What Teachers Really Want to Tell Parents

As a parent first and an educator second, I appreciated this article~

What teachers really want to tell parents by Ron Clark

Compassion and Empathy

I saw this recently, after loosing yet another dear friend to cancer, and walking with her through her last days. It spoke to me and I hope to carry it into the school year. I believe we all need compassion from each other: not only in the "big" things like terminal illnesses, but also in the smaller daily matters.

My colleague is stressed and wanting to exert control, she deserves compassion. This small child is crying and unable to follow simple directions, he deserves compassion. This parent is allowing his anger to become personal because he feels for his son's experiences, he too, deserves compassion.

4:51 Joan Halifax defines compassion:

"compassion is comprised of the capacity to see clearly into the nature of suffering, the ability to stand strong, and recognize that I am not separate from this suffering . . .; aspire to transform suffering, engage in activities that transforms suffering; cannot be attached to outcome . . ."

6:20 It is a quality inherent within all of us
7:00 The enemies of compassion: pity, moral-outrage, fear
8:00 "Benefits" of compassion: enhanced resilience, neuro-integration, boast in immune system
9:50 takes a strong back and a soft front

Joan Halifax: Compassion and the true meaning of empathy | Video on TED.com

Civil Discourse

Conflicts are so hard. They make my stomach churn. At a recent Caring School Community training, we learned some great prompts for difficult conversations:

"I agree with [name] because . . ."
"I disagree with [name] because . . ."
"In addition to what [name] said, . . .

Being able to talk through disagreements without anger preserves our sense of safety in relationships. Perhaps we can all give these a try.

The Leader in Me

A few resources for parents:

Article on The Leader in Me by Stephen Covey

Parenting Lessons from The Leader in Me program

Parent's Guide from the Leader in Me program

Chores and Our Children

This is an interesting article about why so many children do not have the responsibilities of household chores. I've been thinking about the importance of training my children to speak the love language of "acts of service." They've been doing more around the house this summer. It has been good for us; very, very good!

How about a little help here By James H. Burnett III, Globe Staff

Shielding Our Children

I must confess, I did this with my girls too . . .

When we shield our kids from scary stories, who are we really trying to protect? - The Boston Globe

The 90/10 Principle

It is recorded in Proverbs that King Soloman taught "A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult." To think that we might truly have control over 90% of our lives because we can determine our reactions is a powerful thought indeed~