Just Look Back - Joe Beckman

Today I'm excited because I found a new friend with mad baking and decorating skills; true story, they taste better than they look! John tried one since he doesn't get to go meet our granddaughter just yet.

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Who You Want To Be

Today I'm grateful for these wildly-gorgeous Texas wildflowers.

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PPBF: A Small Kindness

 Today I'm grateful because I just spent six engaging hours over the last two days with the school counselors in South Carolina. Virtually, of course, so there's that, but what a blessing. Here are the adapted lyrics to You Are My Sunshine that I wrote to sing for them while strumming my ukulele:

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Being Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Today I'm excited to share two quick things; the first is this incredible CharacterStrong podcast episode which featured my nephew and Godson Tanner. Click the image below to tune in today. 

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Happy Shoesday

Happy Shoesday; who's ready to talk empathy with me?

Yesterday was Exhibition Day for Mrs. Monty's class, 

my fifth-grade friends in Florida; they chose to research

and present on the glorious virtue of empathy,

putting yourself in someone else's shoes.

Click the image for the Kristen Nan idea that sparked this.

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An SEL Smorgasbord

Today I'm energized because I've been working on my keynote

and breakout session for my trip to Indiana next week.

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Through My Perspectacles

Is shOcktober over yet?

I'd forgotten how long and challenging this month can be.

Today I woke up sad, because of some recent challenges;

my eyes tired as I transition them to my new glasses,

and a little puffy from some overdue tears,

I decided to take my morning walk without wearing them.

As I walked, my life a bit blurry both literally and figuratively,

I couldn't help but notice how heightened my other senses were.

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Sailing WITH A Fleet

Today I'm excited because I've been making surprise visits and harvesting seeds of sunshine and joy with some very special counseling colleagues who have been sailing through life with me. Don't you love the word with?

I used my Kohl's cash to purchase this pastel-blue

mindfulness pillow for my friend Cynthia

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Be Where Your Feet Are

As mindfulness mantras go, this is one of my favorites.

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Post Traumatic Growth

Happy Friday the 13th; July is just zooming by. This week, I've been learning about Post Traumatic Growth. Click the quote card to hear Roberto Rivera talk about it; I loved his explanation about how resilience brings us back to baseline but post-traumatic growth takes us higher, deeper, and wider.

Roberto is a self-proclaimed hope dealer; don't you love that?

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My Personal Bill Of Rights

Today I'm excited because I met one of my Twitter peeps in person; she treated me to lunch at Sweet Tomatoes. As we visited, I felt like we'd known each other forever, even though we were just now meeting for the first time.

Her name is Jessica Chandler; I've talked about her before. She just finished her 7th year teaching first grade and now she's headed out of the big city to a smaller, more rural school to grow alongside some very lucky fifth-grade learners.

We initially connected because, after purchasing some of my recommendations from our Books That Teach list of faves, this passionate, connected educator reached out to me on Twitter and invited me to read one of my favorite books to her class via Skype. We ended up connecting three times, her super-safe-keepers and I, to enjoy Dream Big, Little Pig, King Calm, and Flight School together.

Thank you, Jessica, for a wonderful lunch;

I recognize and am inspired by your grace, grit and growth.

I'm also pretty jazzed about a reflection exercise I've been working on, this personal Bill of Rights that I wrote as a part of the #nowitsup2me campaign.

What would yours say if you took the time to write one?

What do you have the right to . . . and to be free from?

Start with twenty rights or so, then whittle it down to 15-ish.

I have the feeling that mine is going to be a work in progress

as I've already edited it three four five times.

For fun, superimpose it onto a favorite picture that you snapped,

like this one from that stormy sunset last Saturday.

I used PicMonkey.com but you could also create it as a powerpoint slide.

When you're done writing, share it out and invite

your mentors, role models and friends to do the same.

Ask your teammates or your students to write one.

It might even be a fun idea for your immediate family,

first everyone's individual rights, then your collective rights.

Once you've completed the challenge, take a moment to enjoy this Mindful Minute. Listen to the cicadas while you imagine the heavy humidity hanging eerily in the air. Breathe in the remnants of the storm that just blew through and exhale any stress your body may be experiencing or holding on to.

I'm so thankful and blessed to live in a place where 

I have the right to sit by my pool and watch 

as God paints His beautiful canvas

over my home and onto my heart.

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Kindness Paints The Prettiest Pictures

Happy Friday! Today I'm excited

to share this story, with permission from

the owner of Penelope, this stately antique truck.

As soon as I saw this Facebook post,

I knew who Kathy was because

our town is a pretty small one

and only one Kathy around paints like this.

