Taking Action
The second part of the application this month is to take action on what you now know you should do.
This can be more difficult than it seems for teenagers - finding out what to do can be somewhat internal, but taking action requires risk. Making sure you have a safe space for your child to do what they know is right will be key to developing wisdom. How can you encourage and celebrate wise choices and wise actions?
CONVERSATIONS ABOUT WISDOM:
For parent reflection:
• Who are some adults that your child could learn wisdom from?
• What peers does your child have that helps make wise decisions?
• When do you need to seek counsel and build wisdom before taking action?
With your child:
• When is it easy to be wise?
• When do you have trouble showing wisdom?
• What holds you back from doing the right thing?
• When you aren't sure of the right thing to do, how do you find out?
• Who in your life can be a resource when you need to know what to do? What adults? What friends?
It’s a busy time, so we want to make sure you have easy access to the parenting tools you need! Check out our Re:Connect parenting podcast, featuring our curriculum director, Leslie Bolser, and child psychologist Dr. Beth Trammell.
This month, we talk about friendship and the pandemic – some things have changed in adolescent and teen relationships, and lots of things have stayed the same!
You can find us on SoundCloud, iTunes, Spotify, and TuneIn Radio!
]]>There are still a couple of weeks left in school for 2016, which means there are several days left for your students to help bring joy to others. If your classroom isn’t doing a gift exchange, consider doing a “Joy Exchange.” Each child could write a note to the other students in the class, telling them what makes them each important. Using ribbon from a craft store, you could tie the letters into a nice package and deliver them to each student on the last day of school.
If your class is considering doing something for others, there are great examples online of students and adults working together to help others this holiday season.
For example, check out this cool article about the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder and their partnership with the United Way to bring kids some joy this December:
http://www.nba.com/thunder/community/stockingsofjoy-161210
Share with us @CEValues: how are you inspiring students to share joy this month?
]]>As important as accumulating knowledge is in school, it’s not the only task ahead of students. In the coming months, use the Big Idea value words to teach important and critical skills for their future. Learning to repeat the Big Idea and its application/definition is the first step, but moving students through the process of becoming and living out the values is much more involved, but it certainly will make them better at whatever they do.
]]>Here at Core Essential Values, we are already planning for next year’s curriculum, and we can’t wait any longer to tell you about it. Here are some deets:
Can’t wait to share more with you as we get ready for another amazing year!
]]>Here’s what Sam says in this video. Check it out with your family, and then talk about the questions at the end.
Have you ever been mad? I mean really, really mad? And for a good reason, too. Like maybe a supposed friend spread rumors about you. Or your money got stolen from the locker room. Or you got in trouble for something that someone else did!
Or what about this: have you ever made a mistake? Like a really, really big mistake? A mistake so bad that when you think about it, your stomach hurts, or you can’t sleep, or you think things will never be the same?
And have you ever experienced forgiveness? Being forgiven after you made the mistake, and apologized, when someone said to you, “It’s ok. I’ll let it go.”
Or from the other side, forgiving someone who made you really mad – even though you had been wronged.
And that’s an important distinction, right? It’s so tempting to want revenge, or payback, or justice when someone has done you wrong. In those moments of anger, it’s hard to remember what it’s like to be on the other side.
But deciding that someone who has wronged you doesn’t have to pay does much more than let someone off the hook. Having the courage to let go and forgive is powerful, and it frees you – the forgiver — from the anger and resentment. In the end, it’s the forgiver who benefits most from forgiveness.
Ask your kids:
When have you asked to be forgiven? What happened?
Why is it hard to ask for forgiveness?
Why is it hard to forgive?
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Last week, many people saw Facebook posts about the loss of an employee at the Flowery Branch Target and mourned with our community that lost “the happiest person I’ve ever met…” (For those of you from other parts of the country, a cashier at the FB Target recently passed away and his absence has taken Facebook by storm in our small community – people commenting condolences and memories and even raising money to fund his funeral. Many loved him and from what I continue to read, didn’t really know what an impact he had on them until now.) Comments regarding how he was always whistling, his infectious smile, the consistent kind and thoughtful words he spoke have captivated my mind all week long. One question continues to puzzle me.
How could this stranger who checked them out at Target periodically, universally affect so many different people?
Let’s be honest – we never had a deep conversation. We didn’t discuss the meaning of life or dive into philosophy, religion, politics or the like. We didn’t teach one another anything but simply had a mere friendly human-to-human social exchange.
