Ten Social Superpowers To Teach Our Kids

September 22, 2019

Kids these days catch a lot of flak for how easy they have it compared to prior generations. If you’ve spent even an hour in the presence of a kid recently, you will realize that they handle a lot, and most of them do it surprisingly well. They have had so much exposure to a global life at an early age through technology, the media, or our ever-traversing populations in most areas, not to mention the information they are exposed to in school. Designated adults in their lives do so many things to give them what they think they will need in life and they do a fantastic job considering how busy their own lives are these days.

But as someone who has worked with kids in various ways for four decades now, there are a few things that used to be commonplace in prior generations that are lacking these days, whether through lack of practice or because technology has created a new version of something old and needs to be adapted. For some, it is a displacement because it isn’t a cultural norm and so many cultures have blended together, losing social traits along the way. But we must remember that social interactions these days are a culture all of their own, and the culture of conducting business, whether it is going to school or making a purchase, has established certain a etiquette that, when followed, just make the transaction go well for all parties involved.

With that being said, I have compiled a list of the ten traits that, if incorporated into our lives and those of our children, would ease tensions in some scenarios. Whether you are a parent, a teacher, or just interact with them socially, you can play a part in this. And it doesn’t have to be formal lessons, either—model these behaviors consistently, talk them through what you do and why (all people LOVE to know the why about something, especially kids), create opportunities to practice, and gently correct them when you see them not doing it right. Not only will they benefit from more positive interactions with people of all ages, they may find that things get a tad bit easier when they do them.

Respect

Any student that has ever been in my classroom knows that this is my number one rule. Be respectful of everyone and everything in all that you do. I find it pretty much covers it all and provides for a pleasant working environment for any age and in any setting. I encourage them to be respectful of everyone’s time and to be on time and prepared, to be respectful of people’s money by caring for the resources being provided in our classroom or in their home, and respectful of themselves because they deserve to learn at their own pace, have a voice and the chance to form an opinion for that voice to be used towards. I also think this includes things like turning off your cell phone while in a group setting and not looking at your phone when interacting with others. I feel like respect can be interwoven in each of these below, but I wanted to point it out all on its own.

Greetings

People are so busy these days, they often immediately start a conversation without so much as a hi, hello, or what’s up with a pause for a greeting to be returned. Remembering to do this can go a long way in establishing the equality and mutual exchange between parties. We can help with this by saying a simple hello when the kids get home or come into our classroom or place of business. It doesn’t have to take long, but it is a kind acknowledgement of each other’s presence and could lead to a real conversation between people. There are some cultures in the world that will think a person rude for not doing this and may not even conduct business with them. I had this experience when visiting Paris a couple of times and, finally as I was leaving, a Parisian informed me that our ‘keep to ourselves’ American way of not saying hello when we walk in is why we are dubbed rude by so many other countries. This opened my eyes and now I try to make it a habit wherever I go.

Eye contact

Making eye contact while speaking and listening to someone is a great way to show you are listening to each other and giving each other your attention. This can be true in a one-on-one conversation or even in a large conference with a guest speaker. Looking at the person that is talking will go a long way in both you getting something from what they are saying and them in knowing what or how much to say while talking. In some cultures, making eye contact can be seen as challenging one’s authority or as disrespectful. However, when conducting business eye contact can establish trust, honesty and sincerity in the transaction. The best rule of thumb in this scenario is to know your audience and be aware of norms where you are–in other words, do a bit of research on the background and national culture if you are unsure and it isn’t your own.

Manners

Simple gestures of kindness can go a long way in showing someone they are important and valuable in the world. Using manners is one of those gestures. Coughs, sneezes, burps, loud voices—these are all things that have a time and place, but generally a public setting isn’t the best place to let them reign, so try to minimize them. Saying bless you, excuse me, please, thank you, holding a door for someone coming up behind you or with their hands full, offering a hand to someone carrying too much, helping the elderly cross a street, or a short person reach something up high (me, I need this!) are some examples, but there are so many more. There is debate on using ma’am and sir in different circles, but I have found that most people appreciate when they are called these–learning to read people can help with this. At a minimum, use yes instead of yeah or no instead of nah, and avoiding exclusive head nods or uh-huh’s and uh-uh’s will show that you have some manners.