Isn't it incredible how she used her talent

to celebrate and bless this unsuspecting neighbor

even as she continues to recover from the flood!

Kindness always paints the prettiest pictures.

Today's picture book pick, also a celebration,

is a Rosenthal mother-daughter collaboration

to delight (and rejoice in) the honor of being a girl.

It's an adorable page-by-page reflection of 

thoughts to ponder,

wisdom to embrace,

advice to live by,

for those girls dear to your heart

Click {here} for an interview with Paris Rosenthal

about keeping her mom's memory alive

by publishing this beautiful treasure.

Oh how I miss AKR, but while she may be gone, 

she will never be forgotten.

Experience and enjoy a read-aloud here: 

Check out this book; it'll be the perfect gift

for that dear girl in your life regardless of her age or stage.

Our chapter book pick of the week comes straight from the heart of The Savvy School Counselor, my cyberspace colleague Vanessa Green Allen.

Vanessa's team invited me to preview and endorse the book, so here are my impressions: Kudos to school counselor and kid advocate Vanessa Allen for this timely empowerment tool that will undoubtedly bully-proof countless young people as it makes its trek around the world. The No More Bullying Book for Kids not only sets the important cognitive distinction between mean and bullying behaviors, but it also provides critical real-life examples alongside reflection questions to build capacity and strength to nurture healthy relationships. Teachers can use this text as a resource to enrich class meetings; parents and caregivers can grow along with their children as they equip themselves with respect and resilience skills that'll help them soar socially and emotionally. Check out this treasure trove of quick tips and proven strategies that will stand the test of time.

Congratulations, Vanessa; I am so proud of you.

Whether you're coupling your life experience with your writing skills to make a child's world better or you're working with your mom even as she's fighting for her life to scribe an inspirational storybook or you're creating on a canvas to express your gratitude even as you grieve, kindness always paints the prettiest pictures.

  

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Loving Kindness, Saving Starfish

Today I'm feeling joyful and grateful

because of this beautiful blessing,

a collaboration with my Twitter friend Julie Woodard,

who offered to create this Sketchnote for me

as I work on my keynote for the Indiana School Counselors.

Their theme is Making A Difference, 

so using the Starfish Thrower we borrowed my students' reflection that echoed in the drawings and notes from my Smile File, like these:

Aren't their words of gratitude and kindness incredible?

I love that they get it, the role of the school counselor,

that I got to "make people care about people and make them have hope" . . . 

"even when you don't feel like it." Boom!

I'm planning to make Julie's creative image into mini-posters

to give away to workshop and training participants.

Her loving kindness, coupled with my students' reflections, has touched my heart so deeply that it propelled me to intentionally find ways to pay it forward. 

One of our highlights this week, 

a visit to Joshua's former piano teacher.

Every time Joshua would sit down to play,

I thought about Mrs. Vaughn.

Five years since he stopped taking lessons from her,

she is about to turn 90 years old and still giving lessons.

So Joshua and I took her some peach muffins

and went for a visit and to play a few songs.

It was incredible, to be able to thank her in this way.

She asked him who composed the {video game} music he played

and wondered if he knew what key he was playing it in.

Then she offered to help him with his sight reading.

Sweetest thing ever.

She even wrote us a follow-up thank you card.

She's an expert Starfish Thrower.

Isn't that a great adaptation of The Starfish Thrower story?

What other ways have we shown loving kindness this week?

*Invited some friends to come swimming.

*Played ball with the kids across the street.

*Drove a friend to her doctor's appointment.

*Called some friends just to check in on them.

*Passed along a book when I finished reading it.

*Took a bunch of cardboard to the recycling bins.

*Offered to be "on call" for Vacation Bible School.

*Met an out-of-town friend and treated her to lunch.

*Donated some gently-used books to the Little Library.

*Made dinner for a friend who's recovering from surgery.

*Followed up a kindness with a handwritten thank-you note.

*Secretly bought breakfast for some unsuspecting colleagues.

*Made this image for a friend who is transitioning to a new job.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted {Aesop}.

And throwing those Starfish back into the water?

It makes all the difference to each and every one,

each and every time.

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Sitting On The Sill & Saying So Long

Today I'm excited, because I did it.

I cried a million tears without floating away.

I made it through my last day of school.

I finally graduated for real.

The day started like this, all sunshine and smiles.

Since I'm leaving my dream job to pursue my dream, that every school in the world would be character schools like Westwood and Bales, I knew it'd tug mightily at my heartstrings and end with sniffles and sadness.

For the last three years, my days have started like this,

sitting on the sill, strumming and singing with students,

greeting them and getting an emotional barometer.

Sometimes the littles from Westwood whom I've missed so desperately since my departure from there three years ago, sit and sing for a spell. The first grader on my left actually taught me this song. We changed the words a little, just for fun.

