It's A-MAZE-ing.....I'm Back

I am surprised to find out my blog is still here! It has been waaaaaayyyy tooooooo long but sometimes life just gets in the way! Hopefully, I will be back to share my heart, my passion for engaging lessons, and some *freebies*!

School starts for us in the middle of August and my brain is already starting to think of ways to welcome my little ones into Our School Family.

I LOVE to notice my little ones when they are showing kindness and making smart choices. I love my kiddos even when they might be acting like little turkeys but we do talk a lot as a class about making someone's heart smile.

I found some smiley face mazes on Amazon and knew I needed to find a way to use them. Attach the maze to the gift tag and you have a quick and easy way to celebrate your kiddos. :)

Click here to grab this *freebie*!

Grab the smiley face mazes here!

Buuuuuutttttttttttt..........

We all know that there are going to be times that are difficult...difficult students and students that have a hard time getting along with others. I try from the beginning to let them know that we are ALL there for each other no matter what happens. WE ARE A SCHOOL FAMILY!!!

So, this little *freebie* will remind us of that!

Click here to grab this *freebie*.

I'll be back soon to share some new ways I will be implementing Conscious Discipline into my classroom and one of our first classroom visitors. You can check him out here!

I hope you are enjoying your summer and getting ready for the 2018-2019 school year!

From My Heart to Yours,

Sunday's Heart Start: Being a Champion for a Child

I forget how exhausting the beginning of the year is. I also forget how quickly the 20 cutie pies God placed in my room can capture my heart. The beginning of the year  is also a time I find myself thinking of "my babies" that are no longer at my school. At Meet the Teacher, I heard news about one of my babies that just broke my heart...and left me wondering what this school year would be like for him.

I recently talked to a friend that was getting a new student. She told me about how the mom walked into the room and the first thing she said to her was that her daughter was bad. This was in front of the child! This child has no positive expectations to live up to. Why try and be good if her mom thinks she is bad? :(

I often do not want to know about behavior problems from the previous year because we all want a fresh start. Plus, there are so many factors that can add up to a child have a difficult year....especially in terms of his/her behavior.

As teachers, we know without a doubt that we will have difficult and challenging students. Students that leave us doubting and questioning if we are doing a good job. We find ourselves crying over these students and feeling frustrated and helpless in dealing with them and still trying to teach our other 19 students. Their parents often do not know what to do to help their child or the parent might want to put blame on the teacher and the school.

I find myself realizing I need to try and be the one to build the bridge to their heart. Rita Pierson said in best in her TED Talk.

I tell my kiddos often that if I didn't care about them I would not care how they acted. I also tell them that until they get on the bus or in their car on the last day of school that I will be expecting and helping them to be their best. As we work on building relationships, I want my students to feel safe enough to be able to tell me if they don't feel that I care about them or if I have hurt their feelings.

Rita Pierson said in her TED Talk that "students don't learn from teachers they don't like." This is true and can be difficult when we have students that we find difficult to like. So, this when when we need to be trying to plan those engaging lessons and providing opportunities for the class to laugh together....and as Rita said, "become a good actor and act like we do like them!" Lol!

So many of our kiddos that have behavior issues often have more baggage than we do as grown-ups. I cannot even fathom what they have been through and seen. They often put up this "tough" facade to keep from being hurt again or as a way to cry out for love.

Our kiddos just need to know that we are going to be there for them. This song always makes me think of the kind of teacher I want to try and be.

Now, I also think I need to go out and adopt a new pet. :)

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Here is Rita Pierson's TED Talk.

As you walk into your classroom each day, you work to cover your objectives and each item on your lesson plans. But I think it is important to remember, that before we reach their heads we must touch their hearts. We need to be the champion that says "I'm never going to let you down or give up on you."

From My Heart to Yours,

Your Class List: Whine and Wine

Do you get a class list before school starts? I don't know about you but I am always anxious to look at my class list to see if I will be getting the annoying sweet younger sibling I have heard stories about. My heart also skips a beat with fear joy for "that student" that I have been hearing about that is just a "perfect fit" for my room. That is when you run to your teacher buddies and start the WHINE of "You'll never believe who I have in my room!" or "Oh My Gosh!!! Let me tell you about this kid that's going to be in my room this year!" And when you go home that's when you pull out the BIG WINE glass!

