Happy Thursday. I've been unplugged for a bit,
enjoying beautiful sunsets like this one, in Wisconsin.
The Corner On Character: integrity
Showing posts with label integrity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label integrity. Show all posts
PPBF: Happy Dreamer
Happy St. Patrick's Day. First, I'm thankful for my Grandma Natzke, whose birthday we celebrate today even though she is no longer with us on earth. I miss her so much. She was such a kind, generous, gentle soul, a beautiful role model for me. I loved going to her house and being with her. She was a dreamer, she was always humming, and I wanted to grow up to be just like her.
Next, I'm excited because my Inspiring Integrity guest post is now live at Free Spirit Press blog; clicking on the image below will take you there. I continue to enjoy and be challenged by assignment writing.
Finally, today marks my return to PPBF and I've got the
picture-perfect book pick for you, my dear reader.
Title: Happy Dreamer
Author & Illustrator: Peter H. Reynolds
Publisher: Orchard Books
Date: March 28, 2017
Suitable for grades: preK - 3rd (and beyond!)
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Themes: Dream big. Be true to yourself. Live happily.
Brief synopsis: This Peter H. Reynolds newcomer bids us dance with this adorable, free-spirited, energetic daydreaming child as he shares his Dream big and be happy mindset, mess and all, with the world.
Opening thoughts: I am a HAPPY DREAMER. I'm really good at dreaming. Daydreams. BIG DREAMS. Little dreams. Creative Dreams.
Resources:
*A podcast with the author about the book {here}
Why I like this book: Beside the fact that I'm a huge Peter H. Reynolds fan, the fact that I, like Reynolds himself, might have some undiagnosed ADHD going on, and the fact that I received this beautiful book as a gift from a very special student, I really connect with the passionate dreamer in this child. Our minds often wander off the beaten path, our ideas are ignited by our imaginations, and our dreams make us feel like dancing, even when the world tells us to keep quiet, sit still and pay attention. We hear things differently, sometimes more loudly. We know that being a dreamer is messy (he calls it creative chaos) but we crave doing it anyway. (My favorite line: If you make me, I will put my things away. But then there is less ME to show.) We don't want to just show up, we want to sparkle and create. We embrace who we are because it feeds our emotions and makes us happy.
This colorful masterpiece left me wanting more, especially after I opened up the double-paged, poster-sized spread in the back which invites its readers to figure out (and name) what kind of dreamers we are, the perfect springboard for a writing or drawing activity. Anyone feel like creating a Vision Board?
Grandma Natzke would have loved Happy Dreamer.
Check it out; I think you'll be joyful that you did!
Then visit Susanna Hill's blog for today's other PPBF selections.
PPBF: Maurice's Valises
Today's PPBF - the last until September - is actually a new series for which I've been helping write teacher activities, so you can imagine that it's a product I firmly enjoy and endorse!
Title: Maurice's Valises: Moral Tails in an Immoral World
Author: J.S. Friedman
Illustrator: Chris Beatrice
Publisher: Mouse Prints Press
Date: September 3, 2013
Suitable for ages: K-grade 4
Fiction
Themes: integrity, empathy, honesty, trust
Brief Synopsis: Travel with Maurice, the mouse, as his journeys take him through the fables. In the first of this book's series, Maurice, a master storyteller, recounts his story of The Rat Who Cried Skunk, a nice parallel to the Aesop's Fable, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, to help his offspring learn the value of telling the truth.
Opening pages: Since my office is being cleaned for the summer, I'm unable to get to my copy of the book so that I can share the opening pages.
Using a double bubble graphic organizer, compare and contrast Aesop's The Boy Who Cried Wolf with the skunk tale in this story.
Why I like this book: I find it delightful revisiting the old fables coupled with this author's entertaining twists through the eyes of a Mouse. New vocabulary introduced and the moral scrolls both cleverly tie the present back to the past. The valise totally lends itself to a discussion about a Character Case, so my activity suggestions {available soon} revolve around what a student would put in his/her character case were they to travel the world like Maurice. I can see it being used as a wonderful springboard for cultural integration as well.
Check out this series;
I think you'll enjoy this Mentor Mouse
and his lessons learned.
**************************
Since Father's Day is just around the corner,
I wanted to take this opportunity to share a recent father-child outing. Here's a seven-minute musical clip from a small polka band that John put together for the local German Restaurant.
Enjoy John Loessin on trombone,
My husband on tuba,
our son, Jacob, on trumpet,
and our daughter, Kaitlyn, on clarinet.
Notice that in the last song, a K student from my school
tried his hand at directing, then came back with
a dollar looking for "the money jar." It was tooooooo cute!
Then visit our friends at Happify to see the interesting facts
I'm going off the grid for a little bit, so
here's to all the Dandy Dads out there;
enJOY your special day on Sunday!
She Got Her Standing Ovation
grief,
integrity,
love,
mentoring,
work ethic
1.18.2014
I haven't blogged much this week because I've been so busy running away from the grief and great sadness that I feel over losing one of our long-time administrators, Eunice Myrlene Kennedy. In fact, I haven't known Friendswood ISD without Dr. K and there's been this lost, numb feeling inside since last Sunday afternoon when I heard the news that she'd completed her earthly journey and had gone to sing with the heavenly choir.
