Wellness
Holiday Craze
“It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us.” This is how Obi-Wan Kenobi introduced Luke Skywalker (and most of us) to the Force in Star Wars. Well, in December there is a different “force” that “surrounds and penetrates us” – it’s the holiday craze. Can you feel it? There is…
Read MoreJoy-Boosting Self-Talk
You can’t help but smile when you look at these faces filled with genuine joy! According to the dictionary joy is “a feeling of great pleasure or happiness.” Children are experts at experiencing joy, but what happens to us as we get older? We are so filled with self-imposed expectations,…
Read MoreHow to Deal With Bucket Dipping
What is bucket filling? “It is helpful to think of every person as being born with an invisible bucket. The bucket represents a person’s mental and emotional health. You can’t see the bucket, but it’s there. She said that it is primarily the responsibility of parents and other caregivers to fill a child’s bucket. When…
Read MoreBend, Baby, Bend
I have a great love for children’s stories! They are incredible teaching tools and always speak to my heart. Since this month’s theme at ERG is resilience, one of Aesop’s fables came to mind: Once upon a time there was a huge oak tree that lived on a river bank. It was very tall and…
Read MoreBounce Back
“Blessed are the hearts that can bend, for they can never be broken.” – Albert Camus Have you ever heard the story about the old donkey and the well? Once an old donkey fell into a well. He cried and cried until the farmer heard him and came running. The farmer couldn’t figure out…
Read MoreHow To Start Summer
Having to tell someone how to actually start a season may seem odd, but if you know educators, then you might know someone who needs this advice. We are in schools at least 9 months of the year, and at the end it is sometimes hard to say goodbye to our school year selves. In…
Read MoreLife Is Not About Me
“Life is not about me. Life is about helping the people around me.” – Ryan Janvion Knowing my disdain for the negative news that so often takes center stage, my husband handed me an article from the sports section of the Journal that he knew I would love. It featured the words of Wake…
Read MorePlan Your Vacations Now
Alice wrote a blog recently called When Passion is the Problem. It has stuck with me for several reasons. One is schoolwork is never-ending. There’s always more that can be done, but Alice gave great suggestions for things you can do daily to disconnect from your work. The second reason is I read another blog…
Read More'Tis the Season to Reduce Stress
Just read the following e-card: December Lesson Plans Scrape children from ceiling. Repeat as needed. Enough said. ‘Tis the season for excited children and stressed teachers. Here are a few ways to destress during this “most wonderful time of the year.” Breathe – When chaos erupts – stop and take a deep cleansing breath. Conscious…
Read MoreFitness is Elementary
From the desk of Leigh Ann . . . “Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of creative and dynamic intellectual activity.” – President Kennedy Teachers play a critical role in developing the fitness of the minds and bodies of their students. School…
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