Click on the picture if you want to check it out!

Now, I am giggling as I type this and trying to bring a little humor to thoughts you and I just might have felt before. My Firsties go to Kinder at another campus so I really don't recognize some of the names. But when you have taught for a long time you eventually DO HAVE siblings and cousins AND see names that bring flashbacks that cause you to twitch! There are times when I try and use my phonics knowledge to decipher a name that I am anxious I will not be able to pronounce correctly. And I already feel bad for the kiddo that I am sure will have to help me numerous times say his/her name correctly.

At Meet the Teacher, I have a special system of codes I mark next to the names on my list of students that I am meeting. There have been numerous times when I have watched in fear as child has hit his mother on the head numerous times with a HUGE pointer and did not stop when he was told to....or when a child seems so active that I am ready to tell the mom that I am happy to drive her to the doctor to see if the child might need a prescription for some calming "vitamins". And those 2 times were like the children had been invaded by the Body Snatchers because the kiddos that showed up on the first day of school were sweet, obedient, calm, and respectful.

There have been countless times when I have sadly been judgmental and let a bad attitude get in the way of seeing a child the way that God does...and the way He sees me. What gives me the right to judge a student on what they are not when I am so thankful and blessed that God does not judge me by my short comings??!!??!!??

We are always going to have students that challenge us. There have been years when that challenge has left me in tears, frustration, and a state of feeling completely helpless. There have been times when I breathed a sigh of relief when that child was absent because the entire dynamics of my classroom changed but at the same time felt horrible for feeling that way.

Many of these challenging kiddos come with more baggage than we have even carried as an adult. For some, school is their safe haven. And whether we realize it or not, these kiddos are often VERY perceptive and can pick up the vibes we give off.

I remember the child that completely changed my whine and wine. He was retained and put back in my class for his second year. I vented to a friend that I was very upset he was in my room again. I was going into my 4th year of teaching and was able to attend a Ruby Payne workshop that fall. It changed my teaching and my heart forever. God knew I needed that workshop so He could show HIS love through me to some of the people who needed it the most. She said something that I also learned again when I read about Conscious Discipline. Are you ready for this???

And this is another wonderful reminder...

The student I mentioned above completely lost it on the last day of school of his second year in my room. When I asked him what was wrong, he told me he was going to miss being around someone who loved him as much as I did. He gave me many, many, MANY opportunities for me to practice patience yet he still knew I loved him. At the time I saw his name on my list for the second time, I did not want him in my class but I am blessed that God gave him to me again.

I am not perfect and still feel frustrated and helpless when I don't know how to help a child that is crying out for love. I then have to remember God put each child in my room for a reason...to love that child with all of my heart and help that child be successful in every way possible. And in the end, it is often me that has learned a valuable lesson from God.

I pray that as we start a new school year that we remember this:

Thank you for stopping by for this week's Heart Start!

From My Heart to Yours,

Sunday's Heart Start: Pause and Pray

As I get ready to start a new school year, I am overcome by so many emotions. The beginning of the school year is so exciting but also stressful. I know we sit in teacher meetings wanting to flee to our classrooms and mentally adding things to a To-Do List that seems to grow and grow and GROW! We are juggling our lives at home with our lives at school and we often neglect taking care of ourselves.

As much excitement as there tends to be, there is also a bit of negativity and complaining...and I raise my hand that I have been there and whined that! I often forget that my principal is being told a BIG list of things she must do with us and my complaining about it does not make it any better. I know when I have heard some of my kiddos in class grumble about something they have to do we stop and talk about our attitudes and about showing respect. Yet, as grown-ups we are horrible about it.

I know at the beginning of the year, doubt creeps into my heart. I stare at my new little group only remembering how I left my previous group in May. I wonder if they will ever behave, listen, learn to read, follow directions, and show helpfulness and kindness like my group last year.

I look at the kiddo that I know will try my patience and wonder if I am going to develop a drinking problem! Lol!

I get irritated with others I work with yet I forget to look at myself and realize I am irritating others by my own behaviors.

I get caught up in the emotions of situations and react instead of being proactive. I forget that God is using each child, parent, staff member and situation as a tool and moment to shape me into who He wants me to be.

We cannot go into our classrooms and be ready to face all of the overwhelming challenges without praying and without each other.

