23,327 visitors and 144,572 page views! Yay!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div> <img border="0" height="0" src="http://c.gigcount.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEzNjI3MzE1NTU4OTMmcHQ9MTM2MjczMTU2MDAzOCZwPTc*MzIxJmQ9Jmc9MSZvPWQ2Y2RjYjhmZmZlZTQ4ZjU5MDFi/NGQ2YWM5ZGM3NjJk.gif" style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" width="0" /><a href="http://www.sparklee.com"><img alt="free glitter - http://www.sparklee.com" border="0" src="http://img-s3-01.mytextgraphics.com/sparklee/2013/03/08/443d2b680f0dee09a5e7463574de184c.gif" /></a><br /><br />

Inspiration 23,327 visitors and 144,572 page views! Yay!

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Kool Aid worth drinking: the respect and admiration for the noble profession of teaching

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-iW3gyfWuBMQ/SC4eYUJK37I/AAAAAAAAE-U/e9gas_w7rHc/s1600/Crump%252520Classroom%252520Photos%2525204-25-08%252520008.JPG" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="335" id="blogsy-1362658132899.7783" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-iW3gyfWuBMQ/SC4eYUJK37I/AAAAAAAAE-U/e9gas_w7rHc/s500/Crump%252520Classroom%252520Photos%2525204-25-08%252520008.JPG" width="500"></a></div> <blockquote><p> "Every great poet is a teacher; I either wish to be considered as a teacher or as nothing."</p><p>William Wordsworth, loc 914, Six Centuries of English Poetry</p></blockquote> <p>A teacher or nothing? What is this profession of which poets aspire?</p> <blockquote><p>What office is there which involves more responsibility, which requires more qualifications, and which ought, therefore, to be more honorable than teaching?</p><p>Harriet Martineau</p></blockquote> <p>Anything more honorable than teaching? Oh, there are many honorable professions, I think. It wouldn't make sense to elevate one profession by putting down others. Being a good parent is an honorable thing for upon the family societies are built, or sadly, crumble. But the classroom is also a foundation of society. It is also a place where future generations walk and are inspired or angered. Truly, the great tread upon these halls, so walk slowly, look them in the eye, and talk warmly as you encourage the greatness among you.</p> <p>Yet, are we just baby sitters? Is school where kids go so they have something to do during the day? Let it not be!</p> <blockquote><p>"The true aim of every one who aspires to be a teacher should be, not to impart his own opinions,but to kindle minds." F. W. Robertson</p></blockquote> <p>Kindling minds? Is that what we are doing? Oh, I'm so fortunate, I feel I get to do that. Right now, however, I'm doing SAT prep which is far from mind kindling. I'm teaching them how to "beat" a test and outsmart the test makers to elevate themselves above other test takers. It feels important - to their future and lives -- but it isn't the spark kindling, mind blowing, excitement inducing lessons that they run to class for. This too shall pass, thank goodness. I can only imagine what I'd feel if all I did was test prep. God be with us! It would be not only awful, but sad. But I think the reason the students listen to me is because even amidst our least favorite material, they know that passion based learning is coming back on Monday. Oh yes, we'll be back.</p> <blockquote><p>Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition.</p><p>Jacques Barzun</p></blockquote> <p>So, we know what we do is noble. We know that there is certainly an art to teaching. We know that there are not only some good teachers out there but there are great teachers out there. Then, why, then, tell me, do so many teachers feel that the ire of society is looking down upon them? Why do many feel unsupported, unappreciated and criticized? What is this toxic Kool-aid of looking down upon teachers that society has drunk?</p> <p><strong>I'm not drinking the kool-aid</strong>. While the media is required to give equal time to political candidates, it is not required to give equal time among the positives and negatives of a profession. Teachers make easy targets. There is always a 1% fool factor in any profession - those who do foolish things with power or take dumb paths. The fools among us are not only the greatest of fools but the most despicable of humans because they are working with innocent, malleable children. When a teacher messes up, it is most repulsive, especially to those of us who do it every day. And being such a large profession, there is always some of the 1% available to tar and feather in the media and give another instance of a profession gone wrong. </p> <p>But do you know, there are lawyers who do wrong - where are they? How about the garbage man who does something wrong or the secretary with sticky fingers who steals money? It is because when a teacher goes wrong, they have a living breathing victim and no one emotes, or should evoke more sympathy than an innocent child. They are our greatest treasures and should be treated as such. Of course, news of the victimization of one of these children spreads like wildfire, causing people to turn on the news - who, desperate for viewers, they will report on things that elicit responses and nothing does more so than a teacher gone wrong.</p> <p>But <strong>I'm still not drinking the kool aid</strong>. The 1% fool factor is not going to determine what I think of a noble profession. It is not. And it shouldn't for you.</p> <p>See the reporting and the misunderstanding for what it is. Teachers are an easy target. And say that we have not messed up but a parent says that we have, they can make up anything they want and take it to the media and we are bound by confidentiality, much like doctors or lawyers, except even more so. Because we are not at liberty to formulate our own responses because our districts and schools have lawyers who are out to protect the "system" not necessarily the "teacher."</p> <p>Yet. <strong>I'm still not drinking the kool-aid.</strong></p> <p>Teachers, you are noble. I'm not going to let a waning media convince me otherwise. I'm also not going to entirely blame the media. There are things fundamentally WRONG in education. There is a mismatch between how students learn and how they are being taught in many schools. But <strong>there is also a mismatch between what teachers are being asked to do and what they know is the right thing to do.</strong></p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-t8GqgbsCqdc/SQyUpjF1JII/AAAAAAAAACM/EqxfrxGnz9s/s896/New%252520Kool%252520Aid.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br></a></div> <p>Fundamental changes need to happen in many schools who have forgotten the main purpose that they exist. We are here to kindle. We are here to inspire. We are here to encourage. A child may not have a reason to get up every day, but <strong>something should be so exciting at their schoolhouse, that they can't wait to get out of their house and head there</strong>. There should be at least one class, besides study hall, that kids are excited to get into. <strong>Not because we entertain them, but because we have captivated them</strong>. They are excited.</p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-dkyCPJNaCiU/SPVrD8fMeqI/AAAAAAAACi0/REqj3P6KJFY/s320/koolaid-large.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br></a></div> <p>Learning should be fun. It should be a blast! Students should be excited. Teachers should too. But I refuse to believe all is lost. Sometimes, you can be lost in a bad neighborhood but are just one block over from your destination. Many schools have taken a wrong turn and leadership will get them back in the right place. </p> <p>But let me tell you, the wrongest turn for you as a teacher is to let suck-y things sour your attitude and your perspective on the bright, wriggling hope sitting in those seats before you today. <strong>We cannot let the frustrations and injustices of life keep us from admiring and respecting the profession that is most noble.</strong></p> <p>Remember your noble calling teacher and let the respect of this profession rekindle in our hearts and minds as we know and recognize that who we are and what we do is vital to society's future. Whether society itself recognizes or appreciates us or not, we are here as watchmen on the wall and will do our duty to guard these children, cast out the 1% among us who are fools and shouldn't be teaching kids anyway, and we will do our best every day whether anyone notices or cares.</p> <p>We love our students and are giving our lives every day to help them love learning. And that, my friends, is kool aid worth drinking.</p> <p> </p> <a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-dkyCPJNaCiU/SPVrD8fMeqI/AAAAAAAACi0/REqj3P6KJFY/s320/koolaid-large.jpg" target="_blank" style="text-align: center; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; "><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="320" id="blogsy-1362658132888.2659" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-dkyCPJNaCiU/SPVrD8fMeqI/AAAAAAAACi0/REqj3P6KJFY/s320/koolaid-large.jpg" width="294"></a><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad" height="20" src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" />Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad</a></div>

Inspiration Teaching Kool Aid worth drinking: the respect and admiration for the noble profession of teaching

"Every great poet is a teacher; I either wish to be considered as a teacher or as nothing." William Wordsworth, loc 914, Six Cen...

