Book Tree

In December, Harry and I made a book tree. Harry loves to read. I LOVE to read Children's Literature. I have thousands of picture books. I have two bins full of board books in the basement. I am obsessed. I cannot keep up with all the new books being published- there are so many great ones like Hair Love, Lovely, and Nothing is Scary With Harry.

Back to the tree.

I've seen these on the internet for years but obviously I don't own enough "adult books" to do. Harry told me this is going to be a challenge. He wanted to talk plans but I just dove in. A few minutes later I realized this is going to require some skill. After a few tree topples I decided to listen to reasoning. Harry explained why this is much easier with "adult books" but we didn't give up.

We rose to the challenge and this is what we got:

Lesson I learned from this book tree... TEAMWORK! Teamwork makes the dream work!

Cause and Effect with Frog and Toad

On Monday, Mrs. R read a story from Frog and Toad All Year Round. Today, we are going to read from Days With Frog and Toad and we will practice cause and effect. The story we are going to read is called, The Kite. Before we read the story though I want to look our chart. 

Good readers identify cause and effect.

Cause is often signaled by the word so. For example, “It was raining SO I used an umbrella.”

Effect is often signaled by the word because. I used my umbrella (C) BECAUSE it was raining (E).”

As I am reading I want you to think about what is happening and why it is happening. When you see a part of the sentence up here I want you to put your hand out like a stop sign and we will complete the sentence by adding the missing cause or effect.

The Robins told Toad to give up SO Toad gave up.

The robins said the kite was junk BECAUSE the kite crashed in the grass.

Frog told Toad to try flying his kite one more time SO he jumped up and down and shouted, “UP KITE UP!”

The kite climbed higher and higher BECAUSE Toad did not give up.

Toad and Frog are happy BECAUSE they finally got the kite to fly.

Great job first graders! I have a cause and effect worksheet I would like us to complete. Each of you is going to get two pieces of paper. You are going to cut out all five sentences on this piece of paper. You are going to glue the missing cause or effect on this worksheet. On the bottom, you’ll see both boxes are empty. You need to decide which sentences go there and which one is the cause and which on is the effect. Let’s do the first one together. The effect is, “The Popsicle melted.” Why did the Popsicle melt? Because (read sentences) 

Date a Girl Who Teaches

I read a blog post called, "Don't Date a Girl Who Teaches." It had some really great points. I would have to say my favorite was, "She will bring home every strain of every airborne disease within a 25-mile radius. Hope your immune system's perfect." 

This blog post was written in reply to this blog post. Date a Girl Who Teaches was just as cute. I nodded my way through the entire article. As a future teacher who has over 300 children's lit books I especially enjoyed reading, "Date a girl who teaches children. Date a girl who enjoys more in a bookstore for school supplies and children’s books rather than in make-up store. She has problems with storage space because she has too many trinkets and storybooks to keep. Date a girl who has a list of stories that she wants to have and read, who has a collection of Aklat Adarna, Leo Lionni and Eric Carle’s books." I also really enjoyed this bullet point, "A girl who teaches won’t require much of your time. She will hardly see you on weeknights because she prefers to finish her lesson plans and worksheets and catch up sleep. Unless she had a really bad and long day, she will randomly ask you to have dinner or coffee with her. But if you insist, she will try her best and make it to the last full show of Inception even on a freakin’ Wednesday night just to be with you. (Please cooperate and pretend with her that she enjoyed the movie by not asking details of the show anymore.)" 

If you are a teacher or you are a future educator take ten minutes and read both of these blog posts. You won't regret it.

Popcorn!

Yesterday, in my first grade class we sang a song called, "Pop! Goes the Popcorn!" When I got home I wanted to find that song and print it out for future use with the girl I nanny for but I could not find it anywhere! This morning I stumbled across, Popcorn Storytime which included finger plays, songs, poems and more. On the list was the song I was looking for- YAY! I adjusted the actions to match what we did in class but you can find the alternative actions and other poems, songs, crafts, books and more here.

