It's been a very long time since I've written. I've been working on the major update of the Strategies for Success curriculum for high schools. I taught the course to a group of college freshmen this summer (they raved about it!!) and I reprised the role of the Fairy Godmother again in Cinderella on tour this summer. Busy, busy, busy! But I love it and am very grateful for all the opportunities that have come my way.
But the biggest thing is the journey to end bullying. As many people know, I wrote my program after the suicide death from bullying of one of my students. The program changed my school and the lives of the over 85% of the students who took it. But bullying continues in our country. And we need to do something...all of us.
I'm working with a group on putting together an Anti-Bullying Summit for my state where we gather people from all communities with a stake in bullying and brainstorm solutions. Better to gather solutions and put them into practice than wait til another student is harmed.
I also applied for a grant from Pepsi and this is where I could use your help. You see the grants go to those people who have the most votes. Now lots of people have voted for American Idol or Dancing with the Stars. This time I need you to vote for my proposal which would get my program in 100 schools, train the teachers, turn the two bullying shows from Kaleidoscope Theatre into DVD's so they can be seen world wide and much more....
Please vote...every day in August...and tell everyone you know to do the same. We can do this..if we take the time to save a life...
Here's how: Text message 101886 to Pepsi (73774) or go to: http://pep.si/bDCjyz
Thanks!!!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
The Power of Questions
Hi Everyone,
I had a meeting this evening that ended with us talking about questions and how important they are. Now that might sound like a strange topic but questions really do guide our thoughts and our lives. How? Good question!
1. They determine the direction that the conversation is moving toward.
2. They place limits on information. For example, if you ask a child how their day in school went, you often get "Fine" or "Good." Ask them a more open ended question and youget a more detailed answer.
Sometimes we don't ask enough. One of the people at the meeting lost his cell phone
this week and asked the provider if he could get a free replacement. They said he couldn't. Someone else at the meeting said he didn'task enough. He might have asked what he had to do to get a free one which might only have involved extending his contract for another year.
3. They determine our mood. Ask yourself a question like, "Why does everything always happen to me?" or what I consider one of the worst questions to ask yourself, "What elsecould go wrong?"
The funny or not so funny thing about these questions is that our brain answers them. Do you really want to know the answer to why everything always happens to you or what else could go wrong?
When I was teaching my Strategies of Success class, I devoted a couple of lessons to the power of questions. We worked at coming up with questions that improved our day and the students often competed for the 'best question.
Here are some of our favorites:
1. What am I grateful for?
2. What made me smile today?
3. What cool thing is going to happen today?
Asking questions opens the door to our minds. What questions are you asking yourself? Are they improving your day or adding to your daily stress?
What good questions might you ask? Send me your favorites and I'll share them!
What can you do after you read this that will either make your day or someone elses?
Get it?
I had a meeting this evening that ended with us talking about questions and how important they are. Now that might sound like a strange topic but questions really do guide our thoughts and our lives. How? Good question!
1. They determine the direction that the conversation is moving toward.
2. They place limits on information. For example, if you ask a child how their day in school went, you often get "Fine" or "Good." Ask them a more open ended question and youget a more detailed answer.
Sometimes we don't ask enough. One of the people at the meeting lost his cell phone
this week and asked the provider if he could get a free replacement. They said he couldn't. Someone else at the meeting said he didn'task enough. He might have asked what he had to do to get a free one which might only have involved extending his contract for another year.
3. They determine our mood. Ask yourself a question like, "Why does everything always happen to me?" or what I consider one of the worst questions to ask yourself, "What elsecould go wrong?"
The funny or not so funny thing about these questions is that our brain answers them. Do you really want to know the answer to why everything always happens to you or what else could go wrong?
When I was teaching my Strategies of Success class, I devoted a couple of lessons to the power of questions. We worked at coming up with questions that improved our day and the students often competed for the 'best question.
Here are some of our favorites:
1. What am I grateful for?
2. What made me smile today?
3. What cool thing is going to happen today?
Asking questions opens the door to our minds. What questions are you asking yourself? Are they improving your day or adding to your daily stress?
What good questions might you ask? Send me your favorites and I'll share them!
What can you do after you read this that will either make your day or someone elses?
Get it?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
