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Kindness: pass it on!

Elyse Hahne

Be Kind whenever possible

Did you know today is World Kindness day? I recently learned about it and was really intrigued by the concept for two reasons. Reason one is the the idea of adding it to the calendar. A day in the whole year to celebrate kindness. However, it’s only a day. Shouldn’t we, as people, celebrate kindness as much as possible? Shouldn’t there be a wave and a desire to be kind daily?

I digress, kindness is a simple act. A smile, a conversation asking about another family, holding the door for someone, striking up conversation, giving a compliment, and the list continues. Kindness can be a grand gesture to one or the world to another. Kindness doesn’t take time; kindness takes heart!

Reason two is the fact that we as educators must model kindness day in and out for those watching our every move, comment, and heart. In my classroom or around school, I even find my students repeating what I’ve said to each other and in the tone or time I say it in. Bottom line is the fact that our students are watching each and every move that we make.  Take it as an opportunity to instill kindness into their hearts each and every day. Show love, show kindness, and take the time to give kindness day in and out.

Be kind & pass it on!

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Realize & Recognize the amazing

Elyse Hahne

Everyday, we as educators, have goals, items to attend to, and tasks to meet. We strive for our best in a society that doesn’t always appreciate what we do. We deal with questions, emails, and roadblocks in our path.

Unless you’re in school, an organization, or have been in school, society doesn’t always realize what we face day in and out. The meltdowns of many students, discipline, lesson planning, long term planning, curriculum, parent complaints, conferences, and the list continues. Society also doesn’t see the light bulb moments, the AHA moments, the connections, and the smiles and love our students give and receive.

 

resizedYou are amazing

As educators, we have got to stop & realize and recognize we are amazing! Society may not say it or recognize it but we, as an amazing community of educators, need to say it and recognize it daily. When we see amazing in our schools and communities, we need to recognize and acknowledge it. We need to note it. We need to say it! We need to cultivate and grow an amazing culture of educators. We must recognize the good that comes our way!

YOU can move mountains & be an amazing educator day in and out! Own it!

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Perspective through my student’s eyes

Elyse Hahne

It’s the end of October and we’re knee deep into the first semester of this year. The first few weeks of school are behind us and fall has finally hit in the southern part of Texas for a few days. My days are full of memories and challenges. They are also full of self-doubt and questioning if I am doing what’s best for my students. 

My students, though, set me straight every single time without fail.

Their opinions are RAW, REAL, and really put me back in my place. They really don’t hold back and know when to give their two cents and when to give me that reality that they see more in me than I see in myself.

Perspective 4

I have students that take the imperfect me and build me up daily. They show their true skills that define who they are and use them to communicate with me. I also have students that make me proud to be their teacher. The imperfect me, the always questioning what I can do to help them me, makes a difference in their lives daily.

Perspective 1

I am reminded daily how my student’s perceive me. My students are really with it and make my world go around and around. They make me smile and sit back and wonder how I got so lucky to have them. They show me grace and accept that I am who I am. They give more grace than I give myself and are learning at their own pace and time. They also color the world with art and notes to make my day.

My student’s perspective has changed me as an educator. It’s inspired, it’s uplifted, and it’s defined who I am today. My students know I love handwritten notes and love it when I make them “famous” by sharing on social media. If that’s what it takes to make that connection and impact them just like they’re impacting me, I am all in.

Everyday may not be peaches and roses but I am grateful to have the opportunity with students who show me grace, a different perspective, and inspire me to do more than I could have ever thought I could do. Through my student’s eyes, I am their superhero and their teacher. I am someone who makes them smile and laugh. I am also someone who brings learning alive. It helps that my students build me up and think I am a superhero, who goes and helps other kids, who saves the day.

Perspective 5

Perspective through my student’s eyes varies student by student and day by day but their input makes me stop and wonder. It’s not about me. It’s about them learning, becoming aware of what’s around them, and moving forward as a student in this world of learning. The extra perspectives our students give are priceless.

The next time you’re doubting yourself or wondering if you’re doing a good job, sit back and watch how your students perceive you. It means the world to them & it might just change your perspective too.

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Cultivating staff relationships

Elyse Hahne

Morning duty, lunch duty, arrival and dismissal, teaching, redirecting, and duties aside, from the classroom, have educators stretched in many directions. We get busy. We get stressed and we isolate ourselves avoiding opportunity unintentionally to connect with others. Life happens. We all know it. However, school culture is VITAL for a supportive and encouraging atmosphere.

Staff connections

Greet & acknowledge each other daily
Walk into school and make an intentional effort to greet others with pride. Take the time to take interest in their life, what is happening with them, and say good morning or afternoon. It can be the difference maker in our lives and shows that someone is taking time out of their lives to care about you. Who YOU are and what YOU contribute. Cultivate relationships by building each other up.

Brag on each other
Our students watch our every move. They see our reactions and our body language when it’s a great moment and other moments too. Build up the culture of your school by bragging on each other to other staff and students. Why not tell students how awesome someone else is? Why not celebrate what’s happening around your school? Cultivate the school climate by giving credit where it’s due and telling others about the awesomeness on your campus.