Pop! Goes the Popcorn!
(Tune: Pop Goes the Weasel)

Sizzle goes the popcorn oil (wiggle fingers over head)
Click clack go the kernels (snap fingers)
Now we're waiting, (look like you're waiting)
When will it start? (Put up hands like you are wondering)
Pop! Goes the popcorn! (clap hands)

RAWR

About a month ago I brought a board book about dinosaurs to my nanny families house to read with their 15 month old and she loved it! We read it at least twenty times that day and now, her newest obsession seems to be dinosaurs. The weather around here has been cold and rainy so I decided to do a craft with her and it only seemed necessary to make a dinosaur. I put a few drops of green finger paint on a piece of paper and let her paint away. She wasn't all that interested in paint which surprised me because she spent 45 minutes (not exaggerating) coloring a piece of paper green the other night, but anyway, I gave her a fork and spoon and then she showed more interest in mixing the paint. I brought her painting home, found a dinosaur template online, printed a cute little saying out and here is our final creation: 

G apparently loves her dinosaur craft because it is three weeks later and apparently every morning the first thing she says is, "Dino!"

Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit Day 2

What an amazing day! So much to take in and think about!! I was so overwhelmed yesterday, I couldn't sleep at night. However, I feel re- energized and like I could take on the World. I cannot wait for next year! Here is a list of quotes I took from the second day at the Global Leadership Summit.

John Ortberg:

- "The reason we must marvel at this man is because his work is not done yet"

- “What if the word associated with Christians during this election cycle was HUMILITY?”

- "God is a Father with an unquenchable love for every single person on the planet"

- “Life is not about comfort. It’s about saying “God give me another mountain.”

- "You should never work in ministry because you have to have a job."

- “2000 years later, we give our children names like 'Peter' 'Paul' & 'Mary' and we give our dogs names like 'Caesar' & 'Nero'”

- “Jesus started a movement that is still happening.”

- “To often we argue about Christianity rather than marvel at Jesus.”

- “Leaders need to expand their view of Jesus’s Kingdom impact.”

- “Jesus gave the world its most influential movement.”

- “Where before the church was there a movement that wished to include everyone?…It was His idea.”

- “Jesus changed how we think about history.”

- “Jesus expressed how we shape compassion.”

- “The Jesus movement shaped education.”

- “Education honors God and allows us to think God’s thoughts of us.”

- ”Jesus revolutionized the arts.”

- “The Jesus movement changed political theory.”

- “Jesus changed about how we think about human rights and dignity.”

- “Jesus has a way of refusing to stay submerged.”

- “Jesus uniquely taught to love your enemies.”

- “The discoverer of the role of forgiveness in human affairs was Jesus.”

- “The question is not who was this man? The question is who is this man?”

- “The reason we marvel at this man is His work is not done yet.”

- “Let love rebuild and unite us”

- “If you work in the arts, would you make them shine once more? Because the world needs that.”

- John Ortberg quotes Hannah Arendt "The discoverer of the role of forgiveness in the realm of human affairs was Jesus of Nazareth."

- "The response of early-persecuted Christians was not to dream of revenge or start a revolt but to love."

- Application Questions:

Do you spend more debating Christianity or marveling about Jesus?

Are you consistently and Biblically teaching about the life and ministry of Jesus?

William Ury:

- "Some conflicts are so difficult that they can only be healed by a story."

- "Give people basic human respect. It costs nothing and means everything to them."

- “Do I not destroy my enemy when I turn them into my friend?” Abe Lincoln via Bill Ury.

- Better alternative for better negotiation we must do “Less talk, more walk.”

- "One of the greatest powers we have in negotiation is the power NOT to react."

- "We are the biggest obstacle to successful negotiation."

- “With regards to conflict-a person can only argue for so long if nobody is fueling their fire.”

- The power not to react is the foundation of successful “getting to yes.”

- “During conflict you need to keep the big picture in mind, What are you trying to achieve?”

- “We R the biggest barriers 2 achieving our success. We need to go to a spiritual, mental & emotional balcony 2 get clarity.”

- “Separate the people from the problem.”

- “The goal of negotiating success is not eliminating conflict, it is to reach a decision that works for everyone.”

- “We must learn to be soft with people and hard on problems.”

- Negotiations- “The biggest barrier to achieving success is ourself, because we have a tendency to react.“

- "That's why God gave us two ears and one mouth. Listen twice as much as you talk."

- “The cheapest concession you can make in a negotiation is basic respect. It is free, and makes a huge difference.”

- “In a negotiation, to listen costs you nothing but means everything to the other person.”

- “We're trying to change the game to where we are metaphorically on the same side of the table and not enemies.

- “Negotiating? Go to the "balcony," a place of clarity w/ high-level perspective to keep the big picture/end goal in mind.”

- “Your values have to be things that you stick with—even if you aren't rewarded for them.”

- Mediation: 1. Focus on people, not problems. 2. Focus on interests, not positions. 3. Seek creative options. 4. Be fair.

