#SOL19 Day 3

March 3, 2019Uncategorizedpaulabourque

I apologize to the Slice of Life community for inadvertently breaching one of the commenting guidelines that was brought to my attention:

This month I planned to slice using SPARKS (quick write prompts) from my new book to inspire you try a variety of approaches to writing and thinking. It was not my intent to sell my book here, in fact I am freely sharing my ideas to my fellow slicers. This certainly wasn’t a pretense to be part of the Slice of Life Challenge since this is my 4th year and I’ve been committed to slicing and supporting other slicers all that time. I can certainly see why they need these guidelines with all the spamming that takes place these days and I had no intention of violating them.

Writing a book has been a huge part of my life this past year and I was looking forward to sharing that experience and my ideas with those teachers I hoped could appreciate it the most. I will continue to share SPARKS but will remove reference from my book while slicing because I do not want it to be construed as an advertisement or a pretense. I have never been good at self-promotion. I don’t think many of us are. If I was in it for the money I could quickly package my ideas and sell them on Teachers Pay Teacher for much more than I’ve earned spending a year or more writing a professional book and pouring myself , my ideas, and my stories into the pages. I hope no one felt pressured to purchase any product as a result of my slices. They were not intended as sales pitches.

I am grateful to The Two Writing Teacher Blog for hosting this challenge because I am (like they are) committed to encouraging teachers to write, to be writers. We make some amazing connections with others during this month and learn so much about and from one another. It is a great month for standing on one another’s shoulders to grow our writing lives. I am grateful to you all.

Teacher Quick Write– in the meantime here is an example of a teacher quick write from Friday in our district. I sent out a Spark with this Google Doc link to invite teachers to share an acrostic poem for March. They are to spend no more than 10 minutes with this kind of flash poetry quick write.

#SOL19 Day 2 Spark!

March 2, 2019Uncategorizedpaulabourque

Today’s Spark comes from Chapter 7 Social Emotional Quick Writes, p. 130.

I share a video with students called “Just Breathe” to introduce the idea of breath meditation and then ask them, “What are you thinking, feeling, or wondering?”

Here’s the video, my quick write follows.

My Quick Write:

When our students are at their most unloveable, is when they need loving kindness, they need us to see that they are in pain and under stresses we cannot perceive. When I watch this video I try to imagine one of my most challenging students sharing what their experience is like when they are mad. They often cannot articulate it as well as these children, but I know this is what they would say if they could.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all had the self-calming skills that are promoted in this video-I know it’s not some miracle pill, but we have to start somewhere, we have to try and teach our students (and even ourselves) how to self-soothe, how to regulate, how to cope in healthy and helpful ways. There are helpful tools we can provide our students, but we don’t need to purchase wiggle seats, squeeze balls, or fidget spinners. For centuries meditation has worked for millions by starting with focusing on our breath.

I love that this video shows a visual for students with the jar of glitter-when they are made it is all shook up but as they calm down the glitter gentle settles down to the bottom of the jar.

I know this will be met with skepticism and with alarm by some who might think we are teaching new age mysticism to students, but the simple act of JUST BREATHING could be a game changer.

I could say more, but that’s my 10 minutes. Would love to hear your thinking.

#SOL19 Day 1 Spark!

March 1, 2019Uncategorizedpaulabourque

This quick write Spark! is a sentence stem from Chapter 8 Teacher Quick Writes (p.155) I sometimes share a Google doc with teachers with stems like this one for them to share their ideas. These collaborative quick writes are a fun way to build a writing community.

You know you are a nerdy teacher if…

You have a hard time watching movies that have been adapted from novels.
Your Facebook memories pop up at least one book you’ve read, reviewed, or posted for that date in your history.
Your Amazon suggestions are almost always kidlit, professional books, or new pens.
You keep a notebook by your bedside for those ideas that pop into your head at 3:30 a.m. and you know if you don’t jot them down you’ll either be haunted by the memory loss or you’ll never get back to sleep.
You plan your vacations around nErDcamps, conferences, or other PD dates.
Your social media is filled with t-shirts ads with catchy phrases like, “Hogwarts wasn’t hiring so I teach muggles instead” or “Keep Calm and pretend its on the lesson plan”
You can’t wait for Tuesdays because that means it’s time to celebrate a few book birthdays.
You envy kids who have started reading the Harry Potter series for the first time.
You celebrate book birthdays every Tuesday.
You see everything as a teachable moment and your husband doesn’t fully appreciate that.
You share Gerry Brooks Facebook videos and only your teacher friends get it.
You have a love/hate relationship with back to school sale flyers.

