Books on my Nightstand

Posted on December 11, 2013 by clarajcarroll

Books on my Nightstand

Nightstand

On my nightstand you might find a cup of hot tea, a plate of cookie crumbs, holiday catalogs, a dim lamp, a music box and these books. I enjoy providing for you these yearly reviews of some of my favorite books. I hope you’ll hurry to your closest bookstore or online site and order these for your own personal nightstand. Read them over the holidays and you’ll be a better person and educator because of it! Happy reading and Happy Holidays!

The Blessing CupPatricia Polacco

Patricia Polacco. (2013). The blessing cup. ISBN-13:9781442450479.

One of my favorite children’s authors, Patricia Polaccoshares a story of family, tradition, and, most of all, love. The story is told of her great-grandmother Anna coming to America and the legacy of the family’s china tea set. The tea cup from the original tea set in the story is still in Patricia Polacco’s family today. I believe you will want to share this beautiful story with your entire family.

How Children Succeed
Paul Tough. (2013). How children succeed: Grit, curiosity, and the hidden power of character. ISBN-13: 9780544104402.

The story we usually tell about childhood and success is the one about intelligence. It seems success comes to those who score highest on exams from preschool admissions to ACTs. In his book, Paul Tough ambitiously looks at mysterious life questions like: who succeeds and who fails? Why do some children thrive while others lose their way? And what can any of us do to steer an individual child – or a whole generation of children – away from failure and towards success? InHow Children Succeed, he argues for a very different understanding of what makes a child successful. Drawing on groundbreaking research in neuroscience, economics, and psychology, Tough demonstrates that the qualities that matter most have less to do with IQ and more to do with character: skills like grit, curiosity, conscientiousness, and optimism. I believe if every educator read and implemented the basic concepts of this book, we would see a tremendous change in the way our students succeed in life. I haven’t been able to put the book down – it is well worth the read!

 

Lean In

Sharyl Sandberg. (2013). Lean in: Women, work, and the will to lead. ISBN: 978-0-385-34994-9.

Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg has a favorite quote: “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” She says she would speak out more on behalf of women and that is exactly what she is doing in her book Lean In. In it, Sandberg is calling on other women, as she puts it, to “lean in” and embrace success. As the mother of two young children, Sandberg encourages us to create the life we want, to be leaders at work and partners at home, and to be champions of other women. Sandberg encourages us to persevere in our professional lives and have a satisfying home life. Her goal is to create conversations to support one another – women and men of all ages. To begin your own journey of ‘leaning in’ view Sharyl Sandberg’s TED talk.

One Thousand Gifts
Ann Voskamp. (2010). One thousand gifts. ISBN: 978-0-310-3219-0. Just like you, Ann Voskamp hungers to live her one life well. Forget the bucket lists that have us escaping our everyday lives for glamorous experiences. Voskamp invites us to slow down, to learn how to live the full life of thanksgiving and joy regardless of our circumstances. With writing that elicits vivid images of her everyday life, her family and life on her farm, she shares about her struggles to live joyfully amid sorrow and suffering. The beginning of the book is heart wrenching filled with very dark days but she demonstrates how her life has emerged to embrace a lifestyle of gratitude. Her writing is like reading beautiful poetry and her words are having a transformational impact on my life! You can visit her blog at The Holy Experience where she shares devotional thoughts for living life well.
Road to Grace
Richard Paul Evans. (2012). The road to grace. ISBN: 9781451628180.  

I’ve read most every book written by Richard because he touches on topics that connect to some part of my life. The Road to Grace is the third book of his bestselling series, The Walk, the ongoing story of one man’s unrelenting search for hope. Reeling from the sudden loss of his wife, home, and business, Alan Christoffersen, a once successful advertising executive, has left behind everything he knew and set off on an extraordinary cross-country journey. Carrying only a backpack, he plans to walk from Seattle to Key West. In the Road to Grace, Alan covers more than 800 miles on foot, but it’s the people he meets along the way who give the journey its true meaning. Full of wisdom and stubborn truth, this is an unforgettable series about hope, healing, and the meaning of life. Richard Paul Evans shares both an intriguing story and an enjoyable read!