It was emotionally loaded, saying goodbye to my little learners. 

Midweek, I went classroom by classroom to tell them

that I was retiring my FISD jersey and moving into coaching,

to move from a dream school to another big dream.

I told them that sometimes pursuing your dreams hurts, and

encouraged them, through my tears, to honor their feelings,

to dream big,

to work hard,

and to be kind.

When you are kind, I told them, all of the True Colors

will fall into place.

They must have been listening,

because they wrote me these beautiful notes of gratitude.

I wish you could see all of their incredible notes.

Guess what they valued and are going to miss the most?

My laughter and smile.

My kindness and joy.

My puppets, the ukulele, and our learning space.

{All pretty simple stuff; no degree required!}

Then we hugged it out.

Some of them sobbed in my arms.

And that was hard to take.

But since it meant we were so very deeply connected,

I'll take it, any every day of the year.

Some of them brought me gifts.

And some of them came to help me clean.

When one girl asked what my favorite treasure in this room is,

my answer was (and will always be), you!

I've been busily giving away 34 years worth of stuff.

I put most of it on a Free Table outside of our learning space,

the kind of table that Gerry Brooks makes fun of, but

it made my heart happy to leave some joy behind at Bales.

{Don't worry, Gerry, I threw the half-empty glue bottles away.}

I kept a few special things back, some of my favorites,

thinking I might keep them, just in case.

But last night I decided to wrap them up as gifts

for the other counselors in my district.

Can't wait for my treasured colleagues to open them up

when we officially bid farewell on Tuesday.

On Friday, my birthday, my wedding anniversary,

and my district retirement luncheon,

THIS magic happened.

These moms brought these superheroes by with a birthday bouquet,

some homemade chocolate chip cookies, 

and a gift card to Gringos.

After serenading me with the birthday song,

they came to my learning space,

sat in a circle with me,

and listened to my story.

It was better than any retirement party anyone could have thrown.

It's hard to tell in this joyful picture,

but we cried and cried.

These mamas and their children mean the world to me.

Alex (L) has already left me and soared through sixth at FJH.

Jet Stream Jax in the middle is still at Bales, headed to crush 4th grade.

The sweet girl on the right, Adam's little sister, isn't even there yet,

so I'm not really sure I even know her name.

But I know her face 

and I know her heart.

And it makes me super sad that 

I won't get a chance to learn, grow, and play puppets with her.

But it'll be okay.

In fact, it'll be incredible.

We have prepared these students well.

And they're ready to soar without me.

I will always love them

and I will forever uplift them in prayer.

It'll be October before we know it,

and you better believe I'm going back for Nana Puddin' Day.

After a few long, emotional days,

we launched them into summer

and I waved goodbye one last time.

And like that, they were gone.

When I got back to my office, I got an inquiry for an August training; next week I'll be meeting with my first potential client in my encore career. 

In a serendipitous twist, it's with our friends 

at Friendswood Junior High.

Where I did my counseling internship 25 years ago. 

Where we send our fifth graders.

An incredible gift, that my influence might continue

{even as I take that leap of faith and head out into the world}

right here in my own land.

Happy summertime.

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PPBF: A World Of Pausabilities

Today I'm feeling mindful of the world of possibilities

that unfolds before our eyes every day.

But only when we pause to unwrap the present.

Title: A World Of Pausabilities

Author: Frank J. Sileo

Illustrator: Jennifer Zivoin

Publisher: Magination Press

Birthday: February 13, 2017

Suitable for: ages 4-8

Themes: mindfulness, being present

Brief synopsis: This rhyming text encourages children to press pause in their lives so they can focus on slowing down and being present.

Opening page: 

Do you know what a PausABiLity is?

Resources:

Check out my read-aloud of the story poolside here:

Read about other mindfulness titles from Magination {here}.

Peruse reviews of the book {here}.

Sign up for the Calm Schools Initiative {here}.

Check out my mindfulness Pinterest collection {here}.

Why I like this book: In a world that's increasingly hectic and demanding, it's so important that our littlest learners learn to press pause so they can breathe and think. This brilliantly-illustrated, Mom's-choice award winner aims to teach children ways to choose calm and quiet. In the back of the book, there's a bonus two-page spread directed at parents and caregivers to educate them on the benefits of practicing mindfulness.

I appreciate its focus on enjoying what's in front of us, mindfully aware, without judgement. After sharing the book, head outside to see what's in bloom! Take in the sights, sounds, smells and feels.

Look what I spotted in my backyard yesterday afternoon.

After a nature walk, grab some chalk 

and draw a picture on the sidewalk.

