A Magical Christmas Parody

Click here to watch a magical Christmas parody
Before Watching:
*What is a parody?
*Read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas
After Watching:
*How do you know WestJet employees began with a goal in mind with this project?
*When people synergize, they work together and accomplish more than the individuals could do alone.  How do the workers of WestJet synergize to accomplish their goal?
*Some people say that if you do kind things for others at Christmastime, you help to continue the magic of Santa Claus.  What do you think about this statement?

Thanksgiving - A Time for Gratitude and Paying it Forward

Click here for a wonderful video that demonstrates the power of feeling gratitude, then paying it forward: Show Gratitude and Pay It Forward - Soul Pancake
Before Watching:
*What is gratitude?
*What does it mean to Pay it Forward?
After Watching:
*How did the decision of each person to pay it forward make a difference?
*What did the beginning of the video and the end have in common?
*Researchers say that those who express gratitude also express more happiness.  Do you agree with this statement?  Why or why not?
*In small groups, plan and perform skits that show what this video would look like among students at your school.  What kinds of kind things could students do for each other?

Encouragement for Running the Race: The Story of Matt Woodrum

Click Here For Race Video
To discuss with your student leaders:
How does Matt Woodrum focus on his circle of control instead of his struggles?
Matt chooses to run the hardest race.  What is the value of choosing to do hard things and deciding that you won't give up?
Matt heads for the finish line and knows where it is.  How is he beginning with the end in mind, and how can we make "finish lines" for our goals?
Sometimes Matt slows down.  How do the other students synergize to keep him going?
By encouraging Matt, the students create a win-win situation.
How does everyone involved end up a winner in this race?

The Power of One

click here for video and watch number 5
There are lots of great ideas of how to use this concept and video in the classroom!
Try making a banner that says, "The Power of One," then have these categories displayed beneath it:
1.  The video starts with phrases such as...
    "One song can spark a moment."
    "One tree can start a forest."
    "One smile begins a friendship."
    Have your leaders write their own "One" phrases.  For those who do best with a scaffold, let them
    try this:  One _____________ can ______________ a ________________.
2.  Another section of the video has phrases that start with the word "Be."  For example...
    "Be bold."
    "Be proud."
    "Be yourself."
    What a great way to start a school year.  Instead of writing a list of "Don'ts" for students, have
    them create a list of how they want to be.
3.  The last section of the video gives verbs...
    "Share."
    "Explore."
    "Inspire."
    Have students find the verbs that they think are the most important for living life.  It is a great way
    to get them paying attention to parts of speech in the dictionary and at the same time, helps them
    think of how to take action in this world.

What do you do to teach the power of one?

Chalk Art Video for Perception and Paradigm

click here to watch chalk art video
This 4 minute video is a great one just to sharpen your saw and enjoy the creativity, but it's a wonderful discussion-starter, too!

click here to see CBS spot on Julian Beever
This interesting 5 minute feature by CBS tells more about Julian as an artist and how he accomplishes his work.

Discuss with your leaders:
*Is the perception of this final picture the true reality?  How is this similar to each person's personal paradigm?
*Why is it important for this artist to begin with the end in mind?
*Could he reach this amazing final product without doing each small step along the way?
*How is persistence important for long-term projects and goals?

Do with your leaders:
*After watching these videos, your students may be inspired to use colored chalk.  Why not give them some and set them loose to create on the playground?  Maybe they would like to write a quote, draw a scene, or decorate a habit.  Having time to create is a great way to sharpen the saw.  You may want to have them begin with the end in mind and create a draft on paper first.

7 Habits on Quizlet

Click here for a set of Quizlet 7 Habits Cards
Are you familiar with Quizlet?  One way my daughter and her friends survived science last year was making flashcard sets together on Quizlet.  After your cards are made, you can test yourself or play games to do some more studying.  The other day I was on Quizlet and found this set of 7 Habits cards.  Give it a try, or make your own set.  Think of subjects you teach where students need to memorize vocabulary words
and their definitions.

