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My book of the month is Ugly: The Memoir By Robert Hoge.  This book impacted me on so many levels and left me with so many points that I look forward to sharing with my students this upcoming school year.  When I saw the book on the shelf, during the Scholastic Book Fair, I stopped to pick it up because the word UGLY jumped out at me.  Immediately my mind thought of my students that exhibit signs of low self-esteem so I just knew the book was about that! Has to be, right?  👎 Wrong!   After reading the back of the book I had so many ideas going through my head.  I thought about how I could use the book to teach students about the importance of having empathy, diversity, and accepting people who are different from them!   While I read the book I allowed Robert's words to take me on his journey throughout his childhood.  I could feel his pain as he described his experiences.  He mentioned that for every kid who accepted him there ...

In our busy lives we have so many things to do and at times we may feel there is not enough time in a day to get everything done. So what do we do? We find ourselves cutting out important things like the gym, gatherings with family and friends, or even taking the time to make a healthy meal. We sacrifice these things just to finish what we feel needs to get done. We do not hesitate to put self-care in the backseat, even forgetting about it at times. But that behavior will come back to bite us. How? Neglecting ourselves by not investing in self-care result in our emotional, physical and mental faculties revealing how much they do not appreciate being ignored (manifesting in anxiety, anger, poor health, depression, etc). Our body needs to know that it is important and that we cherish it.   When we practice self-care we:  boost our self-esteem,  establish boundaries that keep us attentive keep ourselves motivated maintain a healthier lifestyle help to reduce...

This afternoon I came across a video that was shared in a Facebook group and I spent twenty minutes really taking in a wealth of excellent information that I must share with you.  I am a firm believer that it takes a village to raise a child.  When a challenging kid is in our path how do we respond?  Do we send them to another classroom because we need a break from them? Do we change their color chart? Do we send them to the office? Or send a note home?  There are other ways that educators have found to address challenging kids in an effort to have them understand they have stepped out of line.  But in the end do we get the result that we need in order for the student to be successful?  Are we getting to the root of "why" the student is doing it and not just looking at "what" the student is doing?  The following video sheds light and gives pointers that I hope you take away and implement in the upcoming school year and beyond. I mentioned at the b...