Final Friday Flush of 2013

As we wrap up 2013 and move into the thick of the holiday season, we are inundated with gifts.  Gifts for your kids, gifts for your friends, gifts for you neighbors, and the list goes on and on.  We get so busy shopping and buying and wrapping and baking and exchanging that we forget that the true gifts aren’t found in a package or at Kohls (even if it is 30% off).

The real gifts are what you find in today.  It is the gift of the relationships around you….It is the gift that you can be for others…it is the gift that you are blessed with by being exactly where you are supposed to be.  I promised myself I wasn’t going to use that cheesy quote about “yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift…that is why it is called the present.”  So, I won’t use that….

But, I hope this winter break is filled with friends, family, and rest.  I hope that you are able to recharge your batteries for a super second part of the year.  (And you might want to charge up a back-up set, while you are at it).  Focus on the gifts around you, and thank them for being there.  Spoil them and enjoy the time with them. 

When you return, I hope we all find a way to be a gift to these kids and the Huggins’ families.  They need our best every day, and I thank you for always being driven to do that. 

I wish you the absolute best this holiday season…you will be missed, but your rest is well deserved!  Thank you for all you do.

Happy Friday!

Monday Mush -- Katy Perry Style

Here is something that I bet you will find surprising.  Today’s “mush” is going to be inspired by Katy Perry …yeah seriously.

I think often times this generation gets labeled as having no values, being overly selfish or having music that that doesn’t make sense.  However, there is some “Top 40” music that I thinks proves there is hope for even this generation.  There is music that truly could inspire, and that I will submit this as something we could even learn from ourselves. 

Here are the Lyrics to Katy Perry’s “Unconditional”

Oh no, did I get too close?
Oh, did I almost see what's really on the inside?
All your insecurities
All the dirty laundry
Never made me blink one time

Unconditional, unconditionally
I will love you unconditionally
There is no fear now
Let go and just be free
I will love you unconditionally

Come just as you are to me
Don't need apologies
Know that you are worthy
I'll take your bad days with your good
Walk through the storm I would
I do it all because I love you, I love you

Acceptance is the key to be
To be truly free
Will you do the same for me?

So, that speaks volumes to me.  Can we be that for each other?  Can we be vulnerable in a way that makes us stronger?  Can you share something with a team or friend that you know will love you know matter what. 

I hope that no matter what, you have people in your lives that you can lean on no matter what you are going through.  That no matter what you have done, they will help you get up and try to do it better the next time….friends that you don’t have to “fake it” with because they know the “real you” and still like you. 

I also hope that at school, we can be that for each other.  We may not ever know what people are dealing with, so I want us to always give people the benefit of the doubt.  But, I want us to look for more grace and acceptance in our co-workers and students.  Students need to be emotionally safe and know they are loved no matter what.  You guys do a great job of doing that, and I applaud you for it.  I want our school to be a place where students can “come as they are,” and that we love them and make their journey better for knowing us. 

I would dare say that my music taste is eclectic as it gets.  I think it keeps you well rounded to experience it all.  I know Eminem and Macklemore, Garth Brooks, Harry Connick and Buble, and Handel and Beethoven.  I wouldn’t change the radio on any of it.  I think there is poetry in music that no matter the artist, it can be learned from.  It is a story, thought, idea, or gift that someone is wanting to share.  I hope we can nurture that in our students too.  An avenue that they can share through.  It doesn’t have to music or poetry, but hopefully kids feel that we do care and want to listen to them.  That way they don’t have to only make “friends with the voices in their heads.”  (Free Jeans passes to the first 3 people that email me the artist(s) and name of the quoted (well paraphrased) song.

Happy Monday!

Monday Mush

 

I actually had to do a double-take on this picture…It caught me off guard, but I LOVE it!  So fitting for what we all have to do at times.  Friday’s flush was about challenges being the gateway to change.  This seems to dovetail with that thought.

No one else fully gets our struggles, problems, or situations.  Sometimes, we are the only ones that can pick ourselves us to keep moving forward.  It is tough to leave our baggage at the door some days and come to work, but we are called to do that.  We are called to be the best we can be every day.

