Archive for the ‘Kids' Corner’ Category

Interesting… How Responsibility is always Someone else’s…

Thursday, January 14th, 2010 by admin

I came across a couple of situations recently at school that really got me thinking back to the chapter on responsibility in my book.

One was a kid who had a detention because he had arrived late to school that morning. We casually chatted and he felt real injustice at the fact that he was basically paying for his dad’s mistake… Dad’s alarm had not gone off and the whole family ended up late.

What can you learn from this? Take your own responsibility! Get your own alarm clock, in fact get your DAD to buy you one. He owes you this at least, right? It doesn’t matter what age your kids are. Things happen. Oversleeping is a possibility. But once it’s happened once, let’s not dwell on it. Accept the fair consequences, regardless of who is to blame and just look at the ways to solve this issue: your dad is likely to make you late? Make sure YOU are the one up first every day! And realize that you could have done that months ago and not have had to be late that day…

Then another student was late to class in the middle of the day because of a bathroom stop, classrooms far apart and too many people in the hallway and need for supplies. Ok, these are very valid excuses. However, they are excuses. The question is: how can you organize yourself so that these absolute facts do not cause you to be late to class? It is called organization and time management. Bring everything you need with you and then you will only need to fight the crowd once if you need the bathroom.

And mostly, we are going back to responsibility and accountability. Actually have the maturity to accept that you could have done things differently and that you are actually going to do them differently from now on.

These are very important skills in life. When things get a bit tough in life - and they will - you will always have a choice to be a victim or to move forward. If you choose to be a victim, if you choose to blame the people and the circumstances around you, you will not reach your goals and fulfill your dreams.

If you start taking responsibility for yourself now, you are already closer to your dreams!

Be who your really want to be NOW.

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Bambi Rescue

Friday, July 24th, 2009 by

This is the kind of news that the media should stop on rather than feeding us with negative gloom and doom opinions that keep us in fear and doubt that life is worth living!

For those of us who can read French, the original article is below. For the others, have a look at the picture and here’s a summary:

In a well known holiday resort in the South West of France, three friends went out on their boat fishing. About 2 nautical miles away from the shores, they suddenly saw two young deers swimming towards their boat! Yes! Swimming to the boat, looking for rescue!

Once the shock gone, the three men grabbed the two animals out of water and rushed back to shore after alerting the competent authorities. The two young deers, a male and a female, were taken care of and are now back in the wild.

How they got themselves in this situation? Who knows? However amazing this story may seem, it is a good reminder about the beauty of life and the harmony of nature. There is a lot of good in this world, miracles like this one happen every day. Let’s not forget it!

As for those of you who are parents out there, try to remember this. Get your kids away from trashy TV and don’t let them watch the news. Find this kind of info and let them know that the world can be a good place and they can be the ones keeping it that way.

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The 2 Frogs

Thursday, May 21st, 2009 by

The 2 Frogs
The 2 Frogs
By an unknown Author

This was sent to me by a good friend of mine and I thought it was a story that I would have liked to know a few times at school, when kids were unpleasant to each other.

It also reminded me of the good words of Andrew Carnegie, passed on to us by Napoleon Hill: Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Good or bad.

It is what you are most deeply convinced of that will turn out to be true. Your strength will come from being able to resist outside influences and let your mind build your future.

Thanks Tania, again!

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead.

The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?”

The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

This story teaches two lessons:

1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.

2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them.

Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The power of words… it is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in difficult times. Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another.

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Creativity and Homework

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 by

I have always had a thing about routine… I just don’t like it that much. I find that there are things that have to be done every day but I have to add a bit of variety nonetheless. For instance, I work out every day but it is very rare that I actually do the exact same thing every day. For breakfast, I have a few favourites but I definitely vary the food and drinks I have every morning.

For things that I have to do and that I actually don’t really like, I also find ways to make them more interesting. For instance, when it comes to cleaning the house, I tend to use different detergents so that the variety of smells makes it a more pleasant experience. For shopping, I try different shops. I find that being creative with everyday tasks makes them just that much more interesting and things that most people tend to hate become just another enjoyable activity to me.

The same applies to homework. We all know that the H word is one of the most dreaded by kids and often by parents. Why not make it a more pleasant experience by adding some creativity to it. Here are a few examples of what you can do:

If you have a science project, go and do your research on the field. A lot of projects are based on specific areas according to where you live. When the project is given out, look at what you can do and plan a trip with your kids to actually confirm their findings. In the meantime, they can work on the project their usual way, do the research and the work but they also have something to look forward to.