Come together & be heard
Our job as educators is stressful. There are demands on all paths we take and roadblocks along the way. This does not mean that we can’t, as a group or department, come together and meet to hash out difficulties or celebrate the end of a long day. In this day and age, we are so electronically driven. However, we still have needs to be heard, celebrated, and cherished. Come together and meet up to laugh, cry, or encourage one another. Cultivate relationships by valuing each person and come together to be a united front.

As a united front, it’s time to take ownership of our staff relationships and build each other up. It’s time to celebrate who we are and what we give to our education world. It’s time to own what we do and how we carry about our lives. It’s time to build up the culture of the school day in and out. Cultivate relationships daily and celebrate the opportunities to come together and be heard. Cultivate to acknowledge, inspire, celebrate, and be heard.

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much!

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Memories etched into the heart

Elyse Hahne

Yesterday afternoon hit me like a ton of bricks & I found myself staring at the wall (in my empty & quiet classroom). The quiet & stillness reminded me of the memories students have etched into my heart during the day & every other day since being in the classroom and around students.

There are moments of uncertainty, difficulty, frustration, and more. However, the good moments always seem to outweigh the bad each and every time. Even when you’re ready to scream, cry, or just wonder what you got yourself into, there’s always something to come out of each memory. The mind works in mysterious ways and I am grateful for those memories that have been etched into my heart and mind.

Memories

Memories make a HUGE difference in our lives as educators. It’s those moments of Aha! & Oh my goodness from our students that matter. It’s the positivity & excitement that students bring to our world that matters. It’s the interaction and growth of a student that matters most. It is also the JOY students bring each and every day. Every day is a journey and those memories are etched into my heart.

Sharing our hearts, minds, and laughter helps on the really tough days. Those days you feel like you’ve run 2 marathons. However, you still have memories attached to make the day memorable. It may not be easy or fabulous everyday but my world is surrounded by laughter, memories, and moments that truly mean the world to me.

Memories last a lifetime & those memories of what your students mean to you, as well as how they etched memories into your heart and mind, will last. Remember the good & recall the memories etched into your teacher heart each and every day.

 

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A grateful heart

Elyse Hahne

Something to live for, to seek, and to strive for…a grateful heart. Something you don’t always show (I’ll admit it first) but crave when you see someone give to another. It’s something to live for.

Random acts of kindness, checking in on a colleague or family member, or showing gratitude towards others shows a grateful heart. Being surrounded by a supportive and caring staff, who you call family, and seeing the love they share for you makes my heart grateful.

Coming off of the massive Harvey devastation as well as the heartache so many have felt during a devastating time moves toward a grateful heart. Seeing the kindness surround so many during the difficult and horrifying time provides a grateful heart. The kindness and sincerity so many have shown and continue to show is amazing.

Whatever you choose to drive your grateful heart is independent. However, I challenge you to stop and remember that gratitude, and your grateful heart, are innate and ever growing. It’s a combination of what you’ve done, have received, and strive for.

JFK grateful

Celebrate gratitude daily. Lead and live with a grateful heart!

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Seize the moment & shine the light

Elyse Hahne

The arrival and dismissal line, the hallways, the interactions with students, and the moments we have to make a difference. Every opportunity has the potential to be the light in someone’s world.

Every day, students and staff fill the hallways of schools with the baggage of what goes on in their world.  Their experiences, their pain, their struggles, and the moments they wish they could relive again. However each person, that enters the halls of the schools, has the potential to make an impact on someone else’s life.

Think about it this way. You’re having a tough morning and you have a wonderful discussion with a student or colleague, once you get to your campus, which turns your whole day around. You’re confident and ready to seize the day of wonder ahead of you.

What was it that someone said? Who truly knows. Sometimes it’s just the acknowledgment and the interaction that matters. Sometimes people need to be validated and other times people need to be told they’re doing a great job. Sometimes it’s the time someone takes to make you shine in the light. Their intentions, interactions with you matter. Whatever the reason, staff and students need to know they matter to someone each day. 

SHINE into the lives of others

You have the power to shine the light into the lives of others by words and actions. Seizing the moment may just turn someone’s day around for the better. Your move. Will you make someone’s day by a comment or compliment? It will matter in the lives of others. It can be a compliment, smile, or a mixture of a few things.

Every person deserves to have the light shined on them daily.  Every interaction has the power to have an impact in someone’s life.

Seize the moments as they come!

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Education is like a football team

Elyse Hahne

Football, a game many enjoy and watch, is huge today. From sports apparel to fantasy football teams and watching their preferred teams each week, people are engaged in the sport. It’s something to do, enjoy, play, watch, and follow. People spend hours upon hours following the team’s every move. From who teams draft and trade to what the players do on and off the field. It’s a culture and a way of life for so many. Education, like football, has similar facets that compare the game that so many watch and enjoy. Identifying those in my world as an educator has been a journey and multiple aha moments. 