Ok, there are so many more obvious tell for us nerdy teachers but I am truly blogging as a quick write and limiting myself to ten minutes. Would love to hear how you can recognize the nerdy teacher in YOU.

The Story Behind Our Stories

February 23, 2019UncategorizedFrame Your Story, Half Full or Half Empty, Meditation, Reframingpaulabourque

For the past few years meditation has become a daily practice for me. I love my Headspace and Calm apps that have made creating this habit of self-care so easy. This week one of my Daily Calm meditations was called “Stories”. It really resonated with me because I believe so profoundly in the power of story to shape how we experience life. I wrote a blog post entitled How Do You Frame Your Teaching Story in September of 2017. Each day we create a narrative in our minds, or that we share with others, conveying the events. And even though we may teach lessons about perspective of the narrator, we often forget this when it comes to our own stories, our own narration. As I suggested in my 2017 blog post: “Whether we tell or retell these stories to others, we replay these narratives in our heads and in our hearts. They begin to define those moments and ourselves as though they are the singular truth. They begin to shape our perceptions of our students, our teaching, our lives.“

But there are stories we tell ourselves about all aspects of our lives. As Tamara Levitt (Head of Mindfulness at Calm) teaches us, “The stories we tell ourselves can be limiting. We have these ingrained stories about who we are they can go way back into our past and formed by others. Sometimes it only takes one person’s opinions that can create a story that lasts a lifetime. Stories can dictate our beliefs and limit our ideas of who we are, what we’re good at, and what we’re not. We can second guess ourselves and lose confidence in ourselves. We need to challenge these stories and ask:

Who created that story?
When was it created
Is it entirely true
Does it serve us?
Can we let it go?

I just found out this week that my ILA proposals were rejected and I won’t be presenting with some colleagues that I was so excited to work with. There were a number of avenues for telling that story. I could tell it with an angle of bitterness, depression, resentment, or discouragement. Sure, I was disappointed but I don’t want that rejection to define me, my efforts, or the proposal of my colleagues. We’ve got some great ideas and we are going to keep proposing them. I’m not letting our story end with a rejection letter.

Sometimes we create stories in our personal, as well as professional lives that keep us locked in cycle of discouragement. Teaching is hard. Balancing work and family is hard. Trying to stay fit and healthy is hard. Building financial security is hard. But are the stories we are telling ourselves inspiring us to achieve in these aspects of life, or reinforcing the difficulties and hindering our success?

A friend posted this quote by C.S. Lewis to her Facebook wall this week that fits so well.We all want a happy ending to our life story, but are we actively creating it or are we drafting story arcs that no hero can overcome? We can reflect and ask ourselves:

Are we victims waiting for rescue from another character in the story, or are we shaping our own destinies?
Are we aware of the trajectories we are creating in our stories?
Are we aware of the power we have to revise our stories?

Don’t reflect with a sense of guilt or shame, just curiosity and awareness. Be kind and forgiving to yourself in your stories and then be empowered to embrace them, revise them, or change them. You can’t go back, but you can go forward.

Screen Shot 2019-02-21 at 10.11.27 AM — May your stories be great!

Shared Spark! Starting next weekend (March 1) I will be participating in the Slice of Life Challenge and blogging every day using sparks from my new book. You can preview it here for free at the Stenhouse Website.

In the meantime, here’s a reframing Spark!

“HALF-FULL or HALF-EMPTY”

Think about your day and quick write with each of these perspectives. First try the half-empty perspective and playfully recount your day as though you were Debbie Downer for 5 minutes. Now tell the story as if you were playing Pollyanna’s “Glad Game”. What do you notice? Which is easier? Which is closer to your default approach? How could this reframing be helpful to you or your students?

One More Off My TBR Stack!

REBOUND by Kwame Alexander

Kwame is a master of novels in verse. In this follow up to “The Crossover” we read the story of Charlie (Chuck) Bell as a boy- before becoming the dad to Jordan and Josh Bell. In the summer of 88 he’s just lost his own dad and is sent to live with his grandparents when he can’t seem to make good choices and crawl out of his grief. It’s a pivotal summer for Charlie and told in poignant and often humorous verse that will draw you in and trigger every emotion. Can’t get enough of Kwame’s writing and his compassionate messages for kids coming of age

The Slice of Life is Coming!