I have to remember that before I reach their heads, I have to touch their hearts I want each of you to know that Because of YOU, a difference is being made.

As you prepare to start a new day or a new week, remember to Pause and Pray.

From My Heart to Yours,

Books for Building Your School Family

I kind of forgot I still had a blog over here! Blog posts constantly run through my mind but I seem to lose my way when I see the blank screen before me. After reading Teach Like a Pirate this summer for a book study, I remembered that I really do love blogging and sharing my heart for teaching and my kiddos. :)

As I see the days of August slowly fading away rapidly flashing by, my mind is thinking of those first few weeks of school. Those first few weeks are what I call BOOT CAMP (with love). The importance of those few weeks in establishing rules and routines is critical. You lay the foundation for your entire school year. These weeks are also when I start building Our School Family. Even though we jump into our curriculum week 1 day 1, I am more focused on bringing out the kindness and respect I want (and expect) EVERY member of Our School Family to show.

One of the best ways I start to build Our School Family is through literature. This really helps the kiddos because I can refer back to one of the books we read. I want to share some of these books with you. :)

My Mouth is a Volcano, Interrupting Chickens and Lacey Walker, Non-Stop Talker are all great books for talking about interrupting others. We talk a lot about how everyone's words are important and when you talk over someone you are not showing that person that you value what they are saying. We also talk about how students cannot listen and learn if others are talking or talking over the teacher. I tell my kiddos that my ears cannot catch everyone's words if everyone is talking at once.

Decibella and Her 6 Inch Voice is a great book for talking about the volume of your voice. Students learn about using no voice, a whisper, a 6 inch voice, table talk, a strong speaker voice, and an outside voice. This book is so cute and necessary because I ALWAYS have a screamer future public speaker. :)

There are so many voice meters that you can find on Pinterest that give the students a visual of where their voice volume needs to be during different parts of the day. It is good to remember though that talking can be GOOD if that talk is about learning. :)

After reading this book and talking about the volume of our voices, we also have a HUGE talk about the tone of our voices. Little kiddos often cannot pick up on voice tone cues. I like to turn with my back facing them and say something like "I am so happy at the choices you are making!" BUUUUUUTTTTTT I say it in a mean, angry voice. The kiddos have to tell me how they think I am feeling based on the tone of my voice. They LOOOOOVVVVEEEE this and like taking turns doing this too! We talk a lot about how the tone of our voice can communicate our attitudes and ALL of us have to be careful about this.

I LOVE Me First! Pinkerton Pig always wants to be first until he meets a Sand Witch. Pinkerton has to do many unpleasant chores for the Sand Witch and quickly learns that being first is not always best. I know you might (ha! ha!) have had a student before that always wants to be the first to line up or the first to finish their work. I think they think they will get a prize for finishing first and often don't do their best because of this. After reading this book, we practice slowly and safely lining up. We also practice different times when they can offer to let a friend go before them. This might be when I am passing things out or when I have a couple of students waiting to tell me something. We practice using sentences stems like You may go before me or Go ahead. I'll wait until you are finished.

Tattle Tongue is great for addressing the ever present issue of tattling. The book gives students a funny visual image of what happens when your tattle. I also love how the book gives students examples when it is okay to tell a teacher/grown-up what happened. When my kiddos come to tattle whine tell me something that happened, I usually ask them these 2 questions:

*Have you tried to solve them problem yourself?

*Are you being helpful or hurtful by telling me this?

Now, I only ask these questions after we have practiced, and practiced, and PRACTICED using sentence stems to talk to someone. Some of these sentence stems are:

* I don't like it when you ______. Next time please ______.

*I don't like it when you ______. Please stop.

*You accidentally ______. Please be more careful next time.

I never really even have to ask Are you being helpful or hurtful by telling me this? because usually they turn around and go talk to the person after I've asked Have you tried to solve them problem yourself?

If they have already talked to the person and there is still an issue, they ask me to help them solve a problem....and my ears don't have to hear tattling. Sometimes I joke around when someone forgets and starts to tattle by telling them I see their tattle tongue growing and changing colors. Sometimes being silly and getting that student to laugh helps me when I help them solve the problem.

