the names of a few of our winners. So I took down their information, apologized for our oversight and was about to call for the thunderous applause that they deserved when a disturbance in the crowd led me to believe that there may be a few more schools to recognize. 

It was clear that a big decision needed to be made. 

By me. 

On my own. 

For the good of the group. 

So I called an audible and made this announcement:

 If your school's name was left off of the list, please come on up to the stage so that we can celebrate your school and your Promising Practice.

As they lined up, I was really hoping I had done the right thing.

As I listened to them announce their school's name and watched the school pride ooze from their very cores,

I knew I had.

I reconnected with my book's publisher and editor for dinner that night, and slept really, really well satisfied by how the day had gone.

On Saturday, up early again, this time to set the tables

with Kind Coins cards from our friends at Kids For Peace.

Along with that box of cards, more kindness; 

a copy of Do The Kind Thing and some pom pons for me.

Then, I got to introduce my audience to Jet Stream Jax

and play the Kind Coins video clip.

And they fell in love!

Then, more inspirational workshops, including this one 

by Motivational Ninja Joe Beckman.

Joe Beckman moved us by inviting a few of us

to dance The Cupid Shuffle with him. 

Check out those smooth moves!

His message? Humans thrive on connection.

Here's a brilliant suggestion I hope we'll try:

And finally, the National Schools of Character luncheon

where we honored Clear Lake Elementary, Ward Elementary,

and Mossman Elementary from our neighboring towns.

After Dara Feldman's riveting afternoon keynote,

I headed to the airport for my 4:55 pm flight.

Turns out, it would carry some Korean War Veterans

so we were treated to a mail roll call,

singing the Aggie War hymn,

and a water salute at landing.

All of us connected by kindness.

In unity.

As one.

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Inspiring Greatness

Today I'm excited because our freebie Kindle Edition of the book was downloaded so many times these last two days that we're ranked number 1 at Amazon. 

Talk about your character celebration! 

That made yesterday a lot better, because giving books away gave me something to do while I was at home with the plumber, who was in the attic fixing the leak in the water pipe so the ceiling didn't give way. I'm so very grateful to author, speaker, and parenting expert Bill Corbett for encouraging me to get the book on Kindle, for his help in making that happen, and for his kind crusade to spread the word. Here's what he tweeted last night:

And a cyberspace colleague added these tweet thoughts:

I'm eager to get back to school today to keep our character celebration going and finish up our Papa John's Pizza Box Pages. Just look at this example from a first grader, served up with a smile.

As many of you know, I leave for DC a week from tomorrow to kick off the 21st annual National Forum on Character Education. This year's theme is 
Beyond Accountability - Inspiring Greatness.
Thanks for the many bucket-filling emails and texts wishing me well and affirming my work. I am super eager to celebrate with our friends down the road in Angleton at Southside Elementary, a 2014 NSOC, and reconnect with kindred spirits from all over who inspire greatness.

And speaking of inspiring greatness, check out what some of our
superheroes have to say about empathy, peace, and kindness.
They will carry our message out into the world long after we're gone. 
{Spoiler alert - if you're coming to the Forum, you might want to wait and watch this with the audience on Friday}.



I'm so grateful to Meredith Wise and her students at FHS for filming and editing this character clip for us. 
It truly does take a village ...

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Climate Changers 9

It's that time again, time to honor our newest batch of
National Schools of Character 
and I'm over-the-moon ecstatic to announce that another school just down the road from us has earned this distinction. Please help me in congratulating Southside Elementary in Angleton, Texas! 

What makes this honor extraordinary for me is that a group of character educators from Southside came to our NSOC Open House in February of 2010 to celebrate and grow with us. And now, they're harvesting the fruits of those labors. In a thank-you correspondence received late last night, Sharon, a third-grade teacher there, told me that we planted not only seeds that day, but "a tree" whose strong roots went deep and whose yield is very high. My heart is dancing with my friends at Southside and I cannot wait to celebrate with them in person in DC and then back here. They are truly changing the climate, deep in the hearts of little Texans.

Now to today's Climate Changer, who also hails from our area. This past January, I was blessed to spend a day facilitating a character-development workshop at Ward Elementary, where I posed the question, "What do you want your alumni to look like?" Their response? Alex Judd. And while that might not mean that much to other guests in their building, I knew exactly what they meant because I'd had the pleasure of meeting this fine young Ward alum and I agreed wholeheartedly. 
They are so very proud of him, and rightfully so.

We first met Alex in the summer of 2011, on a tearful day in August as we pulled up to the curb in front of the dorms at the University of Texas to drop our firstborn off at college. Checking in a week early for marching band tryouts, Kaitlyn was more excited than I'd ever seen her. Her father and I, on the other hand, were a bag of mixed emotions snarled with a bundle of nerves. What came next changed all of that. Out of the blue and quite by surprise, we were met by a group of young men, members of the band service fraternity, KKY, offering to helping move Kaitlyn in. Their arms were full of her stuff before we even had a chance to introduce ourselves. And the leader of the gang was this gregarious tuba player from Clear Brook High named Alex. Alex Judd. We were instantly drawn to this young man with a servant heart, who connected with us and made us feel like we were home (John played tuba  in the Longhorn Band, too, and Clear Brook is just a stone's throw from my elementary school in Friendswood). His huge smile and friendly personality didn't hurt. 

The van was emptied in no time at all, and Kaitlyn had been adopted and felt like a part of the Longhorn Band before she even stepped foot on the field to audition.

You may already know that Kaitlyn did make the band and will start her fourth year with them in August, this time as a clarinet section leader. Alex went on to become their drum major his junior and senior year, and now he's graduating. 

Alex is a born leader who enthusiastically and authentically 
leads with his heart. 
He's passionate and purposeful. 
And he leaves his best on the field and still has it to give. 
He's the kind of young man that you want your children making friends with and bringing home, and he's the alumni that your school family would undoubtedly be proud to call their own, not only because of what he does, but because of who he is.

 If you ever need an inspirational speaker to influence greatness in your future leaders, please keep Alex in mind. 
He's got a gift which he willingly and freely gives away, 
and that makes him a Climate Changer in my book. 

Congratulations on your graduation, Alex, and thank you

for your part in changing our world, one move-in at a time.

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Planting Our Future

So Friday morning I had the pleasure of an early-morning

conference call with some character educators at

Southside Elementary, a 2014 Texas State School of Character 

from down the road in Angleton. They came to our

National School of Character Open House four years ago

and have been on their journey down Character Road since. 

It was super exciting talking with them; 

I'm so proud of their work and was thankful for the chance to 

cheer them on,

calm them down,

and encourage them

for their NSOC Finalist site visit next Friday.

I was honored and humbled at the same time when they told me that we'd planted more than just a seed ...

that'd we'd planted a tree!

Here's the thing about that. 
Sure, someone has to do the planting.

Like these seedlings, for example.

We found them growing in our grass, planted either

by squirrels or by nature itself.

But it is also takes many hands to 
fertilize, 
deep-root feed,
nurture,
water,
prune,
sometimes transport 
and cultivate those seeds.
And then you've got to give them time, lots of time,
before they're the trees whose shade you can sit under.
In fact, like the Greek Proverb says, it may not even be
in our lifetime that someone will enjoy the shade.
Sometimes we plant for someone else.

It's like that in education.
We're planting now for later.
For our future.
For our kids.
For the kids who are sitting next to our kids.
Who are working and playing with our kids.
Whom our kids will rely on and trust.
Whom our kids will care about and love.

So thank you, Southside Elementary, for caring so deeply for the trees that the Westwood Elementary family was able to help you plant. 
We're pleased with the heart work you're doing and we wish you well.

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Sold Out For The Kids

I wasn't even going to go to that National School of Character Open House at North Pointe Elementary yesterday because I've been there before, three times to conduct workshops, once as a site visitor and then in November when they brought home the CEP banner from the National Forum in DC.

That was a special celebration!

I attended that day to bring congratulations from our NSOC to theirs 

and to dance the Six Pillar Shuffle with them.

Click the picture to read all about it.

But late this week I made a last-minute, executive decision that, because I have an intern who would totally benefit from attending and networking at their NSOC Open House, I simply had to attend.

And, sure enough, I was blessed beyond belief. 

The sixty participants were treated to the most amazing morning. We started in the monthly Character Connection community meeting, then moved to the library for an overview and agenda, to look at our maps and to enjoy some time to reflect. At 9:00, we broke into a six-session, two-hour block of pure bliss. 
Our chance to watch and see, to learn and grow. 

From the best in the business.

A school family that is clearly sold out for the kids.

I sent my intern with Angela, a counselor and friend from a neighboring district, and I moved from session to session enjoying the blessing by the fruits of our labor. You see, the character momentum was fueled when their Principal Kelly Mooney and their Counselor Jennifer McCaffrey joined us at the Westwood Elementary NSOC Open House at this time five years ago in 2009. I am at once honored and humbled to have been a part in this school's glorious journey.

I started in the Coffee Chat with the Principal, then I took a solo session to simply roam the halls, look at their vibrant visual displays, followed by the Character Cruise session led by my colleague and friend, Jennifer. I was bursting with pride at the way this young counselor has taken seeds I've planted and cultivated them to positively impact her faculty, staff, students, and families. I took a water break that's worth mentioning because it was a passing period, and I got caught at the bubbler while a class passed by. One student saw that I was waiting, and she stopped the line and invited me to go through to get back to my classroom. On her own. Because that's how they treat others at this  model school. 

I attended a session on the CEP's Eleven Principles, a session on Morning Meeting, and visited a random classroom where students recognized me from their celebration last fall and were eager to tell me about their blogging adventures. I was intrigued when they broke into small groups and began by working on their secret group handshakes.

Before I knew it, it was time for a yummy working lunch and the closing. I sat by my intern and listened as she eagerly shared all that she'd taken in and experienced. After we heard from the fifth-grade Leadership Team, it was time for a Q & A with a student panel. I decided to play devil's advocate and ask this question: Aren't fourth and fifth graders too cool 

for all of this character stuff?

It was while students were answering my question, that I got emotionally overwhelmed and started to cry.

Yep, big crocodile tears. 

Of pride. 

Of joy. 

Of hope.

This fifth-grade girl told the participants in no uncertain terms that they were not too cool, that, in fact, kindergarteners "get so ecstatic" to be able to sing with the big kids. We do it for them, she told us. Another student added that it's important because "we're building our reputation." And a fifth-grade boy said that they might be the oldest now, but next year in sixth, it'll be like they're "back in kindergarten as the youngest." 

Their message? You're never too old to be a character kid. And that doesn't happen by chance. That happens when you're committed to raising future leaders founded by character values. It's because you're hiring for character and a climate of caring is your top priority.

And, as we were leaving and thanking administrators for the morning, Kelly handed my intern a hardcover copy of the Kathryn Otoshi's One from her Principal's Book Of The Month club and wished her well, evidence that they're walking the talk and always seizing opportunities to pay it forward.

Thank you, NPE, for inviting us to experience what being

 sold out for the kids looks like, sounds like, and feels like.

You have truly captured my heart.

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PPBF: Oddrey

In our gratitude challenge, the word for the first day was sufficiency.
I love that word.
What are you grateful for that's sufficient in your life?

Today I'm grateful because PPBF is back ... and I'm a little embarrassed to say that I forgot that we weren't doing it last week and posted a PPBF review anyway ... so, in case you missed it, here's the link to Stand In My Shoes by Bob Sornson. 
It's got empathy written all over it and is such a worthwhile read!

And now, get ready to walk in Oddrey's shoes for a spell.

Title: Oddrey

Author & Illustrator: Dave Whamond

Publisher: Owlkids Books

Date:  October 16, 2012

Suitable for ages: 4 - 7
Themes: self-esteem, differences, acceptance
Fiction
Brief synopsis: Oddrey doesn't mind marching to the beat of a different drummer even though not everyone appreciates her differences. What will happen when she has to be a tree in her school play and ends up branching out to "save the show"?
Opening page:  Oddrey had always known she wasn't like everybody else.

Resources:

*Read a Quill & Quire review of Oddrey {here}.
*Download Oddrey activity pages from the publisher {here}.
*Find out more about Oddrey from CanLit {here}.
*Shining Willow award page and activity suggestions {here}.
*Compare and contrast it with Odd Velvet by Mary Whitcomb. 
*Ask students if Oddrey is a good name for this child
and let them support their answer in writing.

Why I like this book:  What's not to like. There's an adorable little odd-bird child with a smile that takes up her whole face who doesn't mind standing out in a crowd. In fact, she embraces it and actually revels in it a bit, even when it isn't necessarily applauded, appreciated or accepted. And though sometimes it left her feeling lonely and left out, Oddrey's ability to think for herself and "make the best of any situation" comes in handy. A lot. And then there's the play - The Wizard of Odd! Isn't that clever? When there's a problem at showtime, it's a resourceful, brave Oddrey (dressed as a tree) who not only roots for her friends but branches out to help them when they're struggling on stage. That's what friends are for, right? Here are my Wizard of Oz friends after our presentation at the 
2009 CEP Forum, just before we accepted our NSOC award. 
What, if anything, connects Dorothy and Oddrey?

Oddly enough, we just did our Self-Esteem Shields last week in small group feelings class. There aren't many parameters; basically students draw about what makes them unique. Here are a few of my faves:

This second grader drew a vase that tipped over and, even though the water spilled out, the flowers continue to thrive. Love this one,

 especially since she lost her father recently.

 This third-grade girl decided to draw a C for character and her flowers growing out of character soil. She explained that all of the fruit she drew represents to good stuff in her life because of her character choices. Yay! 

This one tugs at me because she included me in her family (MG)!
Is my heart swelling or what?

Have I mentioned there's a new Oddrey book - Oddrey and The New Kid - on the market now? But that's another review for another time.

Let's hear it for those cool, courageous kids 
who have healthy self-esteem and who celebrate standing out.

To see today's other PPBF picks, 
head to Susanna Leonard Hill's blog next.

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Caped With Kindness

Three things to share to kick-start a gorgeous Sunday.

It's a beautiful day to be alive.

On Friday I got to help my friends at North Pointe Elementary

celebrate their National School of Character honor!

Here we are doing the Six Pillar Shuffle together.

What an AmAzInG group of kind, respectful, value-able citizens!

Way to go NPE - I am so, so proud of you.

Saturday night brought our school family together for an

80s Night Family Dance. Doesn't that sound like fun?

Here I am with my Principal and AP. Some of the 80s music did make us feel like we were stuck there in some sort of weird time warp. Does your school family get together to dance?

And now for the good news story of the month, maybe the year.

You'll have to leave the Corner for this one, to get some tissues, then head {here} to read about some gutsy and oh-so-kind middle-school boys in football pads that very quickly became Super Hero kindness capes to their school family and one special friend.

Oh, and if you're in a Daylight Savings Time zone, I hope you remembered to set your clocks back ... we didn't ... but that's another story for another time. 
Happy Sunday!

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Feeling The NSOC Magic

So I'm in the airport in DC waiting to board my flight so that I can make it back to watch marching magic when our band takes the field to vie for a spot at the State Marching Competition. But before I take off, I want to try to describe the NSOC magic that I'm leaving behind in the nation's capital.

I believe that this year marks the twelfth time I've attended one of these Forums; I know for sure I've spoken at ten of them. One year I got to go as Glinda the good witch when my team accepted the NSOC award.

This year my workshop theme

 - Character Is Our Super Power - 

lent itself to a costume of another kind. The Queen of Hearts. Here I am with a friend from Florida who's been on an NSOC journey with her school since ours was awarded the distinction in 2009. 

So, so proud of her for her leadership in their accomplishment.
My session went well; I got so excited during the Fliegerlied, in fact, that I pulled a Ron Clark and got up on the ballroom table to lead that fun German dance! 

After an energizing 75 minutes with my audience of sixty character educators, I was treated to lunch by my Godparents, Clay and Sue. Yumm-O!

I reunited with and met so many new friends {Lisa, Pam, Lindsay, Bonnie, Karen, Marian, Pam, Russ,Kim, just to name a few} in this 48-hour period that I may be coming off of this natural high for many days and weeks to come. This morning I was able to spend some time in session with the 2013 NSOC winners and talk with them about sustaining the momentum. Using a Wizard of Oz analogy, I challenged them to go deeper rather that wider as they head into their future down the Character Road and Be the Dorothy as they continue to gather friends and family together and continue to take their initiatives from Me to We in their enchanting schools.

Catching up, albeit briefly, with my friend Michele Borba was a day maker for sure. What an inspiration she is! So passionate and wise.

Then, the NSOC luncheon to celebrate with my friends from North Pointe Elementary across the highway in Clear Lake. Yay! 

I started to cry as I congratulated my friend's parents on her leadership and her school family's success. Jennifer and her administrative team came to our 2010 NSOC Open House, where she gathered many of our ideas, harvested them and made them her own. Together with her Character Cadre, she led the initiative that resulted in their amazing achievement and this year's SSOC and NSOC distinction! I am delighted for this UH-may-ZinG school family and can't wait to celebrate with them next Friday morning!

Time for me to head home. I feel like big things are about to happen down Character Road. Stay tuned as the story unfolds.

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My Character Cape

Look what my friend Denise made for me to wear at this year's

Character Education Partnership National Forum:

Yep, it's a Super Cute Cape. 

For Counselor or Character.

Or Caring.

I'm going to wear it next time I present.

Today I'm super excited because I'm guest posting at CEP's blog; 

click the CEP graphic above to read all about my session called 

Character Is Our Super Power.

Will you be flying into DC for the Forum next month?

Don't forget early-bird registration through next Monday.

I'd love to see you there!

10

Our Promise To Each Other

Just for fun, I entered our DREAMS display in a B2S bulletin board contest on what just happens to be the anniversary of MLK Jr's I have a dream speech. 

I just love Wednesdays because it's our mid-week chance to gather as a community before school and launch into the day together. Staff members unite by wearing their character Ts and jeans. We recite the pledges to the flags as well as our character pledge:

Graphic template from recitethis.com

We share our moment of silence, then publicly celebrate birthdays.
We get a weather report and listen to the lunch menu.
 Sometimes we enjoy a special performance or presentation.
Before we leave, we sing the School Song together.

This is what I'll be wearing today.

It's actually the shirt I got for speaking at North Pointe Elementary last week so I won't match anyone else, but I'll wear it with pride, that's for sure. On the back, it says National School of Character. We have that in common with them!

And during these first two weeks, 

there ought to be a lot of social contracts posted.

A social contract is our promise to one another. 

They come in all shapes and sizes. 
Here are two examples; 
the first one will be complete when 
the students all put their thumbprint on it.

 

These contracts are meant to be a working document so that if someone has signed the promise but has somehow gotten off track from the terms of the agreement, students and teachers can refer back to the contract and revisit it by asking:

How did we say we would treat one another?

 Periodically it might need to be updated or something might need to be added. It's good to take a look at the contract at the end of each week to reflect on how you've done as a class. It's also important to share it with any new student who joins your class family and let him/her sign it.

It's fun to see how these contracts evolve.

Make it a wonder-filled Wednesday! 

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