Punctuality

Be on time. We must make every effort to be on time to what we attend. We’ve heard the expression that time is money, and if you think about how fast-paced our world is today, there is a lot of money being lost when someone waits even just a few moments on another. With technology at our fingertips, calendars can be set up and even include alerts for when to leave based on traffic. I have often heard the expression ‘to be early is to be on time, and to be on time is to be late’ and it is a good practice. Arriving a few minutes early can let you say hello, get a feel for where things are located, get a good parking spot or seat, use the restroom or people watch as others arrive. As a book lover, I find this can be a great time to get in a chapter all to myself. Not to mention that no one likes the flustered feeling of arriving late and always feeling behind, or when everyone’s eyes are on them as they make a tardy entrance, however unintended. This factor is a common reason why medical offices are often running behind—that person that showed up right on time for their appointment but had to do their paperwork.

Patience

Keeping calm when everything around you isn’t is not an easy habit to establish. Learning that sometimes things happen that are beyond our control and are just not worth getting upset over can be very valuable to your health and sanity. When we rush, mistakes can happen. So, if we learn to take our time, be patient if things don’t go as planned and be understanding of obstacles, it can go a long way. I live in Central Florida—theme parks and traffic are a part of daily life for me. I am always amused by the people rushing to get to a line to stand in, yelling at people that are not doing something at a rapid pace because they themselves are running late, or darting through traffic at an unsafe speed for whatever reason. If they slow down just a little bit, they may find that they still get to wherever it is they are going, but so does everyone else, and we are all in a good mood. If you lack patience, be early and allow for things to go awry, and relish the extra time when they don’t.

Group conversations

We often get together with groups, whether it is for an informal chat, an impromptu discussion on the sidewalk, or an organizational meeting working for a goal. One of the challenges is giving everyone a voice and allowing time to process things. Learning to listen with the intention of learning what the person has to say can go a long way in accomplishing a goal. So often we talk at or over others without actually hearing what they had to say, and this can be for a variety of reasons—dominance, disrespect or pure excitement about an idea (I’m so guilty of this one). There is much to be said for listening to what other’s say and waiting to speak. In many groups, the person that hasn’t spoken will be given a chance to talk and asked directly by the group leader, but if not, it can give time to process and create a chance for a follow up message or conversation so that the other person can speak. There will be times where it will be necessary to directly ask for a chance to speak, and that is okay, just do it kindly so that it keeps an equal balance of power within the group. Dominance is a fast way to shut down a conversation, as is insulting those around you. Keep in mind, I am not saying their shouldn’t be a leader in a group chat, but it should be to keep focus and share attention equally, not lead the conversation. If you find that you disagree with someone, be clear that it is the idea and not the person, and be ready to leave a subject for later if it is clear that opposing sides won’t merge. I’ve seen too many relationships damaged from arguing over opposing sides to a situation and it just isn’t worth it.

Pride in work

The work you do represents you and creates the impression others will have of you. Everything you do should be done to the best of your ability for this reason. It doesn’t matter if it is cooking dinner, cleaning a toilet, running a fortune 500 company or completing an assignment for class. You should make your best effort to do it completely and correctly. This also is a sign of respect for those that must interact with your work product. As a teacher, I have students that rush through work or don’t complete work they are turning in. This takes me five times longer to grade because I must give feedback, contact a parent, hold a conference, make documentation. Not doing a complete job the first time also uses more of your time because the task will have to be redone or could cost them their job and make it difficult to get another one. We see this when a patch is poorly done in haste on a busy road, a meal or beverage is incorrectly prepared, or a place of business is is organized or even dirty. Taking the time to complete something to the best of your ability and properly the first time will go a long way in showing your clients, supervisors, or peers that you pay attention and do quality work.