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Throwing self pity into the sea

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QtuIMSXVvMA/SVKT9NtQ8oI/AAAAAAAABmg/I1ck1fvob6U/s1600/2008-Aug-01%252520%2525280193%252529%252520Hook%252520Head%25252C%252520Ireland.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="339" id="blogsy-1361880051993.359" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QtuIMSXVvMA/SVKT9NtQ8oI/AAAAAAAABmg/I1ck1fvob6U/s500/2008-Aug-01%252520%2525280193%252529%252520Hook%252520Head%25252C%252520Ireland.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><blockquote>AJ Cronin tells the story of a cliff on the Channel Isle of Jersey where <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Hugo" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Victor Hugo">Victor Hugo</a>, despondent, in exile, sick and persecuted by the France he so loved, climbed. Every evening he traversed this jagged cliff and, looking into the sunset, meditated in quiet. When he was done, he would stand, renewed, pick up a pebble, stone or large rock and toss it into the sea raging below. Some children who played nearby every night noticed Hugo and pushed forward a young lass who asked,<br />"Monseir Hugo, why do you come here to throw these stones?"<br />Victor Hugor, author of such great literature about the tragedy and love of life, smiled and said<br />"Not stones, my child, I am throwing self-pity into the sea."<br />(Adapted from AJ Cronin as told in <em>Everyday Greatness</em> by <a class="zem_slink" href="http://stephencovey.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Stephen Covey">Stephen Covey</a>, p 430).</blockquote>Self pity into the sea. When gazing upon the lives of the great among us, whether they be statesmen and women, authors, or humanitarians, we often see the product of their lives without a nod to the pain, frustration and heartache that produced such. We praise Ghandi for how he brought peace to many parts of India torn by bloodshed and violence, but if faced with the empty plate and glass, we would say it was too much to miss a meal. He missed meals for days to accomplish such for the people he loved.<br /><br />But I think that sometimes our problem is not that we want to do great things. So many of us are rushing around attempting greatness in some fashion or another. We answer emails like we're the king of some domain and take phonecalls in public places to sound important to anonymous strangers who wished we'd take it down a notch. <br /><br />Our problem is that we've gotten rid of the places of respite: the hammocks, garden benches, and reading rooms of yesteryear. We don't have a spot by the creek, or a place overlooking the lake that we go to in order to ponder life and love and meaning. We all need a place to ponder life and meaning and when we're done, to rise and pick up a rock-- certainly a different size fits different days -- and cast into into the lake as we forever rid ourselves of any self pity so that we may move forward to the tasks of today.<br /><br />I know of a person who has a 21 year old daughter who walked down to the pond on Saturday in a flash flood and ended her life. Her self pity wasn't thrown away, she drowned in it, literally.<br /><br />Listen here, we all have struggles. We all have pain. We all have things that just aren't fair and people who treat us unjustly. But we must make time for moments alone to ponder such things and deal with our emotions and make peace with our God. And when we arise, if we can take that rock of self pity and toss it far away, we'll be far the better person for the tasks we must undertake on the morrow.<br /><br />Yea, though I wax poetic, truth be that self pity is a rock, that if not untied and tossed, can serve to weight us down into the depths. And such depths are dark, unfriendly, and if you don't wake up and untie yourself when you realize you're sinking -- maybe you'll let go and live -- but you risk going under permanently in a place of instability where the mind goes to hide when the burden it carries is too great.<br /><br />This post is for any and all of you who will read, not just teachers. For, I think we all must learn to have some solitude to deal with the strife of life. <br /><br /><strong>Here's to you, fellow traveler on the way, we all have noble callings to which we must ascribe and we cannot meet them while carrying a bag of rocks tied around our necks.</strong><br /><strong><br /></strong>Here's to you and here's to some rock tossing we all need to do.<br /><div id="blogsy_footer" style="clear: both; font-size: small; text-align: right;"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad" height="20" src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" style="margin-right: 5px; vertical-align: middle;" width="20" />Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad</a></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_c.png?x-id=031cbbb0-3771-4912-b947-68dc2bf390eb" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>

Inspiration Throwing self pity into the sea

AJ Cronin tells the story of a cliff on the Channel Isle of Jersey where Victor Hugo , despondent, in exile, sick and persecuted by the Fran...

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Get a distance away and start a new habit today.

<blockquote><p> "Every now and then, go away, take a little relaxation, because when you come back to your work, your judgement will be surer. To remain constantly at work will cause you to lose power of judgement. Go some distance away, because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance, and a lack of harmony or proportion is more readily seen." Leonardo da Vinci</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;" caption="Nobody has to tell my cat to sleep. Animals tend to listen to their own needs and rest when it is needed. Let's learn to do the same."><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH6JohTTjZiJd6Orlv58bSqTq8dO2Y5g8WZ656gV7ZdmCGt2ytlErEuwXpKdvLc_lWL35BrCm5uwLSt7_MquBiV2CqBQ3LQAcYMCAv5WfdF5oDkpjcovhawxqOdz7L4xDw9qb4lypu3F1t/s425/Photo%252520Dec%25252020%25252C%2525202012%25252C%2525207%25253A30%252520AM.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="425" id="blogsy-1361792919665.8853" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH6JohTTjZiJd6Orlv58bSqTq8dO2Y5g8WZ656gV7ZdmCGt2ytlErEuwXpKdvLc_lWL35BrCm5uwLSt7_MquBiV2CqBQ3LQAcYMCAv5WfdF5oDkpjcovhawxqOdz7L4xDw9qb4lypu3F1t/s425/Photo%252520Dec%25252020%25252C%2525202012%25252C%2525207%25253A30%252520AM.jpg" width="425"></a></div></blockquote> <p>Today, I challenge you to start one habit that you'll be thankful you did one week from now. One habit.</p> <p>The trouble with this time in the school year is that we are largely, too close to our work and I think we tend to lose our power of judgement. Think about the times when tempers flare the most and when petty disagreements happen? There are times I think, "Really, they disagreed about that?" or I back up and look at myself and say "Really, I'm upset about this?"</p> <p>Some people call it Margin, others call it R&R, and others call it "getting away" but I call it my weakness.</p> <p>I admit that right now, I'm not very good at getting some distance away. I read all the time management books... at least 50 to date and learn a lot about being productive but very little about true balance.</p> <p>I think most of the time management "experts" don't have 12 loads of laundry, three kids, and a husband and three cats and a dog to care for. They probably have a secretary or maid or both.</p> <p>I'm happy for those people who can jet set around the world, happily pruned and beaming about how they can help me prioritize and monetize my life, but they haven't lived my life. And I haven't lived yours.</p> <p>You are the greatest motivational speaker ever invented for YOU. What you say to yourself inside your head has more long term impact on your life than any of these voices coming from outside your eardrums. YOU have to determine the next step. <strong>YOU have to determine the next course of action.</strong></p> <h2>Pick One Habit today</h2> <p>Pick ONE habit today that you'll be glad you started in a week and DO IT. You know what it is. It will likely mean shifting something else. I wish I had the answers for you, because if you're like me, you may not feel like you have many choices right now. You're a hamster jumping between 5 or 6 wheels trying to keep them all running. You probably feel alone and perhaps even like a slave to the world. I'm with you.</p> <p>Time is short. It is, quite literally, a dash. You are living the dash between the year you were born and the year you die. This is all there is. If you can manage 30 hormonal preteens in one class period, and take kids on field trips to places that most parents wouldn't take their brood, and get all those grades done and manage all those parent teacher conferences - then <strong>most assuredly, you have the organizational acumen to carve out an hour for yourself today to do something that needs to be done to take care of you.</strong></p> <p><strong>You are a finite resource</strong>. There is only so much of you. Teachers don't just try to burn the candle at both ends, we try to add new wicks and make new ends to burn! We are completely out of control some of the busiest people I know.</p> <h2>Do this NOW</h2> <p>But, let's write a new end to this day. Right now, get out your calendar and schedule the one habit you long to do. Make the time to do it today and I will too. Let's add a new end, one where we have some common sense and actually take care of ourselves for a change.</p> <p>There's more to life than having nightmares about a prom gone terribly wrong and being upset about all of those papers that aren't graded yet and the 6 loads of laundry still left sorted and dirty, ready to be washed. There's more than this and it is time to make time for more of you by doing less running on the endless wheel. Make time for yourself or you break yourself, and you know how tough gets when you're sick.</p> <p>Wake up that tired motivational speaker in your head RIGHT NOW. Put her or him on task right now to pick and figure out a time to help you start your habit today. </p> <p>If Leonardo da Vinci had to take time to get away, don't you think we should too? </p> <p>Last night, my husband and I were looking at all of the films that Anthony Hopkins has made and were pondering his newest film, Hitchcock, and we talked about what it would take to do that amount of work - that is a lot of movies.<br></p> <p><strong>You have more stories than Hopkins</strong>. You have the stories of hundreds and maybe thousands of children passing through your rooms. You're not going to make it without some rest in between. Music is made more beautiful by the pauses and rests and you'll be made more beautiful too.</p> <p>Pick a habit today... one habit... and start it. Make it a habit that you'll be glad that you started one week from now.</p> <p>Remember your noble calling, teacher, but <strong>remember yourself. If</strong> you give out, your career is over and we need you in education right now. You have my heartfelt love, thanks, and appreciation. Let's get to it.</p> <p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad" height="20" src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" />Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad</a></div>

Inspiration Teaching Get a distance away and start a new habit today.

"Every now and then, go away, take a little relaxation, because when you come back to your work, your judgement will be surer. To rema...

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22000 visitors! 119,000 pageviews! Yay!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><img border="0" height="0" src="http://c.gigcount.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEzNjE3ODY2NDU2NjEmcHQ9MTM2MTc4NjY1MjQwOSZwPTc*MzIxJmQ9Jmc9MSZvPWQ2Y2RjYjhmZmZlZTQ4ZjU5MDFi/NGQ2YWM5ZGM3NjJk.gif" style="height: 0px; visibility: hidden; width: 0px;" width="0" /><a href="http://www.sparklee.com/"><img alt="Myspace Text - http://www.sparklee.com" border="0" src="http://img-s3-01.mytextgraphics.com/sparklee/2013/02/25/0073dc52f08461d254f2abcfedfd41ae.gif" /></a><br /><br /></div>

Inspiration 22000 visitors! 119,000 pageviews! Yay!