Ree DrummondPioneer Woman cookbook
Ree Drummond. (2013). The pioneer woman cooks: A year of holidays. ISBN: 978-0-06-222522-1.

The holiday season is about family, entertaining and cooking, so I had to include one of my newest favorite cookbooks. Ree Drummond’s newest cookbook celebrates some of my favorite events throughout the year with scrumptious and easy to follow recipes.  Ree is an accomplished “regular” home cook like most of us and presents her very approachable recipes in the same fashion. Using her photography skills, Ree demonstrates step-by-step recipe directions with clear illustrations. A few of my new favorites include: bacon-wrapped filet, cheddar-bacon wedge salad, garlic roasted mashed potatoes, chocolate marshmallow pops and Sigrid’s carrot cake. Ree entertains us with her photography, living on a ranch, her family and her family-friendly cooking at her blog and website The Pioneer Woman. This would be a great gift for yourself – you deserve it!

I hope you’ve had a good year, learned more about yourself and enjoyed time with your family.

Many blessings to you,

Clara

 

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

-Nelson Mandela

 

 

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A few of my favorite things.

Posted on November 22, 2013 by clarajcarroll

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One of my favorite things….my husband, Charlie Carroll.  We’ve been married for 35 years, lived in Texas and Arkansas, lived in 3 apartments, 5 houses, and built 2 houses. We have 2 gorgeous daughters, a fantastic son-in-love, and 2 of the greatest grandsons. My parents live a few blocks from us, one daughter is next door and the married daughter lives a short 53 minutes from our driveway to her driveway. Charlie makes me laugh, is my protector and loves me dearly. I am very blessed!

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One of my favorites is  a beautiful presentation of yummy food!  This was served at a cute cafe in Springfield, Missouri.  Isn’t the little espresso cup a creative way to serve crackers!

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One of my favorites is Jesus Christ.  He promises to never leave me, love  me always and has built a home for me on streets of gold.

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One  more favorite is cooking!! This is homemade muscadine jelly  – the  muscadines came from a local farmer. Delicious on toast, Charlie’s homemade biscuits and pancakes!  I  think I’ll have some in the morning for breakfast!!

What are some of your favorites?

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True Grit!

Posted on November 20, 2013 by clarajcarroll

True Grit

From Yell County, Arkansas, a stubborn young woman, Mattie Ross, travels to Fort Smith, Arkansas and hires the aging U.S. Marshal Reuben “Rooster” J. Cogburn (John Wayne). Mattie had heard that, despite his vices and missing eye, Cogburn had “true grit“. Most people would think it was John Wayne’s character that possessed true grit but it was Mattie’s true grit with her tenacious, and doggedly perseverance that led to capturing her father’s murderer. Mattie was a young girl (14 years old), who against all odds, pursued a very long term goal which was almost impossible but she eventually succeeds in her goal to avenge her father’s death.

In a study conducted with first year West Point Military Academy students found that measuring grit was a strong predictor of success.  Grit is about choosing to do a particular thing in life and seeing that thing to its completion. Grit is about firmness of mind, passion, unyielding courage, and stamina. It’s the “stick-to-itiveness” of working really hard to making goals a reality.
Definition of Grit

