Colin Powell's TED Talk has Some Great Advice for Parents and Kids

 I love TED talk videos and check back each week to see what new videos are being shared and passed around the country. This time, Colin Powell's video is one of the most watched of the week. And now I see why, he has some great advice about kids and the structure they need. See the video below. Have a great weekend!

8th Grade Student HS Registration Powerpoint

  Last week and this week, the high school counselors are presenting some information to 8th graders in order to prepare them for high school AND the process of choosing their classes over the next 4 years. The powerpoint presentation they are using is embedded in this blog in the space below. Feel free to go through it as well and discuss any questions you have with your child. The counselors will be back at the end of this week to meet with students and start the process of planning their 4-year course schedule. Have a great week!

Life skills mtgs 8th graders 13 14 from Benjamin Barry

Three New Projects from Carlisle Added to DonorsChoose

 

           With Mike Ermler and Dice Corporation offering to use DonorsChoose gift cards to fund some Carlisle projects, staff was asked to develop some projects that could help kids. Three great projects have sprung up in the past month on DonorsChoose (a great site where teachers can post projects that cost money to get up and running and random people from around the country/world can make small donations that eventually add up and fully fund the project!) and all three received these donations from Mike and Dice. But none of the projects are fully funded yet, so please take a look at each and see if you can help fund them and then spread the word to see if others can help fund the projects as well. Many kids will be positively affected by these projects. Thank you!

Apps for Autism click here!

Cats Fitness Club click here!

The Power of Story Retelling click here!

Apps for Education

   If you, your family, or your child got an IPad this Christmas or have recently acquired an IPad, this link might be a useful link for you to check out sometime. A blogger that I follow as an educator has posted a great resource of IPad apps that he has personally tested and used and thinks could be good for other people. Not all would be great for kids, but many are good apps that your child could use to improve or practice their educational skills at home or away from the classroom. Take a look and try some of them out.

Richard Byrne Free Technology for Teachers blog post about Apps click here!

Doodle for Google 2013 is Open: My Best Day Ever....

    "Doodle for Google" is back for 2013 and I will be printing off and posting information in the middle school for this event. We have had students enter the past two years and their drawings have impressed me. Even though they did not win or place at the state or national level, I was proud of them and their drawings were amazing. Hopefully, many students will enter again this year and maybe this is the year someone from our district finally wins or places. This year's theme is....

"My Best Day Ever...."

  Alright, get doodling students and see Mr. Barry if you have questions!

Mindsets: New Research Shows What Parents and Educators SHOULD Say When a Child Does Well

  My wife and I are talking to our kids a little bit differently these days. Many families are. Many schools are. All of this is due to some interesting research on Mindsets, specifically the difference between "Fixed" mindsets and "Growth" mindsets. What we are learning is that we should be telling our kids that we are proud of their hard work and notice their hard work when they work hard and are successful instead of telling them that they are smart and brilliant and have amazing talent. Doesn't seem like it should make much of a difference, but watch these two videos below and then read the article and you will likely think about your words as well. Pretty impressive research and I am hoping our words will be making a positive difference in our kids lives and the lives of my students.





NY Times article on Mindsets and how we talk to our children click here!

Des Moines Register's January Feature Topic: Young People with Mental Illness

I have enjoyed following the Des Moines Register's monthly features on a topic that affects kids and families in Iowa. Today's topic made me go buy a couple copies of the issue so that I could share some of the articles with our staff and students. I'm not a fan of the Des Moines Register's policy of only letting you view 10 articles online each month, but I guess that is the way the world is changing. Either way, hopefully you have not used up your views yet so that you can click on the following links. I suggest you save/print anything you want to read later. As a counselor, I have seen more and more mental illness in our young people and it seems the more bizarre and complicated issues are coming up more and more. A typical day may have some conflict and some bullying issues, but more and more, days seems to get filled with anxiety issues, depression issues, students seeing or hearing things that aren't really there, PTSD issues, and several other issues that do not allow the student to have much success in the classroom. At Carlisle, we have a great counseling staff, but many of these issues require much more than an occasional visit with the counselor. And with the number of students we have, many of these students only get 1 or 2 short check-ins or visits with the counselor each week. But we do have other resources we can help parents and families look into in order to get their child more help. The world is changing and for some reason or another, our kids are developing more and more mental health issues. But just like the flu or a broken bone where we immediately get our child checked out, we need to treat mental health problems just the same. We must get our children checked out and we must put just as much effort into getting them healthy as we would if their illness was a physical one.

      Please take a moment to click and read the links from the Des Moines Register below. The first step to finding solutions is education and these articles are very educational.

 Lead story on Mental Health issues in Kids click here! (Notice you can see their 4 previous focus features further down the page and a list of their upcoming topics on the right hand side.)

More Children Suffering from ADHD click here!

Parental Advice for Dealing With Children with Mental Disorders click here!

Mental Health Guide click here!

5 Ideas to Improve Mental Health click here!

Questioning Long Term ADHD Medication click here!