Electronic communications

Emails and text messages seem to have all but replaced letters and phone calls, understandably because of how quickly things can be tended to. But learning which to use when and how they differ is important. A text message should be for something quick when an interruption can’t be made, or time is not of the essence. If it is time sensitive, a phone call or visit may be best. An email should be much like a letter, a complete thought organized and pieced together and with the intent of patiently waiting for a response. It should have a greeting, a body with a clear and organized message, a salutation and a signature. Again, my teacher experience has shown me this is a lost art. I will find a full inbox with several emails from one student sending a series of single line messages only a few minutes apart, hastily seeking a reply to their question that could have easily been answered by a text message or, worse, was resolved before I got to the message because they found the error while waiting for the reply–possibly meaning they hadn’t really made much effort to find an answer on their own prior. If you must send an email, proofread it and let it sit for a few minutes before sending in case another idea pops into your head. If you send weekly emails to people, keep a notepad to gather thoughts throughout the week of non-urgent ideas that could be compiled into one. This is a huge way of showing you respect their time and to ensure that something doesn’t get missed because it was buried in their inbox.

Being Prepared

Bring what you need with you and make sure it is usable. If you are attending a conference or class, expect to have paper and pencil at a minimum, and any other items required like computers, textbooks, completed research or work product. I learned something in the military that has always stayed with me—two is one, one is none. If there is something you must have to continue, have an extra. This could be a charger for electronics, a pen or pencil, or even a bottle of water or snack if you know it will be a long meeting or event. I have seen many times where there was a delay for everyone because someone had to find a pencil to write with, knowing they were coming in for a writing task or would be taking notes. If it is a paid event you are attending, be sure to have your ticket or proof of purchase or the funds handy to pay. I am often surprised when I see people walk up to a show or take-out restaurant, wait in line then look at a options to decide when it is finally their turn, then must find their money to pay for it. Being aware of what you are going into and preparing for it in advance can increase everyone’s take away from the event and save you some glares from onlookers.

Some of you may realize that you already do many of these yourself and are passing them on to younger generations. Some of them may not apply to you. Just remembering to be respectful of other’s time and personal investment in a situation can go a long way in showing that you are making the effort, and that is a superpower that everyone can have, regardless of age, location or situation.

Have You Been to Eduporium Yet?

Guest Post July 18, 2019

Finding new and affordable educational technology tools that align with the concepts you’re trying to teach and the standards you’re required to follow can be tough. Especially as new technologies are released seemingly by the day with slight or significant variations from previous models, it can certainly be challenging for teachers and tech directors to keep up with what’s worth their while. Keeping this in mind, the experts at Eduporium stock all of today’s latest EdTech in one place – an easy-to-access online store where educators can learn about and purchase all of the STEM tools they need. Oh, and they also offer a discount on most of those items exclusively for educators!

What makes Eduporium unique is that they don’t simply scour other stores and place every single EdTech tool they find on their own store. Their experts are actually doing the research, searching for the most useful tech tools, testing them out themselves, and corresponding directly with those vendors to make sure it’s a worthwhile product for enhancing 21st century education. Once that determination has been made, they then negotiate the lowest price possible and get it on their store for educators to easily find it and save when they make their purchase. [

Eduporium is a reseller, but they specialize in offering those EdTech tools with the greatest potential and add to their own value in the education community by offering free consultation, personalized technology bundles, and an Educator Discount of as much as 20 percent on technology items that’s available to all classroom teachers, principals, librarians, tech specialists, and makerspace facilitators. Knowing the importance of hands-on learning, they work directly with educators from some of the country’s largest districts and recommend only the STEM tools they need.

The Eduporium store includes the classic EdTech tools for engaging students in deeper learning as well as those that have been just released. Having established working partnerships with many of today’s top EdTech vendors, like littleBits, Wonder Workshop, Ozobot, Sphero, and more, they’re able to get new products onto their store and into classrooms quickly. Among the kinds of STEM tools you can find on the Eduporium store are robotics, coding kits, 3D printers, drones, virtual reality systems, circuitry sets, engineering tools, and more!