February 17, 2019Literacy#QuickWriting, #SOL19, Padma Venkatraman, Slice of Life, The Slice of Life Challengepaulabourque

For the past 3 years, during the month of March I participated in the Slice of Life Challenge hosted by the Two Writing Teachers blog. Every day I write and post to my LitCoachLady page a ‘slice’ of my life…a poem, a memory, a small moment. It’s not always easy, but it is always rewarding. Having some experience with it for a few years now has helped me realize that preparing some things ahead of time can make the challenge less challenging. I noticed yesterday my friend and fellow slicer, Leigh Anne Eck, was also preparing ahead of time. This early prep can give you a structure to build on each day, some ideas in the can for those hectic days, and as a way to commit (and avoid writer’s block).

This year I’ve decided I will be writing each day to a spark from my new book Spark! Quick Writes to Kindle Hearts and Minds in Elementary Classrooms. I’m going to walk the talk of a writing teacher, “Do as I do, not as I say.” I’ve bookmarked 30 sparks, but I’m giving myself the option of choosing others, or to respond authentically to events that pop up in my life that inspire me to write. This always helps me to walk through my day more present-knowing anything and everything has importance enough to write about.

So how can YOU prepare for the SLICE OF LIFE CHALLENGE and make the month of March a little less challenging? Here are some tips, I’d love to hear any others.

Preparing for the SLICE OF LIFE CHALLENGE

Visit the Slice of Life Challenge overview page and the participant information form.
Create a blog page if you don’t already have one. I use WordPress (you can get started HERE) but there are others Wix, Weebly,etc. This is a good resource on HOW TO START A BLOG.
Read slices from other slicers (think ‘mentor texts’). You can see some of mine HERE.
Try writing a few slices between now and March 1st. Save these as drafts on your blog site. Use these on those hectic days that will inevitably challenge you.
Don’t worry about being lengthy and lush…remember other slicers are trying to read at least 3 posts each day and we often appreciate brevity!
I’m not great at self promotion, but I’m proud of the quick write ideas I’ve put together in my new book and these might provide some SPARKS for you as well!
Go to Twitter and search #SOL19. There you’ll find other slicers you can follow and get support from. It’s truly a community event, so welcome to the community!

Shared Spark! This week I’ll share a few teacher quick write SPARKS to perhaps get you started on some slices. Just write for 5-10 minutes on whatever comes to mind. Try not to filter your thoughts or overthink it. Just let your ideas flow onto the paper without judgment. It can be fun to see what emerges!

When I look into the faces of my students…
The thing that surprised me most about teaching is…
Reframe a situation in your day or week that revises the narrative more positively, yet honestly.
What do you think school looks like through the eyes of one of your students?

Whatever approach you take, I just hope you take the Challenge! It will change your perception of writing profoundly and permanently…I guarantee it!

One More Off My TBR Stack!

The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman

I was totally spellbound by this compassionate and poignant novel. Living in poverty in India is hard, but imagine being Viji whose father abuses her mother and whose older sister Rukku has developmental disabilities. After her father turns his abuse to the girls, Viji knows she must flee to the city to find a better life for herself and Rukku. With almost no money and no plan, they encounter danger and hardship until they find shelter under an abandoned bridge. There they meet Muthi and Arul, two boys with equally tragic histories. Together they create their own family who work together to survive-pooling their meager resources and scavenging in trash heaps while Rukku makes bead necklaces to sell. When their safe haven is raided, they take shelter in a graveyard where they might be left alone. But with little shelter during the rainy season, Rukku and Muthu contract dengue fever from the mosquitoes. Viji and Arul need to find help, but they haven’t found many people they can trust or who would care about two of millions of homeless children. Padma Venkatraman beautifully shares the harsh reality and the courageous hopes of real homeless children in this fictional story. Open this book, it will open your eyes and your hearts

What’s Your Win?

February 9, 2019UncategorizedGratitude, inspiration, Quick Writespaulabourque

This week as I was meeting with my mentee (and brilliant new teacher) Heather, we were discussing some of the challenges of teaching kindergarten. But then she talked about how she and her kinder colleagues try to share a “win” with one another each day. When they see each other they’ll ask, “What’s your win for today?” This got me jazzed because one of my mantras for this year is Nothing is too small to celebrate, and here these teachers were putting that idea into action.

The next day at my “lunch bunch” (5th and 6th grade teachers in a different school) we were discussing our day and I thought I’d try asking “What’s your win for today?” to each of them. Though some were humorous, and some took a little thinking, they all had a positive aspect to what is often a very tough job. It certainly brought some levity and light to the table.