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More inspiration: ‘Here’s to the crazy ones–think different’

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Submitted by Fiona Beal</i></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I always enjoy these videos that have an inspirational message. This one is said to be narrated by Steve Jobs and it features Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Richard Branson, John Lennon (with Yoko Ono), Buckminster Fuller, Thomas Edison, Muhammad Ali, Ted Turner, Maria Callas, Mahatma Gandhi, Amelia Earhart, Alfred Hitchcock, Martha Graham, Jim Henson (with Kermit the Frog), Frank Lloyd Wright and Pablo Picasso. The young girl at the end is Shaan Sahota</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The message - don't be afraid to think differently</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8rwsuXHA7RA" width="420"></iframe></div>

Inspiration More inspiration: ‘Here’s to the crazy ones–think different’

Submitted by Fiona Beal I always enjoy these videos that have an inspirational message. This one is said to be narrated by Steve Jobs and it...

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What seems obvious to you may be AMAZING to others! Keep sharing…

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We live in the social networking age, the age of sharing information generously with others. But how often does it happen that we want to share something but we think it is too ordinary – that everyone knows about it. Everybody’s idea seems obvious to them. But maybe what’s obvious to you is amazing to others!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The thoughts expressed in this video by David Sivers are so inspirational that I thought it would be good to embed the whole video here.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xcmI5SSQLmE" width="420"></iframe><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy sharing! Just do it!</span></div>

Inspiration What seems obvious to you may be AMAZING to others! Keep sharing…

We live in the social networking age, the age of sharing information generously with others. But how often does it happen that we want to sh...

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Don't just be right... do right

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://instagr.am/p/TDeTcqNRwW/" target="_blank" style="clear: left; float: left; "><img alt="" class="alignleft" height="500" id="blogsy-1360323751765.0344" src="http://distilleryimage10.s3.amazonaws.com/60fa45c242bc11e28ed022000a1fbc58_7.jpg" width="500"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We know every basketball player will miss some shots... so why do we expect others to be right all the time. And when they are wrong, how do we act?</td></tr></tbody></table> <blockquote><p> "You welcome the one who joyfully does what is right." Isaiah 64:5a</p></blockquote> <p>Do you ever read something and the unique combination of words just opens your mind to a truth?</p> <p>This morning the words describing a person who "JOYFULLY does what is RIGHT" lept off the page and furrowed my brow.</p> <p><strong>Do you know people are who are doing the right thing but with totally the WRONG attitude.</strong></p> <p>They stomp their foot and say, "Well this is the right thing and I'm going to do it if it just kills me" and then proceed to be so cranky and fussy that everyone knows they are doing the RIGHT thing and perhaps it is the RIGHT thing but they do it with such a WRONG attitude that you can't stomach being around the person?</p> <p><strong>Inside comes out more than you think.</strong></p> <p>As teachers, we are surrounded with doing the right thing for kids all the time. I can put on my happy face and serve my students with joy but if inside, I'm seething and angry and fussy and cranky, it does come out. It comes out when they're looking and I'm not. It comes out when they ask me a question.</p> <p><strong>But what about those WRONG decisions that vex me?</strong></p> <p>There are things that happen that are WRONG and decisions that are made that are WRONG. But that is the thing, we humans make wrong decisions and have the right to do so. Your administration, I promise you, will make some whoppers of wrong decisions and so will you. And if you don't cut your admin slack when they mess up, you're going to be eating a very unpleasant dinner when your whopper is served up steaming hot - because eventually, if you live long enough, you will screw up too.</p> <p><strong>But to joyfully do the right thing?</strong></p> <p>But this word - JOYFULLY do what is right. Does it stick in your craw like it does for me? I just can't quite swallow that task to joyfully do what is right. Because I get angry sometimes. Some things aren't fair, aren't right, and stink to high heaven like the pile of organic fertilizer that gets the buzzards circling in my hometown. It might be the right thing for me to do to just suck it up and let the bad decision be made, but to be joyful about it? To joyfully do the right thing?</p> <p>I don't have an answer for you today or quite honestly, one for me. I only accept these words as a true challenge to my soul and behavior. </p> <p><strong>If I do the RIGHT thing in a WRONG way does that make me less effective? Does it make me WRONG too?</strong></p> <p>You see them coming. The freight train. Filled with holy indignation, they are doing the right thing - don't get in their way -- they are RIGHT and they are coming THROUGH - through YOU if they have to.They are so right that you'd better not open your mouth or they will just cut your head off with a ginsu sharp word and keep on charging as the books on the bookshelves rattle and the stapler on your desk moves with the vibrating sound of the t-rex going by. They are RIGHT. Holy indignant -but right and everyone knows they are right. But God forbid, don't get stuck in a room with them. The poisonous dart of the vindictively right person will knock your attitude out faster than getting hit with a sleep inducing tribal blow gun from 10 feet. </p> <p>Some of the most harmful things in a school are the right person who chooses not to forgive and goes about letting everyone know it in the WRONG way. How many times do you have to rub our faces in it? -- A person screwed up. Now that's a new one, like this person hasn't screwed up before and won't again. And you really have to remind me years later about that screw up? Do you want others to keep such records on you?</p> <p>We can't minimize trying to do the right thing. <strong>But when people care more about being right than doing right, you've got a problem. </strong></p> <p>Ultimately, there is only one person in my school I have any control over at all... ME. And I can strive for and seek to "joyfully do what is right." </p> <p>Lest you think this is just to teachers... if you have teenagers or tots, this applies to you. If you're RIGHT as a parent but you go about dealing with it in the WRONG way - you might as well have been wrong in the eyes of your child who sees everything and sees every attitude.</p> <p>Don't just be right - do right. And do right joyfully. A lofty goal, but one worth pursing.</p> <p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad" height="20" src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" />Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad</a></div>

Inspiration Teaching Don't just be right... do right

We know every basketball player will miss some shots... so why do we expect others to be right all the time. And when they are wrong, how do...

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Don't let exhaustion choke the love of teaching from your heart