Take the Ozobot robot, for example. It’s one of the most widely used STEM tools in elementary and middle school classrooms. This tiny robot can be used to teach students how to code using color codes that they can draw with markers on paper. It can also be paired with a computer or tablet and students can build their own programs on Ozobot’s online learning environment, OzoBlockly. As new updates and releases are announced for the Ozobot, such as Ozobot Classroom, Eduporium is always on top of informing their customers about the latest information.

If you’re looking for any other options from today’s top brands in STEM education, Eduporium is a great place to look. They sell the Dash and Dot robots from Wonder Workshop, for example, which are great for introducing elementary students to coding. Eduporium also has the Cue Robot from Wonder Workshop, which middle school students can use to learn text coding! In addition to the robotics tools, Eduporium also supplies coding and electronics kits, including all of the top kits from littleBits. These electronic LEGOs are great for teaching circuitry, perseverance, programming, and inventiveness!

Not only does Eduporium offer educators an easy solution for all of their EdTech shopping, their advice and consultation help ensure that teachers don’t waste their time or money. To learn more about this company and to check out their extensive store with all different kinds of EdTech, click here!

This is a guest post. Andy Larmund at Eduporium reached out to see if I would share information about their company, products and services offered. After communicating back and forth and browsing their website, I was excited to share his information and I look forward to finding ways to work their products into my classroom this year, though! Note: This is not a paid promotion.

Using Your Break to Better Yourself

By Sonya Barnes June 13, 2019

What is it that we crave about summer? We count down the days as we race towards it at breakneck speeds—longing for its arrival—but why? Is it the chance to slow down? Is it temporarily doing away with agendas, alarm clocks, meetings and parent communications? Is it traveling or getting quality time with family that we don’t see during our hectic school routines? It may be some or all of these, depending on you. For me, it is not only these things, but also the chance to sit back and analyze how I did things, what worked and what didn’t work, as well as trying on new habits and seeing how I can make them fit in my life.

Routines are an important thing to me, and not just because I am OCD (CDO my husband likes to say since I have a habit of alphabetizing things (don’t get me started on my love of my label maker), but also because I have learned that routines make for consistency and efficiency, two key elements for success. This past school year has been a challenge. We moved into a new house to make room for my mother, my oldest son finished his Associate’s degree and started at a new college for his Bachelor’s, my husband changed jobs after dreaming about it for two years, and I was committed to a training program for the duration of the school year that came to a conclusion about the time my mom became fully retired. Whew! I was exhausted. The routines we had had in place since my husband had joined the ranks of the teaching world 4 years before (which were pretty consistent from when he ran his own business before) were suddenly thrown for a loop only a couple of months into the school year when he decided to leave education and go into business for himself again. We did our best to adjust, but by the time the school year ended on the same day that my mom became a full retiree, we still hadn’t adapted.

I am also a huge travel bug. I often jokingly say that I work to support my travel habit, which is not too far from the truth. I have downsized possessions dramatically over the last few years into a more minimalist lifestyle as well as paid off most of our bills, so a good portion of our budget was for now and later fun money (vacations, entertainment and retirement). With the job change, that changed for us quite a bit, so we’ve also had to adjust and, luckily, had room in the budget. But we still plan to work in a few trips this summer. Truth be told, I am writing this in the kitchen of one of our family members we are visiting as we are doing a loop to see them and check off a few more states from our bucket list.

Every educator does different things with their down time. For me, I spend it reconnecting with family, both near and far, refreshing my home with a variety of projects and trying out new routines that I can establish at a slower pace and maintain when I go “back to work” in August—although I, like most, will work during the summer attending trainings, reviewing my practices and material from the past year, analyzing test data when it drops, and creating/adapting new things for next year based my end of year student surveys and data about the upcoming students given to me by the prior grades teachers. Don’t get me wrong, I also get out and enjoy the longer days and extra family time by taking advantage of some of the discounted or free activities available in our local area like weekly movies, zoos, aquariums or theme parks—if you are lucky enough to live close to any of those.

Our family will have to establish some new routines with all our lives changing in the last few months, so there are things we can do over the next 6-8 weeks to help us out during the school year.