My thoughts have come full circle, from staring my own mortality in the face and back to the question – why do we all care? I mean, why did this Target cashier make a profound impression on all of us that noticed he was missing? What I have come to conclude is that he met each of us right where we were. Isn’t that what the best teachers, friends, coworkers, family members, pastors, counselors, and spouses do? Meet us right where we are and speak the words that we uniquely need. You see, he wasn’t just ringing up your items and processing your payment. He noticed. He noticed if you looked like you had been working all day, that the kids in the cart were grating on your last nerve and you were hanging on by a tiny thread. He noticed when it was special occasion items you were purchasing or if the smile on your face brought about by his chipper whistling was all you needed from him that day. He noticed. And he reacted. Man…how often we float through life, through our day, our job, our classroom, our household and we don’t take time to notice.
We think influence and power and making a difference has to be done from a position of leadership. Someone who makes the big bucks and has hard decisions daily on their shoulders. Someone in the spotlight who says the right things and looks the part. This man was far more powerful than he knew – far more powerful in our own lives than we would be willing to admit until he was suddenly gone. The response to his passing says to me, we loved that he noticed. We felt known, seen, and accepted by this man. He was simply our cashier at Target guys…and yet he knew the key to leading well, to living fully, and loving people.
I couldn’t help but extend these thoughts to the walls of our classrooms and hallways. Our kids, the broken and searching kids and the normal struggling middle schoolers we all serve daily need to feel like someone notices. In the biggest way. When you boil every single issue that walks into our counseling offices down…they are all rooted in just wanting to be noticed. And apparently us grown ups can share in that desire since the man that noticed us every two weeks or so in the Target checkout line left such a lasting impression. It is at the core of humanity. In a season of development when students don’t know who the heck they are – and they give us so much insane material to notice…you sit in such a unique position to make them feel known, when they don’t have a clue who they really are. I mean – if the man in the checkout line can do it, we kind of have no excuse!
]]>I know many of you are feeling overwhelmed, planning for your school in the midst of the unknown. I’ve had a couple of conversations lately that have reinforced this, and I’ve heard people fret about how so much truly is uncertain. I worry about that, too.
In light of that, as you lead students, parents, and staff members this month, I encourage you to ponder the difference between certainty and clarity.
Andy Stanley is a communicator I love to learn from each year at Leadercast. In 2015 he wrote about the difference between certainty and clarity. I’m using my own words here, but the idea is that we all desire certainty, which is elusive. At every level, leaders face uncertainty. When we experience this ourselves, we can’t possibly give the certainty desired to those who follow us.
We can, however, provide clarity. Strong, courageous leadership can bring clarity and focus to those around us, even when we are uncertain. Now is a moment for clarity.
What that means for each of us is different in our roles, but as educators, it is a good time to refocus on our three main goals with Core Essentials. We strive to treat others right, make smart decisions and maximize our potential. Imagine for a moment a school and community where these three things happened:
Treat others right:
Make smart decisions:
Maximize your potential:
I have seen so many counselors and teachers across the country step up online, in school, or even in driveways and parking lots these past months to do what’s best for kids, and it will surely continue. Core Essential Values wants to help you do just that – reach out and let us know how we can support you!
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Not feeling very joyful yet? Want to know how to explain JOY to kids? Let Sam help you out. Share this video with your family or class and then talk for a few minutes about joy.
Share your conversations with us on Facebook or Twitter, because sometimes we all need reminders to choose Joy.
]]>Sometimes when you’re teaching or leading, it can feel like you are treading water, just keeping your mouth and nose above the waves enough to catch a breath. Sometimes, however, you get reminded why it is you do what you do.
A user of Core Essentials’ Reco middle school curriculum got this note from a student this week. Imagine that! The school was in the middle of the accreditation process, and the principal was stressed and overworked. Then this note showed up on her desk.
So what does this mean for you? First, when you get a note like this, feel encouraged to keep it. Find a drawer, box, or folder where you drop any kind, meaningful communication, even a printed email. Break those out on days when you feel tired or tempted to take the easy road.
Second, this principal’s day was changed because one student took the time to say what he felt. Who needs to hear from you…
a student?
a teacher?
a staff member?
a parent?
a volunteer?
a friend?
your spouse?
There are a mere two sentences on that note, but they made a huge statement. For whom can you do that today?
]]>So for the past few months we’ve written our scripts to be able to be done live in a school where allowed, as well as recorded and shared through video in classrooms for in-person learning and online for distance learning.
More Than Words, a partner organization in Indiana, produced a couple of videos this month based on those scripts. Check these out!
If you want to know more, visit us here: https://coreessentials.org/assemblies
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