In order to cut the negative association that goes with homework, let your kids do it in different parts of the house or rearrange their room or study area on a regular basis so that they don’t always see the same environment. However, remember that it is very important that the place they work in is adapted to studying. But if you are cooking in the kitchen while they do homework, you could kill two birds with one stone and be able to help and interact with your kids while getting dinner ready. You can also make sure that the little darlings remain focused.

To solve a simple math problem, you can find a few minutes to put it in practice. When kids learn some basic operations like adding and subtracting for instance, you can ask your kids to explain the problem to you with real money and groceries for instance. Every now and then, you can even let them keep the money.

If your kids are learning languages, get them to use their artistic or creative skills to learn vocabulary and use sentences. Use simple vocabulary at the dinner table or get some post it notes and put labels on objects they know in that language in the house or around.

If they need to write a poem or an essay, get them to act it out first or draw it or build it. It will trigger their imagination and get them going. It will also get them excited and they will be more inspired.

If you have a long commute to and from school, start on the homework with little games, such as a guessing game where your kids quiz you about what new things they learnt that day. You can also start discussing what they have to do so that they can get on with it as soon as they get home and get it done faster.

Also vary the tools they use. Within the school’s requirement, if books are provided, use different colours to cover the books, use different styles of pens and pencils. If you can buy your own books, choose interesting covers that have to do with the subject.

Always think of that little extra thing that will add to the homework experience to make it more fun. Use analogies that you know your kids like, talk about their favourite sport or their favourite movies, actors, actresses, singers. It will not only make the homework more interesting but it will also help your kids remember things better.

If you start this when they are younger and when you spend more time helping them with their homework, they will develop these habits themselves and later do it naturally. Homework might still remain one of the things they HAVE to do and not their favourite but at least, they’ll know to apply their creativity to it to make it more interesting. And they will be able to use that creativity later in life for everything they do!

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Weirdos, the “Kool” Guy and Peer Pressure

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 by

Bully

Just a few thoughts before I retire into the arms of Morpheus. I was just reminiscing on my days as a teacher years ago. I just got back in touch with a friend of mine I used to teach with in East Africa. It got me to think about how different things were at school there, and how much nicer kids were to each other.

I won’t go into the debate of why it is so over there and not in many other seemingly more “civilized” places! Let’s face it, most people have a very skewed picture of Africa, but that’s another debate.

What I was thinking about is how mean some kids have been in some of the schools I’ve worked, other than in Africa. I ask myself if it is a cultural thing but I guess, all in all, kids just don’t always know and, everywhere, they can be a bit cruel to each other. Sometimes it really gets out of hand and then we have a real problem. But I don’t like to focus too much on the negative, so this won’t be a big rant!

I want to think about all the little jokes, the little remarks, the teasing that some kids get constantly at school. Not because they really deserve it, but just because they are different in some way or another. It can be because they are quieter than the rest of the group, it might be because they are a bit bigger or skinnier, it might be because their clothes are different or their hair is unusual. It reaches the point where perfectly extrovert kids at home, become shaky silent victims at school, kids who wouldn’t dream of opening their mouths for fear of the mockery they will get!

These kids have a lot to offer to their peers, to YOUR kids. They just need to get to be known. They need to be accepted as who they are, with their particularities and talents. Society likes to put us in a mold. Wouldn’t it be just so easy if everybody was just the same, thought the same, acted the same? Governments would have no problems! There would never be any disagreements of any kind in the world! But that’s not reality! Thank God we are all different and that’s what make our world go forward.

All the great thinkers, discoverers, inventors, philosophers were people who had different ideas. Maybe they would have been labeled weirdos in today’s high school… Einstein is a good example. We all know his background, and yet… the rest is history.

So please, just remind your kids about this: You can’t judge a book by its cover. Give other kids a chance and you might find that they become your best friends. Ok, they might not be the “Kool Guy” at school yet, but who knows who they are to become one day? And if all they do is remain faithful to you as a friend, it is already more than many of the popular kids are likely to do.

Tell your kids not to follow the group when they start making fun of someone. Stand up for what you believe and remember that, today, you might be Mr. or Miss Popularity for some reason, but, when you hang out with people who are capable of making another feel that bad, they might not be that selective and you might be next.