Bruno Mars Sings "Don't Give Up"

Click here for the video of Bruno Mars Singing
You've gotta love the street, Sesame Street that is.  Bruno Mars sings a song with the Muppets about not giving up.  I think this would be a great song to have playing on a loop as our students are entering the cafeteria for an assembly.  Even though it is aimed at younger kids, the tune could get stuck in anyone's head!
In case you want the lyrics:
Lyrics and Music for "Don't Give Up" click here
Lyrics with music are a great way to promote reading fluency.
And whatever it is that you have been trying lately - don't give up!

212 Degrees

Click here for 212 Degree Video

Perseverance is not a long race:
It is many short races,
One after another.
-Walter Elliot
This video is perfect to show if students have been turning in assignments that show minimal effort.  At 211 degrees, water is hot.  At 212 degrees, it boils - and can power a locomotive.







Discuss:
*What does it mean that one degree of effort separates the good from the great?
*Who is responsible for the results in your life?
*What does the video say about attitude?
*What does this phrase from the video mean?
            We can never help another without helping ourselves. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
*How does it help to have a clearly defined goal to help us reach the extra degree?
Do:
*Have students write down areas in their lives where they need to turn up the heat.  To help inspire their writing, replay the video again, but only so they can hear the music.  Encourage them to try to keep writing the entire time the music is playing.  Ask if they need to have it played a second time to continue writing.
*Have students redo an assignment that was mediocre

Just the Way We Like It

My son left for Nicaragua today.  I hope everything during his trip is just the way he likes it.  Let me explain...
Last year my sister-in-law taught us that when you are traveling, and things are unpredictable or go wrong, if you say, "This is just the way we like it," you feel better about the situation.  I was fortunate to have a sabbatical that winter, so I took my family to Costa Rica.  At one point we were kind of lost, looking for our lodging, walking and sweating in the heat, rolling our suitcases down the road, surrounded by rainforest.  My son looked at me and said, "Hey mom, this is just the way we like it."  It made us smile.  And truly, it was just the way we liked it - we love the story of how a man found and helped us by carrying our suitcases the rest of the way in a wheelbarrow!  Next time things aren't going the way you want at school or at home, give it a try.  Say, "This is just the way I like it."  (If you want to see the cute open-air bungalow where we stayed, see my earlier post about being off the grid).

Our kind wheelbarrow helper...just the way we like it!

This is just the way we like it - hot, sweaty, a little lost.

Synergizing - Chairs for Charlie

Click here for video: Chairs for Charlie
*How does this neighborhood use habit 6 to synergize and help Charlie? How do they show that together is better than what just one person can do?
*Explain how this story is also a good example of habit 5, seek first to understand.
*This community creates a win-win situation.  Explain how each of the following win:
1.  Charlie
2.  Charlie's neighbors
3.  The dogs

Opportunity Looks a Lot Like Hard Work - Begin with the End in MInd

Video: Ashton Kutcher Teen Choice Awards Speech
Lately I have been talking to other parents about our teens and jobs.  There are a few that embrace working, but others just don't want to do it.  Or, once they are working, they want to quit when it becomes boring or before they have another job lined up.  Sometimes they feel like the job they have is "beneath them."
It reminded me of Ashton Kutcher's four minute speech that he gave at the Teen Choice Awards one year.  Although he uses the words sexy and crap in his message, he uses them in a way that is appropriate for teens.
The highlights of his message:
     *Opportunity looks a lot like hard work. (Be proactive)
     *He was always lucky if he had a job, and he never had a 
      job he was better than.
     *Every job was a stepping stone.
     *He never quit a job until he had another one lined up. (Put first things first)
     *The sexiest things in the world are being smart, thoughtful, and generous. (Win-win)
     *Build your life, don't just live it. (Begin with the end in mind)
I just may need to use this video before the next "job discussion" at my house.