- Six Critical Questions to Answer:

1. Why do we exist? (core purpose)

When you know what your reason for existing is than it informs decision making

2. How do we behave? (core values)

This must get down to the 1-3 truly critical values. Not aspirational values, or values you want to have, but actual company values. These are thing you're willing to lose customers over and get punished in the market for.

3. What do we actually do?

What do you really do at your core, not what you sell.

4. How do we succeed? (strategy)

Strategy should be accessible to everyone in the company. We can define strategy as the myriad of intentional decisions we make to separate us from our competitors. Boil strategy down to three things - three strategic anchors

5. What is most important in our organization right now? (rally cry)

6. Who must do what? (positional clarity)

- "The key foundation to successful negotiation is making sure you have clarity to what you really want to achieve."

- Here's a key question..."How could you possibly change someone's mind, if you don't know where that mind is?"

- It begins with awareness: "The single biggest obstacle to conflict is ourselves."

Bill Hybels:

- (On Jesus) “I don’t understand people who tell me they feel alone all the time. I’m never alone.”

- AGREE 110%!!! “I wouldn’t take a paycheck to get people involved in organized religion. But I’d work for free for the rest of my life to introduce people to Jesus.”

- “The human death rate is still hovering around 100%. Who and what are you living your precious time for?”

- "I'm not afraid of death, because I know the One who conquered it."

- “What dream needs to be born out of your journal?”

- "If we were to pull back all the layers of this thing we call leadership, at the core of it all is this thing called trust.”

- “The message of Christ has been given to the church; first to live it out and then to spread it to the whole world.”

- “The hope of the world is the local Church.”

- “I'm into something other than religion. I am into Jesus.” AMEN!

- "Jesus started a movement with His life and we are now the stewards of His movement."

- When I was young, someone asked, "What will you do with your life that will last forever? It wrecked me."

- "God, I'll keep doing THIS if you'll keep doing THAT." I know what THAT is. What's the THIS for my life?

- "Vision propels people forward who would otherwise be comfortable with the status quo."

- "Where there is no vision, what happens? People perish. They settle for a life of no purpose."

- “The greatest privilege on earth is when God taps you on the shoulder to build His Church!”

- “It's one thing to see a vision, it's another to be seized by a vision “

- How can someone say they love God but when He taps them on the shoulder say, “No thanks. I’m building my own thing”?

- "The Church will survive because of who it is that's actually building it, sustaining it, invigorating it: Jesus."

- "There are many who have been screwed by church and faith and by those who were in 'relationship' with Jesus Christ."

- "The church is the hope of the world! Not education business or government They're part but not like church!"

- “If the church is the hope of the world then EVERY ATTENDER matters because THEY are THE CHURCH!”

- “We must change the trajectory of hate-filled kids' lives by intersecting their life with love.”

- “Someone has to tell the kid w/the hate filled heart: There's a mind blowing love in Heaven with your name on it.”

Patrick Lencioni:

- "Trying to be all things to all people means you're nothing to no one."

- "To violate a core value is to ask you to sell your soul."

- "Your company: Ask yourself, Why do we exist?"

- "Core values should be behaviors you ALREADY have, not ones you WISH you had."

- "A core value is something you're willing to get punished for."

- "If your people can't do a good impression of you when you're not around you're not communicating enough!"

- "Minimum standards are different than core values."

- “Without humility there is no healthy organization.”

- “You must define the 3 anchors that you'd be willing to be punished for keeping. Make all decisions based on them.”

- "People need to be reminded not told."

Geoffrey Canada:

- "Significance is based in part on the depth of relationships. Trust is fragile."

- "I failed. I'm gonna try twice as hard. I'm still gonna be successful." How do you respond to failure?"

- "The way you build a more powerful organization is to demand a level of excellence from staff and hold everyone accountable to that."

- "Who do u need to intentionally thank 4 "saving your soul" as a young person? Who helped u on a better path? Thank them!"

- "It's easy to let some1 go when they're disagreeable. It's harder when they're passionate but not the right person."

- "Remember who you work for."

- "I failed, but I'm gonna come back twice as hard and I refuse to belittle my vision."That's powerful!

- “As a leader, it is much more difficult to admit failure when you are well known.”

- "We put a rover on Mars. We can do anything we set our mind to. There's no reason we can't also solve poverty & abuse."

- "When you fail, resist the temptation to scale back the vision. Try twice as hard!"