And remember the old adage: Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are… There might be people you don’t want to be associated with. Sometimes, it might be better to look less cool for a week and way nicer and respectable for many years to come.

If we all do our part in this, maybe we can make our schools much nicer place!

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I Promise Myself

Monday, April 27th, 2009 by

To be so strong that nothing can disturb my peace of mind;
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person I meet;
To make all my friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them;
To look at the sunny side of everything and make my optimism come true;
To think only the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best;
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as I am about your own;
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future;
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature I meet a smile;
To give so much time to the improvement of myself that you have no time to criticize others;
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear; and too happy to permit the presence of trouble;
To think well of myself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words, but in great deeds;
To live in the faith that the whole world is on my side so long as I am true to the best that is in me.

This is an adapted version of a very nice poem by Christian D. Larson. I have a similar version of it right by my bed that follows me everywhere and that I read without fail every night just before I go to bed and every morning as I get up. I got my version from The Secret website. You can get it here too if you want.

The original was written almost a century ago and actually addresses the reader in the “you” form. For my purposes of improving myself, I like the talking-to-myself version and I am happy to take the risk that people may think I am totally mad and I talk to myself! It’s ok. There are worse things in life.

I always thought of myself as an optimist but I have to say that I really questioned this when I started to read this text. The very interesting thing is that, no matter how many times I have already read it, something always jumps at me every morning or every evening.

First I really noticed that, even though people would indeed describe me as an optimist, there were many things there that I wasn’t following. I do get upset and down like anyone else. But I usually pick myself up quite quickly and move on. But reading these wonderful statements every day, I have started to change things in my life and really become an optimist. I get upset less and I expect good things more. And I pass it on to the people around me, especially kids.

There is one part though that stops me every time: I promise myself to live in the faith that the whole world is on my side so long as I am true to the best that is in me. It’s the last part that really attracts my attention every morning and every evening: so long as I am true to the best that is in me. It is just so true! It sprung out of the poster onto my face one day and as I thought back about years past and looked around at what happens in the world, it really made sense to me.

How can you ever expect to be successful, to see positive things in your life if you are not true to yourself? If you don’t look for what is best in you and display it to the world? People say that a good relationship is when people get the best out of you. But who do you spend most time with but yourself? You have to have the perfect relationship with yourself before you can have any other or any hope of the life of your dreams.

Being happy for other’s victories when you are down in the gutter is the best that is in you, showing enthusiasm for life when things are tough is the best that is in you, recognizing your value and not letting others make you feel any less than what you really are is showing the best that is in you.

Christian D. Larson’s Optimist Creed should be read by kids from the time they learn how to read. Parents should teach their kids to read this from the earliest age possible. Kids understand way more than we think. Any child who is made aware of this Creed at an early age will have a much better life and will avoid all sorts of headaches growing up. He/she will be rocked to the sounds of self-esteem, success, possibilities and that the world IS a good place, despite all the media’s attempt to prove it otherwise. This child will have vision and dreams that he/she will realize before anyone else! This child will resist peer pressure and become a leader.

Use The Optimist Creed! Read it to your children, finish with it after the bed time story or post it by their bed or on their desk so that they can always see it. You’ll see them smile and flourish!

Oh and if you haven’t done so yet, take a couple of hours one night with them, get some popcorn and their favorite drinks, and sit and watch The Secret together!

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Morning School?

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 by

Sleepy

I was having this conversation a couple of days ago and I thought it would be an idea to get some feedback from more people.

Does school start too early in the morning?

I am personally not a morning person and, in my 17 years of teaching, getting up was the toughest thing most days. Now, much as I am not a morning person, I do get up and once I am up, I am up.

Kids, however, don’t seem to function like this. I worked in 5 different countries and in most places, school started around 8. I grew up in a system that was typically from 8 to 12 and then from 2 to 5 with variations of schedule depending on the day. I was half asleep in most of my first hour classes.

What I did notice in my years of teaching was that a lot of kids are very very un-responsive in that first class. I had a number of incidents where kids were literally asleep in class.

There was no way you could have an interactive class at that time and if you gave a test, there was a chance that the kids really didn’t have their ideas very clear. The only good thing about the early class was the peace and quiet everybody enjoyed… Perfect environment for a nap really.