Video of 2 Orchard Place Volunteers Trying to Make a Difference click here!

Nutshell and Utah Education Network's Short Internet Safety Videos are Pretty Good!

   Through a blog I recently read, I learned about the website called Nutshell. It has lots of short animated videos about things people don't understand. In other words, they explain a concept or idea in a "nutshell". Well, the blog I read focused on a portion of the site that schools, counselors, and parents may appreciate. The Utah Education Network has produced and is still producing Internet safety, etiquette, and proper usage videos. I just watched a couple and thought they were pretty good, even for the high school age. If you have kids at home and don't understand something about the Internet, you could watch these videos and then have your kids watch them. Or watch them together. They are not very detailed, but the get the general idea across, in a "nutshell". Lots of other videos on the site that could be of interest, but I am posting the link directly to the Internet safety videos as well as the link to the Nutshell homepage. Enjoy

Utah Education Network Internet Safety Videos click here!

Nutshell home page click here!

Planet Nutshell | Web Videos | Explainer Videos | Educational Videos: NetSafe Episode 1: What is the Internet? (Grades K-3)

20 Tips for a Positive 2013

As my 8th graders finish reading Jon Gordon's "The Energy Bus" (a book the new AD at Nebraska University gave to his 300 employees on his first day on the job this week), Jon Gordon updated his Top 20 Tips for a Positive New Year. I am sharing these little by little on our Counseling Facebook page, but if you can't wait to read all 20, here they are. Plus I have linked Jon Gordon's blog at the bottom of this page because he has great positive information all the time on his blog. I highly recommend many of his books as well with my favorites being The Energy Bus and Soup. Happy 2013 everyone!

Jon Gordon's 20 Tips blog post click here!

Jon Gordon's blog homepage click here!

1. Stay Positive. You can listen to the cynics and doubters and believe that success is impossible or you can trust that with faith and an optimistic attitude all things are possible.

2. Take a morning walk of gratitude. I call it a “Thank You Walk.” It will create a fertile mind ready for success.

3. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

4. Zoom Focus. Each day when you wake up in the morning ask: “What are the three most important things I need to do today that will help me create the success I desire?” Then tune out all the distractions and focus on these actions.

5. Instead of being disappointed about where you are, think optimistically about where you are going. {Tweet This}

6. Remember that adversity is not a dead-end but a detour to a better outcome. {Tweet This}

7. Don’t chase success. Instead decide to make a difference and success will find you. {Tweet This}

8. Get more sleep. You can’t replace sleep with a double latte.

9. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

10. Mentor someone and be mentored by someone.

11. Live with the 3 E’s. Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.

12. Remember there’s no substitute for hard work.

13. Believe that everything happens for a reason and expect good things to come out of challenging experiences.

14. Implement the No Complaining Rule. Remember that complaining is like vomiting. Afterwards you feel better but everyone around you feels sick.

15. Read more books than you did in 2012. I happen to know of a few good ones. : )

16. Don’t seek happiness. Instead decide to live with passion and purpose and happiness will find you. www.Seed11.com

17. Focus on “Get to” vs “Have to.” Each day focus on what you get to do, not what you have to do. Life is a gift not an obligation.

18. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:
I am thankful for __________.
Today I accomplished____________.

19. Smile and laugh more. They are natural anti-depressants.

20. Enjoy the ride. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy it.

-Jon

Writing Those Thank You Notes Can Help.....You!

 


      Well, Christmas and the Holidays are over and 2013 is here. And soon it will be back to school and the march towards summer will begin. Even if you have already made that New Year's Resolution, maybe you have room to make another. Challenge yourself and your family to write thank you notes this year and say thank you to those who have helped. I know my kids have been busy writing lots of thank you notes the past week or so. They were very blessed and got many gifts from many people. I think each child got a gift from about 10 different people. But with 4 kids, times 10 gifts, that means 40 thank you notes have to be written this week. AACK!! But we have a system and we keep the notes short and to the point, but still make them very sincere. And most importantly, our children know how important these thank you notes are. It shows the people that gave them gifts that they are appreciated, they are cared about, and they are loved. But I have also been helping my own kids learn how writing thank you notes can help them. It can reduce their stress, can make them appreciate life more, and can help them later in life, maybe even get them their job. A thank you note got me my first job at Carlisle! But if you still aren't sure and don't believe me, here are some great links to click on to read more about the power of a thank you and why learning this skill at a young age can really benefit both you and the person you thank now and later in life. Happy 2013 and Thank You for reading and following this blog.

Jon Gordon's Thank You Research and Thank you Ideas click here!

Parenting Pink blog's thoughts on Writing Thank Yous click here!

Tanveer Naseer's Business thoughts on Thank Yous click here!

Great Video on Power of Belief and Positive Mindset

   This video shows you the science and studies behind having a positive and hard working mindset as opposed to just being good at something. Fascinating stuff and makes me think of the words I say to my own kids and my own students and how much power they truly have. I hope in 2013 I can empower students and my own kids to continue to get better instead of becoming fixed in their current mindset.