Tag: inspiration

Celebrate Each Day! How?

· Leave a comment ·

We can find something to celebrate every day! The solution to the problem of negative effects is positive actions! If you want to turn problem frowns into solution smiles, find things to celebrate! My husband, Zeke, celebrates his birthday this week. He thinks we should celebrate every day, so we will! Why not! To prepare for the week of celebrations, you will be glad to know that today January 16, 2022, is National Nothing Day! So celebrate today by doing absolutely nothing to rest up for the rest of the celebrations this week!

Celebration Calendar

https://nationaldaycalendar.com
The place to find what to celebrate each day of the year!
  • January 16- National Nothing Day
  • January 17- Martin Luther King Birthday
  • January 18- National Winnie the Pooh Day
  • January 19- National Popcorn Day ( makes sense. It is my dad’s birthday)
  • January 20- National Cheese Lovers Day or Zeke’s Day in my house
  • January 21- National Hug Day (With COVID, I know we shouldn’t, but?)
  • January 22- National Blonde Brownie Day

Tag me @BrendaYoho on Twitter #️⃣ with a picture celebrating your favorite day this week. Also, on Instagram, brenda.yoho! I can’t wait to see your photos! I will share mine as well. If you find out how we can propose celebrating a day, let me know. I think we need a Be the Solution Daily Day! Thanks for being part of the solution! Celebrate!

Monday! A great gift to unwrap!

· Leave a comment ·

What gifts did you unwrap this Christmas you found to be the most important to you? I love to hear about traditions and unique gifts people share during the Christmas season. It is my favorite holiday for so many reasons, and one I love to celebrate each day of the year.

Monday’s can be a day hard to face if you are greeting it after a holiday break, experiencing a loss, or coming to a place you do not want to be. Now others are thinking, no way I am so excited for today! I love getting back to work and seeing people I have missed.

The holidays can be stressful! We always try to make them as easy as possible with pure fun and enjoyment. This year I wanted Christmas to be a game for the kids. I am big on passing down pieces of family memories, but this year I wanted to let the kids begin to start recording their own. However, I did not know that on December 22, I would receive an unwanted gift. A phone call told my husband and me, “your biopsy is positive for cancer, breast cancer.”

Nothing changes in how we continue in facing our days. Our gifts would be unwrapped just as we planned. No need to let the unwanted gift of this news tear open the plans of happiness for the best Christmas ever for the grandchildren!

Giving gifts are the best, but receiving is lovely too! I am so grateful for the hearts of my grandchildren and how their parents allow them to be authentic as they grow. My grandson was able to shop at school for us. He bought a coffee mug for grandpa, “Grandpa, you are out of this world,” with a UFO and martian. He bought me a beautiful necklace that had an oyster shell to open to find a pearl to place inside the heart. My granddaughter bought an essential oil diffuser with oils she specifically picked out to help with reading and writing. “Deep Thoughts and Mindfulness.” My youngest grandson gave me the gift of slippers and socks to keep me warm and safe.

I could not have asked for a better Christmas with these beautiful children, a loving husband, an amazing daughter, and a son-in-law. Our friends helped us always support this time to celebrate, and they are the best!

Some gifts you unwrap you want to return, you think to yourself, what were they thinking? My grandson yelled out after opening a gift, “You know me so well!” Then you are left with some gifts you do not know what to do with, but with the many gifts you receive, always remember the blessings you have and the gift that can never be taken from you. As you reflect on those blessings, let me share the one gift I gave to the children was a picture book all about them! Memories, make them!

Solution Weekly, December 19-25, 2021

· Leave a comment ·
December 19-25, 2021

Which is Better?

Is it better to know all of the answers or some of the questions? Take my poll on LinkedIn, Twitter or just comment. We will find out your answer to this question and why I asked the question this week. Intriguing! http://linkedin.com/in/brendayoho @BrendaYoho

When is Enough?

How do you know when your job is done? You answer one email, and three more appear. It is 9:00 a.m. when you look at the clock, and when you look at it again, it says 2:00 p.m. You have not completed everything on your list for the morning or had lunch.

Time is our most valuable resource. Deciding on what you do with it is so critical. We can look at a couple of things to help you decide on when it is enough.

Silence helps at times

Choose to remain silent in order to hear even in the silence of the day. What would you do with five minutes of silence after a question is asked? Do you get nervous thinking you should say something? How long do you wait before someone speaks?

HOPE

This is one word that echoes loud throughout the world; when it is not, then we need to be concerned.

What messages of hope have you heard? How do you spread hope? Share this week how you plan to help spread hope for 2022! This coming year will be better than 2021.

Oh, holy night…….

The stars are brightly shining. All is calm; all is bright. They looked up and saw a star shining in the east beyond them far, and to the earth, it gave great light, and so it continued both day and night.

O star of wonder, star of night. Star with royal beauty bright, westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light. The silent stars go by yet in they dark streets shineth the everlasting light. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in there tonight.

The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay. The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay. Joy to the World; The Lord is come; Let Earth receive her King: Let every Heart prepare him Room.

Can you figure out the Christmas carols I used? Hint it is 7…as we countdown to a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas time is here 🎄🌟

Many blessings from our home to yours for health, happiness and hope.

Childhood memories are the best; continue to create the best ones for yours, young and old!

Inspired to Serve

· Leave a comment ·

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10

The apostle Peter encourages all believers in Jesus to be faithful stewards as they “love each other deeply” by sharing the resources and talents God has given them (1 Peter 4:8–11).

“Brenda, would you like to teach one of our Sunday School classrooms? I think you would be great with our youngest group.”