I really ask myself if we are doing things right. Teachers, kids and parents alike are exhausted at the end of each term or semester. If kids are involved in any serious extra curricular activity which requires some form of commitment, they end up getting 5 hours sleep or so! Is that what we want for kids?

Wouldn’t it be better to start a bit later, have shorter classes but pack it in more efficiently to kids that are actually with us in the classroom as opposed to still in lala land?

I’d be happy to read your comments and see what you think!
Thanks!

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The Carpenter’s House

Friday, March 27th, 2009 by

Borrowing a story that you may have already heard today, but that needs to be brought back to mind sometimes… Very true and inspiring indeed. Thanks Tania for sharing it!

On the same topic, here’s a great book that all kids and parents should read: Richest Man in Babylon - The Success Secrets of the Ancients

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family.

He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. “This is your house, ” he said, “my gift to you.”

What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.

So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized that we would have done it differently.

Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity. The plaque on the wall says, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.” Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.

Unknown Author

source:
http://www.inspirationpeak.com/shortstories.html

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Attitude

Saturday, February 21st, 2009 by

Wildfire and Coconut Caroline
Something just came to my mind recently observing the cats I have in my house. It really struck me how relevant this would be to kids and parents, and how much it can impact people.

Earl Nightingale has a chapter in one of his recordings called “Attitude”. I played it to my class a couple of years ago and was very interested hearing the comments it raised amongst a group of 13-year-olds.

But let’s start with my cat story. There are three cats now in my house. First there was mine, Coconut, and then two little strays were rescued and added to the pack! Now I’ll spare you the details of them getting to know each other, the love-hate relationship finally turned love-love! All is well now and we are a happy family, with everybody getting along very well.

Now, here’s the interesting thing. One of the new little kittens, Wildfire, is very friendly and the other one, Caroline, is very shy. Caroline is actually more than shy. She gets very scared at everything and tends to hide a lot. I don’t know what happened to her while she was out there, but some people must have been very mean to her.
In the past few weeks, I have seen her gain a lot of confidence and it is much easier for us to approach her. But in reality, she gets a lot less attention than Wildfire. I always try to make a point to go and find her and say hello to Caroline when I come home and good night when I go to bed. Wildfire however, comes to me when I open the door, usually accompanied by Coconut and both will get a hug straight away.

If I have been shopping and I have things to put away I will usually do that first and I may forget to go and say hi to little Caroline. At night, Coconut and Wildfire are usually on the bed or near it, in the same room at least and Caroline stays in another room in her own bed.

Poor Caroline misses out on so much! I feel a bit guilty, but isn’t this what happens in life? By being stuck in her fears and the idea that she has created in her cute little cat mind that, maybe, people will hurt her, Caroline misses out on the people who love her. It is difficult to translate this to her in cat language and all I can do right now and keep loving her more until she really trusts me 100%.

People, and more importantly, children, tend to react the same way. Kids who get in trouble with a teacher may develop an apprehension with that teacher and clam up. This attitude will cause them to miss out on a good experience in class. With parents, the same can happen. They might once misinterpret something a parent says and change their attitude.

I can’t explain all this to little Caroline, but you can do it with your kids. Going towards people is what makes a difference. Your attitude is everything. What you give is what you get! If you smile at people, they’ll smile back. If you show willingness, you can get whatever you want.

Don’t let one event affect you for the rest of your life. Turn the page, move on and rise above! Don’t let other people dictate the person you want to be. If people are unpleasant to you, don’t fall for it and keep being nice. You’ll always come out of it stronger!

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Old Teacher Stories

Friday, February 20th, 2009 by

Great teacher!

Just a quick message…

Do you have any cool teacher stories? Someone who impacted your life in a positive way? Someone who told you one thing one time, in passing maybe, and who really made a difference?

Please share your stories here. Give us your funny anecdotes or your moving stories. They might be what someone else needs right now and maybe you will be able to pass on what made a difference to you all those years ago.

And here’s another thing! I will wait until the end of the month and I’ll get a few people to help me read through all the stories and select the best three. Each of them will win a FREE COPY of the Better At School book, either e-Book or paper back. Your choice! Make sure you enter your email address in your comments!

Here’s a couple of my stories: (and by the way, I am not part of the competition!)

I had this PE teacher in middle and high school. This was in France and for some reason, that teacher was known as Toto and everybody used “tu” when addressing him. This is the friendly, informal way to address people in French and you don’t usually do that with teachers. But he was a friend to all of us. I don’t even remember his real name! He was always Toto!

