[9 Weeks] Will You Make A Lasting Difference?

Dear Difference Maker,

This past year has been intense for us all.  We can feel low or feel high with all of the opportunities that are presenting themselves.  That’s why I ask us all to consider, “What’s the best that can happen the last few months of this school year?” And most importantly, “How can I be the one to make the best happen?”

After the kind of year we’ve all had it’s the perfect time to make a lasting difference the last 9 weeks by teaching our students how to become a safe, caring community for each other before you send them off to their next school year.

Your question, “What about the students who have been in upsetting home situations? What about their behavioral disorders, diagnoses and labels? What about how upset they are when they come to school each morning? That’s not my fault. I have no control over those things.”

Good question, and what I’ve found is that if you do just 9 weeks of asking them what they think and feel about the movies and activities in my curriculum, that they will gently learn from each other how to make the classroom their Safe Zone.  You will find that they can and will compartmentalize between home and school the second they walk in your classroom door. I kid you not.

They feel your energy. They feel the Safe Zone and each morning when they arrive and walk in your door, they breathe and relax.  A relaxed mind is a mind capable of learning. Stop ruminating about what you don’t know about their lives outside of school and keep your focus firmly planted in the here and now, and they will too.

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 …

Founder of Heart Productions & Publishing, the Pacific Northwest

Will You Make A Lasting Difference? 
Excerpt from Make A Difference with the Power of Acknowledgment Week Program

What would it take to make acknowledging others a priority?

Here are the Top 7 Reasons (students have shared) why making acknowledging one another a daily practice a new priority:

1. To celebrate connection, successes, authentically.
2. To learn how to “find the words to express acknowledgment” is a success! You can’t see something great in someone else if that greatness does not already exist within you! So, it’s essentially as if you’re acknowledging yourself, too!
3. To practice “doing what’s in front of us to do.” Embracing opportunities!
4. You cannot ever know just how much that person may in fact need your acknowledgment.
5. “It will lose its importance or impact” is like saying Chocolate is never enjoyed if eaten daily!
6. Learn to face our fears: the lesson we all must learn is that no ONE can reject or abandon us except for ourselves.  So what if you are blown off?  Make a decision right now that you will OWN that you made a difference; you planted a seed; you made a difference, regardless of whether you get to see it today or not.
7. You are an outsider: You don’t have to “belong” to their clique to make a difference, one acknowledgment at a time, with the person in front of you that needs it the most.

Week 5 of my 9 Week program students will experience another safe step in how to reach out to acknowledge others by writing out their acknowledgements on paper.

When you tell a student to “use their words” you risk making an upsetting situation worse. That’s why we’re taking the practice of “reaching for our words” one safe step at a time.

Finding the words to express acknowledgment, when it’s not something you’ve been given very much of in your life, can be a daunting task at first.  But once you get the hang of it, it becomes as natural as anything else that you do without over thinking it.

I’ve traveled the country speaking to over 20,000 people in a two-year period and I can tell you that the largest percentage of the adult population has a tough time reaching for the words to describe how they feel beyond F.I.N.E. (Fearful, Insecure, Nervous, Emotional) let alone what they think and how they feel about someone else.

Much of what we’ve learned is to find fault with others … and ourselves.  Now we’re turning the tables and focusing on what there is to acknowledge and appreciate.  Why?  Because which thought patterns feel better? Which words bring people up instead of down?  Acknowledgment or unsolicited criticism?

So, you ask, “Well how will people know what’s wrong with them if I don’t tell them?”

Here’s something to think about for an answer to your question:  Maybe the only thing wrong with others is that we’ve never spent a day in their shoes.

Maybe it’s all in our approach to problematic areas in our attitudes, vibes and tone.  Week 5 is designed to help your students start thinking differently about each other. Getting thoughts about others out of our heads onto paper helps us learn how to find our voice.

How about you try it right now? 

For the FUN of it, think of someone who you don’t particularly get along with.  Begin your acknowledgments with appreciation, thanks, recognition, regard, admiration, like:

“What I appreciate about you is __________________.”
“I want to thank you for the example you’ve been to me by _________________.”
“I’d like to recognize you for __________________.”
“When I see you do ________________ I have the highest regard for you.”
“What I admire about you is _____________________________ .”
“What I like about you is _____________________________.”

For example:
“What I appreciate about you is the way you are always happy and smiling.”
“What I appreciate about you is the way you shared your markers with me today.”
“What I appreciate about you is that when I was out sick, you called and told me all about the funny things the teacher said in class that day. It made me laugh and feel better.”
“I want to thank you for the example you’ve been to me when I saw you helping the first grader get off the bus.”
“I’d like to recognize you for a really attention getting and interesting report that you gave the other day in class.”
“When I see you encourage your teammates by telling them that ‘they can do it’ I have the highest regard for you.”
“What I admire about you is your perseverance and not taking ‘no’ as ‘no’ but keep asking questions.“
“What I like about you is how acknowledging you are to everyone in the school hallways and lunchroom.“

Check your energy.  Are you feeling better?  It all starts with acknowledgment.

There’s no better time than the present.

Here’s 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!