- "We can't allow one more generation to be on the pipeline from cradle to prison. Must be impatient with failure."

- "Actively think of how to REPLACE yourself when everything is on its way UP."

- "This younger generation is one of the most cause-minded, mission-oriented in our history EVER."

- "If u want to attract talent for succession you must be open about leaving & leave while things are good."

-"Never allow anyone to water-down your vision"

- "I want to leave when the organization is going up so the next person has a great first year." #legacy #succession

- "We are a moment in a path to victory."

- "If you have a child, there's no time in that child's life when you can't be a great parent"

- "The real test of faith is when you're dealing with something that only faith can take you through."

- "Know when your institution belongs to the young ppl now... Most ppl leave after they've expired!"

- “Christians want to celebrate and have a good time, but they're not prepared to do the tough stuff.”

- "As a leader, get your moral compass right. Otherwise, it will hurt a lot of people.”

- "It’s easy to have faith when everything is going great."

- “You know faith when you are going through something that hurts so bad that only faith can get you through it.”

- "Our real role models are the people we'll never know, who even in the darkest times just never gave up."

- "Hope is contagious, but so is despair."

-"Some people fight the good fight & never see progress in their lifetime. You are a moment on the path toward victory"

Rachael Turken:

- "God will continually catch you off guard."

- "Traveler there is no path the path is made by walking."

Mario Vega:

- "Leaders are qualified through their integrity of character."

- "Keeping failures secret is a mistake."

-"When values differ, life's road begins to pull people apart and only by accident do their paths cross."

- "Personality and talent, charisma and skill are not enough- Integrity of character is what is needed."

-"The morale failure of a leader will challenge the integrity of others as well."

-"Never give yourself permission to avoid doing what you know is right."

- On tough decisions: "We are not just responsible for our own actions, but also the influence we have over those we lead."

- "Integrity lost cannot be fully restored."

- "You can lose it all over just one moral mistake."

- "Preservation of your ego may be the destruction of your soul." Wow!

- “Never give yourself permission to avoid doing what is right.”

- “Sometimes we have to choose: will we be with God or will we be with man.”

Pranitha Timothy:

-"We are called to serve because this life belongs to God and God IS good."

- "My spouse and my kids are better off in the hands of God, not in my own." Now that's hard to swallow!

- "God gave me this voice - feeble and yet powerful in His hands."

- "Our pain constantly reminds us that we need God."

- "This life belongs to God, it is not my own."

- "God goes before us into the darkness to make straight our path so we can bring His light to the broken."

- "Being humble does not mean God won't require us to do something that requires great strength."

- "Take advantage of the moments and small opportunities applying every gift and ounce of skill entrusted." #fearnot

- "When we grieve death and all that could have been... we believe God is good, and it gives us hope."

- "Our lives belong to God. Strength doesn't come from willful determination but from He who is the source of all."

-"Being humble does not mean God will never ask us to do something that requires great strength."

Miscellaneous Quotes:

- "When selecting a life verse, be cautious about using OT Scriptures which reference Israel's unfaithfulness."

- (Craig Groeschel) "Respect is earned but HONOR is given. 1 Peter 2:17... Honor everyone."

- "The gift on you will destroy you if what is within is not strong enough to sustain you."

- "People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed." - Samuel Johnson

- "Gloriously or tragically, leaders lead from who they are on the inside." -Gary Haugen

- "Leaders lead out of who they are on the inside. This is why the God who made us is so eage to remake us on the inside."

- "God does his miracles of transformation through miraculously transformed people." -Gary Haugen

- Sometimes churches struggle to use core values because they think "Well she loves Jesus!"

- "Never stop looking forward and stay focused on Jesus and not merely the conflict at hand."

- "At the center of great leadership is HUMILITY combined with ambition." - Jim Collins

- Tony Morgan:"Have you thanked God recently for the privilege to lead something?"

- "The greatest asset leaders can give their organization is not their time. It is their ENERGY."

- "Honor publicly results in influence privately." (Craig Groeschel)

- "Organizational health is the single greatest competitive advantage in business."

- "Bad decisions made with good intentions are still bad decisions." (Jim Collins)

- "Jesus gave the world its most influential movement."

- "Bringing hope to the world requires courageous leaders."

- “Every young person has gifts & it's our job to help them find out what those gifts are-they will change our world.” (Marc Kielburger)

-"Fear is the thief of dreams.”

