9. Lighting the Spark – The authors give the example of
needing 50 cents to pay buy air to inflate a bicycle tire order to get to a
museum. Today someone asked me at a gas station for 50 cents to get to Orange
County. I gave him the $3 dollars I had. He said, “Sweet!” and thanked me. It
was an interesting story of trying to find solutions and that can sometimes
seem hard to do when faced with needing to negotiate. This week I began
observing a severely disabled student in a classroom to find a solution to some
undesirable behavior. I was concerned that the classroom aides may be unwilling
to cooperate fully. The student
demonstrated the behavior immediately which was useful and a few minutes later
he tried again. This time he was unsuccessful in his attempt. The interesting
part was that he communicated (though he is nonverbal) to the aide that she
needed to mark on a tally sheet that he had made the attempt. When I mentioned
after class, that I believed the tallying might inadvertently be reinforcing
the behavior, the teacher immediately responded by moving the sheet from the student’s
line of sight. By just being there I have changed the environment, the aides
began discussing the behavior openly which led to the revelation about the
tally sheet. It made me think about how every environment we enter is changed
by our presence, hopefully for the better.
10. Being the Board- a somewhat difficult concept but not so
much if you have faith. When you have faith, you have to believe that what
happens in your life has meaning or leads you to where you may not have planned
for yourself. I already know I am not in control of my life and trying to
understand the world from my experience is an important part of realizing that.
When difficulties arise then it is time to accept that you need to change.
11. Frameworks for Possibilities – this chapter speaks about
stating visions. I had to write mission and belief statements this week for a
model school counseling program. They included such things as: all students are
worthy of love and respect and deserve to be cherished, and all students have
the ability to achieve. I agree with the authors that a broad vision opens
things up to possibilities and helps give us a direction.
12. Telling the We Story- I am always aware of
the “we.” Groceries do not magically appear on shelves and roads are not paved
by magic. We are intricately dependent despite the lone cowboy mentality that
drives our country's identity. I almost laugh when I deal with people who
believe they are independent. That is just not the truth. Understanding our
interdependence is key to compromise and seeing the greater good.
Hi Lori! Your insight regarding Telling the WE story, Practice 12 was wonderful. I just had a similar conversation with my 15 year old son, who by all accounts is an wonderful young man. However, as I said he is 15. He just got his driver's permit and is wanting to drive everywhere. Unfortunately for him, he can only drive when I am in the car. He is too young to work, so there again he can only drive when I put gas in the car. He told me the other day that he couldn't wait until he was independent and could do things on his own. For him he is thinking about when he is 16 and can drive by himself and can work to have money for gas. I love his enthusiasm but I reminded him that independence is a myth. That WE are all dependent on someone for something. I appreciate your thoughts on this subject.
ReplyDeleteLori,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. Your mission and belief statements that you mention in regards to Chapter 11 were worded very nicely. While many will instantly agree with your message, It is sad to think that there are some adults in schools that do not feel this way. It is also sad to think that the children we come across that make this difficult to do are possibly the way they are because of a lack of love and respect in their home environments. Hopefully, those that see your visions will be inspired and it will make a difference in your community. Great work! Jon
Lori,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments on being the board and the necessity of faith. Your connection that God is some how involved really got me thinking. God may not intend for something to happen but God will use it for his good. If I could remember this instead of losing my temper or passion I would do much better.I can tell you like me enjoyed being the spark. I thinks your work is so valuable.Just your reflections here have been a spark to me. Thanks so much.
Lori,
ReplyDeleteI love the video you posted. It was so cute. Last year, we used the Fill Your Bucket as a school theme. All the staff and faculty made "buckets" out of plastic cups and they were hanging in the hallway on the way to the office. Staff was encouraged to take slips and "fill each other buckets". Then at Thanksgiving everyone was giving a turkey and people went around passing out feathers to put on it with why you were thankful for them. It definately brought around a good feeling. During summer school, one of the lessons I did with all the classes was about filling buckets. I read the story and we generated a list of ways to fill people's buckets. Then we would take time 2-3 times each week to write out a slip a fill a bucket. The children really enoyed it. The Fill A Bucket movement is spreading. Last week I drove pass the local school and the outside banner had on it: "Have you filled someone's bucket today?" For the record Lori, everytime I ichat you….you always fill my bucket! You have to be one of the kindest people I have ever met!
Hi Lori,
ReplyDeleteI love your example describing how we affect the environments we enter. I truly believe that energy whether negative or positive travels around with us and affect our environments. When a situation is tense because someone is angry and you enter that environment, you began to get upset as well and it's all because of the energy released in the atmosphere. It is great how you positively affect the classroom environment. It actually helped an assistant teacher find a better way to help the student with needs. I love that response and example. Great job!
Thanks for the video. Makes one think about how we effect each other.
ReplyDelete