For some free family-fun events this holiday season, please check out these opportunities:

MISD Winter Holiday Free Entertainment
Nov. 30 – MISD Elementary All-City Choir Concerts, 6p.m. & 8p.m., MHS Auditorium (free tickets at elem. schools)
Dec. 3 –  5K Reindeer Dash Run/Race, 6 p.m., MHS parking lot
Dec. 6-7:  MHS Theater ‘Pride & Prejudice’, 7 p.m., MHS Auditorium
Dec. 11:   MHS Christmas Band Concert, 6:30 p.m., MHS Auditorium
Dec. 13:  MHS Holiday Choir Concert, 7 p.m., MHS Auditorium
Dec. 17:  FSMS Christmas Band Concert, 6:30 p.m., MHS Auditorium
Dec. 18:  WGMS Christmas Band Concert, 6:30 p.m., MHS Auditorium
Dec. 20-21:  MISD Early Release
Dec. 24 – Jan. 7, 2013 No School: Christmas Break
Jan. 7 – No School: Staff Development Day

City of Midlothian
Dec. 1-2:  Southern Star Christmas Celebration: http://www.southernstarchristmas.org/
Dec. 9:  Annual Motorcycle Parade Toy Run, Downtown on 8th Street, 11-11:30 a.m.

It’s great to be back at school and walking-about our hallways and classrooms today!  It’s great to see smiling faces and the obvious excitement building now that the holidays are upon us.  Is there anything more fun to a child than the anticipation of the holidays?  Capturing all the sights, sounds, scents, and sentiments of the holidays can be a daunting task at times though.  The reason for the season can be so powerful it is challenging to express the story, but my friend, Justin, helped me focus today on the importance of sharing sentimential thoughts.

Notice his card here that he created in his classroom’s writing workstation.  The inside says, “SNOW kidding, I love you Grammy, thiiissss much and so does Santa so you better watch out and be good!”  Cute, huh?!  He put lots of love, artwork, and thought into making his Grammy smile and know she’s special to him (and to Santa).  We talked about why we send cards during the holidays and what it means to others.

As is our LME tradition each year, I begin our morning message each day for the weeks between our two breaks with a Question of the Day.  The first question today is dedicated to Justin:  “What was the greatest holiday sentiment you remember receiving from a friend or family member?”  The real challenge now is to send someone a special greeting or sentiment this season; you never know the impact it may have on the other person’s life!  Here’s to many special sentiments of the season!  🙂

Note:  Speaking of impacts on others, we greatly appreciate all the Angel Tree help you are giving to the annual LME Angel Tree!  Please continue to send those gifts into the office this week.  Please contact Mrs. Stanley, our caring counselor, if you need assistance or have questions.   

I received the sweetest card in the mail today from a student who wrote me a note (while we’re out of school this week too) thanking me for the opportunity to attend a school like LaRue Miller Elementary.  It’s proudly displayed for my family and friends to note while visiting this week.  Thanks, Lily; you certainly made my week!

The power of the written word, especially one penned in hand by a student, is simply sublime…so in the spirit of Thanksgiving, please allow me a moment to bestow the important benefits of two simple words:  Thank You.

These two words truly have the power to transform our health, happiness, performance, personal excellence, and ultimate success.  Researchers note how grateful people are happier and more likely to maintain good friendships.  An attitude of gratitude in shown to improve the heart’s rhythmic functioning, which helps us to reduce stress, think more clearly under pressure, and heal faster physically.  My own cardiologist tells me it is actually physiologically impossible to be stressed and thankful at the same time!  When you are grateful you flood your body and brain with positive reactions (and those important endorphins) to uplift and energize rather than drain you.

Gratitude and appreciation are also essential for a healthy learning environment.  Teachers know a simple thank you or a show of appreciation can make all the difference to a child.

Gratitude is like muscle in the body though—the more we do with it, the stronger it gets.  In the spirit of the this week, here are 4 ways to practice Thanksgiving every day of the year (as shared by Jon Gordon in his book The Energy Bus):

1. Take a Daily “Thank You” Walk – Take a simple 5-minute walk each day and say out loud what you are thankful for; it sets you up for a positive day.
2. Meal Time Thank You’s – On Thanksgiving, or just at dinner with your friends and family, go around the table and have each person say what they are thankful for that day (and everyday).
3. Gratitude Visit – Write a letter or card expressing your gratitude to someone (just like my friend Lily). Then visit the person and read them the letter or card.
4. Say “Thank You” to Someone Everyday – When we take time out to sincerely and authentically express our appreciation to someone, we most definitely help ourselves in the process.

Thank you for supporting our work at LME everyday.  Thank you for sharing your most valuable resource with us everyday—your precious learner.  May you have a blessed Thanksgiving filled with food, fun, fellowship, thanks, and giving with those you hold dear.  🙂

It’s been a most productive and engaging community learning experience at LME today!

Our second grade learners bartered throughout the day for their annual Trade Days event.  Students used their creative and crafty homemade skills to produce items for bartering with other students.

Our parents and other community friends enJOYed feasting in the Cafe during our annual Thanksgiving Family Event.  Many friends dressed for the occasion (as seen in the pics below).

The Science Fair is in full swing until later this evening and there are still bargains to be made in the store.  Thanks to our volunteers who worked the areas and helped us prepare for SOS tomorrow as well!  We look forward to welcoming Wildlife On The Move as special presenters during the day.  Just a reminder:  SOS runs from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m. on Friday!

Finally, our Miller Staff celebrated National Apron Day early (historically the day before Thanksgiving in America) by modeling their favorite aprons throughout the day.  Prizes were awarded for Voter’s Choice Best Vintage, Best Collection, Craftiest Homemade, and Most Clever with a Name.

Blessings and attitudes of gratitude abound in the hallways and classrooms of LME!  As one Miller friend noted, “Thanks for feasts and trade days and aprons, oh my!”  🙂

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Success is often measured by our comparison to others. Excellence, on the other hand, is all about being the best we can be by maximizing our gifts, talents, and abilities to perform at our highest potential.  Thus was the interesting conversation I had with a parent this morning regarding classroom expectations and school versus home success…

It’s so true; we live in a world that focuses on success and comparison. We are all guilty of doing this, however, I believe that to be our personal best, we must focus more on excellence and less on success. We must focus on being the best we can personally be and realize our greatest competition is not someone else, but ourselves.

For example and in keeping with our sports theme here, a focus on excellence was the key for golfing legend Jack Nicklaus (thanks, daddy, for sharing this story with me–see, I really do listen!).  Mr. Nicklaus’ secret was to play the course not play the competition.  He simply focused on playing the best he could play against the course he was playing.  While others were competing against him, he was competing against the course and himself.

We have a choice as individuals, as instructional teams of learners, as parents, and as families.  We can choose to focus on success and spend our life looking around to see how our competition is doing – or – we can look straight ahead towards the vision of greatness we have for ourselves and our teams.  We can look at competition as the standard – or – as an indicator of our progress towards our own standards.  We can chase success – or – we can embark on a quest for personal excellence.  We can focus 100% of our energy to become our personal best and let success find us . . . and the truly ironic note here is when our goal focuses on personal excellence the outcome is usually great personal success!  🙂