High expectations

I was a bit disappointed in my daughter yesterday when I substituted in her class for the first time. I was all excited thinking what a great day it would be, that she would be my little helper, and so on. Well, apparently she is one of those kids that acts up more when their mom is around. She kept pushing the limits and I almost had to give her a time-out on two separate occasions. And since her friends saw her goofing off, even when her mom was in the room, they figured they could do it to. I had to warn them several times throughout the day.

We got through the day without any major snags, and I didn't even get a headache. Being a substitute teacher is a tough job, that's for sure. My job at the library feels like a walk in the park by comparison. Starting last week, all the teachers have been complaining about students acting up without reason. We figured everyone is just ready for Thanksgiving break, which is the entire week off school in our district. I know I'm ready for a break!

Glowing report

I feel I must brag a little bit about my daughter who is in the first grade this year. We had our first parent/teacher conference last week and she got glowing reviews from her teacher. Since my daughter has always been very social and outgoing, I was a bit worried about her socializing during class and talking too much to her classmates during work time. But her teacher says that hasn't really been a problem for her and she is doing quite well. She got A's in every subject and pluses in all areas of the report card.

Her teacher even said that my daughter has the neatest and most organized journal she has ever seen, even when she taught second and fourth grade! She uses the journal as an example for the other students to show how organized it can be so they can try to do the same. I was very proud indeed.

Appreciative Coaching

Have you ever heard of Capella? It's an accredited, fully online university where you can get a distance learning degree. Your classes are all taken from your computer, so you can work it around your schedule to best fit your needs. Capella currently offers 82 graduate and undergraduate specializations and 16 certificate programs. With almost 18,000 students worldwide, many people are furthering their education without totally disrupting their schedules.

One of the faculty members of Capella, Sara Orem, has co-authored a book entitled "Appreciative Coaching: A Positive Process for Change." The book is based on recent developments by psychologists who suggest that people and organizations flourish when they focus on human ideals and achievements. They use the term Appreciative Coaching to describe teaching with the use of positive images, dreams, and focusing on people's positive aspects, rather than pointing out their problems. Basically, making people feel good about themselves, so the organization can work together to achieve their goal. The book is geared toward individual coaches of managers, executives, and “those who do one-on-one work with people who can influence and create change in their organizations.”

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