Youtube Clip - The Lost Generation - What it means to be proactive...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA

When we are proactive, we are in charge of our lives.  If we are not proactive, we let others make our decisions for us.  When using this youtube clip with my leaders, I ask the following questions:
1.  In the first part of "Lost Generation," how are people told to be "victims?"
2.  How does the second part of "Lost Generation" change to being proactive?
If you use this clip with your leaders, let me know what they think!

Quote and Book Recommendation of the Day

"What is right is not always popular 

and what is popular is not always right."

-Albert Einstein

This is such a timeless quote.  If you have not yet read Wonder by R.J. Palacio, it makes for a wonderful read aloud to your class.  This quote by Albert Einstein is perfect to refer back to while reading.  There will be many opportunities to talk about Habit 5, "Seek first to understand, then be understood."

Big Styrofoam Leadership Letters

We wanted to put up big "Leadership" letters in our school.  Last year my husband went to Lowe's and bought thick styrofoam.  He then glued two layers together to get some nice, thick letters (although I used a single layer in my own classroom).  We chose a font on the computer, and blew up the letter sizes to get patterns he could follow with his jigsaw.  We love how they turned out.  If you would like to see them painted and on display, go to the provided link of our school.  You will also see the "Lead" letters I mounted above my white board.  Leader in Me - Leadership Letters

A Fourth of July Reflection

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free;
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless,
Tempest-tossed to me
I lift my lamp beside the golden door

These words from The New Colossus, written by Emma Lazarus, can be found on a plaque on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
Reflect
What do your student leaders think these words mean?
What are some ways that individuals can show leadership with the poor and homeless?
Can a nation be a leader?
Create
Have students make a sketch of the Statue of Liberty's lamp.  In the flames, have them write their ideas of ways individual leaders can be welcoming to people who are from other countries.

Kids These Days

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G22Q92VCFyY
Are your leaders preparing to write personal mission statements?  To get their juices flowing and help them begin with the end in mind, show this video clip.
Discuss before the video:
*When people say, "Kids these days," is it usually positive or negative?  Can you give an example?
Discuss after the video:
Why do you think this phrase was chosen for the video?
*People are waiting. Will you wait or lead?
*You will fail.  Why is this phrase included in the video?

Perception is Reality

Perception is reality.  In other words, the way we see things creates our reality.  If we believe everyone is against us, we will find proof of that.  If we expect good things to happen, we find those things.  Our reality and perceptions are our paradigm.
Activity to Do:
To help student leaders to understand this concept, use two different pairs of glasses frames.  Call one pair of lenses the negative paradigm glasses, and the other pair the positive paradigm glasses.  Model for the students how thoughts can be different about the same situation.  Example: recess.
*Put on the negative glasses.  Say things like:
No one ever wants to play with me at recess.
Kids don't even play kickball, they just fight over whose turn it is.
I hate how loud it is.
*Put on the positive glasses.  Say things like:
There are always different activities I can choose from at recess.
I love to play kickball.  When we disagree it gives us a chance to practice working things out.
I like listening to all of the laughing, talking and shouting.
*Have students create a list of situations.  Let them take turns trying on the different pairs of paradigm glasses and making comments.
Once students understand the concept, it gives a new tool for talking to them.  You can say things like, Right now you are seeing the situation through one pair of glasses.  Try putting on a different pair of glasses and think about this situation some more.

In the Spirit of Word Cup Soccer - An inspiring story of kids and soccer...

Click here to see the story:  Soccer Team Dream
In the spirit of the World Cup, here is an inspiring soccer story about a group of kids from Koh Panyee, which is a floating village in the south of Thailand.   They began with the end in mind - a vision of having their own soccer team...watch this video and you can't help but admire the gumption of these kids.

For Reflection:
*What excuses could this group of children have given for not being able to play soccer?  What obstacles could have tempted them to give up once they started? 
*How did it help this group to begin with the end in mind, and what small steps did they take along the way in order to reach the goal?

