Our Key Collaboration

Today I'm grateful to share that our picture book

is set to be available in Spanish later this spring.

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PPBF: Love You By Heart

Today I'm grateful because of the people behind these treasures

that have recently come stamped with love to my mailbox.

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Because Of You

Today I'm cooking on these three words: Because. Of. You.

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Recalculating 365

I know, I know, it's not even mid-March yet, but

I'm working ahead, so here's my April calendar.

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PPBF: I Promise

Today I'm grateful for Teacher2Teacher for sharing this Tweet.

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When Familiarity Fades

Happy August. Today I'm feeling with all of the educators and students who are gearing up to go back to school. The familiarity of school as we've known it has faded away; this typically-wonderful time of anticipation and wonder presents more like a time of heightened anxiety and worry this year.

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Strength And Resolution

Happy October. Who's ready for some fantastic Fall foliage?

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PPBF: The Day You Begin

Happy Friday; this week was a somber one, 
with the seventeen-year mark of 9/11 globally
and the ten-year anniversary of hurricane Ike locally,

a time for reflection and gratitude, for sure.

And we've had some bumps in the road on the home front,

but nothing that we can't hurdle together

with a little bit of grace and a whole lot of love.

Today I'm grateful for this incredible PPBF find.

Title: The Day You Begin

Author: Jacqueline Woodson

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A Plane Full Of Yes

Today I'm grateful for this beautiful, kind review

and freebie reflection sheet from Wendy over at Kidlutions blog.

Wendy is one of the authors of Bloom Parenting; 

I admire her work and have learned so much from her over the years, 

so her thoughts about my work make my soul sing.

Know what else makes me happy?

This plate, that a friend of mine recently gave me.

It begs the questions: Was it that? and What are you waiting for?

This welcome mat at the Hampton Inn also brings me joy.

But when I told my Dad about it, he was quick to ask with what I know about emotions if I think it's really possible to make someone else happy. No, Dad, technically probably not, but I think it's really good customer service to try.

And speaking of customer service, look what I saw in the St. Louis airport earlier today. I think it's so cool that they're on the lookout for people who work hard to make our day, have a joyful attitude, solve problems, provide great service, take pride in performance, show us respectful attention, exert exceptional effort, and go above and beyond. On purpose. With intention. And I'm happy that the airport leaders want to recognize and publicly affirm them. 

Affirmations just feel good ... 

and we all know that energy flows where attention goes.

Simply put, we get more of what we focus on. 

I love that they're encouraging their peeps to keep on crusading ...

for good!

And then, there's this; the napkin on our flight.

I love that John pointed it out to me,

and I laughed because he knew that I'd take a picture of it.

It reminds me of what I encouraged at this year's

National Honor Society induction:

Find your YES - Yearn, Embrace, Share.

Not only has Southwest Airlines found their YES,

they are a plane full of yes!

They yearn for it,

it's important to them so they've embraced it,

and they're committed to share it.

Such an intriguing slogan; what does it mean to you?

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O Give Thanks

Today I'm feeling thankful

for passion,

for provision,

for partnerships.

As I begin a week-long break away from school

and reflect on this past semester at my home away from home,

I'm thankful for the enthusiasm and motivation,

for the encouragement, support and care

that I see teachers, assistants, mentors and volunteers

lovingly bathe our students in every day. 

 So before break, our leadership team used this template we created to write notes of affirmation, to tell our faculty and staff how who they are and how what they do is key to our success. And to thank them.

Click on the graphic to download the template.

I got to write one for Fred, our amazing handyman,

whose office is right across the way from mine.

I taped it on his door Tuesday after he'd left, so this is what he found Wednesday morning when he got to school.

That was so much fun, to express our gratitude in that way.

It did my heart good to mine for greatness,

to not only appreciate but to affirm them, 

to reflect on something special and unique

about each and every one of them.

I'm feeling incredibly thankful to work in a place

where generosity isn't just an ideal, but an everyday virtue.

Check out this adorable visual that a third-grade leader made to help inspire a collection of nearly one thousand items for our local food pantry this week.

It was fun to watch students open and close the door

as they walked passed this Food Drive reminder up front.

On Friday, I decided to thank and uplift our students

in the form of a personalized song on my ukulele.

Using the tune He's Got The Whole World In His Hands, 

I re-wrote the words and sang it loud and proud 

as students entered our building and headed down the hallway.

It went something like this:

We've got a lot of kindness

in our school.