- "Just as we are what we eat physically, we are also what we consume spiritually." #SoulDetox (CraigGroeschel)

- “One of the greatest privileges is when Jesus taps YOU on the shoulder and asks you to be a part of what HE is doing in this world.”

Books to Read:

Who Is This Man? by John Ortberg

Advantage

Soul Detox by Craig Groeschel

Five Little Chicks

I won this book a few months ago from a contest put on by Little One Books. I had never read the book or heard of the author, but it is a very cute spring story. I have used it with toddlers and my Pre- K class which is 3 and 4 year olds. The chicks go out in search of food to eat. One chick goes out first and then the second comes to join and so on (counting). The food they find are things the kids would see in the spring like worms, ladybugs, a red strawberry. That isn't what chickens are supposed to eat and Pre- K got that right away. At the end of the story, the chicks run to the patch and peck all day in the corn patch with mama. What I liked most about this book was that I was able to adjust the level to challenge both the toddlers and Pre- K with comprehension questions, counting, colors, and applying the story to real life concepts they are familiar with.

Beautiful Oops!

I bought this book a couple years and I love it. The book is about taking every mistake or "oops" situation and using it as an opportunity to make something beautiful. For example, a bent piece of paper can be made into a Penguin or a paint spill can turn into a dog with puppies. The book is about art, but it can be interpreted into so much more and applied to whatever stage of life you are in. 

"When you think you have made a mistake, think of it as an opportunity to make something beautiful!" -Barney Saltzberg

Math Treasure Box

Directions: You will create a math or science theme box that may be used with students in the kindergarten classroom. You will share your box with the class. Be creative with this and include math or science related items/tools that might assist children in learning more about a specific topic or concept. Remember all items should be theme related and teach a math/science concept.
Note: Your box must include developmentally appropriate materials and at least two children’s books related to the topic. You will post a list of materials included in your box and a picture if possible.

Here's what I came up with:

It was February so I went with hearts!

Broken hearts- Can you help put them together again?

A few of my favorite counting books.

Memory game.

I chose to do this activity with Lego's but the options are endless!

 

When Life's Not Working

The other night I started reading, "When Life's Not Working" by my pastor, Bob Merritt. I cannot put the book down, it's right on! Bob has a gift of being able to make all messages at church real and relevant and his book is just the same. I've been taking notes as I read and here's a few things I have written down:

- "If life's not working as you had hoped, take charge of your life, get on a different path, and watch how God puts the pieces back together." I love this quote, exactly what happened to me about 7 months ago.

- "Discipline is the basic set of tools we require to solve life's problems. Without discipline we can solve nothing. With only some discipline we can only solve some problems. With total discipline we can solve all problems."

- (Discipline) "It's having a goal, rolling up your sleeves, and doing what's necessary to achieve it, believing that all the handwork and sacrifice upfront will pay off somewhere down the road."

- "You want to measure how much you love God, look at how much you love, care about, and are considerate of others. If you couldn't care less about others- if you're not considerate and generous toward others- that's a sign that God's love has not fully penetrated your heart."

- "When we are disobedient, it's usually God's protective presence that we forfeit, and that makes us vulnerable to attacks, loss, and failure.

- "Setbacks and deficits are opportunities to display God's power and to build our faith."

- "God is wiser, more powerful, and more willing than any therapist, book, saying, or person, and he will do for you what you cannot do by yourself, if you'll just go to him and ask."

- "God waits for and responds to his children who come to him in prayer. It's not automatic. God's timing isn't always our timing."

- "Sometimes all you can do is get through one more day, then another, and another after that, believing that God is teaching you, strengthening you, and doing something in you that will make you more complete. It might take you 8 weeks or 8 years. But often the only difference between those who succeed and those who don't is flat out perseverance and giving it just one more day."

After wandering the bookstore at church I came up with a list of other books I'd like to read:

- Boundaries in Dating, Dr. Henry Cloud. Bob is always referring to Henry Cloud so I am interested in reading many of his books.

- Prayer Coach by James I. Nicodem

- Redefining My Life (Apparently didn't write down the author)

- To Save a Life by Britts

- They Like Jesus, but not the Church by Dan Kimball

- Letter's of a Skeptic by Dr. Gregory A. Boyd

Back in September I bought, Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo. I haven't finished this book yet, but what I've read it great! It's about a 4 year old boy- Colton who told his parents he left his body during the emergency appendectomy- and authenticated that claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing in another part of the hospital while he was in surgery. He talks about visiting heaven and sharing events that happened before he was born.