Have You Filled a Bucket Today? is one of my favorite books. I love the mental image it gives kiddos about filling a bucket with kindness or dipping into a sad bucket when someone is being hurtful. We have a class bucket that we fill with helpful hearts. You can read more about that is this ancient blog post...This is when I first started blogging and was taking pictures with an ancient cell phone! Happy to see how far I've come. :)

You Get What You Get...and you________??? I know we finish that sentence with AND YOU DON'T THROW A FIT! After reading this blog post by my sweet friend Holly, I too changed what I said. We read this book and then discuss how we are no longer 2 and we are big, smart, kind, and respectful boys and girls. We can feel disappointed when something doesn't go our way but we can take a deep breath, calm down and know it will be okay. Our new saying becomes YOU GET WHAT YOU GET AND YOU APPRECIATE IT! :)

The Recess Queen is a fun book to talk about being kind and safe on the playground. It is also helpful when talking about bullying. I love this craftivity from Smitten in First!

Chrysanthemum is hands-down my favorite Back to School book because it is our anchor lesson for talking about hurtful words and behavior. From this book we talk about our Heart Word and Heart Promises. You can read all about those in this blog post.

These are just a few of my favorites. There are so many more! I have found some AWESOME books this summer that I am soooooo excited about! I cannot wait to share with you how I'll be using them. :)

It has been FOREVEEEERRRRRRR since I shared a *freebie*! So, here is a little activity I will be using at the beginning of the year for letter recognition.

Thank you for hopping over here today! Wishing you an awesome year full of blessings!

From My Heart to Yours,

We Care Bag- Reaching the Heart of Your Class

I am so excited to share about this with everyone. If you have hopped over to my blog before you probably know how much I love Conscious Discipline. It is AMAZING! Keep reading to learn more about this Bright Idea.....a We Care Bag.

Young children often have difficulty being able to verbalize what they are feeling or going through. The way we often know that something is wrong is through their behavior. The tools in the We Care bag can help kiddos learn ways to de-stress, calm down, problem solve, and learn about ways to handle different emotions.

The We Care bag can also be used to teach your kiddos empathy....and just brings out the sweet hearts ALL of our kiddos have. :)

Here are some of the helpful goodies inside. :)

You can put anything in there that you want and you can easily modify this for bigger kiddos.

One of the tools in the bag are the De-Stressing icons. These are 4 different breathing techniques that can help when a kiddo,,,and even the teacher...is feeling mad or upset. Often when we are upset we have shallow breathing and our brains need more oxygen to move from the limbic system to the frontal lobe where problem solving takes place. Here is just a little about each one:

*S.T.A.R- Stop Take a deep breath And Relax- This is just deep belly breathing 3 times in and out

*Drain- Make 2 fists and hold your arms out straight in front of you. Tighten all muscles. Then, make a "Shhhhhhh" sound as you let out and release all of the stress and tension.

*Balloon- Interlace your fingers and put both hands on top of your head. Pretend that you are blowing up a balloon as you inhale through your nose and stretch your arms above your head like you are blowing up an imaginary balloon. Slowly exhale and deflate your balloon making a "pppbbbbbb" sound with your lips.

*Pretzel- This one still gets me all twisted up and the kiddos too! :)

You cross arms and legs. Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth and breathe.

You can grab this *freebie* from the Conscious Discipline website. They will give you a better explanation of each icon than what I did. :)

breathing icons

The other things in the picture above are some tools we use to help us relax.

The Star is a light the kiddos can tap it to turn it on 3 times as they practice their S.T.A.R. breathing using the breathing icon above.

The caterpillar is a squishy toy that the kiddos gently rock back and forth breathing while practicing being caterpillar calm. 

Conscious Discipline has a set of books about a character named Shubert. In the books, Shubert has to practice being caterpillar calm when he gets upset. The kiddos learn lots about breathing and de-stressing from those books. :)

The bottle is full of pom poms balls. The kiddos pull out the pom poms one by one. A lot of times this helps when they are really focused on a problem about something not going their way. With the bottle, they get busy on the task and they often forget how sad or angry they are. They calm down and then I can talk to them about what was wrong. :)

Be careful though....this will frustrate some kiddos and make them mad. Ruh-Roh....we don't want that. :)

The light bulb helps them think of other ways the problem they are having can be solved. 

They can get a bright idea too!

The stuffed frog helps comfort them when they are feeling sad or lonely.