Sharpen the saw and feel a little Hawaiian

I just had the easiest, most refreshing smoothie that transported me to a Hawaiian frame of mind.
1.  Freeze a fresh pineapple.

2.  Toss the chunks of frozen pineapple in a blender with a can of coconut milk (the lite kind tasted fine).
3.  Yum.
This would be an easy demonstration for your student leaders and give them an idea of a healthy way to care for their bodies.  Our school nurse and assistant librarian started a health leaders club at school this year.  In turn, those students educated the rest of the student body about ways to sharpen the saw.  What a win-win!

Seek First to Understand - Summer Sibling Squabbles

Seek first to understand, then be understood.  Habit 5 is so much easier said than done.  The hardest place to practice this habit is probably the best place to practice it...you know what I am going to say...home.  Today a friend made me laugh when I read her Facebook post.  She said the way to get her children to stop fighting is by coming in and yelling, because then the kids unite against the evil mother.  I have been in that role so many times!  So the other day I decided to get messy and work with my teens at home with their listening skills when they were at each other.  The initial reaction was that they united against me and told me to stop treating them like they were in third grade.  I said, "Actually, although a third grader can learn to listen, this is a very adult skill."  They glared.
Let's see if I can sum up the exchange in a shortened version.
Me:  Child One, say what you want to say.  Child Two, listen, because you are going to repeat it back.
Child One:  Well he said...
Me:  Talk directly to Child Two, I am just here to moderate your conversation.  Try starting with "I feel..."
Child One talks.  Child Two talks back instead of repeating what he heard Child One say.
We start over.
Child One talks directly to Child Two, and I have Child Two answer, starting with the phrase, "So you are saying that..."
Repeat of steps with Child Two talking to Child One.
Repeat of all steps multiple times, with Child One and Child Two still getting in their jabs and cut-downs at first.
Things finally are less escalated.  They start to listen and repeat.
I see my window of opportunity.
"Now that you have both heard each other, how can we think win-win?"
***
It wasn't perfect, but it worked.
We aren't riding off into the Covey model family sunset.  Not even close.
I still know how to yell and tell them to be quiet.  But we are working at it.  Sometimes.
And that is how the habit of listening is developed.

Video Clip: What can you do with one leg?

Boy with one leg plays soccer
     In keeping with this week's theme of World Cup Soccer, here is another inspirational soccer story.  Before using this clip with student leaders, have them fold a piece of scrap paper in half.  At the top of the sheet they should write the word "Yes" on one side of the fold, and "No" on the other side.  Tell students you are going to read a list of activities to them.  If they think it is an activity that a child with one leg could do, they should put a mark in the "Yes" column.  If they think it is an activity a child with one leg could not do, they should mark the "No" column.  Here is the list:  read, color, basketball, sing, swim, sled, ice skate, blow out birthday candles, decorate a Christmas tree, roller skate, gymnastics, score a soccer goal.  Out of the 12 possible activities, how many "Yes" marks do they have?  Have them compare their answer with a neighbor and discuss their reasoning.
     After watching the video, they will realize that they should have all 12 activities marked in the "Yes" column.  Proactive people show their strength by being in charge of their thoughts and actions.  How would a person with one leg need to show strength with thoughts?  Actions?  Would Nico have accomplished as much if he had felt sorry for himself and told himself that life is not fair?  Why would a company want to use Nico to advertise a product like Powerade? For more information, go to this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/207785779240060/

Synergizing - A Quote for Reflection

Everyone is in love with his own ideas.

-Carl Gustav
 Discussion questions for student leaders:
*What does this quote mean, and is it a good thing?  Why or why not?
*How can having someone disagree with you help you to learn?
*Is it okay to love your ideas?
*How can "seek first to understand, then be understood," be a helpful habit when synergizing and listening to the ideas of others?