Can't get outside? Enjoy a water fountain inside.

One of my students brought this bird fountain to me this week after telling her grandma that she wanted to find something to match my personality. Isn't it beautiful? It sounds so soothing and brings peace and calm to my office.

Encourage your older students to write an acrostic poem

using the word PAUSE:

P is for peace.

A is for awareness.

U is for understanding.

S is for senses.

E is for emotions. 

In which other ways do you awaken your senses while you 

breathe in calm and enjoy the world of endless pausabilities?

Looking for more new titles?

Head to Susanna Hill's blog for more PPBF goodness next.

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Volunteering Kindness

We've done it, just finished our 15th year of our Knit-for-Service Club meetings. Doesn't this year's group of volunteer needle-workers look adorable?

Third, fourth and fifth graders volunteer their time,

to knit a cap to help save the life of an underweight preemie.

Photo credit: Save The Children

Unravel details about our 15 years of knitting to serve
 {here}, {here} and {here}.

Here's our keepsake Knit One, Save One video; 
these young knitters are now high school seniors about to graduate. 

I'm told a few of them still use their skill to help others.

Volunteering is contagious like that; once you get the ball rolling, you'll want to keep on helping out. Lisa Currie from The Ripple Kindness Project wrote about the helper's high in this kindness post. Volunteering has been shown to help improve the health and well-being of volunteers and donors.

And no, you don't have to have a special skill to be a volunteer;

anyone can see a need and fill a need. Consider these opportunities right in your own neighborhood: washing a car, raking some leaves, shoveling some snow, mowing a lawn, watering some plants.

Need a nudge launching a volunteer campaign of your own? Why not sign up with WE Volunteer Now, an inspired way to organize a student volunteer activity. Whether you want to visit a senior home, donate to a food pantry or raise awareness about a cause that your kids are passionate about—like safe driving or recycling— this campaign is an easy way to get started.

 Simply enter here on WeAreTeachers and you’ll get an instant download from WE Volunteer Now, full of information on how to start a volunteer campaign at your school. You’ll also get access to grade-specific lessons you can use right away. 

WE Volunteer Now Campaign Resources include:

·       A step-by-step guide on how to get started with service learning curriculum in your classroom

·       Volunteering ideas

·       Teacher checklists to keep you on track

·       A worksheet for you to complete with your class—by the end you’ll have a solid idea of which volunteering option is best for you!

·       We Volunteer Now curriculum

Made possible by The Allstate Foundation, the WE Volunteer Now grants help schools and youth groups in their effort to give back to their local communities in a creative and unique way. As a bonus, 500 schools will receive a $250 grant to use towards their volunteer project. The grants will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis to all eligible schools/groups, to be used toward supporting your volunteer project. The eligible school or youth organization must:

·       Have an educator, administrator, or adult group leader to fill out this application 

·       Be based in the U.S. and registered in the WE Schools program

·       Plan to use the provided funds between October 2017 – October 2018

·       Include students/youth participants in grades K-12

·       Participate in the WE Volunteer Now Campaign

Check out the reasons to join WE schools {here}, then enjoy these benefits:

Inspire your students to make a real difference. When you join the WE movement, you’re giving your students a chance to make a difference in their neighborhood and in the world. Together you’ll find something you are passionate about and can work toward as a group.

Fit service into your curriculum with ease. You signed up and took the first step. Now, you can use the WE Schools Kit to figure out which action or campaign your students want to work on throughout the year. The kit is packed with ideas for teachers and students to brainstorm ideas and set goals.

Earn your way to WE Day. Once you’ve decided on a project, finished your good deed, and reported your results, you’ll get a chance to earn your way to WE Day. It’s a stadium-sized event (there are six held annually in select cities across the country!) that brings together amazing speakers and performers. And YOU and YOUR students could be honored; students can tune in and watch live.

Be a part of something huge. Last year, 4,200 schools across the United States signed up and participated in WE Schools. That’s 1.3 million students! Plus, over 3.1 million viewers watched the WE Day Special on CBS this past August.

Help your students earn service learning hours and AP credits. High, middle, and even elementary schools are requiring students to log the time they’ve spent on service learning and volunteering. The WE Schools framework gives your students more options to gain volunteering time in ways integrated with your lessons.

Instill a love of volunteerism in your students (that they’ll have forever) just like we've done with our knitters. In a hectic world that values achievements and grades, it can be tough for students (and their parents) to make the time for giving back. WE Schools and the WE Volunteer Now campaign show us all how accessible volunteering can be.

Sign up for WE {here}.  

NOTE: This post is brought to you by WeAreTeachers, the Allstate Foundation and WE. Please join me in thanking them for their sponsorship.

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