Kindness Sets My Soul On Fire

Straight talk: Kindness sets my soul on fire.

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Unleashing Passion

So today I'm excited because yesterday I woke up to this breathtaking view

 from the bedroom window in my new favorite Air BnB.

I'd kind of forgotten how incredibly beautiful Seattle is;

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A Stronger Song

I almost didn't go to church this morning, because it's a holiday weekend here, and I was feeling kind of lazy. But we're starting a Karen Kingsbury book study and I'd invited my friend Carol to join me for our Sunday School class so I went, because I said I would. And I'm so glad I did, because our teacher shared this video clip, which really has me thinking, reflecting, and wondering.

It's so interesting, the two versions of Amazing Grace that this talented music director sang. The first one was pretty textbook, safe and clean. But when the host gives him a new perspective from which to sing it and couples it with his permission to bring it, his voice amplifies and he sings with incredible passion.

So today's question is this: What makes your song better?

Is it trust? A willingness to be vulnerable? Knowing your why?

Is it a safe place? Community? Unconditional positive regard?

Lately I've been thinking a lot about my recovery from being hit 

by that drunk driver because that life-changing event ended up 

strengthening my song.

It taught me to slow down and savor, 

it taught me to be grateful in all things, 

and it taught me to forgive. 

Even though it was a dark season of panic and pain,

the whole ordeal held an opportunity,

the burden hid a blessing.

I just had to be willing to look for it

and be ready to recognize the gift when it found me.

It took a lot of patience, persistence and perseverance;

sometimes more than I thought I could muster. 

But it was totally worth the work.

Liz Murray had this to say about staying the course:

It takes courage to change our song,

to trust enough to leave the script,

to share our music with passion,

to sing it out for the whole world to hear. 

How will you sing a stronger song today? Tomorrow?
This week? This month? This year?

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We've Got Your Back

Today I'm inspired because we kicked off our Great Kindness Challenge 2016 a few days early by inviting this superhero from a neighboring junior high to engage our students in her backpack project to help Houston's homeless.

Her name is Reagan and she's super passionate about her cause.

But this crusader's cape, well, it looks more like a backpack.
And though she doesn't help others for accolades and awards, I would like to affirm her work by mentioning that she is a recipient of the 
Charlotte Bacon Acts of Kindness Award.

It all began, she told a very still audience of 1000 students at our weekly Wednesday Warbles gathering, with a question: 

Do you have a backpack?

She went on to explain that initially it was feelings of guilt about not being able to help the homeless person who asked that question that urged her fifth-grade self back then to ask her mom to take her to a store to buy some backpacks for them. When her mom told her to look for a more creative way to meet that need, Reagan only had to go to her room to find the first few backpacks that would kick off that initial collection of one hundred and twenty five backpacks three years ago. This year, her goal is to collect a thousand backpacks. She confidently told our students that it shouldn't be a problem to meet that lofty goal, because "I've got you." That's when she invited them to help her collect backpacks as a part of our Great Kindness Challenge next week. Kids helping kids; isn't that the best?

Check out her four-minute presentation here.

If you're in the Houston area and would like to donate to Reagan's We've Got Your Back project, you can bring your gently-used backpacks to Westwood or Bales any day next week.

Thank you, Reagan, for being a beacon of light 

and making our world a kinder place to be!

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Opening Doors

Today I'm excited about a $5 purchase I made at Half Price books.

It's a doorstop for the heavy door at the entrance to Hero Headquarters. 

Perfect, right?

And, if you know me, you know that I see more than just a doorstop. I see an acrostic for four critical aspects of leadership.

S is for service.

               T is for trustworthiness.

                   O is for open-mindedness.

 P is for passion.

Effective leaders start with the heart. They're on the lookout for ways to make things better because they're all about serving others. Effective leaders are also trustworthy. We can count on them because they are honest in their dealings, they keep their promises, and they show integrity by being in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing. Effective leaders have a growth mindset. They're lifelong learners who firmly believe that anything is possible. Anything. And effective leaders live life with great passion. They go to great lengths to enthusiastically and wholeheartedly transfer energy and light to others.

But those are just my thoughts about what STOP might stand for.

I'm so eager to hear what my superheroes at Bales think when I pose the inquiry: What leadership skills will open doors for us?

If you're in the area, please stop by Hero Headquarters; 

we'll keep the door opened for you!

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Aaaargh You Up For A Kindness Party?

Today I'm excited because I've been re-reading Dave Burgess' treasure,

 Teach Like A Pirate, and it beautifully dovetails with something adventuresome. creative, and daring that we're trying tonight on FB: A Kindness Party!

Consider it a hook, to engage our readers by sharing stories and strategies for making kindness an intentional, purposeful ritual in our homes, our school and our communities. And it's your chance to chat with some ordinary individuals who are doing extraordinarily kind things.

Door prizes include a copy of my book, What's Under Your Cape?, and two Carol McCloud titles, Have You Filled A Bucket Today? and Growing Up With A Bucket Full Of Happiness. Just click either graphic above at 8:00 pm {CST} and be transported to the fun.

We'll swap ideas like the Which Wich? #FlagYourBag campaign. If you decorate the back of your sandwich bag, they will recycle it by filling the bag with goodies to send to the troops. Isn't that AmAzInG? So, here's mine. It was a blast to color. All it took was a Penny of Time, and it creates such a citizenship win-win.  

I'm just delighted that we're reading Pirate as a faculty because I connect personally and professionally with so many parts of Dave's pirate treasure, especially the engagement, passion, and movement pieces. 

In fact, I used this quote from his book in mine.

 Shelley makes the best graphics!

Then I sent him a copy of my book, to thank him for his ins-pirate-ion, and he invited me to host a #tlap chat last September, on Labor Day. In case you missed it, here are the questions we discussed. 

My friend Jen and I are planning to channel our inner pirates and host a practice chat in the second part of our Hashtags and PLNs and TweetChats, Oh My! workshop in our August Tech Symposium, so we're going to use these questions.

And last, a story from yesterday. I was driving the carpool when I saw a homeless man on the corner of 288 and Binz. At the red light, I gave him $5 to help him out a bit. After he thanked me, he introduced himself and told me that he'd be happy to help me if I were ever in the area and needed anything. 

Isn't that thoughtful, his offer to lend a hand, to pay me back.

Because kindness matters, 

even when things aren't going very well. 

Maybe especially then.  

See you tonight!

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Coming Home

It's that time again, when high school football teams celebrate Homecoming and students everywhere eagerly await to be reunited with their college-aged friends who are able to make it home. Do you have a Homecoming game?

Myrlene Kennedy (an Assistant Principal at FHS when I worked there and the Principal for a few years before moving to the District Administration Team) does such a great job of keeping in touch with former students and reaching out to them to welcome them back with a nice reception for their twenty-year class reunions. School pride and loyalty are important to Dr. Kennedy. Now in her 55th year of educating hearts and minds for the future, Dr. Kennedy started teaching before I was even born. I admire her passion and am inspired by her dedication. She amazes me. 

Anyway, Homecoming is a big deal here in Texas.

Just look at the yearbook page from last year's 

FHS Homecoming celebration:

Students select three Homecoming Queen candidates and the Football Team chooses three Football Sweetheart nominees from the senior class. At the game, they crown a Queen and a Sweetheart. Not only was the Sweetheart, Anna, an alumni of our elementary school and the older sister of one of the senior football players, she is also a student with developmental delays who has worked very hard to overcome obstacles and find success. 

It made my heart happy that she had been selected and was being honored with the title of Football Sweetheart! 

Just look at how precious she is and 

what a surprise it obviously was to hear her name announced. 

(See Jacob with his trumpet behind her top left?)

Yesterday I saw this news clip out of Huntsville, Texas, 

with coincidental similarities to Anna's story.

Click {here} to be inspired by these compassionate classmates who are mining for true beauty, inside and out.

 And whether this young lady wears the crown in the end or not, 

my guess is that she'll always feel like royalty.

Don't you just love good news?