We see what we look for.

It’s not always easy to recognize a win unless you are looking for it. Sure, we sometimes have those amazing moments that reaffirm for us why we became teachers or that fill us with pride. (Here’s a link to one of my proud teaching moments)But more often there are dozens of wins going on in our day that we don’t celebrate, and might not even notice. Did a quiet student find their voice? Did kids transition well between activities? Did turn-and-talk produce good conversation? Was someone kind to a classmate? Did students enjoy the read aloud? Did you make it to the end of the day!?

We create an environment in which kids can thrive each day and sometimes we don’t realize what the impact is of the choices and decisions we make has on their social-emotional and academic learning. We tend to notice (and perseverate) on what didn’t go well, especially when we are tired and frustrated. But so often the conditions we’ve created spark lots of small victories for our students. We just need to look for them.

This week, try and ask yourself, “What’s my win?” Then perhaps ask a colleague, “What’s your win?“Encourage one another to look for and notice those small (or large) successes that happen each day in your classrooms. They’re there! I plan to revisit this topic in the future after checking in with more teachers on their wins. I’d love to hear about your wins!

Shared Spark! In keeping with the theme of this week’s blog post, invite students or colleagues to quick write the answer to the question, “What’s My Win Today?” There’s a large body of research that shows writing or journaling about positive events or what we are grateful for can have a powerful impact on our mental health and mood. Taking 3 to 5 minutes to reflect on a win could set you on a more positive trajectory for the rest of the day. Try it for a few days and see what you begin to notice.

One More Off My TBR Stack!

Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina

Winner of the 2019 Newbery Medal! Meg Medina has written a compassionate story about a family coming to grips with the brutal reality of Alzheimer’s disease while also dealing with the everyday struggles of daily life. Merci Suárez is beginning her 6th grade at a private school where she was “lucky” to get scholarship, but she doesn’t feel so lucky when she comes up against the most popular girl at school and when her beloved Grandfather, Lolo’s, behavior makes her feel like she doesn’t know him anymore. You’ll fall in love with these characters and find yourself rooting for them to overcome hardship, I know I did.

An Amazing Kickoff

February 3, 2019LiteracyKidlit, reading life, SPARK!paulabourque

Pardon the football reference, but it IS Superbowl Sunday! However, I’m talking about the kickoff I’ve had to a new year of reading. If January is any indication of how the rest of the year will go, I’m in for a terrific trip around the sun!

In anticipation of the ALA Youth Media Awards that were held January 28th, I tried to read as many books as I could that made Mock Newbery and Mock Caldecott lists. I always love trying to guess which books will make the final cut,and my track record is pretty dismal. However, I almost always love the choices the committee members make.

CLICK HERE FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF AWARD WINNERS

I felt like a winner by being able to read so many fantastic books this January, and this is only the tip of the iceberg of books still on my TBR stack. Here are the middle grade novels that kicked off 2019 for me:

And here are the picture books that kicked off my Year of Picture Books 2019:

I’ve already started digging into my February stacks and loving ’em! I’d welcome any suggestions of your favorites. I almost always make choices based on recommendations since there is so little time, and so many books I want to devour!

Here’s to A YEAR OF READING in 2019!

Shared Spark! OPENING LINES- We talk with students about the importance of leads and how those first lines can hook a reader. A fun Spark is to share a few opening lines from books and invite students to choose one and take off from there. Have students write for 5-10 minutes and see where those lines take them. It’s fun to share and discover where a lead may guide a writer and discover the endless possibilities. For more quick write ideas you can check out SPARK! from Stenhouse Publishers.

One More Off My TBR Stack!

33294200 THE POET X by Elizabeth Acevedo

National Book Award, Pura Belpré, and Golden Kite Honor Award Winner!

Elizabeth Acevedo is renowned for her slam poetry, and now she is just as accomplished as a kidlit author. Her debut YA novel, The Poet X, tell us the story of Xiomara Batista. Xiomara (See-oh-MAH-ruh) and her twin brother (whom she refers to only as Twin) were miracle babies to their older parents who thought they’d be childless. Mami is ultra-religious and wishes she’d been a nun, Papi is a reformed womanizer who let’s Mami run the household. Xiomara feels unheard, but has so much she wants to say. She decides to write it all down in poetry in the notebook Twin gifted her. She finds love, but is forbidden to date or be around boys. She wants to join the slam poetry club, but must attend confirmation classes instead. Will Xiomara get to be her authentic self or will the collision course she is on with church and Mami’s rules destroy her chance at the life she desires? Amazing story in verse. I kept rereading sections to savor the #DeliciousWords!

