That Character Quilt

Today I'm excited because I received a message that our character quilt is finished and ready to be picked up. Moments later, I was at Lori's front door, 

eager to see how it turned out and take it home.

The idea for that character quilt came last summer when my friend Ann brought some of her old Westwood t-shirts by to see if I'd have any use for them. I figured that some of hers coupled with a few more of mine would make the twenty we'd need for a really nice t-shirt throw. 

There are so many memorable moments 

represented in the seventeen years that these Ts span. 

Lots of ups and downs, 

lots of highs and lows, 

lots of smiles and some tears, too.

Okay, lots of tears.

A gentle mix of happiness and heartache,

a poignant parallel to life itself.

Because things change.

Programs and people come and go.

Students grow up and move on.

And colleagues change jobs and retire.

If those t-shirts could talk ... what a story they'd tell.

So today I'm feeling grateful to Ann for her shirts and to my 
quilt-making friend Lori for sharing her time and talents so that this character quilt could find its way onto the bed in our Texas Room. My greatest hope is that every visitor who wraps up in it will feel the caring and love that envelopes me every single moment of every single day as a part of the Westwood Elementary and Bales Intermediate school families deep in the heart of Texas.

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Living Our True Colors

Happy Sunday.

Today I'm reflecting on the 2016-2017 school year

as we get ready to send not only our seniors off to college 

but also our fifth graders off to junior high.

Check out their parting gift to our school:

What a treat it was to watch them 

collaborate and cooperate

to bring this True Colors masterpiece to life.

We're so proud of the Class of 2024 and so thankful to artist Diane Fifer and art teacher Nancy Schilhab for helping us revive a tradition that left the building with the sixth graders, who were relocated to junior high seven years ago. It was such a delight to watch each of these rising sixth graders paint their square and leave their mark on our walls. {I even got to paint a piece of the green mane on the respect horse.}

This teamwork project was the perfect complement to our True Colors theme that our Character Committee has worked diligently to integrate and infuse into our everyday habits and routines this year. Our staff now has colorful pillar Ts that we wear each Wednesday to align with the district's core values spotlight.

Every month we recognize students who serve as Ambassador for the values because they put them into motion by walking the talk.

It's super fun to unite as a school family at our end-of-the-month Character Pep Rallies and celebrate character. To showcase responsibility, for example, our students worked together to create a rain storm that would parallel collective responsibility and the magic we can create when we all do our part. 

Hometown Heroes from our HS drum line along with Mighty, our mascot, helped lead our Respect Assembly. After they fired up the crowd, we discussed the Golden Rule pillar using these icons to represent the many facets of respect.

Can you guess how each of them fits?

We're coloring the world with character,

one day at a time,

one idea at a time,

one child at a time

until living our 

True Colors 

becomes who we are,

how we behave, and

how we treat others, 

everywhere,

all the time,

even when nobody's looking.

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GRANTing Wishes

Today I'm still on Cloud 9 because yesterday was a special one for me personally and professionally. Personally, we went with our son Joshua on his graduation pictures photo shoot. John had the idea of recreating this Father's Day picture from when he was in first grade, so I snapped one on my phone while the photographer was setting it up.

The professional shot will look better, for sure, but this will give you a glimpse into the fun that we had hanging out and reminiscing with our senior.

Earlier in the day, our Education Foundation surprize patrol came by and granted a lot of our dream-big wishes in a big big way.

This year, our awesome AP Wendy and I decided to write a grant

and guess what? It was fully funded!

Our grant idea came from our friends at North Pointe Elementary, a 2013 National School of Character; we called it 

Building Character By The Book: 

Principal's Picks For Promoting Our Pillars.

It's kind of like a book-of-the-month club.

We were encouraged to break large grants like ours into small grants so that school stakeholders could get in on the fun and buy a grant. Two of our months, September and May, were adopted just that way, one by a parent of one of our students, the other by our former Principal. The Education Foundation decided to fund the remainder of the grant so that we could start in September with our Principals Pillar Pick Program.

Our school will be receiving 25 copies of each of these books, one for each month of our school year. In September, for example, when respect is our spotlight pillar, members of our leadership team will go to each classroom to read Do Unto Otters aloud, briefly discuss it with our learners, then leave a copy with the teacher for enrichment activities and as a possible take-home reader to foster that school-to-home connection.

I'm super excited about this new program and I'm feeling overwhelmed with gratitude for a Foundation and a community that supports what we do in our character building.

Happy April.

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Write On!

Today I was exhausted, perhaps because we had last week off, and we'd gotten used to sleeping in. Or maybe because we were so busy at Camp Write-Along.

Our fourth graders were treated to a writing experience this week,

tents, flashlights, sleeping bags, campfires, s'mores and all!

We welcomed guest Camp Counselors to the mess hall during lunch, and we sang and danced to camp songs, like I Will Revise by Danielle Lacy-Jackson.

I was honored to be invited as a guest Camp Director

and talk with our Campers about writing intriguing leads to hook the reader and strong conclusions to seal the deal.

One camper even went to the local library after my talk,

to check out my book and work on strengthening her hooks. 

Write on!

This week I was interviewed about my thoughts about character education; check out this post from ProSignDesign to weigh in on the debate over whether it works.