Don't get me wrong; it's not like she was my best friend. In fact, if I'm totally honest, she kind of scared me. When I think back to the one time she evaluated me in my Spanish class in the late 80s, I left her office in tears. Not happy tears, either. Terrified tears. But I will never forget what she said: Yeah, you're good, but you could be better. That was not what I wanted to hear, but it was good for me to be sure. She saw something greater in a rookie like me and she wasn't afraid to help me cultivate it.
Dr. Kennedy was in her 55th year in our district. Yep, she started working here before many of us were even born. Just think about how many rookies like me she helped! When she came to town, some of the students were still riding horses down a dirt road to school. She started a a physical education teacher and coached girls' basketball for nine years. During that time, her team only lost one district game. It's not that she told them she had to win; it was the opposite, actually. She worked them hard so that they would not fail. For Dr. K, it was all about best effort.
In 1969, she decided that Friendswood High School should have an all-school musical. Year by year she added to her dream with a choreographer, a pit band, a stage manager and scholarships. Our Jacob got the Piano Lady scholarship just last year for playing trumpet in Guys and Dolls, his third musical. In all, she produced and directed 45 musicals. This fall, she helped cast what would have been her 46th. She challenged and stretched students from all walks of life to get on that stage (or help behind the scenes) and give it their all. And when the curtain rose to a sold-out house, for 45 years, Dr. Kennedy would quietly take her seat in the front row and bask in the fruits of her labor. She thrived on those applause,
for the kids and their best effort.
for the kids and their best effort.
Yesterday at Dr. K's service of life celebration sixty of Dr. Kennedy's stars came back to sing for her one last time. It was an angelic choir or Musical Cast Alumni that sang How Great Thou Art, The Benediction, and the Hallelujah Chorus in beautiful harmony for their role model, mentor, teacher, coach, principal, counselor, and friend. In harmony. With love.
Both older children were blessed to play in the pit band for Myrlene's Musicals. Dr. K even came to Kaitlyn's graduation party two and half years ago. Makes me wonder how many parties, weddings, baptisms, funerals and other celebrations she attended in her 78 years of life. Though she never had biological children of her own, she had more kids can any of us could ever count on her mind and in her heart. And she knew them all by name. Dr. K always did what's best for kids.
Dr. Kennedy was a no-nonsense woman of integrity and depth. She knew what she wanted and she went after it and got it. If you knew her, you'd agree that you pretty much said yes if she asked told you to do something.
The church was packed yesterday to say good bye and thank you to this amazing behind-the-scenes director and we all laughed in unison when we were told that she'd written her own obituary. Because it didn't surprise us. Even as she faced death, Dr. K was working. She summoned people to her hospital bed as if it were her office as she took care of details like planning her funeral, inviting men whom she admired to be her pall bearers, and giving her last-minute revisions for her final musical. A beautiful ending to an award-winning production, her life well-lived. Surely her influence is farther reaching than anyone will ever know.
So when the Pastor took the pulpit and gave us the permission we were waiting for, we gave her a well-deserved standing ovation and thunderous applause with gratitude and appreciation for her influence and love.
Last Monday night, just a day after the lights went down on Myrlene's final act, the FISD School Board voted to name the auditorium where Dr. K spent so many, many hours of her life The Myrlene Kennedy Auditorium in her honor.
Her legacy of love and loyalty continues ...
The Honest-Tea Test
Move over Candid Camera and make room for
the Honest Tea Test.
Did anyone else see the news about this integrity index in
Hello Hawaii and Aloha Alabama!
Your honest citizens passed the test with flying colors.
Participants in these two states were 100% trustworthy,
according to the results of the Honest Tea test.
Basically, Honest Tea employees conducted the test
earlier this month,
in all fifty states,
over a ten-day period,
allowing the opportunity for 10,000 honest acts.
The question was this:
If people were left on the honor system,
would they pay the $1 for the tea at one of these kiosks
even when nobody's looking ...
or simply take it for free?
Honest Tea employees watched from afar and collected the data. They they disaggregated it by things like hair color and length, number and gender. Turns out women (95%) were more apt to pay than men (91%). And people in a group were more likely to be honest; holding one another accountable is a good thing, I suppose. Anyway, it's an interesting study.
We actually got rid of our vending machines in our teachers' lounge three years ago and now have snacks and soda available on the honor system.
What, if anything, do you have that's on the honor system?
What, if anything, do you have that's on the honor system?
Take the online test or challenge your friends {here}.
Rooted In Respect & Integrity
Today I'm excited because I just remembered that I forgot to share these cool pictures I took up in Wisconsin when I was away for winter break.
Look what my character cam caught on the walls of a school in Reedsville, the town where I graduated from high school so many years ago:
Respect is ... literally ... in their hands!
This one says it all:
Treat others the way you want to be treated.
This banner caught my eye in their gymnasium.
I can't help but smile when I imagine the future
led by students from a school family rooted in
integrity and respect . . . .
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