We've got a whole lot of kindness

in our school.

We've got so very much kindness

in our school.

We've got so many kind kids in our school.

We've got Luke and Lilly

in our school.

We've got Angel and Devrie,

Harley, too.

We've got Grant and Jeremiah

in our school.

We've got a lot of kind kids in our school.

And so on. I added new names as students walked in

and adjusted the lyrics and rhythm to make it all fit.

Later that afternoon, one of the girls came by my office

to thank me for writing a song for her.

And it touched my heart.

Gratitude is circular like that, 

creating a win-win,

touching both the giver and the receiver

in tangible and intangible ways. 

Today I'm feeling thankful ... for you, dear friends.

For your visits to the Corner,

and for your desire to plant, nourish,

grow and harvest seeds of character and strength.

O give thanks ... 

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The Map

This morning as we were sitting on the window sill before school, one of my new students surprises me with this affirmation: 

Mrs. Gruener, you're like my map. 

I'd never really thought about being a map before,

so I asked him what he meant.

He said he'd follow me anywhere.

He said that I can help him get where he's going.

He said he doesn't feel so lost when he's with me.

And I almost started crying. 

October is kind of crazy for a counselor and this week has been really challenging. I've been assigned a few new jobs and I've been learning some new things, many out of my comfort zone, and all way outside of my skill set. And I'm trying to do some extra stuff, like write a grant for a new program that we want to try. So I've been seriously considering retirement, thinking someone younger could do a better job than I feel like I'm doing. Even my principal has noticed that I've been a little stressed.

And then this Bucket Filler reminds me why I love doing what I do.

I get to be his map even though I'm sometimes as lost as he is.

Maybe more lost. 

But blessed beyond measure.

Our high school PALs also serve as a map; check out these new capes 

on our super PALs Wall of Fame.

Their superpowers include

empathy,

compassion,

and kindness.

Isn't their artwork strikingly engaging?

They took their tour of our campus this week and they start their visits with their PALees on Monday. We can't wait.

Grandparents can serve as a map, too. 

As can mentors.

And teachers.

Coaches.

Parents. 

And friends.

Who's your map?

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Inspiring Connections Guest Post

Today, I'm excited because my friend and kindergarten teacher Heather Krail accepted my invitation to guest post about a promising practice I recently witnessed in her classroom. Thank you, Heather, and welcome.

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As teachers, we often witness “cries for help” as acting-out behaviors from our students. This post about a South African practice inspired me to try something new in my class. Without isolating the students who might be struggling and allowing everyone to get a turn, we started giving compliments to every Student of the Day during our Morning Meeting time.

 

Our kindergarten students stand in front of the board and I write down the compliments as the other students give them aloud. This bucket-filling practice has turned out to be beneficial to the receiver of the compliments as well as to all the givers because we get to practice giving and receiving genuine affirmations. 

It has been fun to witness the excitement and joy on each child’s face as they listen to and hear their peers compliment them, respect them, and cherish them. It helps them feel, trust, and know that they matter in our class. It has also brought a stronger sense of community as it encourages my students to find and acknowledge the good in all of their peers, even those who are crying for help.

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Isn't this an awesome idea?
Look what happens when it is tried in a middle school!

Becky Bailey from Conscious Discipline says that often it's connection rather than attention that our struggling students are craving. 

Do you have a strong community connections practice you'd like to share? 

Leave it in the comments section or contact me to guest post!

 

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Building Relationships, Changing Lives

Today I'm excited because we got to spend this morning
Building Relationships with passion. 
When the Mr. Whitlock asked me before my workshop if I thought it'd be life-changing, I wasn't exactly sure how to answer. My plan is always to plant seeds that will sprout and grow; it's always my goal to make a difference. And tonight, as I reflect, I'd have to say that yes, it was life-changing, because every time we're reminded to love a little extra on a child, with intention and on purpose, 
it absolutely has the power to change a life.

We began our session with an inquiry ~ What do you want to remember about the 2015-2016 school year? ~ and a Minute to Win It competition: 
Let's build goal posts to represent our end goal.

Fun is the ticket to engagement, and challenges like these really are wonderful hooks to engage our learners.

We talked about what the year would look like as we connect our classroom families and we reviewed and reinvigorated our commitment to Capturing Kids' Hearts, conducting Morning Meetings, and empowering students with Kelso's Choices.

One activity resulted in two visual displays showcasing the treasures that we bring, one in the Westwood Cafeteria ...

the other just outside my office in the front hallway at Bales.