I know my mouth had to be open, my eyes bugged out big, and a crazy facial expression that indicated to my minister, I thought he had lost his mind! What business did a high school girl have teaching a Sunday School class?

“I think you can do it, and I would like you to try.”

Okay, I said to Rev. Korb. I could see another one of our church ladies with the same expression I had. So, she was thinking the same thing! No way was I supposed to be teaching this class.

I began my lesson with the children, and a feeling came over me. It was pure warmth, love, and indescribable. I had never felt this before. Rev. Korb stopped in to check on us and smiled.

I do believe as I reflect on life, this was when God called me to the role of teaching. I did not find it again until later in my life journey, but Rev. Korb knew.

“Our small acts of love can inspire others to join us in giving. God can even rally supporters to serve alongside us. As we rely on Him, we can live to serve and give Him the glory He deserves.” ~Xochitl Dixon

Solution Weekly

· Leave a comment ·

October 24–31

Stay Motivated

Every day is an opportunity! You will hear me say this often. It is a gift you unwrap each morning to use in any way you choose. What are the choices you will make today to help be the solution daily?

Teaching Tip

If you are in the teaching profession today, why? Why did you become a teacher? Most likely, you have a vision of individuals who inspired you to dive into this profession. It is the inspiration that often leads us into the lifelong career paths we find ourselves in today.

Looking at your classroom today, you have seated in your room many different career paths. You may be looking at someone who will be standing in your spot one day. I know my teachers would never have guessed the career path I have made, and you can’t either. However, you can do what teachers did for you! Your teachers inspired you! Students’ excitement should rarely exceed our own- unless a student arrives with a strong interest in what we are teaching. If you have a student who shows up like this, then capture this and generate energy to get everyone excited!

Wisdom

“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do we reflect on how we were inspired to do what we do and why? Who is asking the students in your classroom the questions about inspiration? Who are their influences? What are we doing to help them find inspiration?

Leadership

Leaders have many responsibilities and essential aspects involved in the role of a leader. The list of tasks to complete daily to operate ( manage) the operations daily can be overwhelming. Administrators in school-level buildings have little time left for the essential piece of their role; teaching and learning.

So how can a leader balance all of the manager’s duties and essential pieces of their responsibility? There are many ways but let’s start with the basics. “The 21 Responsibilities and Day-to-Day Management of a School” (Marzano, Waters, McNulty, School Leadership that Works pg.98)

  • Develop a strong school leadership team
  • Distribute some responsibilities throughout the leadership team
  • Select the right work
  • Identify the order of magnitude implied by the selected work
  • Match the management style to the order of magnitude of the change

Many blessings to you this week! I look forward to your comments, questions, ideas, and thoughts. Conversations are shared to bring about possibilities of new ideas, thoughts, and solutions to problems. This week I have been asked to help out at the Illinois Principal Conference. This takes me back to my beginning as a leader. There will be many familiar faces but so many new leaders. I am blessed to return and to see the excitement this conference brings.

Create the roads, Clear the Path

· 2 Comments ·

Friday Focus-Leadership

Each day we are reminded of the importance of many things, but leadership is essential in every aspect of life. Leadership is the deciding factor of accomplishing the work, goals, and delivery of success to every component in our chain of command.

Make people feel important who work for you, with you, or come in contact with you. Leadership is about motivating others. Show genuine concern for and interest in the lives of your team members, as well as those you serve. Thank them for a job well done – even if it’s a small job.

Validation, respect, and compassion are ways to let your team know you appreciate them. I took time to explore comments made on a Twitter feed from a question posed to a teaching group. The question was: What else can be done to help stop the rapid burnout for teachers? Covid is responsible for the changes of instruction, shutdowns, mandates imposed by the government, but it was not part of all the answers given. The responses were to: Give us more support, value us, show us compassion for our losses, and it continued with similar statements. I heard similar pleas a few years ago in my position as Director of Education Support Programs. The addition of the stress from Covid-19 has added a layer to an already stressed system

What can you do to help your staff or coworkers?

Tips to Help and Support

  • Listen-take time to actively listen to others. Seek them out in their comfort zones and ask, “How are you doing, and what can I help with?”
  • Don’t make a promise- We want to help, but some things are not in our control. Do not make promises you cannot keep. Listening is always a significant first step. There are always a few things we can do.
  • Drop little notes of encouragement on desks after you have visited.
  • Write personal thank you letters and mail to homes.
  • Please get to know what their favorites are and place one on their desk when they need a pick me up.
  • Know their birthdays and send cards.
  • Speak to, say hello, learn everyone’s name and display it as you greet them daily.
  • Notice everything! “Love your haircut!” “Great smile today!”
  • Partner with others- People are willing to help each other when there is a need. Brainstorm ideas together of things to do and people who can support. Here are a few things to think about:
    • Date night for families- Host an evening where child care is taken care of so families can have a few hours together. A rotation within your organization can accomplish this by trading off who participates. One family enjoys date night; the other is helping with the child care activities in a central location.
    • Wellness Weekend- Work with area businesses to gain free access to massages, nail care, workouts, yoga class, or healthcare checkup.
    • Book study group-Professional of Personal fun books
    • Let’s talk-Groups get together to have conversations about work, home, and life
  • Do not fake! Please do not try to fake any of these connections and emotions. Be authentic in your delivery of all of these supports for staff and those you serve. If you are not, it will have the opposite result for you.

Together we travel the road of life. As the road receives many travelers, we need to support each other on these worn-out paths to clear the way for a successful journey. Life is a journey, not a destination. We need each other for continued support to our final destination.

Safe travels to each one and blessings to those seeking to be the solution daily on the road to success.