Bridge Builder

I know there is online learning going on, however, this is still the BEST advice during this time! Spend TIME with your kids now that you have more of it. For elementary kids - READ TO your children. For middle school kids - TALK WITH your children! For high school kids - TEACH LIFE SKILLS TO your children. Don’t let this opportunity pass and say, “I shoulda, woulda, coulda!”

Teachers - as you head back to school remember the value your relationship brings to your students. They may not be thrilled to “go back to school” but when you care about them and invest in them, they are thrilled to see YOU!! Praying for an effective second semester for you all!! You got this!

Around this time of year state test results tend to come out. Here are 3 tips to praise your child effectively:

1. Keep it CHILD CENTERED. Habit has us saying “I’m so proud of you” or “We’re so proud of you”. This praise is now about YOU and how YOU feel. If you want your CHILD to feel proud ask him/her, “How do you feel?” Or you can state, “You really worked hard, completed your work, and put in your best effort. You should feel proud!” Either way - the focus is on the child feeling proud, not the parent.

2. Celebrate THE PROCESS. Whether your child scored “well” or not is not the most important thing. Focus on the facts of growth, effort, accomplishments throughout the year, and attitude toward perseverance.

3. If your child is discouraged over the results DISCUSS TRUTHS: effort input, ONE score does not define us and neither do tests (we are defined by our beliefs and character), struggles grow us, goals can help us, everyone’s story is unique - keep writing your story, if you didn’t master something this year it just means you haven’t mastered it YET.

Effective praise is NOT about saying “Great job!” “Great score!” (Whether it is or isn’t) “Good for you”. And it’s not about making a kiddo feel bad for lack of effort in hopes that motivates him/her. Effective praise focuses on the CHILD through stating the facts and getting them to internalize the value effort.

It was SO MUCH FUN working with Doug Curry (Llama Guy) in our “I Just Want to Teach!” workshop in WA!! Educators walked away with best practices and strategies to support classroom and behavior management. Quote from a teacher, “Every educator needs this training!” This is going to be an amazing group of FAST LLAMAS and QUALITY BRIDGE BUILDERS!! Proud of you Auburn!! 😃💖

WA educators ROCK!! The energy and enthusiasm was contagious! Build great bridges fearless teachers! 😀👏🏻👏🏻