One way to make your core values visible is to wear them. We don our character Ts on Wednesday and we're super excited about our new true colors T-shirt designed by our friend Jamaica at Inked Designs. 

Character education is a hot topic this week in Texas courtesy of HB 729, which proposes mandating character education in the state. What do you think about that? It would mean taking the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and infusing your school's core values. It could then be tied to accountability.

 Consider this screen shot from the Kindergarten TEKS.

Besides explaining it, how would you teach the difference between wants and needs? What could you do to engage your learners in an experience to enrich their understanding and elevate their empathy?

How about starting with an engaging story about shoes?

For K students, I recommend Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts. 

Did Jeremy just want new shoes, or were they a need?

Are there places where children don't have the footwear they might need?

I had the pleasure of sitting in on an Eleven Principles training facilitated by retired Principal Pam Mitchell yesterday, and she told about how her K classes researched and found a place where the children only have one pair of shoes. So her students suggested collecting their gently-used shoes and donating them to them, turning that wants v. needs standard into a real-life service-learning project. To inject some writing, encourage the students to write a note to the child who will get their pair and tuck it inside the shoes. 

Want a few bonus shoe-themed titles?

Does character education work? 

Let's just say it's not likely that those little learners will forget 

that wants and needs lesson any time soon.

With that, I'll sign off to watch some March Madness.

 Will Wisconsin survive in the swamp against those Florida Gators?

So far we're ahead by a basket. 

Right on!

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Reach Higher

Today my heart is happy because our true-colors hallway banners

are now installed, just in time for our Open House tomorrow night.

I feel like a kid in a candy store who has been waiting impatiently

 to savor her favorite treat.

And every counselor! {Click for image source}

Here's what our character cam caught,

something we kind of anticipated happening ... 

Wait, does HE feel like a kid in a candy store, too?

at least until the newness wears off!

{Don't you love that he's reaching higher?}

We ordered two sets, one for each main hallway, of these

super colorful, 

double-sided,

flame-retardant (and fire-marshall friendly),

 vinyl banners from ProSign Design.

They are such an easy company to work with 

and we are so pleased with the product 

and grateful for their courteous customer service.

What's got you reaching higher today?

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Sometimes It's Frightening

Today I was telling my students the story of how teacher-authors Dave and Shelley Burgess bought us ten ukuleles for our UKE lab when one of them said, "That's so generous." Then he added, "Why would they do that for us?"

I explained that we'd connected on Twitter and that our teachers, as a staff, are studying Teach Like A Pirate this year. I told them that they love it when educators use hooks, strategies to engage and excite students. For fun, I asked my students what hooks they've noticed that I use. And I loved hearing their answers:

*puppets

*friendliness

*kindness

*a smile

*forgiveness

*stations

*ukuleles

*music

*fun games

*funny-ness (yes, humor is a hook!)

It warmed my heart. I especially liked the forgiveness comment, until the student further explained that my classroom is a place where it's okay to make mistakes.

Wait, what? Aren't all classrooms just mistake-making labs?

 Here's a non-negotiable I've learned in my 32 years of service:

Our kids deserve a safe environment to engage, explore and create.

A school where they're reeled in, hook, line, and sinker.

A place where they're firmly planted with permission to bloom and grow. 

In my work, I've had the pleasure over the years of visiting lots and lots of schools where I get to see AmAzInG things happening. With that privilege, I also see lots and lots of areas for improvement and growth. I've witnessed teachers who at frustration point resort to yelling so bad that a student once shared that, "Sometimes it's frightening." My own son experienced this in sixth grade, a scolding so fierce that he was still visibly shaking with fear after school. He stayed scared for days. And weeks. 

The respect we think we're demanding when we yell isn't respect at all. 

It's just fear. 

Don't our kids deserve better than this?

With so many positive approaches to classroom connections and management, two of which include Capturing Kids Hearts and Responsive Classroom Morning Meetings, there's really no need for an educator to be reduced to belittling, to shaming, to screaming. Ever. In fact, when we yell at kids, guess what they learn? Yep, they learn that yelling is okay. 

That yelling will help solve our problems. 

That yelling is an appropriate way to respond to our frustration. 

Or to get our needs met.

Simply put, they learn to yell.

Let me say it one more time: 

 Our kids deserve better.

Click for source ~ @BethHouf blog

 So there you have it, one of the reasons I'm so passionate about finding hooks that invite kids in, and helping reduce the undesirable practices that might chase them away. I don't ever want to hear the words "Sometimes it's frightening" at our school, on my watch. 

Tomorrow I get a chance to help with some Character Counts! implementation training in Angleton. Then next week, I'm headed to the Dallas area to Mansfield ISD to lead a Family Character Night workshop and then work with the school family at Charlotte Anderson Elementary, and I can't wait. I am super proud of the commitment of both of these districts to a creating a caring climate and I'm honored that they'd let me help them build a brighter and better tomorrow.

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A Character Gallery Walk

Today, a simple gallery walk through some of the AmAzInG pages that our superheroes created to be glued onto the top of the pizza boxes for our Papa John's Delivery Night tonight. Such a fun way to celebrate character.

I am so proud of and delighted with how these turned out ...

and I can't wait to deliver this message into the community.

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