The mirror helps them "see" how they are feeling. I usually have an emotions poster in the bag too.

The S.T.A.R. glasses can be worn so they "focus" on calming down and using their S.T.A.R. breathing.

The phone can be used so they can "call" somebody when they are sad or missing someone.

We use the phone A LOT because my sweet little ones at the beginning of the year miss their mom or I have kiddos who have a parent in jail that they sometimes call. :(

My kiddos love to help each other out with the goodies inside.

I usually have Cranky Cream, Boo Boo Lotion, and Dream Cream inside too. :)

The kiddos can ask me if they can get a tool out to help a friend or a kiddo can ask me to get something out to help themselves if something is wrong. I might tell a kiddo "I think we need to get something out of the We Care Bag to help you out right now. Let's go see what we can find."

This bag goes so well with Our School Family job of the Cheerleader because the kiddos want to celebrate each other when they have calmed down and are ready to get their brains working again. :)

Too stinkin' sweet! :)

Be sure and check out tons and tons of other Bright Ideas in the links below.

An InLinkz Link-up

From My Heart to Yours,

The Kindness Recorder-A School Family Job

I cannot believe summer is almost over. A new school year always makes me nervous and excited. One of my favorite parts of going back to school is building our new School Family. One of the best ways to do that is through Our School Family jobs. So many of the jobs encourage and foster kindness.

The Kindness Recorder is one I adore!

We start by reading the story Mrs. Spritzers Garden.

We talk about how to take care of a garden and flowers and what Mrs. Spritzer did to take care of her garden of children. I tell the kiddos that to help others grow into something beautiful we need to treat them with kindness. We then brainstorm a list of ways we can show kindness to others.

We also listen to the song "Looking for Kindness" from this Conscious Discipline cd.

The job of the Kindness Recorder will be to add kind flowers for the helpful and kind acts that they notice others doing. I bought the flowers at the Target Dollar Spot.

When the Kindness Recorder adds a kind flower they tell that person:

I am going to add you a kind flower for __________.

The person it is being added for replies:

Thank you for noticing that.

I also bring in 2 different flowering plants. One we take really good care of and the other I will pull petals and leaves off of when I see or hear something mean. I won't say who it was and I never do it right at that moment. I might say "When we were down at the restrooms, I saw someone snatch the paper towel someone had just rolled and they didn't roll that person more. Was that kind and helpful?" As the week goes on, we look at the two different plants and we talk about the difference between caring for one with kindness and being hurtful to the other. This makes a HUGE impact on the kiddos.

The Kindness Recorder brings a smile to my heart daily. It amazes me how quickly the kiddos start to notice kind acts from others...even me. At the beginning of the year, I do a lot of modeling of this job before I turn it over to the kiddos. I also will help the Kindness Recorder "notice" these kind acts if they might be having a little trouble noticing those acts themselves....but the other kiddos are good at pointing them out too!

There might be times when one of my "toughies" is showing kindness that I really want to celebrate and notice....or I might want to celebrate the kiddos who are always putting others before themselves. So, I made some little notes that you can send home with any of your kiddos to celebrate those sweet kind hearts.

Conscious Discipline says that what you focus on you get more of and what you strengthen in others you strengthen in yourself. So, think about adding some kindness to your classroom this year with the job of the Kindness Recorder. :)

It is easy to forget how just a little kindness can bring a huge smile to someone's heart. :)

From My Heart to Yours,

Yo' Momma

Until I became a teacher, I never really understood how the words Yo' Momma or My Momma said starting a sentence would give me a headache. In High School, I had guy friends that would tell Yo' Momma jokes to each other. I heard jokes like Yo' Momma's so fat that when she walks in front of the TV I miss 3 episodes or Yo' Momma's so fat that she left the house in high heels and came back wearing flip flops. We might giggle when we hear and see some momma jokes but in truth, they are really hurtful.

 I don't remember anybody saying any jokes insulting my momma but I know I probably would be upset over a momma joke too!

My first year of teaching I tried....and failed....to explain the logic to a six year old that this person does not even KNOW your momma so try and not worry too much about what they are saying. We talked about kind words and treating others with respect but I never realized how their momma's presence would ALWAYS be in the classroom with them....and ALL of their mommas are there regardless of race.