I recently viewed a TED Talk featuring Dr. Angela Lee Duckworth speaking on grit. Duckworth left a demanding job in management consulting for a job even more demanding: teaching! She taught seventh graders mathematics in the New York City public schools. During her tenure in NYC she was struck that I.Q. was not the only difference between her best and worst students. Some of her strongest performers did not have stratospheric I.Q. scores and some of her smartest kids weren’t doing so well in class. After several years of teaching, she entered graduate school to study psychology and researched who is successful and why are they successful. She observed National Spelling Bee participants, rookie teachers in tough school settings and private company salespeople looking for significant predictors of success. She found that it wasn’t social intelligence, good looks, physical health and it wasn’t I.Q. It was…
Grit Graphic
How do we build grit in kids? Duckworth explains that we know little about building grit. But she does know that talent doesn’t make you gritty. One of the best explanations has been developed by Carol Dweck in that building grit in kids has to do with ‘growth mindset.’ Dweck has shown kids are more likely to persevere when they fail if they know that failure is not a permanent condition. When kids know that the brain changes and grows in response to challenges, they are more likely to risk making mistakes, to be wrong and start over again. Learning that failure is not final is a key component in building grit in kids.It’s these very grit-like traits we know our kids need to succeed in today’s world. But, how do we build grit in kids to motivate them for the long run? For a few years, I have served on the Searcy High School EAST advisory board where Mrs. Rinda Hall, the EAST Facilitator, helps her students to build grit by providing opportunities to face adversity within the classroom. For example, her students have been involved in creating an interactive walking tour for the historic downtown city of Searcy. This project allowed her students to collaborate with city officials, historical experts, local businesses and problem solve among themselves to create the historical information and create an interactive website. Her students learned persistence and grit because they have worked on the project day after day collaborating towards workable solutions. The students have spent time talking about their mistakes and how they could correct them and move forward with their project. As a culminating activity the Searcy High School EAST students are sponsoring a Fun Run on November 23 beginning the route at the historical White County Courthouse square. For more information, you may contact Mrs. Hall at rhall@searcyschools.org.
How Children SucceedAnother Definition of Grit

In his book How Children Succeed, Paul Tough suggests that “grit is the cornerstone of educational reform.” Paul Tough states that while I.Q. is stubborn to change after about age eight, the ability to persist, focus and adapt is more malleable. While I.Q. may be what gets kids into college, they need grit, perseverance, character, time-management skills and ability to work with others to be successful in completing a college degree and working in a career. It seems that grit matters more to a child’s ability to reach his full potential than intelligence, skill, or even grades.

Here are a few grit-pearls to help your students to develop the stick-to-itiveness to help him or her to succeed in whatever they want to pursue.

Suggest challenges. Provide an opportunity to pursue at least one difficult thing which requires discipline to practice the skill. The actual activity doesn’t matter as much as the effort. Encouraging kids to try new things gives them a chance to prove they can do anything.

Promote perseverance. Some people believe that skills come naturally and if you’re good or not good it’s because you were born that way. However, that’s a distorted view which leads to giving up easily when trying something new. Yet, naturally gifted people have to work hard to hone their ability with hours of practice. Suggest to your students to try a particular project, sport, skill or interest and insist that they follow through on all activities until the project is completed. Insist that your students finish the task and not give up easily – they will miss out on something really great if they give up too quickly.

Fairness. Students will persist more when they perceive that they are treated fairly and with respect, and adults show they care about them.

High Expectations. Students will persist more when teachers, administrators, and others in the school environment have high expectations for students’ success. Students need to be challenged beyond what they think they are capable of achieving but with appropriate support systems from educators.

In other words, we need to be gritty about getting our kids grittier.

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My garden.

Posted on November 19, 2013 by clarajcarroll

ImageTaken in late May or early June, in this picture are Don Juan climbing red roses trellising above a gate to my gardens. When I planted them I was thinking they were New Dawn pale pink roses. P. Allen Smith recommends the New Dawn climbing roses but Lowe’s had these on their sale rack. Whether or not P. Allen Smith endorses my Don Juan red roses, I like them!

In May, I was elected President of the local garden club – the Greenkeeper’s Garden Club. The group consists of members who really know their flowers and vegetable gardening techniques. Mona Pritchett (past President) understands dividing perennials, Liz Howell (current Arkansas Federation of Garden Club President) grows beautiful New Dawn and Fairy roses and Harriett Raley can organize a fund-raiser auction! The garden club members maintain the Westside memorial gardens, the Legion Hut Historical Building garden and participate in the Junior Auxiliary Angel Tree project. I’m among outstanding community minded citizens, fabulous gardeners and creative spirits. It’s truly a privilege to serve as the President of this organization.

