Let some good energy ~flow~ through you.

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. How do we simplify? How do we make better, more objective, and more informed decisions? How do we teach our children to make better decisions? How about applying a visual approach designed for business to life and school? It's called the 6 Thinking Hats Approach

Use these simple communication exercises for couples to communicate better and improve your marriage or relationship today. Free communication worksheet included.

Prioritizing yourself is an essential step toward self-growth. Discover solo date ideas to help you make the most of your alone time.

Want to increase your productivity? Research says to take a 5-minute break. This article talks about why and how you should take a break!

Resources, tips, and materials to help you, help children with autism

Next time your kids say "I'm bored!" hand them this list with over 105 ideas! Or create a boredom jar by cutting the ideas into strips.

Quesenbery, Whitney; Brooks, Kevin. 2010. Storytelling for User Experience. New York: Rosenfeld Media. www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/storytelling/

Learn the traits that might indicate dyslexia in students and what you can do inside and outside the classroom to better support these students.

If you want to quickly get over a fight with your husband or wife, you need to focus on one thing: listening! This free guide will show you exactly what to do...

Get people to do what you want without them even realizing you’ve persuaded them.

Achieving a strong pelvic floor takes more than just kegels. The following eight pelvic floor exercises can lead to better sex and sexual health for women.

So you've just formed a new group, huh? Well, get ready to embark on an exciting journey because every newly formed group goes through the 5 stages of group dynamics. And let me tell you, these stages are the secret sauce to creating a harmonious team with amazing chemistry!Now, don't expect tea

I'm Melissa! I'm WILD about reading, writing & math workshops! I blog about my classroom and I share book recommendations and organizational tips.

Do you like to read? Do you want to earn money? If so, you might be able to find some side hustle gigs that pay you to do what you love: get paid to read books.

Lymphatic drainage facial massage can improve uffiness, dull skin, acne, and even sensitivity. And doing it yourself is easier than you think!

How to think on your feet and make better decisions faster.

Does the following story sound familiar to you? For years, the Social Studies teacher and I banged our heads against a wall with getting our students to fully explain their answers, support their ideas with evidence, and then explain and/or analyze that evidence. We used witty acronyms, taught it consistently across the curriculum, modeled examples... and yet, students still under-performed. My solution... So this year, I decided to make a keepsake/reference tool that our eighth grade students could use all year long (in all content area classes) and even take with them to high school. And voila - the analysis booklets were born. The first (black) booklet is a crash course on what analysis IS and what it LOOKS like in different genres (like on tests, essays, and science lab reports/technical writing). The second (gray) booklet breaks down the 5-step process of fully leading into, stating, analyzing, and transitioning out of a direct quote or fact. After initial instruction, my 8th graders used them to write timed, "open-booklet" literary analysis essays... and, for the first time in five years, a majority of the class could fully embed and analyze direct quotes that logically supported the topic sentences in body paragraphs. (...Imagine my kind-of-freaking-out face inserted here...?!) These worked so well that I just HAD to post them to TpT... My philosophy is, if it works, then other teachers and students could probably use it too, right? ... Enter my friend Nouvelle, another secondary ELA teacher, who bought the booklets and decided to use them in her classroom, too. She made this awesome video to show her kids how to put the booklet together (which we agreed only takes about 20 minutes of total assembly on average), and she gave me permission to share the video with you! She's getting awesome results from her students, and to date, about 20 other teachers seem to feel the same way. Also, in response to a teacher's request, I made an interactive notebook anchor page (so that students can "frame" and keep their booklets safe in their notebooks forever!)... ...and a zoomed-in sample page/poster, ready to print, photocopy, put under a doc camera, or blow up into poster size... I'm really excited to see how these booklets continue to help my students over time, and I hope they make a visible difference in your students' writing, too! Let me know what you think! ;-)