Football

Pre-Season
In football, pre-season is the beginning of a new season with new beginnings. The time where players develop their skills, get to know one another and come together as a team. In education, we consider this as the pre-service and staff development, we as the staff, have the opportunity to participate in to come together and become united. Teachers aren’t paid in the same respect as football players but they still have the opportunity to grow as a player and a teacher on our respected fields.

Playbooks
Football players have a specific set of plays they practice, know, and can call on the field. Teachers have the specific standards set by their state as well as district curriculum they are expected to implement and utilize. The playbooks are set, practiced, and they’re implemented.

Fumbles
In football, we can all spot a fumble. When a play doesn’t go as planned. When the ball is dropped by your team and the coach loses his mind. When something doesn’t go right. In education, when something doesn’t go right or someone acts out, it’s a fumble. When your students act like they have no idea what you’re talking about in front of an observer, it’s a fumble. When you have a meltdown and know you didn’t do something like you envisioned, it’s a fumble. When things go astray, fumbles arise and plays, or plans, don’t go how you planned.

Touchdowns
When a play is passed into the end zone or carried down the field, that touchdown is awesome. Sometimes it’s a pass that makes everyone wonder how it actually happened and other times it’s a spectacular pass that is caught. Those touchdown moments are memorable and celebrated. Touchdowns in education are when something is celebrated, finished, and something that happens in the classroom/school that is meaningful. Touchdowns are memorable in education and are usually tied to a moment that is meaningful for the staff and/or students.

Education has changed from the time when the teacher taught everything to a dynamic, learner centered environment. From the football game and season to the school year and summer break, education has its pre-season memories, playbooks, fumbles, and many touchdowns. It’s authentic, memorable, and unique. People spend hours watching football and teachers and staff spend hours upon hours supporting students. It’s a dynamic experience just like a football game. Take to heart the memories that surround the journey in education. They matter just like the score of a football game.

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Unforeseen struggles: own them!

Elyse Hahne

Everyday, we as educators, walk into work with a plan in mind. Whether it be to take on the world (one can hope) or accomplish something important to meet the needs of your students and staff, you have a plan. A hope, a dream, an aspiration, or an idea that you yearn to accomplish. A plan that will assist you in meeting the needs of someone on your path for the day. However, it’s not always workable or easy.

Challenges, problems, and differences can stop your plan dead in its track. It’s like a ton of bricks that overpowers the difficulties ahead. The feeling of despair and frustration loom. The thought of “what have I gotten myself into?” The uneasy feeling that you never planned or dreamed you’d have. However, you’ve got a choice on how to proceed. A choice no one can predict or warn you about. You can either own the challenges or problems and make the best of it or give up.

Giving up, for me, is not an option. It’s a challenge. An unforeseen path that wasn’t on the original game plan. Alas, it’s a struggle to accomplish a surprise that is challenging. It can be a discussion that goes aray, a difficult conversation, or an event that derails your plans. Something that you don’t forsee or plan for. There’s no immediate plan, no agenda.

It’s raw, it’s real, and it’s a struggle. You play out how this struggle will go and try to wrap your head around it. However, we all face challenges in our paths each day. It’s unpredictable and real. There’s no agenda or warning but I challenge you to forge through, don’t give up, and to own your struggles professionally.

Face challengesresize

The challenge may be a roller coaster or a slap in your face but rise up & face your struggles. You can’t predict where the road will lead but you can predict if you will take you on an uncharted path towards tough waters. You’re not along on this journey. Face your challenges head on and own them. Just like the captain on your ship, YOU have the power to steer your course after a surprise attack. YOU have the power to steer head on or around the challenge. YOU have the power to face your struggle head on.

You are STRONGER than you think and can do more than you plan! Be your BEST advocate and rock the unforeseen journey. You never know where it will lead you!

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Joyful, Mindful…YOU

Elyse Hahne

Monday. A new work week full of possibilities, opportunities, and challenges that come along to make the week memorable. A week full of new possibilities that have yet to be discussed or determined. A mindset change on the banks of phasing out of the weekend fun. Something new to consider as you come into this new work week. A challenge of sorts. Something to think about as YOU encounter and seek others out this week.

It’s time to be joyful when entering this new work week. Be joyful in your actions and how you live your life today. Be joyful in the fact that you have a position that challenges yourself and impacts others each and everyday. Be joyful in the fact that you matter to others. They depend on you and are glad you are in their lives.

Be mindful of the new opportunities that come to light and who the audience is impacted by your decisions. Be mindful that someone is watching your every move to be grateful you’re in the lead. Be mindful of the conversations you have and encounter. Be mindful that YOU, yes you, make an impact each and every day by the spoken and written words.

Be You! Be the person you will want to be proud of. The person you would want others to be led by. The person that celebrates others and isn’t someone you can’t stand. Be the person who you want others to be around and have an impact on someone each and every day. Be the person you would be proud of and celebrate.

As you enter the new work week, think about it this way. What impact will you bring on others this week? Is it joyful, mindful, and authentic? What steps can you make to move this way? What can you do better to be joyful in your actions, mindful in your audience, and be you each and every day?
Be joyfulmindyou