It was an action-packed three hours.

We moved.
We laughed.
We listened.
We circled up.
We played with balloons.
We buzzed with a buddy.
We reflected.
We colored.
We connected.
We cried.

And after we wrote notes to express our gratitude to someone who has positively influenced our journey, we shared them with one another, out loud, to practice publicly appreciating and affirming our loved ones.

We launched with this clip from Parkway Schools in Missouri, to encourage them to experience school through the eyes of a child.

It's a passionate reminder that every day we get a chance ... 
to step into someone's story 
and change the trajectory of his or her future. 
For good. 
And that's a touchdown for both the gift giver and the recipient.
Click {here} if you want to see my slides.

Happy new year.

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A Winner & A Gratitude Boomerang

Today I'm grateful and super excited about the chance to give away a copy of Carol Miller's Starbound. From the thirty-one comments, the random generator selected ... drum roll please ... comment #9.

Here's Amy's tribute to her Champion: My forever hero and champion was a special lady whose name was Amy Gilmore. She was one of the most genuine and loving educators I have ever worked with. She made school a safe place and gave her children experiences that made them want to come to school every day. Her room was warm and inviting, her love was unconditional, and her love of teaching led to love of learning by her students. She came to work even through chemotherapy and fought her cancer til the bitter end. She was an educational warrior, and she was one of my best friends. She is in heaven now, and forever in the hearts of many students, teachers, and me!!! She was and still is, a hero and an inspiration.

Congratulations, Amy, and thank you ALL for posting those beautiful testimonials about your Champions. They were touching and tugged at my heartstrings.

And speaking of heartstrings ...

Just look at the beautiful hearts and love that came in the mail from Sheila and her superkids from Pennies of Time. It made an ordinary day extraordinary to find these in my mailbox yesterday. It has been a gratitude boomerang between us ... I send them something ... they return the favor ... then the ball's in my court ... then theirs. It's like a ping-pong match that we're both winning. With each act of kindness, our hearts grow bigger because kindness begets kindness. And their warm affirmations make me want to do more, for them and for others ... 

because I'm left feeling ... inspired. 

To be better. 

To do more.  

Cape up!

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When Learning Takes Wing

It has been a quiet week here at the Corner as I reflect on my time at Westwood Elementary and prepare to move to the Bales side of our combined campus. 

What were my goals? 

What did I accomplish? 

Did I make an impact? 

What would I do differently? 

How could I have been better?

What will people say about my time there?

What did I reflect?

I keep this plastic heart and winter pen in my office;

tonight they worked together to form this butterfly

as a reflection of the challenge in front of me,

to spread my wings and fly.

The foil is supposed to serve as a make-shift mirror.

It's a tool to help my littles reflect,

because the real learning happens in the reflection.

Always in the reflection.

The other day, my friend Laura talked about a rockin' reflection exercise she used with her junior high choir kiddos. Students sat with their backs to a mirror while their classmates wrote their heartfelt affirmations on the white board behind them, all around the mirror. Then the student who was being affirmed turned around, looked at herself in the mirror and read those affirmations.

Out loud. 

Uplifting words of kindness and love.

Their classmates' gift.

From the heart.

About him, about her.

Not a dry eye in the room.

And repeated requests to do it again. Soon.

Transformational.

Proof positive that learning takes wing 

when we're willing to step out of our cocoons 

and fly.

Something to think about from Jay Danzie:

What do you reflect?

  

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A Tweet For The Smile File

Since I'll be working at the Junior High helping out with 9th-grade registration the next two days, I'm feeling exhausted to have just finished my peace-class lessons with two fewer days. 

Last week, toward the end of day one of our fairness lesson, one of our students said that they thought we ought to give a wow award to their teacher. Well, isn't that a cool idea? So I went with it by asking what they would say about why they were giving her the award; the things they were coming up with touched my heart. 

Click the graphic for product information.

So I decided we ought to document as students shared their 

sweet sentiments:

She always gives us a second chance.

She is beautiful and she is pretty.

She has a heart full of love.

She is kind and is fair.

She has empathy.

She believes in us.

She is joyful. 

She is nice.

{A slightly altered version of these Tweet cards from Really Good Stuff worked perfectly.} Students in second and third were able to pass the clipboard and write their own compliments; students in K and 1st dictated as I scribed. The end result? 

A tweet affirmation sheet for the Smile File.

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