NOTE: This was in my unfinished blogs bin and was started last April. While some of the stuff I’m talking about happened back then

Our #FinishHardFriday video was from Fred Rodgers and it was outstanding!

Can you ever go wrong with Mr. Rodgers?

This is two parts, the first talking about being grateful for those who have “loved us into being”. He has the audience take 10 seconds just to think about those who’ve helped them to the point where they are right now.

#damn

So we did that in class. I had my students share if they wanted, and they were pretty shy about this one. Me, my parents. Dad was a teacher in a time where teachers didn’t paid squat. My mom could have been anything, she’s extremely intelligent, but she stayed home with my brother and I. When we got old enough, she started working as an administrative assistant in a law office. We didn’t have much, but our home was one of love and understanding. One of the former pastor’s in our church said of my parents, “They love everyone. Their love is an unconditional love, one that just accepts you for who you are and goes from there.”

#damn

I cannot think of a more fitting compliment than to be told that your love is unconditional and accepts you for who you are. There are SO many people who could learn something there.

The second part of the video was about anger, how to deal with it, and learn from it. We are angry right now in sixth grade. Work needs to be done, it’s close to the end of school, and we don’t like rules or each other. Our anger is hurting us from the inside out, weighing us down. We need to find that release, that ability to say “I’m sorry”, to allow someone else to say “I’m sorry,” or to simply forgive and move on. We don’t have it yet, but maybe we’ll learn. Until then, this was good to see!

UPDATE 9/3/21

Today’s edition of sixth graders aren’t quite as angry as they are squirrelly, which not is a bad thing, but something to work on. The 7th graders are a surly group, which means work continues on how to cope with our emotions when they are deregulated. Our social emotional learning team has some things in mind and I am hopeful.

#hopeisagoodthing

I’ll leave you with a quote I found on Facebook (Facebook being the quiet, sane place that it is!). It came from a large post about how to “breaking the generational curse”. It talked about things like not yelling at your kids before they go to bed or right before they go to school, setting the tone for their voice in their head with the voice they hear from you. The last part of this post is what got me:


“Speak life. Speak love. Speak bravery and kindness and hope. Speak wisdom and truth. But most of all listen to your children.”

Can you imagine if all parents, heck if all people did this? What kind of a world would it be? How much change could we see taking place?

#nice

So, enjoy your Friday, your Labor Day weekend, and speak life, speak love, and speak bravery and kindness and love. Go out, do better, and be better.And finally: GO HAWKS!! 🙂