Who's Your Hero?

This Saturday is Halloween, and we'll surely see our share of goblins, ghouls, and superheroes. I have always been a fan of superheroes. My favorite is Superman. As a kid, I loved that he had super strength, could fly, and was bulletproof. As an adult, I love what he represents--a person from another planet dedicating his life to saving other people--strangers--because he always tries to see the good in humanity. 

I am blessed to have a real life superman in my life--well, superwoman actually. This Saturday, my wife, Courtney, left for Haiti to be a part of our Parish's medical and dental mission trip. For some time she has felt God's call to be of service to others. Last year, locally, she organized several pancake breakfasts for her former students at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Pinellas Park. She also anonymously (well, up until just now) organized and donated a graduation dinner for those students, too. 

This is her first time travelling out of the country to complete service. I hope you will join me in praying for her and the entire mission team heading to Sainte-Suzanne, Haiti. I know the people she meets will be as blessed to experience her joy and love for God as I am each and every day. I did speak to her yesterday, and she wanted me to let everyone know, "Tout bagay bon" which is Creole for "It's all good!" 

  

This is Courtney striking her superhero pose this summer in Oregon. 

Report Cards are Going Home This Week

“Report cards are going home this week!”

There aren’t many phrases that have struck more fear in the hearts of young children. However, with advent of electronic gradebooks and their accompanying email notices, grades are not usually a surprise at the end of the quarter. In fact, except for our 1^st graders, we do not even send home paper report cards at the end of the quarter. 

You may be wondering how to have the "report card conversation" with your child. Here are a few suggestions:

1.  Focus on the Growth--Instead of saying “Why didn’t you get an A in social studies” try saying, “What can you do next quarter to get an A in social studies?”
2. Look at the Approaches to Learning and Conduct Grades—We have all heard as children and have probably said as adults, “I don’t care about the grade. I just care that you gave your best.” However, we probably forget these words when our child brings home a “C.”   These two categories measure effort and behavior. Compare them in context to the academic grade. An Approaches to Learning grade of 2 (out of 4) and an academic score of a “C” means the grade could be improved with more effort, while an ATL grade of 4 and an academic score of a “C” means they put forth the effort and that was the result.
3. Grades are Destinations—Look at the journey and celebrate the successes that happened along the way. What behaviors led to success? What habits helped lead to the grade? What should be repeated and what should be revised?

Regardless of the grade your child brings home, I hope you can have a positive conversation and find success in the quarters to come:

                               

*Note: students in EC4 and Kindergarten receive their first report card at the end of the 1^st semester (December) and all students receive paper copies of the semester report cards (December and June).

How was School Today?

“Good”

                --Anonymous

I was scouring the internet and my book of quotes for something profound and wise about parenting or talking with children. I found many, but thought this was the most appropriate quote, since it is probably the way 99% of our students respond when asked about their day at school. Sometimes, if they are feeling particularly talkative, they may say “It was fine, Dad.” Most of my conversations look like this:

So, how do you get more than a two or three word response from your child when you ask them about their day? Three words.

Practice. Practice. Practice. To help you start practicing, here are three tips for fostering conversations about school.  

Ask a specific question that forces a multiple word response. 

 Rather than asking, “How was your day?” try asking “What was the best part of your day?” Then, ask the follow up question, “Why was lunch the best part of your day?” 

Use Renweb as a resource.

 Renweb has a calendar of events and teachers often post assignments, as well as grades. So instead of asking “Did you learn anything today?” try saying “I saw that your class is reading Because of Winn-Dixie, what is that about?”

Use “wait time” and bite your tongue.

Sometimes the best question is the one not asked. When your child gets in the car or you see them at home, just say, “I am so glad to see you” and count to 10. Usually, they will start telling you about their day without you asking. 

 

We easily fall into the habit of using conversational crutches. For example, how often, do you greet someone on the phone or in person by saying, “Hey, what’s going on?” or “What are you up to?” and then just keep on talking because you didn't really expect them to tell you exactly what they were doing, that is just how you start the conversation. Don’t make the same mistake by having your default greeting when you pick up your child be, “How was school?” Hopefully if you can frame different questions using the tips above your conversations will look more like this:

DISCLAIMER: Results may vary, especially if your child is in middle school!

This Little Light of Mine...

How do you let it shine? We ask our students to "Be a Light to Others," but what does that really mean? Here is a scientific explanation of how light can pass through objects:

It can be transparent (pass right through):

It can be translucent (allowing some light to pass through):

Or it can be opaque (allowing no light to pass through):

Imagine that we are the cups in the photos and God is the flashlight. Do we allow God's word to flow directly through us? Do we take in God's word and only reflect what we want? Or, worse, do let sin darken our "glass" so much that God's message cannot be seen at all? 

When we ask our students to be a light to others we are not actually asking them to be any of these. Instead, we are asking them to take in God's word, interact with it, and create something beautiful.  Think of the way light interacts with a prism or crystal:

In this picture the flashlight clearly interacts with the crystal causing its shape to be transformed and into a ball of light that even casts off some rainbow spirals.  By opening up to God's voice and asking for his presence in our lives, we can cast a beautiful light that will help others come to know God better.