Monarch Waystation Sign

Also, my garden is an official Monarch Way Station and I’ve planted several new milkweed plants and nectar sources to entice Monarch butterflies on their migration flight from the United States and Canada to overwintering areas in Mexico and California where they wait out the winter until conditions favor a return flight in the spring. The monarch migration is truly one of the world’s greatest natural wonders! Usually, my garden is visited by painted ladies, tiger and zebra swallowtails – but no Monarch butterflies, yet. I’m still waiting patiently!

My husband, Charlie, built a beautiful display post with hanging flower pots for the Monarch Way Station sign.  He surprised me with finding wrought iron plant hangers with butterflies within the design. He’s a very thoughtful husband and has a keen eye for details.

Since it’s mid-November most of my flowers are faded. Last week the cold night Narcissustemperatures wilted most of the lingering flowers. I’m glad the Beautyberry bush is full of bright purple berries for the birds, and the fall mums are still hanging on to a few blooms. At this time of the year, most gardener tips recommend cleaning garden beds, adding mulch, planting spring bulbs and spreading spring seeds that need over-wintering. So, this month I’ve planted over 100 daffodil, tulip, hyacinth and crocus bulbs – I’m looking forward to a beautiful spring bloom!

I hope you have a blessed day!

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Resilience

Posted on November 18, 2013 by clarajcarroll

Building Resilience

Too often schools are filled with students dealing with serious stresses, even trauma, but through a positive school environment they are able to overcome these conditions and succeed in life. Social worker, Mary, overcame significant wounds from her alcoholic, abusive and violent home. However, within the protective school environment, Mary found her safe haven, her solace, and an alternate universe of relief. We know school settings cannot remove the adversity in the lives of our students but awareness can empower us as educators in providing and influencing powerful protective factors while building resilience.
 
Think of resilience as a balance between adversity and protective factors. So long as the balance is manageable, people can usually cope with adversity and stresses. Yet, for some students, the stresses can be overwhelming and the protective factors few and far between. A student’s resilience is cultivated when his or her internal and environmental protective factors are strengthened.
Resilience
Schools are filled with conditions to promote resilience including caring, encouraging relationships, role models and mentors. You can provide clear, fair boundaries and structure while providing opportunities for students to explore other worlds and possibilities. You can use stories of successful people overcoming adversity through quality literature, films, and history. In providing these real-world protective factors, students can be exposed to positive characteristics of basic human respect and dignity that too many kids like Mary do not find in their troubled homes.
 
How does a student become more resilient? How can schools more effectively capitalize on their power to promote resilience? Educators and caring adults can observe and reinforce those protective factors by engaging in conversations helping students to recognize and grow traits supporting good reasoning skills, self-esteem and temperament. Providing quality relationships appears to be the cornerstone of resilience. It may seem building relationships requires enormous amounts of time, but brief on-going encounters can provide the basis for supportive relationships.

One of the most effective resilience-building actions educators can engage in is to dig for and reflect back with a student regarding his or her strengths – the internal protective factors that students have often honed during times of stress. Optimally, the environmental mirrors that students build throughout their lives are mirrors of caring, kindness and affirming relationships. In testimony – when many students reach adulthood they mourn the loss of the one or two educators who had made the biggest difference for them during extreme adversity and stressful times of their lives. They feel the loss because these one or two educators looked beyond outward experiences, such as their behavior or unkempt appearance – and saw the promise and hope in their futures.
 
Katie Couric interviewed a young man named Brian who had grown up in a troubled and abusive environment. He had struggled in school and had been picked on regularly at a young age. Now, Brian is a successful and well-adjusted adult. When Couric asked him, “What made the difference?” Brian responded without thinking twice: The defining moment in his life occurred when a grade school teacher simply told him that she cared about him and believed in him. This one small interaction turned Brian’s life around.
 

reaching for a helping hand
All of us have more than 20,000 individual moments in a waking day when we can make a strong memory for someone. In some cases, as with Brian, a single encounter can change a life forever. Be the change for someone!
 