How Can We Increase Our Touches With Writing?

January 27, 2019Uncategorized#QuickWriting, Jacqueline Woodson, Quick Writes, SPARK!paulabourque

This week was the book birthday of my second professional text with Stenhouse Publishers – SPARK! Quick Writes to Kindle Hearts and Minds in Elementary Classrooms. I felt a great deal of joy on this occasion, but I also experience what many authors have shared-a bit of trepidation. When you have put everything you have into your “baby”, you want the world to welcome it and love it as much as you do. I can tell you that my admiration for all writers and authors has increased exponentially as I appreciate the courage it takes to put a piece of you out into the world and let it go.

I created SPARK! because I know that the only way we get better at something is with practice, I could see that with my own kids in dance and soccer, as well as any task they excelled in. But with our tight teaching schedules many kids aren’t getting nearly enough writing practice as they need.

My son Casey’s soccer coach gave his team some great advice, “If you want to up your game you need to increase your touches with the ball, every-single-day.” That meant time and touches outside of practice. Casey found dozens of small moments each day to increase his touches and practice his footwork and ball drills-usually in our living room! It made all the difference for him as a player.

I want to increase the touches our kids have with writing each day-outside of the regular practice of writing workshop. Short bursts of practice throughout the day that can increase their skill and confidence. But I also wanted those touches to move beyond the same drill and skill and kindle creativity, engagement, and enjoyment.

I curated a collection of “SPARKS” or prompts to “Kindle the Hearts and Minds” of our students because I wanted them to grow as writers, but also as humans through their writing. The obvious benefit is that builds up the volume of writing. We’re building in opportunities for fluent practice and because they are low stakes (not graded or assessed) they encourage more creativity and risk-taking. Maybe less obvious, but also important, are how they can be used to develop off-page skills. We aren’t just raising readers and writers who are college and career ready, we are raising human beings who need to be life-ready These quick writes encourage critical thinking, creativity, communication, mindfulness, appreciation and a host of other social emotional skills in addition to writing skills. I’ve set up each chapter with a different focus so teachers can choose from a variety of beneficial sparks.

And the beauty is that it doesn’t require much of our most precious commodity–TIME. Most of us can find 5-10 minutes in our busy schedules, why not use it to increase those touches our kids have with paper and pencil, or even keyboards, to spark wonder and curiosity, explore their thinking, increase their appreciation and compassion, or play with ideas. I believe with a short investment of time we can yield some terrific results with our students’ learning and lives.

I’ll try to share a SPARK! with each blog post this year to encourage you to give them a go, or you can preview the whole book here for free at the Stenhouse Website.

Shared Spark! One way we can use quick writes is to help our students reframe their thinking. I offer some quotes as sparks for students to respond to that give them an opportunity to reflect and possibly reframe their thinking to embrace a more positive outlook or mindset. Try one of these:

“Folks are usually about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”-Abe Lincoln
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”-Wayne Gretsky
“What doesn’t challenge you, doesn’t change you.”

Students are free to respond in any way they choose for about 5 minutes. I often take the next 5 minutes to let them share their thinking and appreciate the diversity of responses. Let me know if you give it a go!

One More Off My TBR Stack!

Harbor Me

HARBOR ME by Jacqueline Woodson

Jacqueline Woodson has an uncanny ability to create incredible stories that speak directly to her readers’ hearts and to tap into the raging currents of our time. I can no longer read one of her books without hearing her voice- layered with passion and lyricism. In this story six 5th grade students in Brooklyn are sent to the art room alone each Friday- just to talk- by their very wise and trusting teacher. It becomes the ARTT (A Room to Talk) room and gradually each shares their hopes, fears, and experiences in such a way that you do not pity them, but want to embrace them. As Ms. Laverne shares, “Every day we should ask ourselves, ‘If the worst thing in the world happened, would I protect someone else? Would I let myself be a harbor for someone who needs it?” The response of these students in word and deed is a resounding, “I WILL HARBOR YOU.“

When One Is Enough

January 13, 2019UncategorizedOne Little Wordpaulabourque

I love reading through posts in January to see what One Little Word people choose to help them focus their energies and passions in the upcoming year. It is often hard to think of just one when there are so many ideas racing around in my head and so many passions beating in my heart.