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What Teachers See

One of the perks of blogging inspirational stuff is that readers often send inspirational stuff my way. So this morning I woke up to an email from my friend Jo up in Wisconsin because she wanted to me to experience this video clip 

and get pumped up for school.

At first I thought the man was throwing starfish back into the sea,

 and it reminded me of The Starfish Slinger. 

Click on this graphic for its source and a cool jewelry pendant.

And he kind of is ... in a secondary ed sort of way. 

I just love this metaphor and have a poster almost like this hangs on the back of my office door as a reminder that students are like starfish.

Anyway, this music video is from Union Grove High School in Wisconsin. If you're like me, you're wishing that your high schooler had these men in black at the helm. Or maybe you're just in awe of their passion, enthusiasm, and love for the teens under their mentorship and our future. You might even want to support their efforts and/or do something similar with your school family. 

However you connect, sit back and enjoy Brachmann & Hein in 

That's What Makes School Beautiful!

Happy Labor Day Weekend.

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Walk The Talk

Kaitlyn made this book for my birthday as she was finishing up the fifth grade and it's still one of my favorites. 

Here I am being friendly to the kids at my school.

The picture strip slides through the window as the pages flip to tell a story about, well, me. 

When I saw that Kaitlyn wrote 
Character Counts With My Mom!!, 
I knew that she expected me to not only talk the talk but to walk the talk. 
No pressure . . . 

Here I am, fussing because they're not listening.

It's been twelve years since my first Character Development Seminar and I'm excited to share that I've been invited to join the Character Counts! National Faculty so I'm headed to CC! headquarters to get more training. Such an honor to spread the good word and keep the passion for 

character education alive.

So I flew west to LA last night . . . 

and this is why I always choose a window seat!

God's canvas . . . 

What's got you on fire this week?

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P.A.S.S.I.O.N.

That's the word I'd use if I had to try to explain who Ron Clark is in just one word. Ron Clark lives life with passion. He exudes passion. He is a role model for passion. And he has surrounded himself with equally passionate people. He first became my hero after I read The Essential 55. It's basically 55 manners and skills that he advocates we teach our students for lifelong success. With his permission, we've adapted 36 of them as our Manners of the Week.

    When I saw the Ron Clark Movie with Matthew Perry, he became my hero again. Then I read The Excellent 11 right before I had the opportunity to hear him speak IN. REAL. LIFE. That's the day his Superhero status skyrocketed. He's the kind of speaker who gets up on table tops to make his point, that's how passionate Ron Clark is. His energy and enthusiasm are contagious like no other educator I have experienced. And he's a TON of FUN!  Look how ecstatic I was to actually meet him in person and pose for a picture. He is spot on and he is so R-E-A-L! 

     So now I'm halfway through his new book entitled The End of Molasses Classes and experiencing the essential and excellent Ron Clark all over again. Do yourself a favor and check out this treasure trove; it's filled with simple strategies and tried-and-true tips that you can use in your parenting or teaching starting now to connect with and captivate the little leaders that you live with, learn from, and love. 

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HEART Work!

I just LOVE working with kids!  The little tykes have a knack for pulling at my heartstrings all day long and, at the end of the day, I'm emotionally exhilarated. Let’s just say that a counselor’s job is really heart work. Take today for example. I arrived at school and reported to my favorite duty, the car-rider line. I enjoy that spot so much because I get to be the first smile that students see when they step onto the sidewalk in front of their school. What an awesome responsibility and opportunity. It's impossible to be in a bad mood at that duty post. Well, I was kind of grumpy once, but then a little leader popped out of that back seat and exclaimed enthusiastically, “Mrs. Gruener, you look beautiful today!” which totally overflowed my emotional reserves and changed my morning momentum.  

     Once we got all of the kids into school, I helped with morning announcements, then I got to model a Morning Meeting with a first-grade class. We learned a little introduce-yourself chant, shared good news with one another, and moved to the Fliegerlied. It was the biggest booster shot for me to see those sweet sprouts make a soul train as they danced back to their seats. More heartwarming tugs! I’m exhausted but energized, good thing because it’s only 8:25 at this point. 