<br />Last night, I literally got in the bed at 4:30 pm. Monday I worked 13 hours at the school... at school and then 4 hours of gate duty because someone forgot to show up... then I watched my son's game. So, yesterday, when I got home at 4:30, I knew I was going... as I call to my family...'over the top.' When I've been around people for so long and been so intense that I'm, quite literally shutting down from exhaustion.<br /><br />It is in those moments, no matter how good my day, that I wonder how I can do this job. It is in those moments that self doubt arises like a WWF Schwarzenneger-like wraith to choke this career out of my heart. <b>But I won't let it.</b><br /><br />I looked at the picture of passion on my iphone (below) and I held it in my hand as I closed my eyes for a few moments. I was bone tired and felt it all the way to my heart. I clung to the very special picture as I slept as I held onto my win today. (Sadly, it was also the phone that awoke me, when someone sent me a text message. Lesson learned, never sleep with your cell phone.)<br /><br />Let me tell you what happened and how you can cope when you're 'over the top'<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Talking about the Habitudes</b></span><br />I'm working through the "Name it" stage of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1935542621/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwbrighc-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1935542621" id="static_txt_preview" style="background-color: white; color: #996633; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: center;" target="_blank">Classroom Habitudes</a>. This year I''ve set a goal to work on the habitudes in class for 15 minutes twice a week. In a jam packed curriculum like mine, it is a sacrifice, but I'm making it work, snatching time here and there. Last week <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.angelamaiers.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Angela Maiers">Angela Maiers</a> was at my school and did the one of the best inservice training courses I've ever absorbed. Many of us teachers at Westwood were deeply impacted and re-upped our commitment to everything we want to be as teachers.<br /><br />In this phase, you talk about the 7 Habitudes (see <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1935542621/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwbrighc-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1935542621" id="static_txt_preview" style="background-color: white; color: #996633; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: center;" target="_blank">Classroom Habitudes</a> version 2 by Angela Maiers). You talk about what it is, what it looks like - the people or what you see someone do, what it sounds like <i>(this example below didn't quite do that one correctly - specifically it is focusing on the kinds of things we SAY when we are exhibiting passion - things like "Wow!" or "I think it is so cool that..." or "I'm so excited to learn that..." "I want to learn more about..." these are just a few of the things that sound like passion.)</i><br /><br />Then, we talk about what it feels like. Of interest to me were the conversations about how the different traits feel, for example, the kids talked about how perseverance feels like doubt and struggle but afterwards, people often recognize it as perseverance because when you're in the midst of doing something great that you often don't get praised for what you're doing.<br /><br />It is important to me that my students KNOW that I only want to hear what they really think. I don't want them to "suck up" but be brutally honest about whatever we're discussing. I praise the "courage" to ask hard questions and ask them what they are "curious" about. Plus, I have great students.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>When your students choke you up</b></span><br />But yesterday, I had to stop class for a few moments - maybe 30 seconds. But I was overcome. The kids in the teams had their papers so I had no idea what they said. A young man was talking about passion and said:<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"Well, we were talking about what passion looks like, and we decided, well, we decided that it looks like 'Miss' Vicki."</blockquote><br />My eyes teared over. It was an involuntary response.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd_QFOSX7GNBHJR3FljPrnp94Ft3OiFQ-dFHW64c-NVnNKvqqHXyF1K89jnVuwx4StGfsVQx2QK0Fa28MkutakX97iOOJXrP-0PaDQm0FnRANm-wslRGA971gcJV85tqagA0k59TdNxSai/s1024/Photo%252520Jan%25252015%25252C%2525202013%25252C%2525209%25253A24%252520AM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="669" id="blogsy-1358335861982.2354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd_QFOSX7GNBHJR3FljPrnp94Ft3OiFQ-dFHW64c-NVnNKvqqHXyF1K89jnVuwx4StGfsVQx2QK0Fa28MkutakX97iOOJXrP-0PaDQm0FnRANm-wslRGA971gcJV85tqagA0k59TdNxSai/s500/Photo%252520Jan%25252015%25252C%2525202013%25252C%2525209%25253A24%252520AM.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>I was so taken aback. I think all of us teachers who are in this because we love kids hope that our lives will be lessons. We want to live what we want kids to be. We want to be more.<br /><br />I tell my students... I'm not here to teach you, I'm here to COMPLETELY BLOW YOUR MIND. We don't settle for "just teaching" we teach each other. We are curious. We are passionate. We do more and be more than we've ever been. My only expectation is that we are expected to be world class in everything we do. That simple. I don't care if we're in the tiny town of Camilla, we are world class. It is what we do. It is who we are.<br /><br />But yesterday, my mind was blown and my heart was moved. I really didn't deserve that because I don't encourage people to say anything about me. I don't really want it at all. But the complete innocence of it and the way he said it as a fact, I'm sitting here crying as I type this on my ipad at 6:13 am listening to <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.saragroves.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Sara Groves">Sara Groves</a>. <br /><br />Angela told me these were million dollar conversations, but I didn't expect to be the one who the "money" so to speak. <br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Savor the wins, you'll need it sooner than you think</span><br />I've encouraged the kids to keep 2 folders: an "at a girl" or "at a boy" folder and a "goals" folder somewhere in their desk in their room. All I could choke out was:<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"Oh my goodness. (they could see my tears) It is my dream for you to see my passion, not only about the subject but about YOU and helping you find the things you do well. I don't know what to say, but that, that is the kind of thing that will go in my 'at a girl' folder and I'll treasure forever. Thank you for that."</blockquote><br /><h2>I Can't Fight this Feeling</h2>Those of you who don't teach won't understand this feeling I described in the opening paragraphs.  Usually it is a feeling for <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fridays_%28TV_series%29" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Fridays (TV series)">Fridays</a> and end of the semester, but it is real and it is normal for teachers to get this way. We are in a high stress high burnout job and must hold onto encouragement and go to bed at 4:30 when we are self-aware enough to realize that we're about to push ourselves to far.<br /><br /><h2>Every teacher and every classroom counts: YOU MATTER SO MUCH!</h2>So, as I end my thoughts for today and head to the kitchen to cook my family breakfast, I just want to tell you teachers that YOU MATTER. You matter very much. You are important. Every one of your classrooms counts... whether you are public, private, or homeschooling - you have a tough job and you're my heroes. It is an honor to serve among you and wear the badge of honor of being a teacher.<br /><br />It is my prayer today that you will:<br /><ul><li>Hold onto the moments that you'll need to reflect upon when you're exhausted</li><li>That you'll be self-aware enough to get some rest and reset when you feel yourself 'going over the top'</li><li>That you'll know that being tired is a normal feeling for teachers (we've had lots of conversations about this on my Facebook Fanpage, so I know that many teachers feel this way) but that when you're tired, KNOW IT and REST.</li><li>That you'll know how important YOU are and that your classroom is very important. </li><li>That you'll go into today giving your best.</li><li>Finally, that you'll consider the habitudes or at least some discussion about the "to be" list you want students to be before you get too deep into the to do list of your classroom. We want students "to be" so many things, but I was struck how I needed to formally say, "we want to be...curious, adaptable, passionate, self-aware, etc.</li></ul>Remember your noble calling teacher. You rock.<br /><br /><div id="blogsy_footer" style="clear: both; font-size: small; text-align: right;"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad" height="20" src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" style="margin-right: 5px; vertical-align: middle;" width="20" />Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad</a></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_c.png?x-id=9785f460-9e16-47c8-97b6-7a67ecf8a12d" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>

Inspiration Teaching Don't let exhaustion choke the love of teaching from your heart

Last night, I literally got in the bed at 4:30 pm. Monday I worked 13 hours at the school... at school and then 4 hours of gate duty because...

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Yay! 19 000 visitors!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><img border="0" height="0" src="http://c.gigcount.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEzNTgyNjMyNzg2MTYmcHQ9MTM1ODI2MzI4ODE4MyZwPTc*MzIxJmQ9Jmc9MSZvPWQ2Y2RjYjhmZmZlZTQ4ZjU5MDFi/NGQ2YWM5ZGM3NjJk.gif" style="height: 0px; visibility: hidden; width: 0px;" width="0" /><a href="http://www.sparklee.com/"><img alt="glitter logo - http://www.sparklee.com" border="0" src="http://img-s3-01.mytextgraphics.com/sparklee/2013/01/15/cd62227de8728212794791413ad099c3.gif" /></a><br /><br /></div>

Inspiration Yay! 19 000 visitors!

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Family Treasures

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjNSbNJ_ss74wb_jC9PGasN05VwNHLTIuObZNfSekd5m-QkmYzuTUSaogrws7nua-l10DljZElHPxqdxNrFCn3TVx9XuaI9_lBjsJZH8rftUFNq4DJSCnQGUCt1r5bAkqhyphenhyphenN8aH8ttGNi/s960/Photo%252520Jan%25252015%25252C%2525202013%25252C%2525206%25253A12%252520AM.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="375" id="blogsy-1358250105405.0251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjNSbNJ_ss74wb_jC9PGasN05VwNHLTIuObZNfSekd5m-QkmYzuTUSaogrws7nua-l10DljZElHPxqdxNrFCn3TVx9XuaI9_lBjsJZH8rftUFNq4DJSCnQGUCt1r5bAkqhyphenhyphenN8aH8ttGNi/s500/Photo%252520Jan%25252015%25252C%2525202013%25252C%2525206%25253A12%252520AM.jpg" width="500"></a></div> <h3>Words are wimps</h3> <p> I'm supposed to turn in the words for my son's annual ad today. I've been writing at 5 am. It is just one page. One page to summarize how I feel and what I want him to carry with him.</p> <p>But one page can't capture it. It won't. It can't. I have to pick the words that will inspire him and hope that 18 years has been enough time to tell him how much I love him and all the things that he needs to know to make it in this world. </p> <p>So, how can I leave a tiny piece of me on this page, so that when I'm gone, he can look at it and say ... "yeah, that's my Mom... that is what she would say to me if she were here right now." How can capture a bit of immortality -- or at least a fleeting bit, as long as he's alive, because in the end, he's the only one who will really read or care what I said. </p> <h3>Tidal Waves of Change</h3> <p>I was completely clueless about what this means and still am. It is kind of like playing in the surf at the beach, I think I'm ok until the next big wave comes and smacks me in the face, stinging my eyes and causing my nose to run. I get to do this two years in a row - two tsunamis back to back, my daughter graduates next year. </p> <p>So much of who I am is wrapped up in my desire to love my children with abandon and to make them independent people who don't need me anymore. In this case, success means change. Success means letting go. My youngest will be starting middle school next year... I'm more thankful for him than ever because I've still got a lot of being a Mom left in these bones. </p> <p>Being a Mom has been the greatest joy of my life as a close second to being a wife of a great man. I had no idea how much I'd love these three little squirming, wet creatures who came into my life. </p> <h3>Tough Times Give you the Chance to Treasure</h3> <p>Sunday we were laughing about all of the times we had been in or to the hospital with our three. LAUGHING. We laughed about how my youngest inhaled a sunflower seed and had to be at Eggleston and how I held him all night as he screamed because he couldn't eat. We laughed about how my oldest woke up from wisdom tooth surgery with a violent temper and my daughter came out of having her tonsils removed sobbing. We laughed about those things that almost sent me over the edge and we told jokes and we remembered those times with fondness. Why? Because it is our story together.</p> <p>Families make memories together. <strong>Sometimes the tough times are an opportunity to show just how much you love someone</strong>. Without those times, they might be oblivious as to what they mean to us...let me demonstrate.</p> <h3>The Family Heirlooms</h3> <p>Yesterday I heard this story that fits from Dr. Charles Lowery who told a story about a little girl who was told not to do gymastics in the den because the family heirlooms were on the shelves and tables. The rug was thick, so one day when Mom was in the back of the house, she couldn't resist and started doing her back handsprings. She was fine for a while but started really getting into it and kicked a vase off the shelf. When she did, it cracked into shards and she fell on top of the vase, cracking it further but gashing her leg open.</p> <p>Her Mom heard the noise and came running. The little girl was so afraid because she knew she had broken a precious family keepsake. But when her Mom came in and saw the blood, she didn't even see or say anything about the vase. All she could do was look at the little girls leg to see if she was ok. And then the little girl realized something that changed her life. <strong>She was the family treasure</strong>. </p> <h3>See the treasure in your students</h3> <p>As you teach these precious children, remember that everyone one of them is the family treasure. And if they are not..make them yours. Every child deserves to be loved. These children in your classroom are your heirlooms. They are treasures. They are gifts. </p> <p>As we struggle through life, teaching, and everything else, let's keep clearly in focus who the treasures in our lives are.</p> <p> Notice, I didn't say what our treasures are... I said WHO.</p> <p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad" height="20" src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" />Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad</a></div>

Inspiration parenting students Family Treasures

Words are wimps I'm supposed to turn in the words for my son's annual ad today. I've been writing at 5 am. It is just one pag...