I also quickly learned that my little ones were often skeptical of what I told them to do because of what their momma said. The momma card trumped ANYTHING I had to say!

 I then read Ruby Payne's book A Framework for Understanding Poverty. I was also blessed to see her present. WOW!

Working at a Title 1 school where usually ALL of my students are already identified as at-risk coming into my 1st grade classroom this book is an amazing tool and guide for understanding.

This video is also awesome for helping understand the difference between home and school rules that our kiddos and parents often struggle with....and also the hidden rules.

Even before seeing this video, this is something I tried after attending my workshop with Ruby Payne. Many of our kiddos come into our classroom carrying with them a completely different set of rules. We expect them to start following "our" set of rules right away.

We often aren't as patient helping these students adjust to this new set of rules as we might be when they are struggling with a new concept academically. We also don't want to make a mistake by telling our kiddos that their set of home rules are wrong either....even if we disagree.

Part of our job will be helping them to see that those rules are not ones you can usually follow at school or at work. I always talk to my kiddos about how my principal makes me do things I don't want to or that there might be a time I get mad over something that happened with another teacher. I ask the kiddos if it would be okay for me to drop to the ground and throw a fit or run next door and hit Mrs. Carla??!!!??? I have even acted really mad and started walking around the room kicking things and saying "My momma said if anyone makes me mad I should just hit them!!! I'm going to go next door and HIT Mrs. Carla!!!"

The kiddos always laugh and think this is funny...and I have to bit my lip to keep from laughing at the look on their faces sometimes. :)

I talk to my kiddos about the difference between home rules and school rules. We talk about my job as The Safe Keeper and how it is their job to help me keep everyone safe. We talk about other ways to handle problems here at school such as walking away, going to a spot to calm down, standing up for yourself while staying calm and in control, or going to get an adult to help you solve the problem. We brainstorm other strategies too. We try and learn ways to be problem solvers while still helping them know that they can save face because at school they are just following a different set of rules. 

By showing them that we are going to help them learn how to be successful following school rules, we are going to be showing them respect and how much we care. As we handle different situations and share the self talk in our heads, we will be modeling to them other ways to handle problems and the problem solving we go through, By doing this, we will be the champions by their side and the mirrors that reflect kindness and patience to them and others.

One day someone might say Yo' Momma must be pretty amazing to have raised a child like you!

Our kiddos are coming to use holding on to rocks that we might see as burdens or stumbling blocks. If we stand by them as they learn and pave the way with respect and love, those rocks can be stepping stones bridging the way from heart to heart.

From My Heart to Yours,

A Change for Next Year...and Now

It is time to brush off the cobwebs and dead crickets that have no longer been chirping on this blog because they died a looooonnnnngggg time ago!

I cannot even begin to tell you about all of the blog posts I have written in my head, But when it came time to sit down and actually write them, I felt lost. I have kind of felt lost ALL year long with things going on at school and at home. But I have realized how much blogging helps me reflect on my attitude and where my heart is....it is sometimes the compass that helps me point my heart back towards God and the reasons why I love teaching despite how challenging and draining it can be.

Every May, I find myself making a list of all of the things I will do better next year. I tell myself I will be more purposeful in my guided reading lesson plans and Writing Workshop mini-lessons. I tell myself I will stay on top of grading papers so I am not entering grades on the day they are due at 11:58 pm! I also realize how there are so many things I could have done better if I had looked at changing myself first.

Do you ever find yourself wanting to change others....both little people and big people?

And it is often the BIG people we want to change the most because we think they should know better! :)

I have to remind myself daily....and sometimes minute by minute...that the only person I can change is myself and how I respond to that person and that situation.

I know I have found times when I make excuses for myself  and have found it easy to place the blame on others or something else. Have you heard these excuses before?

I have a tough class this year.
I don't like this curriculum.
Admin has no clue what it is like in the classroom.
Their parents don't care about their grades.
They never listen.
They NEVER hush!
You don't understand what my team is like!
I have NO help or support from home!
It does no good to send the children to the office.
This child (or grown-up) drives me CRAZY!!!

These excuses do nothing to SOLVE the problem. In fact, we often use them to justify the things we do. I know I have been guilty of that before. :(

So when that starts to happen, I realize I need to pray and find the things that help me point my mind and heart back on a better path.

