CPR

Today Robin Sticka taught infant CPR to my two health classes. It was interesting to watch the level of engagement in each of the classes. One class was very engaged, and one mostly wasn't. I'm curious if it is a difference in grade level, and if so, what's different between 7th and 8th graders developmentally, and how should we adapt our teaching to account for those differences? Robin taught them how to breathe into the mannequins and gave them the opportunity to practice. One 8th grader attempted the breathing while eight 7th graders did. There were some giggles, and some discomfort, but when I saw how committed the 7th graders were to "saving" the mannequin babies, I thought I would feel pretty comfortable leaving a child in their care. Robin did a great job teaching both classes adult, child, and infant CPR and now we have 25 more students with the skills to potentially save the life of someone in our community.

Teaching Kids About Caring

I appreciate these thoughts from Julie Bonner. She has been taking time to teach our monthly character traits, and this reflection on her class discussion has made me think about how adults show we care.Do we do so in healthy ways? "I put the word CARING up the other day and asked my students what they thought it meant. I got the usual responses of someone who is nice, looks out for others, etc. I decided we should look it up and we were all kinda surprised to see things like: Watchful attention to, Charge or supervision of, A person or thing that is an object of attention or anxiety, Fearful concern for. The last two led to a great discussion of our parents and teachers and what caring really is. They care so much they stress out over us. I told them I didn't need a class room of stressed out 5th graders but did want them to understand what caring looks like. I just wanted to pass on that it is good to really understand the meaning of each word (of the month). I think sometimes my students think...huh wonder why Mrs. Bonner didn't choose me for the character trait...I'm a nice kid, do what I'm told. I tell them it is hard to pick one, but I really try to consider the meaning of the word, not just who does what is expected, which of course is also awesome. Reward for doing homework is knowledge and I suppose good scores or grades. Reward for behaving at school can come in the form of responsibilities or being asked to help in special ways. The whole Peach Prize word is about your character. Do you care? Do you show concern for other humans? Do you watch out for others, think of them more than yourself? That's a bit different. Being rewarded for that shows caring has become part of who you are so much that others notice." It might be good for all of us to consider how we model caring. Just like Julie doesn't want a class of stressed out 5th graders, our homes and classrooms will be happier places if they aren't filled with stressed out adults. Can we care without stressing? What does healthy caring look like?

Achieve your ARFF by setting goals

It seems like there's often not enough time in the day to fit in Achievement, Respect, Fun, and Freedom. I've found that setting long and short term goals is a good way to make it all happen.

I once heard someone say that setting goals is like going on a safari in search of elephants; along the way, you will see lots of rabbits or other small creatures that will try to distract you, but don't let them! If you know that you are searching for elephants, then you can confidently ignore (or postpone) other distractions that pop up.

What's your elephant today?

Fun

Freedom

The 2nd grade boys group meets every Thursday afternoon. We practice listening and cooperating, talk about things that are important to us, and play. Today we graphed our ARFF. Each boy moved his magnet to a number between I and 10 to indicate how they are doing with achievement, respect, fun, and freedom. I explained that freedom is having some time in your day when you get to make a healthy choice. We talked about how important it is to have activity choices that don't involve screen time. We looked at our ARFF graph and realized we could all use a little more freedom in our day. So with 5 minutes left, our little group headed out the door for a free recess. We had the whole playground to ourselves! One boy ran to the swings and spent the entire 5 minutes swinging and proclaiming "I love freedom! This is my best day ever!" His joy was contagious. I've brought it home with me today. And that's why I like blogging my teaching/counseling stories. Remembering and writing prolongs the joy.

Parenting Workshop

Andrea and I hosted the first parenting workshop of the year today. We were thrilled with the participation. Twenty parents showed up to learn about Search Institutes's 40 Developmental Assets. If you missed it, here's a summary of what we covered. We started by brainstorming a list of things that kids need to grow into healthy individuals. The participants came up with a pretty good list that included positive communication, support, rest, nutrition, and physical exercise. Then we looked at Search Institutes's list. The list SI came up with is a result of research that started back in 1989. SI studied over two million kids all over America to find out what causes some kids to thrive while others struggle with substance abuse and other risky behaviors. The research identified 40 assets that improve a child's chance of maturing into a healthy adult. The best part of today's workshop was that each participant was able to look over the list and identify at least one asset that they are providing for their children. Here are a few that were mentioned: extended family, supportive neighbors, church activities, lessons, and positive family communication. If you would like more information about the 40 Assets you can go to www.search-institute.org. You can download a list of the assets free of charge.