Another Group Activity

The topic of this week's student support group was on how thoughts and perceptions can influence our outlook on life. We considered how insecure thoughts can interfere with our ability to make healthy choices, while positive, self-affirming thoughts can develop the ability to deal with disappointments and traumas in a healthy, common sense manner.

Each group member was asked to write a statement that would help them through a present challenge in their lives. Here are some of those statements. Some have been authored by group members, others are anonymous quotes members have used to maintain a state of health and well-being.

* There are people who love and respect me for who I am, not who they want me to be.
* I may not be able to heal others but I can always heal myself.
* No smile is more beautiful than the one that struggles through the tears.
* Giving up doesn't always mean you're weak. It sometimes means you're strong enough to let go.
* I am powerful to create my own life.

Do you have a poem, a verse, a song that helps you shift your thinking when you are facing a life challenge?

Student support groups are effective because the activities are designed for self reflection, healthy communication, and the development of problem solving skills. Today's group activity is a good example. It consists of three questions.

1. Think of a time in your life when someone tried to control your thoughts, feelings, or actions. Use one word to describe how you felt.
2. Think of a time when you tried to control someone else's thoughts, feelings, or actions. What happened?
3. Have you ever taken control of some aspect of your own life? For example, decided to stop a harmful behavior, chose to stop worrying?

After answering these three questions, we discovered some simple but powerful truths.
The only person you can ever control is yourself.
You have the power to choose your thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
We can care about those we love, but we can't control them.

These truths have implications for educators. We may want to control the behaviors, thoughts, and feelings of our students. But if we resort to control, we actually lose our ability to be a positive influence in our students' lives.

So how do we influence others?
Build trust. Be an inspiration. Encourage thinking. Model hard work and perseverance.

How do you influence others?

Hope

Occasionally there are days, weeks, sometimes seasons where everywhere I turn I see pain. Illness, abuse, self harm, despair. Hurting minds, hurting bodies, hurting relationships. What do we do with that?

Being aware of our own pain can help us gently touch the heart of one who is in despair. And if we can, we introduce hope.

That's what I see happening in student support groups. Rather than numbing out, kids become more aware of their pain. The healing process begins. Healthy hearts learn to empathize. And compassion replaces judgement.

Every group brings me hope. For them. For our school. For our community. For our world.

Spring Break

"Take care of yourself...
then give yourself to the WORLD!"...D.M.

This is the time of year when many of us are feeling the effects of the dark days of winter. In Alaska it was literally "Cabin Fever". Tough mountain man types who had managed to make it through the winter in a cabin all alone suddenly went crazy and had to be shipped out of town to a "facility." Spring Break-up didn't just refer to the ice going out on the Yukon. Come spring, it was common for couples or families to break up as well.

If we haven't taken care of ourselves through the winter months, this can happen here too. We start to feel down in the dumps, easily irritated, discouraged. It's hard to teach and hard to learn. Hard to love and hard to deal with everyday challenges.

So time to find some sun, ramp up the exercise, and spend an extra amount of time doing something fun and relaxing with those we love.

Spring Break here we come!

Had a great ARFF filled day on my day off today! After waking up early to take Jess to work, I had a day full of Achievement, Respect, Fun, and Freedom!
A: got my errands done before 8:30 AM, got to practice piano and record drums, and washed a load of dishes.
R: had three great lessons with my students who all worked hard this weeks and played great!
F: browsed the web and played Nintendo in between bouts of practicing.
F: impromptu movie date after a last-minute lesson cancellation!

Achievement: I supervised the 8th graders as they took their tests this week and it was impressive to watch their concentration and hard work. I remember what they were like as 6th graders and love seeing how they have matured. Many of them are teacher aides this year and excel with the younger students.
Respect: I had a group of girls in my office yesterday who are going through some tough times. They took some time to encourage one another and after a simple writing exercise all left saying they felt so much better, and were ready to go back to class.
Fun: Words With Friends
Freedom: being sequestered in a testing room has actually given me some time to gets caught up on lesson planning and paperwork.
No interruptions!

Achievement: meeting with all 8th graders to introduce them to Upward Bound. The presenters talked about how important community service is not only for getting scholarships, but for personal development in general. I posted a question on the student government blog regarding community service and I'm hoping the students come up with some ideas for a project all of BMS can participate in.
Respect: today was physical therapy day and I love going because Mike Close and his staff are always so welcoming, encouraging, and fun to be around.
Fun: sharing my new favorite chocolate ginger cookies from the Gingerbread Cookbook.
Freedom: Lunch at Great Northern Foods. It's fresh, affordable, and you can get there, eat, and be back in a half hour.