I often think of his dedication to us. We were a group of cross country running girls. It just kinda happened. We were all in the same age group and the team naturally formed. But Toto took it a step further. During the normal after school training times, he would take us out of the school and we would run in the hills surrounding the area. It was great. And then on Sundays, he decided to organize this extra training, in his own time for us. He would pick us up in his van in the morning and we would drive a few miles out of town in the bigger hills and we would just run. One time I remember it was snowing and we just trained anyway. We just loved it and it really didn’t feel like something you had to do. We all looked forward to it!

As a result, our little team qualified for the French Championship that year and we cam 6th overall, out of about 50 teams, if I remember well. We took a trip to the Champagne area where the championship was taking place. Hours before the race, Toto had organized a visit of one of the Champagne cellars and we all had our little glass of Champagne! Maybe that’s why we did well! The whole trip was great fun. Toto was great and really loved his job and did it for the kids. Thank God there are still a few Toto’s left out there who really know why they got into teaching!

Another teacher I remember was a professor I had at college when I was studying English. He did a civilization class on Australia and Canada. His classes were great! All the material he got was weeks old. He made sure to take at least one trip to whatever country he was going to be lecturing about and brought us back the latest news, the latest culture. He was passionate about what he taught and really got students interested.

I remember taking one of his exams and it was one of my best memories of taking a test. I guess that his classes had been so interesting that I had just naturally learned things and it was great fun to talk about it in the exam. It was also the best grade I ever got in an exam at university. Later on, he helped me go on an exchange to the United States and this really changed my life. A few years later, he got sick and passed away. I often wish he was still around so that he could give me advice.

I could go on about other teachers that impacted my life, but here’s your turn now!

Thanks for sharing!

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Faut Pas Rêver…

Friday, January 30th, 2009 by

We have this saying in French. “Faut pas rêver”. It means something like “you shouldn’t dream”, in the sense that you should keep a “realistic” (whatever that means!) vision of your future. This phrase is used a lot. somebody said it to me recently and I thought “what a shame!”

Dreams, a vision, great plans, outrageous as they may seem are what drive people. And yet dreaming is one thing that people lose and they shouldn’t. Somewhere down the line, something happens and people lose their vision. Kids have dreams, they just tell you about the trips they want to take, the people they want to meet, the champions they want to become. A lot of the time, parents, because they think it is what is best, try to give their kids a sense of “reality”. They will tell them it is all very well to want this or that but it’s not easy, so start with something easier first. Or they tell them flat out that “faut pas rêver”, in whatever language or with whatever words…

Then kids grow up and their dream is already weakened. They get a job, a house, a family, responsibilities and their dream dies. They go through life. They don’t LIVE life, they go through it. And the sad thing is that they give the same message to their kids. Maybe because they don’t want them to be disappointed.

But the reality is that, somehow, they gave up. They gave up on their dream. There might be a thousand reasons why. Maybe their parents actually encouraged them to follow their dream but something else happened or it was too hard and they gave up. It doesn’t matter what the reason is. The very sad thing is that so many people live like that.

And the even sadder thing is that most dreams get lost when you are a teenager. That’s where it starts. And then it never comes back. Kids who have a dream need to be encouraged. Even if it seems wild to you. Even if YOU think they have no chance. As long as THEY think they can do it, they have a chance.

Dr. Martin Luther King had a dream. Il faut rêver…

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Crash!

Saturday, January 17th, 2009 by

Hudson Crash

A couple of days ago, a man performed a miracle by crash landing his plane into the Hudson River and saved the lives of 154 people and his own. This is an awesome deed and I am wondering if, maybe, this happened to remind us about the GOOD things that happen in this world.

It saddens me to see all the usual surrounding negativity and it is refreshing to be able to see such a great, positive event being reported on. Of course, the reality is that many great deeds happen every day but are never known to the world. But this is not my point today…

I fly quite a lot and I can’t help but try to imagine being one of these people on the plane. The passengers, the crew, the pilot and co-pilot… 155 people just SURVIVED a plane crash… One hundred and fifty five people. 155… A plane crash… Do you realize? This just seems unbelievable! How more hopeful can you get?

I just imagine what is going to happen in these people’s lives once they get out of their shock. This is like being given a chance at a second life! This is like a PS3 game where you have an extra life to play with.