I want us to be a team.  I want us to see the needs in others around us, and take the time to help each other.  I want us to be selfless with each other, so we can grow in that support of each other.  But, there are times, when we do need to be able to muster up the gumption to get through the day.  We need to look in the mirror and do some positive self-talk, so we can be the “Cinderella” to these kids.

I also want us this week to focus on the kids that are trying at such a young age to do it on their own.  We have so many kids that bring baggage to school too.  We need to find a way to show them that we are first and foremost here for them.  We do genuinely care for them and like them.  We want them to become better students, citizens, and future employees.  We need to teach them ways to be dedicated and driven in their own lives.  We need to give them responsibility, but with appropriate love and support. 

We are making a positive change on this campus everyday.  Please don’t get discourage as time wears at you.  Look for the gains that you have already made…look at the relationships you have built, and look for ways to continue forward. 

We are better together, and I know we are stronger every day.  I hope if you are going through something that you are carrying yourself through, that you find help, if you need it.  Thank you for being determined and driven to make a difference, no matter the cost.

Happy Monday!

Friday Flush

Take a moment and read that again….maybe one more time….Ok, now think about if you agree with it, or does it kinda make you mad? 

I have to be honest, it does both for me.  I agree with it, but I also don’t always like it.  I get tired of change sometimes, and I feel like I just want to be just be “good enough.”

 

But, I have nothing done anything BETTER in my life without CHANGING something first.   So, I have to reconcile that change in life is needed and necessary.  So, I need to embrace change.  I need to change because our kids need something better every day.   We need to do something more because that is our mission.  Our mission isn’t to be “good enough.”  Our mission is to be the best.  It is a BIG task, but it is one that I ask all of you to make.  I don’t apologize for that…because I feel that our kids need the best.  I don’t want less for them.

Ok, so now we have accepted change…great…but the “hits just keep coming”….change only comes with some sort of challenge.  I really hate that part.  But, how many challenges in your life have made you stronger?  I can think of soooo many in my life. 

So, I want to encourage you to look at challenges, struggles, and hardships in a different light.  Look at what you can learn from….how can it help you grow…how can you become stronger for what you have gone through.

When you reflect, you may think of something personally or something professionally…or maybe both.  It is true in all circumstances.  Challenges make us better.  We high expectations for our students to challenge them.  We want to have them change by being challenged…as a teacher, we want to become better by challenging ourselves and each other.   We get stronger by trying new things, accepting areas where we need to grow, and encouraging one another.

Thanks for not being too scared to change…thanks for being challenged….happy Friday!

Monday Must --Post Thanksgiving!

Ok, hopefully everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break…you may have pants that are a size or two bigger, but good food equals a good holiday in my humble opinion.

Today’s quote is more of a thought.  It is continuing the gratitude from last week onto this week to give us focus.

Complete this sentence:

“Working here is something I enjoy because I know that __________ is there and he/she always does _____________.” 

Who fills in the blanks?  What do they do that makes coming to work a tad bit better?  Have you told them?  If not, try to find a time this week to tell them, email them, or write them, so they can benefit from your gratitude.  Let them know that you appreciate them and what specifically you rely on them for. 

We all have stakeholders in our lives on every level…some professionally speaking and some personally.  Take a moment to look back on who stood in your corner when you thought no one else would, forgave you when you didn’t deserve it, covered your duty because you were late, shared their lunch with you because you forgot yours, listened when you had a bad day, or a host of other possibilities.  We need these people in our lives. 

When you look back on your life, you probably think of events…births…..deaths…weddings….birthdays….holidays….but in every one of those events there was a relationship.  There was a stakeholder in your life that made that event special.  I want you to find a way to tell them “thanks for being in my life” or “My life is better because of you.”  (Yes, I know that line sounds a bit cheesy like it should be delivered by Matthew McConaughey without his shirt on in some chick flick).  But, I think you know how it is intended.

You are also person that is putting stakes in the ground for someone else.  You are there for others in ways I would never be able to imagine, and you are a stakeholder in their life.  I hope this week, you look for small ways to start to build relationships in a way that makes you a stakeholder for others even more than you currently are now. 

Thank you for all you do!  Thank you for being an awesome team…I appreciate you more than you know! 

Happy Monday!