After Twenty Years... I'm Retiring from School Counseling

I began my career as a school counselor the fall of 1994. For the past twenty years it has been a dream job. I have loved the school where I've worked and all the students. Some have been more challenging than others but then don't we all have our moments? I've loved the faculty and staff that I've worked with. There isn't a better, more dedicated group of teachers on the planet. They are each one dedicated to encouraging every student to be successful and to be the best they can be. I've loved the creativity of the job and it's focus on making positive changes in children's lives. If you had asked me five years ago if I'd ever retire, I'd have said, "What for?" I seriously thought I'd be 101 years old, wandering the halls looking for a class to share a guidance lesson with.

A Bigger Dream 

But sometimes you get a bigger dream. In the last five years, I've rediscovered the dream of writing and I've published four, soon to be five children's books. It began with this one:

 

Soon the newest one will be out

 

In addition, I've published a couple of inspirational/motivational books for adults. It's been a magical, challenging and thoroughly compelling journey that I've ventured forth on. So, May 30th is my last official day at Sixes Elementary. I don't feel that I'm leaving something behind so much as I'm forging headlong wildly, ecstatically and a bit recklessly into the greatest adventure of my life.

A Great Celebration 

Last week the school threw a retirement party for me and my principal, Mrs. Kelly, who is also retiring. 

It was a lovely celebration and we each received a rocking chair with our name on it.  Here is mine...

It is extra special because it was  painted by our talented art teacher, Susan Winchester.  The best part is that there is a picture of the inspiration behind this whole retirement thing on the back.  Can you make out his bandana?  It says retired on it!

Because I love stories, I'll finish this post with a funny student story.  It seems word got out among the students that I wouldn't be back next year and a third grader stopped me in the hall to ask, "Will the new counselor next year be just like you?"  To which I responded, "Well, she'll probably be taller."  At which point, the student dropped to her knees and said, "Do you mean she won't be a midget like us?"  I truthfully don't know where I'm going to get such quality material after I leave....

Thanks to everyone for the memories.

Don't worry, it's the end of my school counseling career but not the end of my blogging!  You can follow the journey along with my buddy, Wyatt the Wonder Dog here:  www.wyatthewonderdog.com

Want to check out Wyatt's newest book on winning and losing?  Here's a description:

Wyatt the Wonder Dog didn’t make it on the All Star Baseball Team and he is feeling like a loser. All his friends will be playing baseball this summer, while he and his pesky sister, Callie, visit grandparents at the beach.  How Wyatt learns to handle disappointment and failure will be an important lesson for the future.  Will he give up trying new things?  Will he have the confidence to try again?  Are there some things that take more practice and persistence to learn than others?  Join Wyatt on his latest “wonder-full” adventure as he learns what it takes to be a winner.

Here's the link:

http://wyatthewonderdog.com/booklaunch

Helping Children Handle Disappointment and Failure

In January, I wrote a post entitled Embrace the Shake.  It was based on artist Phil Hansen's TED talk about a tremor that he developed which created problems in his drawing ability.  When a doctor advised him to "embrace the shake"  instead of trying to overcome it, he found that it opened up a whole new world of possibilities.  Instead of trying to hold the pencil tighter and control the shaking, he began to incorporate the shake into his art.  His message addressed the limitations that we all have and the importance of working within the framework of the limitation.

I believe this is an important issue for students as well as adults.  In my newest Wyatt book, Wyatt the Wonder Dog doesn't make the All Star Baseball Team and he is feeling like a loser. All his friends will be playing baseball this summer, while he and his pesky sister, Callie, visit grandparents at the beach.  How Wyatt learns to handle disappointment and failure will be an important lesson for the future.  Will he give up trying new things?  Will he have the confidence to try again?  Are there some things that take more practice and persistence to learn than others? 

We Learn a Lot from Failure 

Helping children recognize their unique gifts and the diversity of those gifts is important.  When we understand our unique abilities and work in our strengths, we develop a sense of self and increase self-esteem. It gives us focus and direction in life.

One problem we have created in the interest of making sure that all children have high self-esteem however, is that we often have tried to eliminate failure from our children's lives. Both at school and at home we focus on how students can be successful and certainly we all want every child to feel successful in something. We want to identify, develop and celebrate talents. However, we also need to make sure that we don't protect children from occasionally failing at something. Why? Because we all learn a great deal from failure. Sometimes I think we learn more from failure than we do from success.

Some Great Lessons Learned from Failure

Many of life's great lessons are learned from failure or hardship. In fact, if you look into the background of many successful leaders past and present, you will find early lives of adversity. I'm not suggesting of course that we create hardship, there is enough of that to go around! Instead, we need to teach children the right perspective for viewing failure. We need to teach them to expect that there will be times of hardship and disappointment but that if they will put into practice what they have learned from it, they can turn failure into success. We need to teach children that failure should challenge them to do more or act differently or to become better, but not to give up.

Children Learn Winning from Adult Role Models

One way we can do this is by example.  As parents, teachers, and other significant adults, how we handle failure in our own lives will be an even more important lesson for our children than how we handle success. It will be a blueprint for our children as they face failure in their own. We can share with children the times we have experienced failure and the lessons learned.

Wyatt the Wonder Dog Learns about Winning is essentially a story about failing in some things but succeeding in others.  It is a story of the adults in Wyatt's life encouraging him to try new things, even as they model trying new things themselves.  I hope this story provides adults with a springboard for discussions around this important topic in order to encourage and empower children to discover their strengths and try new things. 

Join the Wyatt the Wonder Dog pack and get a free audio download of Wyatt the Wonder Dog Learns about Being Organized:

www.wyatthewonderdog.com