Some of my favorite thoughts from Conscious Discipline always help ground me and remind me how I don't need to change others only myself.

How you respond to a child's upset teaches them how to respond to others when they are upset.p. 192
What you focus on, you get more of. What we offer others we strengthen in ourselves. p. 160
Love see the best in people, even children. p.162
Whomever you have placed in charge of your feelings, you have placed in control of you. p.28


This song always helps to remind me of how God will change us so it is not up to me to try and change others.

So instead of thinking of all of the things I need and will do better next year, I remind myself about reaching and touching their hearts first. I remind myself that through the tough times I will face with my kiddos to encourage them and love them.

 I will remind myself to be kind, patient, and encouraging even when those around me are not.

 I will remind myself to show love through the toughest times because we are ALL still learning and changing.

But most of all, I will remind myself that we are ALL broken but God is sculpting each of us into something beautiful!

From My Heart to Yours,

Stamina Critters

WOW-zers...How in the world is it already October???!!!??? I am not sure where the end of August and the whole month of September went! We have been very busy in 1st grade...all 22 of us. Our class sizes are usually around 17 so 5 extra kiddos make a HUGE difference in EVERYTHING we do! I know many, many of you have larger class sizes than this...all I can say to that is Bless Your Hearts- You amaze me! :)

We are doing Daily 5 for the first time this year so we are really working on our STAMINA in all we do! Because there are so many of us, we started by working on our stamina on the Learning Rug. I have a very verbal groups this year who are experts in sharing...we are just needing to work on sharing about learning at the appropriate time! :)

After talking and writing about Our Learning Rug promises, we learned a song about stamina!

Later that day, we had a visit from the Stamina Critters.

Here is the poem they sent us. :)

When the Stamina Critters arrived, they quietly started talking to me. I would hold one up to my ear and they would tell me about how they would be watching for children keeping their stamina. They would really be watching for kiddos working quietly. As I noticed kiddos staying on task and working quietly, they would get to go and add a Stamina Critter to the jar. Sometimes I hear Stamina Critters calling out student names that they spy keeping their stamina. The kiddos swear they hear the Stamina Critters talking too....This is when I pray that I am not warping my kiddos too severely! :)

They are so stinkin' cute when they carefully take a Stamina Critter out of the basket and place them in the jar. They are always sure to place them in there so their eyes are watching us.

This has really helped my kiddos. They love to see how many of them can keep their stamina at different times during the day. I have even carried a Stamina Critter when we go down the hallway. Of course, it talks to me while we walk. We have been able to add 22 Critters before when everyone did Read to Self for 20 minutes with no call backs! :)

I hope to build my stamina back so I can blog more, I have really missed my sweet bloggy friends. :)

From My Heart to Yours,

Who am I? Looking from the Heart

Our first day of school is on Monday. Early in the summer I already knew who many of my new kiddos would be. I also knew in which classes each of my kiddos from this past year would be (and the classes many other kiddos would be as well). Knowing those 2 things I must admit something to you....I realized how easy it is to make some judgments.

Have you ever looked at your class role and felt a little bit depressed or nervous by a name you saw on there? Have you ever wanted to go tell the next year's teacher about a particular child before they even have the chance to meet them? I typically don't put a lot of value into what another teacher has to say about one of my in coming kiddos because I know so much can change when the dynamics of a classroom change...but I am also guilty of telling a 2nd grade teacher about a child that *might* be a stinker even though I might also be telling that teacher of ways to reach that child that worked for me (and others) and made a huge difference.

I also realized earlier this week that I have been guilty at different times in my career of talking about a class that is really __________ or __________. I know that myself and others have shared about a student that is __________, __________. and __________.....and many of the adjectives that fill those blanks might not always be very positive. Those descriptions are also usually strings of letters that make us twitch- ADD, ADHD, ODD, ED...and our brains are thinking OMGoodness! :)

I thought about what it would be like if my principal were to call each of the parents of my new kiddos into to her office to share about all of my faults and weaknesses before they even had the chance to meet me. Would they be able to see my strengths when they finally had the opportunity to meet me? Of course not....they would always be seeing those faults first.

