Hey, y'all! I'm taking a break from tonight's usual Facebook LIVEsession as the husband has requested a night out. Which will probably involve dining at the fine Southern establishment known as Cracker Barrel (who can deny those biscuits, I ask you, WHO?!) which I ain't above passing up. But I'll be back next Wednesday, 8 pm CST to chat about all things First Year Art Teacher-y! You can still catch our past couple of LIVE chats here. This week, I thought I'd chat about how to do something you'd think is basic but is actually pretty stinkin' tough: speaking your mind. It's one thing to do it...and it's another thing to speak your mind in such a way that folks are open enough to listen. Even if your opinion isn't a popular one. Here are my suggestions: * You can say anything, ANY-STINKIN'-THANG, if you just choose your words wisely. It's funny, I'm super duper non-confrontational but have noticed of late that if I don't speak my mind (nicely) and stand up for myself (calmly) no one else will. It's time to wo-man up and say what needs to be said...in a way that will be listened to. * Speak with your end goal in mind. This is directly from my extremely wise husband. Do you want your end goal to be that folks pause, listen to what you have to say and give it some thought? Of course you do! So don't offend them with your words. Use words that will get you to your end goal: a conversation. * Say it with flowers. Does anyone else remember that old ad? I'm not saying send folks flowers, I'm just saying use words that are pretty and smell good not ones that stink and are offensive. Put yourself on the receiving end. Is that a bouquet of words you'd wanna hear? * Start with "I feel..." No one can argue with your feelings. Unless you are irrational and crazy. In which case they will just say, "well, she is irrational and crazy, so it would make sense she feels that way..." Be honest without don't be a drama queen. * Don't yuck someone's yum. This is a direct quote from my buddy Patty Palmer. I love it so. Say what you need to say but don't yuck someone's yum while doing so. Sigh. If only doing such was this easy, right? Practice makes us better, y'all. I find that being honest with your feelings and open enough to listen to other side of any conversation is the very best way to go. Love y'all!
In case you missed our chat on Classroom Management (and a preview of next week's chat!) get your goodlookin' self here!
I had so much fun chatting with y'all last week that I thought we could do it again tonight. Since today was our last day before the holidays, I'm in an especially GRAND mood (I'm already in my pj's and on the couch, how's that for kickin' off my break right?) Last wee, the subject of classroom management came up...a lot. I know that I'm definitely feeling like that's something I'm going to be (re)addressing come January (along with establishing new clean up routines because...WHUUUUT IS EVEN HAPPENING?!) so let's chat about that also. Getting the new year back on the right foot is what's gonna make finishing the school year fun. So let's share ideas tonight! I'll be chatting right here at 8 pm CST. I hope you'll drop by, introduce yourself, tell us where you are from and share your classroom management tips, tricks and/or woes! See ya real soon.
In case you missed my chat on Time Management (and many other things!)...you can still view it for one week here!
Hey there, cats and kittens! I hope you'll join me this evening for my first Facebook Live. So, like, I've never done a Facebook Live and my hubs just asked me if I'd given it a test run yet. Um, no. I am divin' into this thing head first without checking the water for sharks or 'gators cuz that's how crazy I am. Hope to see you tonight, Wednesday, December 14th, 8pm CST for our first Live chat. I'll be talking about Time Management because I get a whole lotta questions on how I manage my time (which is simply hysterical to me). Get all my magical tips and tricks (bwahaha!) tonight and I'll see you real soon.