    I have five minutes to get to our Code of Conduct meetings. The little girl who responded "hey, cool Science tip!" to the part where we encouraged them to conserve water and energy made my heart laugh. I monitored lunch, which starts at 10:30 for us, then spent the afternoon strolling in and out of classes to meet our new students, greet the returning ones, and make even more cardiac connections. Then I got to help de-escalate an anxious kindergartener.  I knew he needed reassurance when he asked me, “Do you think my mom's going to remember to come back to get me at the end?” Poor little fella, so overwhelmed, so worried. Feeling the fear underneath that one question, another tug, no wait - pull! - at my heart, which has momentarily gone into overdrive. I seriously almost started crying with him. It's heart work, I tell ya.

   As I drive home, I'm happily satisfied and I know that I have the BEST job in the whole wide world, which prompts today's question:  What work of heart do you get to do that makes it worth going back tomorrow?

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Box Tops

I’ll never clip another Box Top without thinking about Jennifer.  As she gave her report to the PTO that day, her confident demeanor and unbridled enthusiasm for Box Tops impressed me.  She told us in no-uncertain-terms that we had earned some $2000 collecting those ten-cent treasures last year, so she’d set this year’s goal at $3000.  I couldn’t help wondering, “Who is this passionate woman?” so I made it a point to get to know the Box-Tops boss. She was a devoted wife, a doting mom, a loving daughter, a retired nurse, a dedicated room mom, and one of our school’s best volunteers. She was also a cancer survivor. That explained her determination and verve for life. But Box Tops? How could someone in the fight of her life make time for and get so passionate about something so seemingly insignificant?

       It didn’t take long to figure out that Jennifer put her all into everything she did.  Even before her diagnosis, Jennifer lived every day as if it were her last. Once diagnosed, her incredible resilience made it seem as if she would live forever! Her light shined so brightly on the darkest of days and she stayed optimistic, even when the news from her doctors wasn’t good. Throughout her seven-year battle with cancer, there would be many, many days like that.

       Jennifer came to see me on one of those bad-news days. The cancer had returned with a vengeance. She wasn’t giving up, mind you, but she needed to think realistically.  That’s when she told me that this would probably be her last Christmas. But Jennifer didn’t want my pity or my tears. In fact, she told me how lucky she’d been to get seven great years from her initial diagnosis.  “Lucky?”  Did she really see herself as lucky? I wondered where she got that courage, that gratitude, that optimism, that faith?  It was clear that Jennifer was too busy living to worry about dying. She had a family to raise, class parties to organize, Box Tops to collect. 

       I saw Jennifer several times between that conversation and Christmas. While her health was rapidly deteriorating, her spirit was still very much alive. Despite the pain, she always replied “great!” when asked how she was doing.  She threw a wonderful holiday party for her little boy’s third-grade class.  She even brought me a gift. Seriously?  She was out shopping, her way of scoffing at that dreadful disease that was eating away at her.  Jennifer was determined not to allow this inconvenience called cancer to rob her of this precious time with her family and friends. My last visit with Jennifer was in mid-January. She was beaming with pride to see her son compete in his first Spelling Bee and fondly shared her own Bee memories with me. I laughed out loud when she told me how she initially refused to leave the stage after she misspelled her word because, with her tenacity, it didn’t surprise me. By early February, Jennifer’s condition worsened so drastically that she was hospitalized. Her last days were bittersweet as her family and friends celebrated her life while saying good-bye to her.

       I’m told that a few days before she passed away, Jennifer urgently needed to talk with a PTO committee member about - you guessed it - Box Tops. Even as she faced death, she was taking care of her obligations so that they could go on without her. Big, like her family, or small, like those Box Tops, Jennifer’s commitments were always her priority.  She approached everything she did with an unparalleled passion.  And, with a smile on her face and enthusiasm in her heart, she lived every day as if it were her last. Until it was. She epitomized living out loud. That’s Jennifer’s legacy. And that’s why I’ll never clip another Box Top without remembering Jennifer.

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