Lessons My Granddaughter Taught Me - Lesson #2 - The Power of Recognition

My granddaughter was about to burst when I picked her up from PreK, brandishing a note from her teacher and a sticker.  "I got a Good News note, Nana! And a sticker!"  Her good news note said that she had played with a new friend today.  Now, if you know my granddaughter, you know that making new friends isn't all that unusual for her.  She loves making new friends and is constantly on a mission to make a friend of anyone she sees.  But what was different this time was that she got recognition for it.  Not anything big, just a note and a sticker from her teacher.  She was so proud and so thrilled that it reminded me of the power recognition holds.

As educators, and as parents, sometimes we are busy and often forget to give that little bit of recognition for a job well done or a small kindness our students, our children, demonstrate.  Yet, how great do even we feel as adults when someone gives us a small nod of recognition or appreciation.  Here's to remembering the power of a Good News Note!

Lessons My Granddaughter Taught Me - Lesson #1 - Do Your Research

My granddaughter attends our district Universal Pre-Kindergarten program and I have the happy job of picking her up each day after school.  One day this week she and I arrived at my car in the parking lot and she announced that my car "is a girl car."  Now I drive a silver Chevy HHR.  It might be considered a 50-something-year-olders type of car, but I couldn't figure out what made it "a girl car," so I asked.  "Well," she said, "You have Cinderella's coach on your antena."  I do have that as my antena topper.  She brought it to me from her recent trip to Disney World.  "And," she said, "Boys don't like Cinderella.  I asked Justin (her cousin) and he's a boy and he said boys don't like Cinderella.  Girls do."

When you have an opinion that is backed up by field research, it's hard to argue with the conclusion!  Leave it to a four year old to remind me of the power of doing your research!

I'm Baaack!

It's been a long time since I've been here.  I got myself really hung up on the idea that I needed to have something deep and long and inspiring to say before I could post to my blog.  As you can see, those moments have been few and far between.

But recently I got to thinking, maybe my expectations needed an adjustment.  I love microblogging.  I post regularly to my PLN on Plurk and to my Facebook page.  I read the short posts of others in these places daily.  Maybe I should think smaller when it comes to my blog.

So, here I am once again attempting to be a "real blogger."  My goal is to post at least once a week, focusing on 3 topics/categories.


Lessons My Granddaughter Taught Me will be short posts reflecting on just that - things I learn about life and learning while spending time with my granddaughter.  When you take the time to really listen to a child and reflect on what they say, how they learn, and what they think, it's amazing the things you can learn!


This summer, while attending the ISTE Conference in Denver, I attended a session presented by Will Richardson about how technology can put us in a position to really make a difference in the world.  This presentation inspired me to strive to reflect on my professional practice and my personal life and look for ways, big and small, that I can make a difference regularly.  My Make a Difference posts will share those moments when I think I have made a difference or when I've had the privilege of observing someone else making a difference.

Finally, we all face challenges in our personal lives as well as in our professional lives.  Being an educator and a technologist in this time of economic strife and ethical, moral, and safety issues, isn't always easy.  There may be times when my posts will reflect on these issues under the category of Breathing Through Jello.


It's my hope that being a "real blogger" again will lead to a feeling of personal and professional fulfillment for me.  I hope it won't lead to a feeling of boredom for you!  Perhaps something I say will spark something in you.  I hope you will leave me comments and let me know what you are thinking.