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Learning to Stand after the Fallout

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBWnb79Dq56mCXRKcSaprnNHV74U57nWEPLzLF76BWCHLlj7uQE8HeP8lacbCETTVpEenkbN4qko0CTAs9YL58etyx4FgerdnkQF-cXDgWGBZhdizp243YsUEghErE_WiGEVSsaqeyyW0q/s960/Photo%252520Jan%2525208%25252C%2525202013%25252C%2525206%25253A21%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="375" id="blogsy-1357787200774.96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBWnb79Dq56mCXRKcSaprnNHV74U57nWEPLzLF76BWCHLlj7uQE8HeP8lacbCETTVpEenkbN4qko0CTAs9YL58etyx4FgerdnkQF-cXDgWGBZhdizp243YsUEghErE_WiGEVSsaqeyyW0q/s500/Photo%252520Jan%2525208%25252C%2525202013%25252C%2525206%25253A21%252520PM.jpg" width="500"></a></div> <p>I'm sitting in the stands after just dropping my friend <a href="http://www.angelamaiers.com" target="_self" title="">Angela Maiers</a> off at the airport in Albany. I have to admit, I've been a bit reticent to share lately. Some things aren't worth sharing -- or maybe shouldn't be shared, as an especially harsh critic emailed me back about a month a go -- who is really interested anyway. Just be an information source, Vicki, not a person.</p> <p>There are times, I must admit, that I'm not standing - I'm crawling. Trying to just keep moving forward any way I can. Between the three kids and the 100 kids at school and the 125 computers and 3 servers, websites, blog, collaborators, and all the maelstrom of just living life - when I begin to doubt not only my mission but that I have a mission at all.</p> <p>In my 20's I was quite self confident. I was an optimist. I was ambitious. I was a go-getter - ready to get things done - I did things - things weren't done to me. I I I I ... oh my goodness, it makes me nauseous to think of how things were. When I had a close person to me become down, or, as it happens, depressed - not only did I not understand, I made it worse - heaping guilt upon them for having a hard time, or feeling down. It might have been brought on by a failed business or a death, but to me, back then, before I KNEW and LIVED, I was so sure that although you can't help what happens in life, you can <strong><em>CONTROL</em></strong> how you think about it. You can <strong><em>CONTROL</em></strong> your feelings.</p> <p>Spoken like a neophyte at the game of living life. Control how you feel? Really? You can CONTROL that? You can MAKE yourself an optimist? Really?</p> <p>Those of you who watch me online could hastily dismiss all of this and say </p> <p>"Ah, she's suffering from burnout- she finally did it - she just did too much."</p> <p>But it isn't burnout. It has really been fallout. </p> <h3>Fallout is not the same as burnout</h3> <p>Life decays. People get older, including you and me. People die, things change, the natural radioactive decay of life hits you. Sometimes you open a horrible, "rich" deposit of radioactive material - dare I use the word rich, and your life has just been turned into a complete unrecognizable thing that you just didn't plan. Babies are born. Babies graduate. Babies aren't babies any more. Babies have babies and sadly, babies die. Schools open, schools close. Upsize, downsize, right size, incise. You get seized by change of all sizes.</p> <p>The radioactive decay of life can hit you, and you can be bouncing along happily one moment and the next in a fetal, fallout induced ball just trying to live from moment to moment.</p> <p>You can't talk yourself out of it, into it, over it or around it. </p> <p>And right now in education there is a ton of fallout.</p> <p>Education, and rightly so, is on the hotseat as we realize that in our attempt to create "to do" lists that we've forgotten our "to be" list, as my friend Angela Maiers so aptly said during the last two days of professional development she's done at my school. </p> <p>Maybe I've been afraid to admit the struggles of life that I've been having. I mean, no one really cares about me, as the emailer told me just a month a go. A somewhat unkind lady, on her path to correct me and tell me she was ashamed of me, just had to "put me in my place."</p> <p>And, as I talked to Angela today, she said, "why do we women do this to each other?" There are a few prima donna perfectionists whose job it is to straighten out the world and make them fly right. Well, I'm here to tell you - if you're a prima donna perfectionist -- someone who is radioactive by nature - man or woman - sending your negative decay into the world - GET LOST. I'm done with you. You are radioactive, negative and there is enough natural decay in life itself to be around you or listen to you. </p> <p>Life is tough. Teaching is tough. Being a mom is completely heartwrenching and exhausting. It is natural and there and nothing any of us can do about it.</p> <p>But I've been straightened out in these last two days with Angela. Yes, we talked about technology. Yes, we talked about 21st century skills and more, but more than that we talked about our to be list. Our to be list as a school and our to be list as professionals. </p> <p>It starts with who you and I want to be. We must reframe our thinking by surrounding ourselves with mentors and inspiring people. <strong>We must replenish our hearts before we can think about putting something new in our minds</strong>. And we MUST -- I repeat MUST realize and understand that other educators, people, parents, and students are experiencing the stress of life too.</p> <h2>Walk Slowly Through the crowd</h2> <p>My pastor, <a href="http://www.michaelcatt.com" target="_self" title="">Michael Catt</a>, says, "Walk slowly through the crowd, because everyone has a hurt."</p> <p>Everyone has a hurt. Everyone. You, me, everyone. And when it is too much, we experience fallout, not burnout. It takes time to heal and move forward. </p> <p>There are times such fallout doesn't really make us wonder if we have a purpose but if we have anything at all. If it matters at all.</p> <p>But there is the opposite of fallout. And although, you and I can't influence millions - or maybe we can, but most of us won't, we can, however, come in contact with many people who we influence. We can have the natural radioactive decay of life, or we can be the inverse - replenishers - sending tiny micro-particles of encouragement, a good deed, a kindness. A simple #youmatter into the world to help another person know that they are important. </p> <p>You never know who needs that micro-encouragement - that little deed that you think is so little but may save the life of another.</p> <p>I no longer tell people to "get over it" or "just control your thinking." That is hogwash, or perhaps more accurately, radioactive misthink.</p> <p>Instead, I want to be the person radiating the hope and encouragement this world needs. I can do this because I know the ultimate Encourager who replinishes me when I completely fall out from the fallout of the radioactivity of life.</p> <p>Here are some tips that are helping me stand after the fallout that I'm recommending may help you.</p> <h4>1. Maintain and improve physical health</h4> <p>Here's what I'm doing for starters: </p> <p> </p> <p>- 8 hours of sleep a night</p> <p>- pushups and situps every morning -doesn't matter how many as long as they are both more than yesterday</p> <p>- 2 glasses of water in the morning before I do anything or eat anything else</p> <h4>2. Carefully scrutinize the particularly radioactive situations and people in your life and working to shield yourself wherever possible</h4> <p>- If it is a situation - can I change it, can I propose solutions?</p> <p>- If it is a person - can I avoid them or remove them from my life?</p> <h4>3. Pick the 5 "mentors" or heroes of your life and study how to emulate those people</h4> <p>Angela Maiers has her "dream team" of 5 great people on her bulletin board who make up her people she wants to emulate. She said in our training this week that the people you want to emulate and fill your mind with have the most influence on who you become. I'm working on my dream team right now but have decided to fill my reading list with some biographies. While I haven't picked my entire dream team except one, there are some candidates (you can see the current list in the picture.)</p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-6zZKNkTXSUq0zDvWY5OOx9QDbkTVQX3p7h0RYqtY9DuGgCCJ71Uht-AEFPTDg7jruM-ErgRXC8b2-nQ1eMCCEe7IPnnkWryHO2L60s6JW8nwkN29QWa8Av_ol4jpSi6WqkQ4Az8PQWg/s960/Photo%252520Jan%2525209%25252C%2525202013%25252C%2525209%25253A32%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="375" id="blogsy-1357787200762.3157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-6zZKNkTXSUq0zDvWY5OOx9QDbkTVQX3p7h0RYqtY9DuGgCCJ71Uht-AEFPTDg7jruM-ErgRXC8b2-nQ1eMCCEe7IPnnkWryHO2L60s6JW8nwkN29QWa8Av_ol4jpSi6WqkQ4Az8PQWg/s500/Photo%252520Jan%2525209%25252C%2525202013%25252C%2525209%25253A32%252520PM.jpg" width="500"></a></div> <p> I'm reading some of the writings now of Mother Theresa - truly a great humanitarian and Christian who inspired everyone she met - she's blowing me away. </p> <h4> 4. Start your "to be" list before you get the "to do" list too far along</h4> <h4>5. Come up with a system to keep a master list of current projects.</h4> <p>I'm keeping my master list of projects in Evernote, primarily using '<a href="http://www.thesecretweapon.org/" target="_self" title="">the secret weapon</a>' series of posts to guide me with the system. This is important because, often fallout happens because you've got too many things going. The natural stress of any one of them emits radioactive stress in your life but with so many, it can become too much very quickly. I keep one evernote note for each major task with a good name and use the numbering system in the secret weapon. So, daily I review everything tagged ".Active Project" and "1-Now" and weekly I review everything for planning purposes. At the top of each note I have typed Next action: so I know what is next.</p> <h4> 6. Encourage others</h4> <p>I'm putting myself back out there in the hopes that encouraging you and being transparent about my recent bout with fallout will help some of you experiencing the same thing. If you want to help yourself, take steps to help and encourage others.</p> <p>Show others that they matter. Say thank you. Encourage others and be the kind of person you want others to be to you. Today as I worked the youth room during church, I started off by having a pity party - two ladies came in and were talking to each other. They introduced themselves and I said Hi back but they looked awkwardly at me and then started talking to each other. All I could think of was how I was the newcomer and felt so alone and awkward and they were leaving me out. It was horrible. </p> <p>But then, I just waited a bit and started talking to different people - after a bit, I finally ascertained that one of them was new and the other was pretty new - they felt awkward too. If I had a pity party and kept my mouth shut and pouted about how they should treat me instead of putting myself out there to reach out to them, I would have been a fool. We were all in the same boat and I ended up having great conversations with each of them before the night was over as I learned about their stories. Be the encouragement you want to receive in the world.</p> <p>Walk slowly through the crowd, everyone has a hurt.</p> <h2>Final words.</h2> <p>Tonight at church supper I had a conversation with a completely frustrated teacher. She's being evaluated under the new Georgia teacher evaluation system and today was the day for her students to take their reading "test." Well, last time they had her students write, and then take another test, so, she assumed they would do something similar.</p> <p>This time, they took the Accelerated Reader "STAR" test and were expected to gain 20% in their reading percentile between fall and now but the test was a different test (not apples to apples.) Her kids had a gain but not enough - she felt deceived and measured unfairly - she says the tests are never the same and can't be compared and she doesn't know how to prepare the kids. She feels let down by a system that is supposed to fairly hold accountable and was crushed. She is living in a radioactive situation.</p> <p>Many of you are too.</p> <p>I just want to tell you all that I understand. I care. I'm there and have been there. Maybe if we get through this together, we can all improve this profession we so love and keep our lives intact. I'm not telling you to control your feelings or get over it. I am telling you to keep going and to calm down and step back and first, start taking care of yourself physically and then put the other pieces in place to help negate the barrage of unhealthy microsituations you're finding yourself in and to shield yourself from what you can.</p> <p>This isn't burnout many of us are feeling, it is fallout - let's see it for what it is so we can shed the guilt and stop trying to solve this problem in a way that isn't appropriate. In burnout, you stop doing things. In fallout, you start shielding yourself and start choosing your situations and and people. </p> <p>Hey you. Yes, you, the person still reading this post. </p> <p>YOU MATTER. YOU ARE IMPORTANT. YOU WILL MAKE IT. One foot in front of the other, one step at a time. It will happen. Give yourself time and make good decisions. </p> <p>You can do it and so can I. Thanks, my dear friend Angela, for being my friend and picking me up when I just didn't even think I could crawl -- now, I think I'm going to stand and tell and help others that they can too.</p> <p>Remember your noble calling, teacher. </p> <p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad" height="20" src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" />Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad</a></div>

Inspiration Teaching Learning to Stand after the Fallout

I'm sitting in the stands after just dropping my friend Angela Maiers off at the airport in Albany. I have to admit, I've been a b...

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When a student notices: as close to perfect as teaching can get

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Special_ed_teacher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:right;"><img alt="English: A special education teacher assists o..." border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="202" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Special_ed_teacher.jpg/300px-Special_ed_teacher.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 300px;">English: A special education teacher assists one of her students. (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Special_ed_teacher.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />As I'm grading and giving feedback to students, some of them are sending me responses. I'm literally crying over this one -- I've just included part of it:<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"You are my roll model, and I want to be like you. You have so many unbelievably wonderful qualities that I wish I possessed too. I'm so thankful for your integrity and love for your students. You amaze me! I can't tell you how grateful I am to have you for a teacher. God bless you and happy New Year!"</blockquote><br />How could God have blessed me so much with students who take a minute to know that teachers have feelings too and that we often wonder if all that we give is worth it -- if anyone notices?<br /><br />Just want you all to know that I'm still here. Yesterday was the first day I've felt human in over a month with one of the worst illnesses I can remember having in a long time - largely exacerbated by a very tough schedule this December. This winter break has been a blur interjected with shots and doctor visits, quite literally.<br /><br /><h3>Encourage kids to given genuine thanks...teachers need it</h3>If you have child and they have a teacher who meant something to them - have you thought about mentioning that they might want to pass along a note. I have a tag in evernote that I file all of these "atagirl" comments that I read over when I feel hopeless and like I can't make it any more. Teaching is a high burn out job and we do these things to keep ourselves on track and focused about the main thing...our students.  You'd better love them...or you'll leave them...quite literally.<br /><br /><h3>Give genuine feedback to your students... they need to know they're not a number.</h3>Also, if you would like feedback from students, perhaps you should be giving them feedback as well as this was part of a response I received in response to a personal message I mailed to this student through my class Ning.<br /><br />Today, I needed this, and the fact that it comes from a precious 8th grader that I adore dearly, it means so much more.<br /><br /><h3>As close to perfect as teaching can get</h3>Tears of joy...back to grading and giving good, quality feedback to my students. I'm not perfect but sometimes, just sometimes, when someone says thank you, it feels as close to perfect as teaching can get.<br /><br /> <div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_c.png?x-id=85bb1c97-eb2a-4c3d-a01c-478cdd8252a9" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>

Inspiration students Teaching When a student notices: as close to perfect as teaching can get

English: A special education teacher assists one of her students. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) As I'm grading and giving feedback to stude...

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18000 visitors! Yay!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><img border="0" height="0" src="http://c.gigcount.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEzNTYwNzQyOTY*MTgmcHQ9MTM1NjA3NDM5OTE3MyZwPTc*MzIxJmQ9Jmc9MSZvPTJiYTgzYTQ2MWFiZjRiNThhMzk*/OTJiZDA*NzE5MTg1.gif" style="height: 0px; visibility: hidden; width: 0px;" width="0" /><a href="http://www.sparklee.com/"><img alt="Sparklee.com - http://www.sparklee.com" border="0" src="http://img-s3-01.mytextgraphics.com/sparklee/2012/12/21/33e5d2954a5f5bc189239ff3b36a0c60.gif" /></a><br /><br /></div>

Inspiration 18000 visitors! Yay!

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I'm Gonna Do This

It has been 5 days since I have counted a single Point.  <i>This </i>is a <b>terrible </b>idea!<br /><br />So, I'm clear on at least one thing in my journey: I need structure.  "Mindful eating" is not cutting it for me.   I need more guidelines.  I need more <i>rules</i>.  <br /><br />Truth be told - I miss Weight Watchers. <br /><br />But -<br /><br />I <i>need </i>to find a way to make it work for me. For the next week....<br /><br /><ul><li>I will review the materials, documenting my notes here.  <br /></li><li>I will come up with 5 go-to <u>simple</u> meals with ingredients that I will keep on hand at all times.<br /></li><li>I will build out a week long meal plan in it's entirety to get me back on track.  I have NEVER failed when I have a meal plan in place.<br /></li><li>I will challenge myself to eliminate eating out for next week - minus the already planned dinner with our friends.</li></ul><ul><li>I will practice saying 'No' to "food opportunities" (ex: being asked to go out to eat, being offered someone else's food to try, etc)</li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiII-PZDSLsiaxOuMYQiBaloG4VZO-Q6wb0X6ofc5t0t06fD17PkoahE3cMPXHAFctHY29sHfirxzL35GgyZ51M5isg2aP3rZuN603owtLdjZB_Wy_ANNMBjEusLlklUYoWbvPM9sRKyBk/s1600/tips+to+reduce+weight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiII-PZDSLsiaxOuMYQiBaloG4VZO-Q6wb0X6ofc5t0t06fD17PkoahE3cMPXHAFctHY29sHfirxzL35GgyZ51M5isg2aP3rZuN603owtLdjZB_Wy_ANNMBjEusLlklUYoWbvPM9sRKyBk/s320/tips+to+reduce+weight.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />There is still a tiny bit of motivation in me to not give up, and I'm going to capitalize on that as much as I possibly can. <br /><br />I will not be fat for the rest of my life.  

Inspiration Lacking Motivation Random Weight Loss Thoughts Weight Loss Weight Loss Challenges Weight Watchers I'm Gonna Do This

It has been 5 days since I have counted a single Point.  This is a terrible idea! So, I'm clear on at least one thing in my journey: I n...

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Victory Party or Pity Party? Your choice. #goodlife

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="zemanta-img"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Helen_Keller17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:right;"><img alt="Helen Keller" border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="420" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Helen_Keller17.jpg/300px-Helen_Keller17.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 300px;">Helen Keller (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Helen_Keller17.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: right;"></div><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"I complained that I had no shoes till I saw a man that had no feet." Unknown.</blockquote><br /> Essential to living a sane life: proper perspective about our problems.<br /><br />Most people would rather have a pity party than a victory party.<br /><br />Ten pounds in 2 1/2 weeks and I feel great. <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.weightwatchers.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Weight Watchers">Weight Watchers</a> and an hour workout six times a week. <span style="background-color: white;">I've lost my mind, you say? No, I've found it. </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Mrs. Grace Adkins, our 85 year old learning lab coordinator at the school, started riding her bike an hour a day, six days a week back in January and has de-aged at least 15 years. She looks great and her mind is sharp and totals 120 miles a week. She's 85 and makes no excuses. What's my problem?</span><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />My problem was making excuses instead of taking care of business. If this body I inhabit isn't my business then nothing else is. Knee problems aside, I can do something for an hour a day six days a week: walk, turtle jog (my very slow form of running since I hurt my knee), yard work, pilates, treadmill, play Wii fit. If an 85 year old can do it, I have no excuse at all for my decision to be sedentary. Let me ask you, if this 43 year old can do it, what is your excuse?<br /><br />I choose the victory party not the pity party. How about you?<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it." <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Helen Keller">Helen Keller</a></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">"It is never too late to be what you might have been." <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Eliot" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="George Eliot">George Eliot</a> </blockquote>I'm committed to living a good life, are you? <br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_c.png?x-id=e5c80a5a-d01e-4281-8fdc-073bf3b15ffb" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>

fitness Inspiration Victory Party or Pity Party? Your choice. #goodlife

Helen Keller (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "I complained that I had no shoes till I saw a man that had no feet." Unknown.  Essential ...

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The Age of Common Sense

In the Information Age we are in dramatic need of some intelligence to it all. Information is everywhere, but where is the common sense?<br /><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBf9LZtfAKr80O47sGVk-TL4auyWYdU7q30bdrQTRp2lNBhrt-uT69w4k0wqPLPNaMK7JiEhcwnZqiPJdphy8rEC0DBErUldEowsMKx12JQhWqImzzpQ0OGv2yc-9bBAnVpDLgwOT3kbrr/s1600/iStock_000020672296XSmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBf9LZtfAKr80O47sGVk-TL4auyWYdU7q30bdrQTRp2lNBhrt-uT69w4k0wqPLPNaMK7JiEhcwnZqiPJdphy8rEC0DBErUldEowsMKx12JQhWqImzzpQ0OGv2yc-9bBAnVpDLgwOT3kbrr/s320/iStock_000020672296XSmall.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">iStockPhoto - used with permission</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h3> Does all the stuff make sense?</h3></div><div>In the 1990's we all hit WalMart and the mall with our credit cards and started organizing our stuff only to realize that we didn't need all that stuff. Our closets were overflowing, our waistlines were growing, and our debt was showing. More didn't improve our lives and we should have known better, but we didn't.</div><div><br /></div><div>When the Internet came along we started shopping online, racking up more debt all the time and losing ourselves in the wonder of the new library of Alexandria for hours at time.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then, we connected with friends and thought that more was more again and the more friends we had  online somehow the more legacy we had. The more we shared, the less privacy we had. We were "liked" for goodness sakes, didn't that count for something?</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, we can connect via our cell phones and smart phones. Every second we can be in touch with who had a baby, who got a promotion and who is on vacation. But more isn't more. More connections mean less time, less flow state, and less focus.</div><div><br /></div><div>We can stream, find, connect, and remind ourselves 24/7 to do more and be more. But 1000 apps reminding me to do 10 things is just keeping me from doing those things I need to do.<br /><br />When Kip turns me loose to blog, he says "do your stuff" and that is often what it is -- stuff. Not one specific thing but a thousand tiny things.</div><div><h3> Making sense</h3></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii3G4qCrhzRtkEKkOhepzR542gK0_fX-CTP6t_LCTqCqzBCGK8kPcniytS9enAJNCKL0flVjsWL-xIEQYGczrPj7WF7CmkPZgufoFPsYraURG5XLpWZlrWE975lgCPS2z17yQ7ZbIFMWSU/s1600/img_0046_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii3G4qCrhzRtkEKkOhepzR542gK0_fX-CTP6t_LCTqCqzBCGK8kPcniytS9enAJNCKL0flVjsWL-xIEQYGczrPj7WF7CmkPZgufoFPsYraURG5XLpWZlrWE975lgCPS2z17yQ7ZbIFMWSU/s320/img_0046_01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My youngest son and I went rafting a few weeks a go.</td></tr></tbody></table>Life is beautiful, fun, and a blast but those moments are often best when I get offline, away from all of this and make sense of things. </div><div><br /></div><div>Marketers have gotten so incredibly good at targeting me that my inbox is full, customized ads show up on the side of every website, and hyped up product launches make me think I have to have that or this new apps. My kids buy music and tune out or get psyched for something big while I buy an app so I can squeeze one more ounce of something out of this life I'm trying to live.</div><div><br /></div><div>So many people blame everyone else. In the US we have 2 political parties sworn to fight to the death but if they don't back off and start to work together, they'll find they didn't kill each other but rather, the nation they supposedly love. The truth is power is what people love and importance and being "followed" and "liked" and whatever narcissitic mess someone else can invent in order to make us feel important and like our life of more is not really worth less.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Wisdom doesn't guarantee you popularity, just legacy. </b>We need more wisdom and a good old healthy dose of Grandma's common sense.</div><div><h2> The Age of Common Sense would be a blessing</h2></div><div>Common sense. Good, plain old common sense. We've had the Industrial Age and the Information Age. We can often be defined by the age in which we live. </div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Big-80-s-Hair-the-80s-300441_308_194.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Big-80-s-Hair-the-80s-300441_308_194.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via <a href="http://www.fanpop.com/spots/the-80s/images/300441/title/big-80s-hair-photo" target="_blank">fanpop</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>All the stuff sprayed on my hair didn't make me prettier in the 80's,<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/apreche/130101390/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="closet by Apreche, on Flickr"><img alt="closet" height="320" src="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/50/130101390_06e986247d_q.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>the stuff in my closet didn't make me happier in the 90's,<br />nor did all the bookmarks in the 00's,<br />nor did all the friends in the 10's,<br />nor do all the connections nor the fact that I can tweet from the bathroom just before I hop in tub.<br /><br />What has made me happier is getting offline for longer periods of time, looking people in the eye, spending my mornings on my knees asking God what I should do with my day, and applying common sense before I buy another app, before I go shopping or before I spend a dime or my precious time on anything.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>If I could name an age and wish it upon us, it would be the age of Common Sense. </b>The whole world is being seen in "shades of grey" - and this attitude of "what is right for you may not be right for me" is crazy -- murder is wrong and so is lying and stealing.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqSzdIP9Esi9WuSNPQznhfoIaFSJtbjgQAlqStFfr09Z15XY80F5ps1lpe4oAUSLpOvWn2e8fm5wukhut30fl_fGkuMG36BAY_6AisCE2YfiCAg0E40rIJaldCkX_2edRaxU1hX2A4jyOc/s1600/iStock_000005946391XSmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqSzdIP9Esi9WuSNPQznhfoIaFSJtbjgQAlqStFfr09Z15XY80F5ps1lpe4oAUSLpOvWn2e8fm5wukhut30fl_fGkuMG36BAY_6AisCE2YfiCAg0E40rIJaldCkX_2edRaxU1hX2A4jyOc/s320/iStock_000005946391XSmall.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Freedom has always come at a price and every human being on this planet deserves respect as a human being but not necessarily the right to be heard. Some people are crazy and others are crooked and their ideas and ideals don't belong alongside great men and women of history. </div><div><br /></div><div>As I am inundated and my inbox is full, I'm feeling completely and utterly rebellious. I think common sense has gone out the window but I'm not just going to whine about it. <span style="background-color: white;">So, I'm proclaiming my own age of common sense including:</span></div><div><ul><li>Time with family, in nature, exercising, reading, and talking to people are just as important as online time. </li><li>I will not elevate a person who is not there over a person who is right there. I will pay attention to people. People are important. I will be PRESENT.</li><li>I'm just not going to get hyper over anything NEW because it is new. I'm not a fangirl who worships any person or gadget or app, that is ridiculous.</li><li>I will look for people who are up front about who they are, their motivations and even their beliefs. We've been in a time of "abstaining" - no one wants to tell anyone what they believe because we're to the point that some people think "if you're not like me, I'm not going to follow you." I will look for honest, truthful people and work hard to be one myself. I will keep following people who are different from me, that is OK.</li><li>I will be minimalistic in the apps, alerts, and streams I allow into my life but intentional about participating where I want to be. If I can't use my iPad because I'm being alerted that Talking Tom needs to be "fed" then that is over the top.</li><li>I'm a human being not a human doing. Being is as important as doing and vital to my own sanity.</li><li>I'm going to go with the research that the fountain of youth is exercize. Mrs. Grace Adkins who is 80+ now rides her bike for an hour 6 days a week. She's de-aged 15 years, has lost 20 pounds, and still comes to work 5 days a week. She feels better than most 50 year olds I know. I'm going to work out an hour a day 6 days a week, no matter what. Tweeting another tweet and blogging another blog isn't going to make me live longer, exercise can.</li><li>I want to find people who have common sense and wisdom but also let them be human's who mess up. I'm not going to run away from a person because they screw up once. This "disposable people" society is ridiculous where people mess up and can never be forgiven. I guess it makes people feel better than a great person who messes up but part of my faith is the belief that I can be forgiven and have the ability to start over at any moment in my life.</li><li>My followers, friends, and those I follow are a cool, fun, powerful way to interact but I will not give them more importance than my husband or children. </li><li>Helping others live their dreams by being helpful and shining the spotlight on greatness wherever it is, is a lasting legacy.</li><li>A cell phone in my hand does not excuse rudeness. I will not stand up in front of people who are there in order to capture a moment for those who aren't. Manners start with me.</li><li>Complaining about everybody else is a sorry way to live life and will make me bitter and worthless. I will be the kind of person I think this world needs and ask God to give me wisdom to do that.</li></ul><div>What would you add to the age of common sense? I wish we could start using more of it.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigT6f0jFxCLy3YN8E5mQoahcCYZRpvVHMoN5hO5hDjCUACWvZwy6ZKlISwtV4a00OphvESmrBKyShJmIV6uFJ0OyJYWKedLCgBtT3UEeivRDCAsT8mPohcaJcchRfKhj3pPxeJQhd8oz79/s1600/Zipline+2012+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigT6f0jFxCLy3YN8E5mQoahcCYZRpvVHMoN5hO5hDjCUACWvZwy6ZKlISwtV4a00OphvESmrBKyShJmIV6uFJ0OyJYWKedLCgBtT3UEeivRDCAsT8mPohcaJcchRfKhj3pPxeJQhd8oz79/s640/Zipline+2012+(1).JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some would say ziplining isn't good common sense. But that is not what I'm talking about in this post. Common sense is that I left my iPhone behind and enjoyed every "wahoo" and "wow" on this trip. Common sense is taking time to go to the mountains with your family even if it means you lose a little privacy. Common sense is living your life offline as well as online and encouraging others to do the same. For life to be sweet, it takes more than a tweet. Get out there and live it!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div></div>

commentary editorial Inspiration The Age of Common Sense

In the Information Age we are in dramatic need of some intelligence to it all. Information is everywhere, but where is the common sense? iSt...

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Yay, 7000 blog visitors!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><img border="0" height="0" src="http://c.gigcount.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEzMzk2MjM1MDY3NDImcHQ9MTMzOTYyMzUxMTU*MSZwPTc*MzIxJmQ9Jmc9MSZvPWM4Mjg3Njg1NGNiZjRjNDc5ZmU1/NTE*Mjc1NTQyN2Q3.gif" style="height: 0px; visibility: hidden; width: 0px;" width="0" /><a href="http://www.sparklee.com/"><img alt="logo maker - http://www.sparklee.com" border="0" src="http://img-s3-01.mytextgraphics.com/sparklee/2012/06/13/bf77f545bd53a9ee594abad4aa14f3d3.gif" /></a><br /><br /></div>

Inspiration Yay, 7000 blog visitors!

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Learn to Spot the Raw Material of Talent

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Apollo_synthetic_diamond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:right;"><img alt="A rose-cut synthetic diamond created by Apollo..." border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="263" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Apollo_synthetic_diamond.jpg/300px-Apollo_synthetic_diamond.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 300px;">Gems don't start out beautiful. Most look like a dirt clod. (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Apollo_synthetic_diamond.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h2><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;">What teachers do</span></h2><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;">My personal goal is to look at every student and find something that student is very good at doing. It must be honest and true. Sometimes it takes a while to find it but when I see it, I know it. Like an expert gem cutter, good at recognizing the raw material in a rock, an expert teacher can see the raw material of excellence in a student. Over time, as your suspicions are confirmed are proven wrong, you get better at this and learn to trust your instincts.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><br /><div style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 36px;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;">But remember, that you are not a god, you are a teacher. You can share your opinion and what you notice about a student but ultimately if a student decides to pursue that area is up to the student and his / her parents.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 36px;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;">You are a scout, an advanced party who finds gems. The teacher’s role begins here because good teaching starts with caring before content. When students know you care then you’re ready to teach.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 36px;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;">This doesn’t mean you have to be a “softie” and weep daily at the injustices of their life. Some of my best teachers have been tough teachers. But deep down, I believed that they were knowledgeable and had my best interests at heart.</span></div><br /> <div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_c.png?x-id=f930cc07-4485-49ea-9447-43b6e7e35158" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>

Inspiration Teaching Learn to Spot the Raw Material of Talent

Gems don't start out beautiful. Most look like a dirt clod. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) What teachers do My personal goal is to look at e...

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What Gratitude May Come

On Fridays we have "fun" in my eighth grade keyboarding class which right now means that I'm introducing them to the future of technology and giving some thought provoking predictions along with videos for the next few years. We were talking about <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/technology/google-glasses-will-be-powered-by-android.html" target="_blank">Google glasses</a> and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Augmented reality">augmented reality</a>.<br /><br />I had forgotten that the seniors were over to the side working on their term papers, when one spoke up and said,<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"Mrs. Vicki, I made a film two years a go about Google glasses, I predicted them."</blockquote><br />And rightly so, he did.<br /><br /><object height="315" width="420"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rr8LIJOnk2Q?version=3&hl=en_US"> </param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> </param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> </param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rr8LIJOnk2Q?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr8LIJOnk2Q" target="_blank">This video</a> was created for the <a href="http://netgened2010.flatclassroomproject.org/" target="_blank">NetGenEd project</a> two years a go.<br /><br />He worked very hard to predict what augmented reality would look like and I'm shocked to see how close I think he came.<br /><br />This fits with an email that I received just last night from a student I taught five years a go.<br /><br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">As a Telecommunications major at ******* many of my courses overlap the many lessons I once had in your class. In my Media and Technology class we examine emerging trends and future developments in the technological side of communications.I laugh to think of these as emerging trends when they include such things as the power of blogs, wikis, and other features of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Web 2.0">Web 2.0</a> that you taught to me nearly 5 years ago. So firstly, thank you for truly functioning on the cutting edge... Please stay ahead of the curve. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Additionally, in my Media Production class, my professor asked who was adept at using Excel. I was shocked when only myself and another raised our hands. He looked at us, unimpressed, and said you two will get internships. It's funny to see how many people have never used excel and how important it is, when, to a student at Westwood, these skills were standard and even trivialized in the back of my mind by how often and thoroughly we used them.  </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">I just wanted to thank you. It's hard for a high school kid to appreciate the gravity of what you teach.... </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">I hope your students take this to heart much more than I did at their age because if they do, they too will be lightyears ahead of the curve.</blockquote><br /><br />What this student didn't know is that just yesterday after school I was asking myself hard questions. Things like:<br /><br /><ul><li>Am I pushing kids too hard? </li><li>Is it worth all the headache and struggle to sometimes do this sort of thing?</li><li>Does it really matter at all?</li></ul><div>We all ask these questions. We wonder why we teach or if we should teach at all.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you've heard me speak, one thing I always say is that<br /><br /><b>it is not whether a child thanks you today - if you're an excellent teacher, usually, they won't. </b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b>It is whether they thank you in five years when they are in college.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Those words came back to me like the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_of_Christmas_Past" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Ghost of Christmas Past">Ghost of Christmas past</a> came to Scrooge to convince me that it is worth pushing and doing and struggling. It is worth it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Teaching is a noble calling. I don't want to leave the classroom or my school or do anything else.<br /><br />Doubts  are just that. Doubts. Emotions can deceive me. It doesn't help that I was Friday afternoon tired by Wednesday afternoon of this week.<br /><br />I have to forgo the thank you today knowing that it will come one day if I do my job, work hard, and be a visionary for my students who can't really see past their own hormones right now.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can do this, friends. Be a teacher. It is a noble calling. Anyone who works with students who are often ungrateful, unappreciative and don't want to do anything... hold your standard high and work hard. They WILL thank you one day.</div><br /><i>This was written during the school year in May but I was so busy, I didn't have time to proof it. Sharing it for you now.</i><br /><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0 0 0;"> Related articles</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://ebongeek.com/2012/03/06/the-coming-age-of-augmented-reality/" target="_blank">The Coming Age of Augmented Reality</a> (ebongeek.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/grouply/ning/prweb3796744.htm" target="_blank">Grouply Welcomes Ning Networks: Migrate Ning Network to a Free Grouply Social Group</a> (prweb.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/250453/google_augmented_reality_glasses_expected_by_years_end.html" target="_blank">Google Augmented Reality Glasses Expected by Year's End</a> (pcworld.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://elementaryflatclassroom.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/360/" target="_blank">Ready to go Flat!</a> (elementaryflatclassroom.wordpress.com)</li></ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_c.png?x-id=f930cc07-4485-49ea-9447-43b6e7e35158" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>

Inspiration Teaching What Gratitude May Come

On Fridays we have "fun" in my eighth grade keyboarding class which right now means that I'm introducing them to the future of...

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