If you want to support what I’m doing with this blog, just follow any of the product links and order whatever you want off of Amazon at no additional cost to you. That’s it and I’ll get a little bonus. Thanks so much for clicking! This is part eight in my series on Nonviolent Communication. You can find parts one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven here. Today we'll be finishing up this series by focusing on anger & gratitude. Anger It's important to learn how to fully express anger (and not in superficial ways like hitting or blaming). Anger functions like an alarm clock; it signals needs we have that aren't being met so we can do a better job of focusing on them. Even "righteous" anger should be handled this way. Anger takes a tremendous amount of energy and instead of focusing this energy dwelling on horrible things like murder, we should look at the root - what needs aren't being met - in order to understand what led to the action. This is not excusing such atrocities, but attempting to enhance life. 3 Things to Remember When You're Feeling Angry Realize that what people do isn't the cause, but the stimulus, of your anger. What is the cause? Choosing to blame or sit in judgement (even if not conscious of it) instead of focusing on which needs aren't being met Focus on your own feelings and needs so that connections can be made with others Focus on the other person's feelings and needs, which allows us to share in common humanity and follow what's going on in the heart instead of what's going on in the head Steps for Dealing with Anger Stop and stay quiet for a moment, then: Identify the thoughts that are making you angry (what action set you off - like the fact that when someone arrived at a business party, they spoke to all the men first) Look for the need behind whatever judgement jumps to mind (that person must be sexist since he talked to men first & I have a need to feel valued equally as a woman) Share what needs haven't been met by this action, which can require lots of courage *You might first need to empathize with the other person so they'll be able to reciprocate to you After you share your need, stop and ask the other person to state,what they heard Take your time doing all of this (sometimes using a card as a cheat sheet, like the graphic below, can help walk you through this process until it becomes automatic) If you often find yourself angry at others, then it might be helpful to practice these skills. Try this exercise: Make an "I don't like people who are ______" list. Then ask what your needs are when you make those judgements. Gratitude Nonviolent Communication is not just about dealing with difficult issues. At its core, it's about celebrating life, so this means also expressing gratitude with yourself and others. As with everything we've discussed in this series so far, our intentions behind our actions are vitally important. This means we have to scrutinize our praise and compliments. Although these forms of communication seem positive, they can still come from a place of judgement, making them helpful tools only on a short-term basis. This is because their effect wears off once people realize they are being manipulated in this way. Remember that labeling others is always a judgement. This is true even with positive labels. "You're such a good boy" might seem like a helpful thing to share with your son, but it creates impossible standards for him to live up to (the need to always be good and perfect, as well as a tie in his mind to his behavior and your love/approval). In order to use NVC to express gratitude, you need to celebrate the way your life has been enriched by others and not hand out praise just to get something. Keep in mind also that if you are giving a compliment in order to help another person's self-esteem, then you're really promoting an addiction to relying on others for their feeling of worth. Steps for Expressing Gratitude Identify actions that were a stimulus Share what needs were fulfilled Share what pleasurable feelings you had that came from the fulfilled need Just as we want to show ourselves and others empathy in difficult situations, we must always receive gratitude with empathy, too. (Often this is done from a place of egotism or false humility) Well, we've made it through the series. Whew! I know these posts have been a bit heavy at times, but NVC is such a helpful tool for relationships that its principles had to be shared. I hope you use (or at least consider) implementing some of these relationship strategies in your life. Download a printable version of the cheat sheet here What do you think of the strategies and steps of NVC? Do they sound like something you might use? Do you think you might investigate this topic further, or just use the information I presented to help improve your communication skills with those around you? I'd love to hear - leave a comment or email me at lisahealy (at) outlook (dot) com. Linked up with Thrifty Thursday Yes Works for Me Kitchen Fun & Crafty Friday Frivolity

Learn about the universal moral principle, from world religions throughout history: The Golden Rule. Find resources and ideas to use with your children.

Happy Friday!!! Those are my two favorite words right now... I hope you have had a great week. I spent most of my week on Pinterest!! I think it should be outlawed!! I have lost a few hours of sleep due to my hours of browsing and pinning- but I love it. I know I am late joining, but I knew that time was going to be wasted if I joined, but I took the plunge anyway. I just need to learn to pace myself. I always start my weekends off by making a to-do list. It just keeps me organized. I'm a stickler for organization. I did a search for "to-do lists" on Pinterest and found this one. Gosh you can find EVERYTHING on there! Anyway, I love this list and need to do everything on it. However, I'm not sure I can stay off the Internet now that Blogger died for a few days! But it's all good! What are you up to this weekend? Whatever it is, make it a good one!

What can we say? We messed up. Our list of "80 Books Every Man Should Read," published several years ago, was rightfully called out for its lack of diversity in both authors and titles. So we invited eight female literary powerhouses, from Michiko Kakutani to Anna Holmes to Roxane Gay, to help us create a new list. Each participant made 10 picks. It's a new year, a new Esquire.com. We're looking forward to reading and we hope you are, too.

Success? Rehearsal? Have you met my choir?! I know, I know. Choir members can be chatty and they don't always show up on time and sometimes it feels like you stand up in front of them and say the same. things. every. week. I get it. But success doesn't mean everything will be perfect.

Western Medicine has made some incredible advances, but I often find myself in awe...

Visiting pretty Chiang Dao is the perfect day trip from Chiang Mai. Even better to stay a few days. If you do, here's our top 10 things to do in Chiang Dao.

How do you stop students from blurting out in the classroom? Do you have some processes in place to curb blurting, but they're just not working for you

Yale offers many free online courses. Here are some of their best free courses on personal development, health, business, arts, humanities, science, and more.

The wedding procession, or entrance of the bridal party, occurs in a certain order that culminates with the bride. The bridal procession begins after all guests

Funny flowcharts to help you with daily irreverent decision making. From Inconsequential Dilemmas by Knock Knock.