“Dignity—the word itself—has come to mean different things to different people, as many words do. It doesn’t just mean always being stiff and composed. It means a belief in oneself, that one is worthy of the best. Dignity means that what I have to say is important, and I will say it when it’s important for me to say it. Dignity really means that I deserve the best treatment I can receive. And that I have the responsibility to give the best treatment I can to other people.”      -Maya Angelou
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BIG news from National Board for Professional Teaching Standards!!

Posted on November 18, 2013 by clarajcarroll

Attention candidates: Scores for National Board Certification will be released via My Profile on Saturday, November 23rd. Scores for Take One! will be released on Wednesday, November 20th. Results should be posted by noon CST. Good luck!

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My First Post

Posted on November 18, 2013 by clarajcarroll

I’m new at blogging. However, I plan to use this blog site to provide strategies for educators, cooking fun with my grandsons, gardening tips and life. I love my family, enjoy cooking and gardening, and believe an accomplished educator makes the difference in student achievement. My educational passion is to support educators in their pursuit to achieve National Board Certification.

Growing Professionally: Dr. Carroll’s Book Picks

Since this is my first book recommendation; I’m sharing some of my old and new favorites. I hope you’ll hurry to your closest bookstore or online and order these for your own personal library today. Read them over the holidays and you’ll be a better person and educator because of it! Happy reading and Happy Holidays!

Gordon, J. (2007). The energy bus. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.  I have the privilege of serving on the local Literacy Advisory Council. At a recent meeting, Mary Jane Brockinton , principal, shared that her faculty members are reading and discussing The Energy Bus. Quickly, I ordered the book and began reading it. The enlightening and inspiring writer provides ten helpful tips for approaching life and work with the kind of positive, forward thinking that leads to true accomplishment – at work and at home. This is an excellent book for educational group settings and personal growth goals when facing challenges and how to overcome adversity in creating a more positive energy.

Palmer, P.J. (1998). The courage to teach. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Parker Palmer believes the premise that good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher.  I, too, believe that the best impact on student learning is the teacher – it’s not the newest whiz-bang-whatzit program – it’s the integrity of the teacher. Good teachers are deeply engaged with the students and their subject and they know how to weave the complex connections of their own experiences with the interests and experiences of their students. Parker Palmer provides a useful and engaging tool as teachers learn the individual stories of their students and provides a platform for teachers to equip all of their students with best practices. I highly recommend this book for educators at all ranges of experiences.

Daughety, A. & Faulkenberry, G.F. (2012). At home for Christmas. Minneapolis: Summerside Press, Inc. My good friend Gwen Faulkenberry and my new friend Annalisa Daughety have written two heartwarming holiday stories.  Both stories are set in Arkansas and are filled with friendships, healing and tenderness. Annalisa is originally from Arkansas and Gwen lives in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas (her husband is an educator with the Ozark School System and is a National Board Certified Teacher!). These stories are fictional but I hope you’ll enjoy a fun read for the holidays!

Ellis, A. (2007). The gentle art of hospitality: Warm touches of welcome and grace. Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers. Alda Ellis lives in Little Rock, Arkansas and has devoted her adult life to creating heartfelt hospitality.  Alda and her husband, Buddy, own Magnolia Hill in Little Rock where she hosts parties, weddings, receptions and more. She’s a delightful woman and a gracious entertainer. I was privileged to attend a luncheon at Magnolia Hill and was the recipient of her gracious hospitality from iced lemonade on her covered patio to the release of white doves representing peace and friendship. Since my home will be filled with family and friends during the holiday season, I find Alda’s writings very helpful for a more stress-free entertaining holiday time. I hope you do, too.

Zolotow, C. (1957). Over and over. NY: HarperCollins Publisher. Charlotte Zolotow’s daughter, Crescent Dragonwagon, spoke at the Arkansas Reading Association conference held in Little Rock. Crescent read her own version based on her mother’s children’s book, Over and Over. Charlotte Zolotow is ninety-seven and her fifty-nine year old daughter, Crescent, writes about how time can be deceptively simple through the cycles of life. I hope you’ll read Over and Over to your young child or grandchild and for yourself read Crescent’s version of Over and Over at the Horn Book website. Over and Over is a classic.

“A classic, by definition, endures.” Crescent Dragonwagon

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