I am trying to imagine how shaken these people will be and what priorities they will see in their lives from now on. I bet you a lot of them will jump into things they’ve always wanted to do but never dared. I bet you they will stop sweating the small stuff and appreciate what they have and never take anything for granted again.

Of course, it would take a lot less to shake anybody out of their comfortable life slumber. But, truly, it seems that most great achievements, bringing to life fulfillment, often come after some tragedy or obstacle in someone’s life. I am no exception.

What is it that we do wrong in our society that brings people to get so comfortable that they lose sense of how great their lives is and can be? Why does it take a near death experience, a crippling accident, an illness or some form of drama to make people react? Why can’t people see how lucky they are with what they have, but also realize that they can reach for the stars? What stops people from following their heart and hunches to pursue their dream?

What is the worst that can happen? When these people boarded their flight, they probably didn’t try to answer this question; otherwise they wouldn’t have got on the plane. What is the worst that can happen when you board a plane? The plane can crash and you are pretty much guaranteed to die. And yet no one thinks that way when they are going to meet their family and friends for Thanksgiving. But they are taking a huge risk. Because, even though the odds are low, you may die. This time, 155 people were unbelievably lucky.

Many people live life in third gear. Third gear is not bad. It’s not too slow, it’s not too fast, it’s comfortable. It won’t take you very far any time soon though. I don’t think that any of the 155 survivors are going to settle for third gear. They will now ask themselves more often: “what is the worst that can happen if I…”. Fill in the blank yourself. What do you want out of life? A new job, a better relationship, a brighter future? Make it happen!

These survivors have a greater purpose and this experience is going to shake them out of their torpor and they will live their lives to the fullest. Most of us need to get out of our torpor; we just have to find it in ourselves to do it. No one needs a plane crash.

Or did we all need it? Did the whole world need it so that we could all be shaken, pushed, awaken and shown the hope around us? Let’s go after it!

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Watch Your Relationships!

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 by

This should be read by kids and parents together.

Young children are known to be pretty horrid to each other. I have heard some of the meanest things in playgrounds!
Teenagers go through a lot as far as relationships go. Everybody knows it and everybody goes through it or has gone through it, so it’s no big deal. We know, as adults, that we get over it eventually. Still, sometimes, it really hurts and teenage hormones may lead to unexpected reactions. Children and teenagers don’t always have the maturity to put things into perspective yet.

Discovering new feelings is disturbing. There is more and more social pressure in schools to be a certain way and part of the “in” crowd. But the “in” crowd is not the right one for every child. When facing a difficult social situation, when you try to adjust pretending to be someone else to fit in, or when you find yourself left out because you won’t settle for certain rules, it creates a world of new emotions that have to be faced.

Coming from the children world where, granted, kids can indeed be mean to one another, but where things are also easily forgotten, the teenage world is a bit tougher because things affect kids in a different way. To avoid pain, embarrassment and shame, many teenagers forget who they are and follow the herd. For them, it is better to have bad friends than no friends at all and they take the consequences. Even though in reality, there are always other friends but to them, it feels like there aren’t any or they are not worth giving up the status they have acquired.

As teenagers, you have to stay aware of who you are and understand your value. This is a very hard thing to do for some people. The pressure of so-called friends may drag you down. You must stick with the friends who get the best out of you. I am talking about friendships AND more involved relationships.

It is a very hard concept to grasp for kids and teenagers alike. I can’t tell you how many 14-year-olds I have had to console when their best friend decided to “dump” them after some bitter fight over silliness. Of course, for them, it is not silly. A first experience of back-stabbing is not pleasant. What teenagers often don’t see is that they don’t need people like that in their lives. And yet they fall out and love each other again over and over.

I always ask kids what those friends bring to their lives. Any relationship is an exchange. To put it very simply: What I do makes you happy and what you do makes me happy. I grow thanks to your influence and vice versa. My life gets richer because you are in it and so does yours because I am in it. Teenagers have to be reminded constantly of this. Some are stronger than others or more mature and will be able to be burnt once and then understand and move on to greener pastures, but others take longer or, in worst cases, really fall into the trap.

I am not saying that there are good kids and bad kids. There are simply different people, with different values, different backgrounds, different histories, cultures, ideas, opinions, etc. who do not necessarily function well with just everybody. In the formative teenage years, you haven’t always completely defined yourself and influences can take you far from who you really are.