I use this in the camper with a dry erase marker to keep it super simple. One of these days, I will do it for the main house.

Meal Planning and Preparation. We will try out new recipes and get back into meal prepping and menu planning, as well as simplifying our meals. We got in the awful habit of eating out or eating prepackaged/easy meals for the last month and that did not help us handle the crazy routines that the end of year brings. We have tried all of the prepping ideas for meals and have actually found the simplest for us is stocking up on family packages of meats and freezing into portions (we cut into bites when cooked to cut down on overeating) and we keep fruits and veggies on hand to accompany them. We can go from freezer to table (or lap on the back porch) in 45 minutes, even on a busy day, and feed our family of 5 for well under $20 for the meal. Going out is actually an inconvenience for us.

Home projects. There is always maintenance to be done as a homeowner, so we will take care of those, as well as cleaning out closets and cabinets to purge forgotten possessions and reorganize them. We have found that having less stuff helps us clean faster and we have less to clean, which means more time for life. I stumbled over minimalism a few years ago while looking for solutions since I am a terrible allergy sufferer and we have loved the simpler lifestyle. But those old habits of a lifetime to take a while to break, so refreshing the home and reviewing the books I have help quite a bit. Not familiar with minimalism, or not sure how it could possibly fit for you? Check out the author Joshua Becker and his realistic family approach that works for us at https://www.becomingminimalist.com/.

The hall closet – before
The hall closet – after
The nerf gun rack
The Game Room – this lasted 5 minutes. It hasn’t looked like this since I took the photo.

Planning for the next school year. I know, you don’t want to think about it, and I don’t either. But I don’t like a crazy start to a new year, so I do a few things early in summer to help. When we are cleaning out those closets and cabinets, I purge any clothing items that don’t fit or need repair or replaced so that I can get those ordered, fixed, purchased or budget for them. My son’s school has a uniform, so we will pass on any items that someone else can use and get his items ordered early so that we can pick them up at orientation. I also start shopping school and art supplies, prepackaged snacks, cleaning supplies, and anything else that could help around the house or classroom or could be donated to his classroom teacher. Those BOGO sales run all summer, so taking advantage now helps me out a lot later in the year.

Nap time is a summer favorite, especially during those afternoon storms Florida gets

New routines and habits. My daily reading, devotions, exercise and cleaning routines all slacked off in the last couple of months. I take the time to figure out why, shuffle my day around and put into practice my routines during the summer. I can go at a slower pace while I make them a habit and then a few weeks before going back to work, I can time how long it takes me to do all the things, allowing me to adjust my wake-up times and bed times to accommodate. I do the same for my little one so that we can reestablish his routines before going back, as well. I also look at how well we have done with chores and will adjust our chore charts, laundry rotations and shopping days. With so many changes this year, many of our routines never got followed or were tweaked during the year, so a family meeting over a delicious and relaxing meal gives everyone a chance to chime in on what works and doesn’t work so that we can adjust. It sounds like a silly thing, but no one fights over the washing machine, yells about a stack of dishes, or complains about an empty cabinet when we work together.

Hoping to get 5 more states filled in this summer, then we can start working our way out West.

Travel and quality family time. We usually plan a couple of trips in the summer in addition to celebrating birthdays for several family members. We usually plan a big family trip and a smaller get away nearby, and sometimes these double as a birthday celebration. With the change in jobs, we sold our camper and have less time to go on adventures. This year, we are fitting in an early summer trip to see family and check off more states (with any luck, by the time you are reading this, I will have checked off state number 50 for me, and number 30 for my soon to be 8 year old). We are also working in a couple of other trips, but they will be business related for my husband. When we are at home, we capitalize on the summer movies at the local theater and the passes to parks nearby.

Rejuvenate your mind, body and soul. This is probably the most important one I do with the slower pace. I love to sit on the porch in the early morning, before the Florida humidity chases us all into hiding until sundown like in those apocalyptic movies. While I am out there with my tea, or a book, I will take the time to connect with each sense—what do I see, hear, smell, taste, feel—and it really helps me connect with the world around me and helps me stay clear and focused during the day. I also try to get in for a massage, a new exercise program I heard about from a friend, as well as taking care of as many doctor’s appointments as I can so as not to interfere with the school year.

