Dear Difference Maker,

When you think of community, what comes to mind?

Back when I first started building community in my classrooms, I wanted to bring in the good stuff and leave out the hurtful stuff from my childhood.  Being raised in a farming community in Nebraska, I had experienced the upside of being part of something greater than myself when people came together during a crisis or a celebration.  The wonderful enveloping arms of those that you shared a common bond with and where many hands would make light work.

I had also experienced the downside of community where everybody knows your name and makes it their business to be up in your business without knowing what was really going on behind closed doors.

I abhorred the gossip, judgment and jealousy when anyone dared to shine their light or do things innovatively.  Then there was the fearful, competitive mindset that if you could just cut someone off at the knees, you would somehow be taller that sometimes goes on in mean-spirited cliques.  This of course, creates the great DISCONNECT within communities.

So, when I set out to build a safe, inclusive culture each year in my classroom, I was determined to be vigilant about the later.  As idealistic as it sounds, I envisioned that we would become one; one for all and all for one.  And we did.

Having a firm, clear vision is the first step.  The second step is to simply be vigilant and repeatedly use my 30 second WIW Technique to change things up, as many times as it takes to align students, rather than divide.

It wasn’t about forcing everybody to be best buddies. But it was about learning how to care enough for each person in our classroom to not deliberately aggravate, egg-on, make-fun-of, name-call, harass, irritate, agitate and/or exclude for any reason.

Sending the message that everyone matters in your classroom is arguably one of the most important things you can do as a teacher.  The important thing to understand here is that being vigilant does not mean coming “at” kids for their unskillful, hurtful behavior, it means sitting down with kids to get to the heart of the matter. Let no stone go unturned.

Yes! It takes a hot second to shake out all the judgments, opinions, biases and mean-spirited cliques by coaching them on how to be a part of something greater than themselves.  In fact, it takes approximately 9 weeks of one infraction after another to get it done.

The coolest thing about taking 30 seconds to get to the heart of an unskillful behavior is that not only does it save you time down the road, but students seeing you model compassionate investigation will start using their own voices to do the same.

Dig while the piles are small!

Not letting one single solitary infraction get by you for 9 weeks is the task at hand.  You must be willing to WIW – What If When – Every. Single. Infraction.

My 9 Week Curriculum helps you learn more about each student’s triggers, defense mechanisms and broken hearts through the group discussions.  Ask the done-for-you questions, then listen and learn.

Truthfully, I wrote this program for the teacher who really rather eat nails than have to deal with emotional stuff, let alone deal with blow ups and the aftermath!

This is also for the teacher who grew up with the “it’s my way or the highway” model, only to discover that while it might have produced short term results, back in the day, it did not instill long term self-regulation.

What an expulsion model did do was traumatize students even more so than they were in the first place.  Having been my parent’s “problem” child I was a recipient of this model, and I’ve spent my adult life doing it differently and having the Portland State University Case Studies to prove my inclusion model is unequivocally the better way.

Look at it this way: you can spend the time now or you can spend it later when a student disrupts class because they’ve had enough of what’s going on when you are not looking or when you deliberately look away because you don’t know what to do.

There’s no better time than the present to experience the healing power of inclusion through community building.  The last 9-Weeks of any school year are pivotal in creating the excitement and expectancy of getting on with the next school year.

Learn more about how to make your classroom safe, all-inclusive and hum with academic productivity with my “9 Weeks to A Make A Difference Year” program.

Click the link for more information and be the one to set the tone!

Reaching out …

PS … For purchases over $100 Pre-Apply to Buy with a Purchase Order

Founder of Heart Productions & Publishing, the Pacific Northwest

When Community is Connection 
Excerpt from 9 Weeks to a Make A Difference Year Curriculum

We are about to find the power of our inner voice.

You may be wondering, “So just how do you get a self-regulating, self-advocating, self-governing, safe, all-inclusive, high-performing group of students in one classroom?”

Answer:  Doing fun activities that help students develop an awareness of the importance of self-trust that allows us to then be safe in any group we may be in.

This week’s activity teaches us all how to take better care of ourselves so that we can be more sensitive to others who may be more vulnerable than us. This also teaches us how to pay close attention to our senses to know if a situation is safe or not. If it’s not, get out of there. Move in another direction.

Week 6 of my 9 Week program brings Connection into the mix of necessities for a high functioning synergistic Community.  The activities are fun and designed to teach students how to rely more on their Inside Voice vs. the Outside Voice of Others.

Energetic connection is an essential ingredient for the building of a community.  In this week’s activities, students get to experience how to build community trust while relying on their own senses.

As a teacher, you already know how to talk, and that’s a good thing when you are teaching academics.  However, if you’d love for your students to become self-regulating, self-advocating, self-governing, safe, all-inclusive, high-performing group then you must stop talking “at” them and start talking “with” them.  My WIW – What If When Technique will help you do this.

Your students are really smart even though their behaviors may currently be unskillful.  School is all about developing skills and this is, in my opinion, equally important learning as is academics.

One of the unexpected gifts that came out of 9 weeks of daily vigilance came when I’d see my students standing up for our most vulnerable students on the playground, in the lunchroom and hallways. They were following my lead by talking “with” not “at” the offending students. That’s when you know, as an educator, that you are making a lasting, positive difference.

There’s no better time than the present.

The last 9 Weeks of any school year – and particularly this chaotic school year – are pivotal in creating comradery, so they can end the year with the excitement and expectancy of getting on with the next school year.

Learn more about how to make your classroom safe, all-inclusive and hum with academic productivity with my “9 Weeks to A Make A Difference Year” Curriculum.

Your Road Map:  1) one class period a week for nine weeks: play a heart connecting movie and/or engage students in a community building activity which you will then use to, 2) direct the conversation using my “done for you” questions to, 3) explore what is really on in your students’ hearts and minds.

When you follow my 9-Week Make A Difference Year Curriculum you will …

• slow everything down and breathe a collective breath.
• ease your students into constructive and productive social emotional engagement with “done for you” activities and discussion questions.
• learn deeper levels about each student by listening to them discuss “what came up” for them about the movie or activity.
• start tuning-in to your students’ “hidden stressors” that each of them is struggling with daily, not just academically, but socially and emotionally to build a common bond.
• experience the transformational power of my WIW – “What, If, When” – technique, to shift the energy of the room in 30 seconds or less as intense situations come up (and they will come up)!
• see unskillful behaviors with new eyes of understanding, hear with healing ears.
• be thrilled at how a safe, inclusive and caring community will yield calm minds and accelerate learning.
• marvel at how quickly students – particularly those who are normally behind – are able to catch up and even pull ahead.

Click the link for more information and get started now!

For purchases over $100 Pre-Apply to Buy with a Purchase Order