Boys and girls take the same risks. Girls will cry and scream more and boys will punch and kick more but the result is the same. Kids have to learn as soon as possible to surround themselves with people who add to their lives and only produce positive emotions. They also have to learn that they have to do the same if they want good relationships. Little upsets are always likely to happen in a relationship but that’s normal and doesn’t have a long lasting result. But if you see your kids mad, hurt, disappointed on a regular basis, look into it, don’t just let it be thinking it’s only teenage stuff. Self-esteem at that age is too important.

The key to remember is: What you give is what you get. Never lower yourself to someone else’s level. Be your true, honest, friendly, generous, genuine and happy self and you will only attract like-minded people.

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Studying tips

Saturday, December 6th, 2008 by

Ok guys, 2 weeks to go before the break. I bet you have a bunch of tests coming up and you don’t know where to start. Well, first let me tell you something about studying. Studying is not staring at your notes for 10 minutes. In fact, it’s not staring at your notes for half an hour or an hour either. Studying doesn’t mean that you sit still and look at books, papers, or a computer. Especially not a computer! Way too distracting.

Studying starts with listening to what the teacher tells you in class before the test… You have 2 ears and one mouth, which tends to suggest that you should listen double the amount of time that you talk. And before the test, what you want to listen to are CLUES. Teachers always let something slip. Plus you know your teachers by now so you know what kind of test they give.

Then you get home and you review your notes. You highlight the important points, you re-write them, you list them, summarize them, first in your head if you want and then on paper. Then you compare notes. Whatever is missing is what you don’t know well enough. People who say they studied well but went blank when they got the test paper are people who were blank for a start! Blanking out in an exam is simply the result of lack of preparation. The fear of failure takes over when you get your test paper because you KNOW that you are not ready. If you are ready, you may forget a couple of points, but you won’t go blank.

So back to studying… Once you are pretty ok with what you know on the topic, just make up a test. Come up with a list of 10 questions, think of the type of questions that your teacher usually asks, do something similar and give yourself adequate time to do it. Then check your answers with the original notes or books and see how you did. If you wouldn’t give yourself an A, then go over the parts you failed and start the process again.

Of course, there is a lot of work to do now if you didn’t study as you went along in the last few weeks. So if you are one of those people who likes to say: oh, I’ll do that tomorrow” and find that you haven’t done it 2 months later, you need to make ONE resolution for this year: Never procrastinate - good word for you to learn if you didn’t know it and then ban it forever from your vocabulary!

The best studying tip I can give you for now is to study everything every day. Regardless of whether you have homework or not. Spend 5 or 10 minutes for each subject reviewing what you did that day. You’ll see that when it is time for the finals, you already know most of what you need to know.

Good Luck to you all for your tests! Hope you get what you want in your report card but remember, whatever you do get, YOU are the one who achieved it! Don’t thank or blame anyone else!!

Have a great and Blessed Christmas everyone!

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"Ms. Bernard was that unique type of teacher who was in touch with her students and kept parents informed on a regular basis of our children’s successes as well as their shortcomings.  For many years, Ms. Bernard was the only teacher at St. Ignatius who provided parents regular feed-back on tests and assignments through the internet.  Because she was also in touch with her students on a personal level, she was able to detect when something was amiss with one of her students and if she considered it sufficiently serious, would contact one of us to share her concerns. 

Ms. Bernard saw the potential in her students and provided them with the encouragement and support they required to meet the challenges she placed before them.  She was instrumental in providing support, tutorship and encouragement to allow one of our daughters, at the young age of 14, to be examined in the IGCSE (Spanish) and score an A*.  She also provided support and liaison between a Private French Tutor and St. Ignatius School to facilitate one of our daughters to be examined in the IGCSE (French) and score an ‘A’ at age 13. 

Ms. Bernard impressed upon her students and on us as parents the value of broad and well-rounded education; one that extends well beyond the classrooms and, indeed, beyond the shores of our Islands.  It was as a result of Ms. Bernard’s encouragement that one of our daughters travelled to Scotland to attend summer school at Gordonstoun.  This experience has contributed significantly to our daughter’s growth and appreciation of world cultures. Ms. Bernard truly understands the concept of ‘education’ and its value in today’s society."

- R. Whittaker-Myles, Cayman Islands