So, what kind of things do you do over your break? Are you a Netflix and chill in your jammies all day, every day while capitalizing on Uber Eats and grocery delivery services? Are you like me and try to accomplish a lot? Or are you somewhere in the middle?

If you are not a teacher, or get only a week or so off, you can work in some these ideas to your own schedule, even with only a week or two off. Choosing only one or two things to start with this break can still make a difference and you just work on other things on future breaks. It may not sound like how you want to spend your break, but if the way you were doing things wasn’t working or making life run smoothly, then you owe it to yourself and those around you to try new approaches to making your life easier. You just need to take that first step. Happy summer!

Riding the Momentum Wave – Keeping Consistency Every Day

Sonya Barnes June 3, 2019

Some days I think I am a unicorn. No, not the mythical horse with a horn sprouting from its head, but a rare and possibly mythical person in society, for sure. I am that person that does my best to be consistent in effort and expectation each and every workday, not just for me, but also for the people around me. And, from what I have seen, heard and observed throughout my working years, I am an anomaly.

You know what I am talking about.

It’s Monday, I have a weekend hangover. I can’t today today.

OK, Tuesday, time to get focused and work!

It’s Wednesday/hump day!

Thursday! It’s Friday Eve, the weekend can’t get here soon enough!

Fri-YAY! It’s the weekend, what are your plans?

And right before or after a holiday, it seems to be magnified.

Students stay focused when we stay focused.

In Education, we see similar behaviors throughout the school year—and I’m not even talking about the kids. The first week back we are dragging after having more flexibility in our summer schedule as well as the dreaded list of things to do we set for ourselves, along with the list from the school, then pulling long days to get ready in time for the first day. The first week of kids can be tough trying to cover all the things and be rock solid and execute those overly ambitious ideas we’ve had for years and THIS IS THE YEAR IT WILL HAPPEN, especially when they are still shifting from summer mode. Then, we get to our first holiday (for my district, its about 2-3 weeks into the school year) and the day before or after there’s a shift into easy mode. This can also happen on Early Release days, something we have in our district, that has become such a widespread “down” day, that many kids don’t even bother to come to school. With several holiday breaks and early release days throughout the year, the cycle perpetuates. By the time we get to the last few weeks of the school year, we may be feeling that burn out–policies and rules aren’t being upheld consistently across the school, or at all, and there can be a total breakdown with students that think they don’t have to do things we’ve expected them to do all year. Yet, ironically, this is also the time of year that many teachers and leaders begin talking about the policies and procedures they are going to start with at the beginning of the year.

People, people, people. First, let’s talk about the kids. They need consistency at school all the time because many of them don’t have it at home. Not to mention that we should just set a good example of work ethics. They are in their formative years and we help define what that really means by expectation and example. Next—and this is a big one for me—it may be their last day of school, but it’s probably not yours. The world isn’t ending and you are probably not retiring, so why would you risk your career, all of your hard work throughout the year, or worse, the perception of your work ethic as teachers are being considered for new positions or eliminated positions.

They need you to be consistent. You need you to be consistent for your own peace of mind. I won’t bore you with tons of research points on how consistency is better for your health, career, etc., because you probably already know that you work better when you are consistent and have a rhythm from following your routine. At least, I know that I do and most of the people around me do, as well.

Stick to your routines. You’ll be glad you did.

So, make your daily routine lists, your weekly/monthly routine lists, plug those bad boys in your calendar or on a corner of your desk and get it done. You’ll be glad you did. I promise, you will feel better sticking with a routine because it becomes automatic, which helps on those days you may not be piquing. If you are truly dragging or having an off day, have a pal to boost you up or follow the “fake it ‘til you make it” mantra and act like you have got it together, at least in front of everyone. Your kids will be better with routine, which means you will do less behavior interventions, and you will be able to make those last days more meaningful. And that will make your break more relaxing for you, as well.

Make every day count for something by being the best version of you that you can be.