One thing I want to do as a coach and colleague this year is to help us all become more mindful and present during our days. I would often find at the end of the day that I’d wonder, “What did I even get done?” There would be times that I’d notice my shoulders were tense or my jaw was clenching and I’d realize, “Oh, I’m feeling stressed.” In my post last week, I shared my first activity toward encouraging greater mindfulness.

So I thought, sure MINDFUL would be my One Little Word. But then I pushed that thinking and wondered, “To what end?” and I realized it was because I wanted to appreciate the moments and experiences I have in this short life. I wanted to experience more gratitude for what is, and less angst for what isn’t. Comparing what could be or nostalgia for what was can suck all the joy out of what IS. Being more present with what is happening around me and inside of me can help me focus on the gift of being alive.

GRATITUDE encompasses so many other intentions as well-it encourages me to be thankful for KINDNESS, GROWTH, CALM, TRUTH, POSITIVITY, LOVE, MINDFULNESS…you name it. It encourages me to accept people and events in my life for what they are and not feel so compelled to change them. I can only change ME, and if I do it with a grateful heart I believe it will lead me to a more gratifying life.

I‘ve got a few ways to intentionally focus on my GRATITUDE this year (and build a more writerly life!) They involve quick writes each day to reflect on my blessings, happiness, and gratitude. They won’t take a lot of time, and the research on how gratitude can change the brain is pretty profound, and I’ll explore/share some of that this year as well. I believe these will be a valuable investment of a small amount of time each day!

So as challenging as it was to choose ONE little word, I am satisfied that this one is enough! Whatever your One Little Word is, may it lead you to a richer life in 2019.

One More Off My TBR Stack!

24 HOURS IN NOWHERE by Dusti Bowling

I wanted this to be my first book in 2019 because I wanted my year of reading to start out with a bang-and it did! Dusti Bowling takes me to a part of our country as different from my home in Maine as possible-offering a window into the lives of several poverty-stricken children in Nowhere, Arizona.
But being poor is relative for Gus, Rossi, Jessie, and Matthew who enter into a deadly Frenchman mine to seek a piece of gold, each for differing reasons. As the mine collapses they begin to bond over how hard their lives have been and find that if they survive, their lives could be altered forever. I love Dusti’s writing; she is somehow able to weave humor into trauma, peel back layers of her complex characters, and bring us to her beloved desert with vivid descriptions. Kids are going to love this adventurous tale!

A Gift to Remember

January 6, 2019Uncategorizedcoaching, Jarrett Krosoczka, Mindfulness, self-carepaulabourque

We teachers are part of the village that raises our communities’ children, but somehow it seems we are increasingly the only ones being held accountable. So much is continually asked of us, expected of us, and evaluated of us that many teachers are leaving the profession and fewer are choosing this path as a vocation. We need to find ways to support one another in an increasingly stressful life as teachers. As an instructional coach, I see part of my job as encouraging greater self-care and supporting teachers hearts and minds as well as their professional learning.

This year I wanted to give a small gift to our teachers that might make a meaningful impact. I’ve been practicing greater mindfulness in the past few years that has helped me find a better balance in my personal and professional life, as well as in experiencing a greater sense of harmony and presence in my day to day life. A weekly yoga practice, a daily meditation practice, and lots of ‘Zen’ reading has fueled this awakening.

But until it becomes a habit, it can be easy to forget to be more mindful. So I wanted to gift a reminder to my colleagues that might help them. I gave each a mindful marble as well as this letter:

My hope is that we are able to reduce some of the stress in our lives and develop a deeper sense of gratitude for what IS and worry less about what COULD or SHOULD be. I would love to hear how you are practicing self-care and welcome ideas for how we can support one another in the coming year(s) and open our hearts and minds to more meaningful experiences.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

One More Off My TBR Stack!

hey kiddo HEY, KIDDO by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

A powerful graphic memoir by author/illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka, this left me with greater appreciation for his artistic success and deeper empathy for our children growing up in homes with addiction. Krosoczka offers us glimpses into his life that are raw and real; heartbreaking at times and inspiring at others. He cleverly incorporates original artwork from his childhood and teen years, as well as letters from his incarcerated mother to share his story. This is no pity party, but it is sure to move you. With difficult subject matter and authentic obscenities I’d say this is a powerful window-book for older readers, but could be an inspiring mirror-book for children growing up in similar situations. A National Book Award Finalist, this novel deserves all the praise it is receiving. You can see Jarrett’s TED Talk about his journey from boy to artist here: