Thursday, November 29, 2012

Operation Yuletide

All volunteers:
Bring wrapping paper
Report to the District 3 police station located at 300 S. Swing Rd., Greensboro and sign in
 
Dates/Times:
 
December 5th through 14th:
0800- until the last police employee leaves
Volunteers will assist in wrapping Christmas gifts for the selected families of operation Yuletide.
(gifts have already been sorted for the families)
 
Deliveries:

December 15: between 1400-1800
December 16 and 17: between 1000-1800
All wrapped items will be delivered by a police officer and any volunteer

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Gratitude: Wish you a meaningful Thanksgiving

of love, family, friends, wonder

Watch - Gratitude HD - Moving Art >>

Life Secrets

Monday, November 19, 2012

Conscious Discipline: "Power to Inspire"/Restorative Practices

For Conscious Discipline description, see below
 
Student DJ nominated Donna Porter for Kennedy Center Teaching Award: "Power to Inspire"






Ellen Kaji at the Guilford County Partnership for Children coordinates and teaches the Conscious Discipline trainings. Ellen is working on Infant and Toddler trainings, scheduled to begin Jan., 2013.
W: 274-5437.
Email ellenk@guilfordchildren.com



Conscious Discipline for Birth-Adult, was developed by Dr. Becky Bailey, graduate of Appalachian State University and an “award-winning author, renowned teacher and internationally recognized expert in childhood education and developmental psychology, who is dedicated to creating positive environments for children, families, schools, and businesses.”

 

Bailey, Becky. 2000. Conscious Discipline: 7 Basic Skills for Brain Smart Classroom Management: Proactive positive approach to character education and discipline for families and educators

Conscious Discipline: includes the seven skills of
Composure
Encouragement
Assertiveness
Choices
Empathy
Positive Intent
Consequences

"The School Family builds connection between families and schools, teachers and teachers, teachers and students, and students and students to ensure the optimal development of all.
These connections provide the three essential ingredients for school success:
*A willingness to learn
*Impulse control
*Attention"


 
Conscious Discipline & Restorative Practices could enhance GCS' Paideia & PBS, empowering our community and GCS to develop into a model school system of mutual integrity and respect for students, educators, staff, SROs, and school leaders to learn, teach, and work, which will greatly enhance academic and character achievement.


What would encourage our community to unite in implementing this paradigm shift of Conscious Discipline and Restorative Practices?
 

 
What are your thoughts?

Sunday, November 18, 2012

"Watch your thoughts because your thoughts become patterns.

Watch your patterns because your patterns become habits.
Watch your habits because your habits become your character."

NC A & T Early Middle College student Shi Leach quotes mantra of his teacher Johnny Lewis
Greensboro News & Record, 11-18-2012: H1 & H3
&

NPR | Staying in School on "The Story with Dick Gordon"

September 28, 2012 - The Story joins the national conversation on the drop-out problem with two in-depth conversations with students who were on the verge of giving up on school.

Dick Gordon talks with Shi Leach, who always did well in school but fell into a bad routine at his high school; skipping classes and blowing off work. Shi was able to enroll in the Early/Middle College at NC A&T State University, a partner with North Carolina New Schools, and the daily guidance and support allowed him to flourish. Gordon also interviews Shi's principal, Eric Hines, who was recently named Guilford County Principal of the Year.
Read More

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Dr. Ben Carson: Inspiring Words:1:57 min. video

Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions;

Dr. Ben Carson credits his single Mother with helping him believe in himself, "Your life is up to you"

 
Author of:
* Gifted Hands
* Think Big
* The Big Picture: Getting Perspective on What Is Really Important in Life
* America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This World Great

Dr. Ben Carson's Inspiring Words - YouTube

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Veterans' Day: 11-11-2012

Veterans: Thank you: Gratitude & Remembrance

For those on active duty: thank you for your service for citizens and country.

"Go to Your Courage...it is not confidence...It Is Courage."  
Dad, WW II Veteran

"Veterans for Peace is interested in returning the Nov. 11 celebration back to its original intent of celebrating peace, rather than war and warriors...
On Nov. 11, 1918, an armistice was signed to stop war between the nations that had been fighting World War I.  In 1928, peaceful nations met in Paris and signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact, legally banning all wars.  In 1938, Congress made Armistice Day official.
In 1954, Congress moved to change the word "armistice" to "veterans," which also changed the focus of the celebration from peace to war.  Veterans for Peace is asking all churches to ring their bells on Nov. 11 and have a moment of prayer for peace."
Samuel H. Winstead, Veterans for Peace
Greensboro News & Record, Nov. 4, 2012, D9

Saturday, November 10, 2012

GCS Supt. Maurice Green: 3 million books challenge; Nov.: National Family Literacy Month

Elianne Ramos: National Family Literacy Month: Time to Bring Back ...
You +1'd this publicGCSGCS
 
..."One of the activities hosted by GCS, which started at the beginning of 2012, is the Three Million Books Challenge, an impressive reading challenge led by Superintendent Maurice Green of Greensboro, N.C.  Guided by the belief that "life opens up, and dreams become possible when you learn to read, and read well," Mr. Green reports of the participation of thousands of students in their district-wide campaign. "That's the message we want our students to hear. That's why I challenged them to read first one million, and then two million, and now three million books in one year's time." Last year, GCS students were challenged to read two million books and shattered that goal by more than 600,000!
 
The campaign has received widespread support from businesses, nonprofits and local government in which organizations across Guilford County encourage students to read, including the local PTA. Kelly Langston, a Guilford County Schools' parent and Guilford County Council of PTAs President, knows first-hand how hard it can be to get parents involved in this kind of initiative. "Today's family struggles to find time to spend time together due to busy schedules, so reading together is a great family activity and it helps your children be successful in school," she says. "Guilford County Schools' Three Million Books Challenge provides families with an opportunity to be part of something bigger." ...

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Arizona student with special needs avoids bullies with protection of football team

Chy Johnson is a freshman at Queen Creek (Ariz.) High who happens to have a brain disorder. She is the prototypical outsider new girl on campus, the easiest teen to pick on and the last to be able to stand up for herself. Right on cue, no sooner had Johnson enrolled at Queen Creek than she began being the victim of nasty bullying from a wide variety of fellow Queen Creek students, some of whom allegedly even threw trash at the 16 year old.

The bullying incidents got so bad that Johnson's mother reached out to the one teen at the school with whom she had a social connection through a friend, a senior named Carson Jones. As it turns out, Jones is also the starting quarterback for the Queen Creek football team, a good looking one at that. In short, he is the apex of cool at Queen Creek.
As first reported by AZFamily.com, all Johnson's mother wanted was to know the name of the girls who were bullying her daughter. Instead, Jones decided to take it upon himself to protect the freshman, eating lunch with her every day and ensuring that she was protected by a phalanx of other football players when she walked through the hall.
Chy Johnson and the Queens Creek football team — BYU.eduChy Johnson and the Queens Creek football team — BYU.edu
"They're not mean to me, because all my boys love me," Chy told AZFamily. "So much."
Chy's "boys" form a solid core of the Queen Creek football team, and they have successfully kept those who would target the special needs student away. Jones doesn't completely understand why or how it has happened, but it has.
"They're not bullying her anymore because they've seen her with us or something," Jones told AZFamily.

For their part, Jones and his teammates say that they're getting just as much out of the relationship as Johnson is, too.
"It feels good to know that we helped someone else, because you know, we're doing good, everything for us is going well, but someone else needs to feel good, too," Queen Creek senior Tucker Workman told AZFamily.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Coping with Bullying/Loss Through Sunday School Humor

Child is collecting church humor to help her move forward in the face of losing her brother who was physically assaulted/bullied & then committed suicide.

Mother shared Sunday School Humor is helping her daughter, sister of bullied, move forward through helping others.

Peruse end of (12th) left page: Fox 8 Bully Project
 

Thursday, November 1, 2012