I then remembered one of the most profound sentences out of the Conscious Discipline book...."What we say to a child becomes their inner voice for the rest of their lives." Think how easy it is to remember the negative words of just one teacher...but stop and realize for a minute that even though you might not have said mean or hurtful words to a child that our attitude and thinking effect our body language and interactions with that child.

How can we really help each other when we focus on the weaknesses or use those weaknesses as an excuse instead of pushing ourselves more to make a connection with those students we often see as "difficult"?

Each day each one of us has the potential to be the ONE person in a child's life to make a difference. If we are not working to make those connections and touch the hearts of each child in our room than it is easy to head down the road to becoming an ineffective teacher. After a child has just 1 year in a class with an ineffective teacher, it takes 3 years for that child to make the gains that were lost.

Our Superintendent today had us pull out our phones and find a picture of the most important child or children in our lives. We then had to imagine how we would feel if that child was placed in a classroom with an ineffective teacher. I don't even have to tell you where our thoughts and hearts went with that.

Imagine what a difference could be made if each child in our classroom thought they were a priceless treasure to their teacher....a teacher who loved them even when they really were being a stinker.

The children in our classrooms are only going to be as great as we believe they can be....how we see them and treat them will be the legacy they take with them when they leave our classrooms.

From My Heart to Yours,

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

Where have I been???!!!??? I have been lost and trying to find my blogging heart again. If I really think about it, I have really not blogged much this year. I am sure I could come up and share with you oodles and oodles of excuses to help explain WHY I have not blogged but excuses only help one to understand a problem....they do not make the problem go away...for that problem to go away, you need to take action and make a commitment.

Do you know people who make excuses for a child's behavior or even their own behavior?

Do you think there are excuses for a person's behavior?

The last month of school I heard this phrase often....I even said it myself once!!!!

We have been in school 167 days! You should know how to walk down the hall quietly by now!!!

or

I just don't understand why you cannot sit still and on your bottom when you have been doing it ALL YEAR long!

I think often we think to ourselves Well, they should know better than to do that!!!

I know there have been many, many, MANY times when a child has done something and I looked at that child like they must have lost their mind. Seriously, there are many times when I have no words to say to a child after some of the crazy things they have done or said....but then I have to remind myself they are 6 and school is so much more structured than what they face at home. They need our high expectations but those also need our patience.

Think to yourself for a minute if you have ever done something recently that you know you should not have.......

Anything pop into your head???

Have you driven 1, 2, or even 5 mph over the speed limit?

Talked or texted while driving?

Sped up at a yellow light when you really had time to stop?

Stood in the Express Line at the Grocery Store when you have more than 20 items?

See...just like our kiddos that "forget" how to walk quietly down the hallway, we all do some things that we probably shouldn't...but we are human and get caught up in life or forget to see how our behavior and actions might effect someone else.

Those are some things I have done before but they are also things that I have been frustrated about when someone else did it and it effected ME. We all make mistakes, do things or say things that are hurtful, make excuses when we just to do a better job.

It is so easy to make excuses for ourselves and even easier to blame others or become judgmental of their behavior....especially when it effects us and our expectations.

I know at times we might find ourselves making excuses or saying things like My kids cannot do that! or If you understood their home life, you would see and understand why they are acting this way.

Teaching at-risk kiddos can be tough because so much of what they see at home are the behaviors they are repeating in the classroom that we don't like.

Yes, their home environment helps me understand why that behavior is happening but I need to let that child know that I love them enough to let them know that a hurtful behavior is not okay.

Have you ever heard someone say this:
Well, they just don't understand me if I talk to them in a quiet, calm voice. The only time they get I mean business is when I yell at them and get in their face.

I have watched adults yell at a child in a mean and ugly way about the child talking to another child in an ugly way....um, do as I say but not what I do doesn't really work. One of my favorite things about Conscious Discipline is the reminder to be the person we want others to become. We are mirrors.

Commitments are a HUGE part of Conscious Discipline. We talk daily about making commitments to be kind and help keep others safe. We make commitments as a School Family and we have made individual commitments.

I hope to share with you this summer a post about how to use commitments in your classroom because it will really make an amazing difference.

I am making a commitment that I will post more often. I have missed everyone and your sweet and encouraging words. =)

Here are some pictures to help you think of your week ahead and to reflect on any excuses you might be making:

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Thank you for always being here for me. You are each a treasure and a blessing.

From My Heart To Yours,