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Posts tagged ‘learning’

Embrace Curiosity

Photo by Tucu0103 Bianca on Pexels.com

Do you have a burning question?

As a teacher of elementary children for nearly a quarter of a century and the mom of two very curious children, I can tell you that one of the most annoying questions is “Why?”

I remember the day I finally asked my father, “Why not?” when he told me NO. I was about 20 years old! Can you imagine? Being raised in a family where when Dad said, “No,” that was final? No questions asked. Just obey?

My kids were not like that. It was a different era. They asked, “Why?” before they knew how to say, “Chocolate!”

I think a measure of a child’s intelligence
may be how many times s/he asks “Why?”
The explorations,
poking,
questioning,
prodding,
relentless
inquisitive nature
of some children and adults
can be downright annoying,
though.

Seldom straight or smooth

The path may not be a straight one…
And it may be hard to determine where it leads,
but curiosity will keep you (and them) moving forward.
There is a huge NEED to know what’s beyond the bend!

As parents and teachers
we sometimes want to shield our children
from the unknown.
There may be danger out there.
I had a tendency to be protective.
I know that’s where my dad was coming from
when he said, “No!”

But squelching curiosity
because of fear of the unknown
is a dangerous path.
It can lead to many
missed opportunities
and
lost happiness.

Instead of being annoyed
by the “Why?” and the “Why not?”
we need to teach ourselves
and our children the importance of
always questioning.

Accepting “No”
for an answer
without questioning
can lead to
stagnation.

Instead of squelching curiosity,
let’s turn our questioning into
research with a purpose.

Curious people don’t just look
Curious people see
Curious people don’t just see
Curious people question
Curious people don’t just question
Curious people probe

With a thirst for answers,
Curious people are relentless.
They keep asking until
They find answers that satisfy.

Curiosity changes our perceptions.
It changes our way of seeing things.
It helps us gain the wisdom
That less curious people
Spend a life-time chasing.

Francoise Sagan is credited with that quote.
Who was he?
Are you curious?
I was.


“Françoise Sagan (born Françoise Delphine Quoirez; 21 June 1935 – 24 September 2004) was a French playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. Sagan was known for works with strong romantic themes involving wealthy and disillusioned bourgeois characters. Her best-known novel was her first – Bonjour Tristesse (1954) – which was written when she was a teenager.

Want to know more?
Put her name in your Google search engine.
We are so blessed to have an encyclopedia at our fingertips.
Folks with insatiable appetites for answers
can ask the who, what, why, when, and how questions
and Siri or Alexa or Wikipedia are right there.
What a gift these are to the curious.

Imagine what Einstein might have done with today’s technology!!!

EMBRACE CURIOSITY!
Let your “Why?”
be followed by
active listening,
thoughtful reading,
and the
explorations,
poking,
questioning,
prodding,
trying again,
inquisitive nature
that those children and adults
exhibited who were
downright annoying.
Go ahead!
Be annoying!

All Aboard!!

Photo by Simon Berger on Pexels.com

Thanks for visiting
JanBeek
today.

I’m curious.
What are you up to?
What are you curious about?

Category:

children, learning, life, Life's Challenges, Living in Harmony, Love, relationships, truth

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I CAN RELEASE

I CAN RELEASE

My Journal

My Journal prompts me to decide
What it is today that I CAN
And I WILL release.
It’s not always easy to decide.

In this end of 2020
With the start of a fresh new year
Just around the corner,
I CAN release the old.

I CAN release what obstructs
And I CAN make room
For the new, the better.
What must I release?

First I must REFLECT.
What was good in this mess?
What was worth keeping?
What should I have learned?

I have learned to sift –
Sift through the garbage of the year
And find the jewels. and keep them –
Throw out the garbage!

Kindness wins!

Reflect on the kindnesses
Offered to me from others…
And keep those thoughts alive
While I release the ugliness.

Every struggle contains lessons.
Reflect on the things
COVID-19 set before us.
Did it teach interdependence?

It’s not a problem faced
By just one country or state.
This pandemic is a world-wide
Challenge… we’re ALL effected.

Release the idea of “Me First” –
Release the “We’re the best” mentality.
Absorb the understanding that
We’re all this together.

“No man* is an island –
No man stands alone –
Each man’s joy is joy to me –
Each man’s grief is my own.

(*human)

We need one another,
So I will defend
Each man as my brother,
Each man as my friend.”

Release the idea of supremacy –
And reflect on God’s creation.
Know He made us ALL in His image.
Reflect on what that means.

When you hurt, I hurt.
When you are hungry, I MUST
Reach out to help you – and
Find the nourishment you need.

Images of people in food lines
Stretching for blocks,
And people waiting for vaccines
In “First come-first served” lines

GRIEVE ME!

There is enough food,
Enough resources in this world,
To meet each (hu)man’s need –
We just need to share!!

Release the tensions of this
Election year in the USA
And reflect on the voter turnout,
The level of participation.

Release the divisiveness
And concentrate on the idea
Of POWER in UNITY.
Work toward unification.

Release all attitudes of angst.
Reflect on the love shared –
And determine to be the change
We hope to see in 2021.

I CAN
and
I WILL.

WATCH ME!

Bee an angel and join me!

Thanks for visiting JanBeek.
See ya tomorrow.
Happy New Year!

Category:

food, Giving, health, Life's Challenges, Living in Harmony, Love, music, peace, Poetry, relationships, Serving One Another, Sharing

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Never Go Back!

No, I don’t want to go back!
I don’t want to revisit the old normal.
Surely as we move from 2020
to a new year, we’ll create a better normal.

This is my prayer this Christmas:
Lord, help us learn what You
have in mind for us to learn
from this rare year we’ve just survived.

Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

Letter from a Wordsmith

With his permission, I am sharing with you the first part of a Christmas letter I received this week from my former pastor, Rev. Brent Mitchell. He is a master wordsmith! He said what’s in my heart so much better than I could have said it.

“Mark it how you will,
2020 was a year not lost,
but forever to be remembered
for both its absences
and its unexpected gifts.

By the middle of March,
it became apparent that
what we thought as normalcy
had left its predictable confines
for parts unknown,
leaving no forwarding address.

Masked and gloved,
we were left to fend for ourselves
absent even the comfort
of shaking hands
or intimate conversations,
the communion around tables,
camaraderie of birthdays celebrated,
the sacred closeness of hospital visits.

Absent of the humanizing connectivity,
of those familiar and holy intersections,
we were left to laugh alone,
to cry alone,
and hope in seclusion.
It cost us treasures we never knew
were so valuable
and time that cannot be recalled.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

“But admit it:
There were unexpected gifts.
There were letters we finally wrote,
the books we never touched until now,
the prolonged stillness that allowed us to think again,
and listen to what our hearts were saying.

We talked to God
because the hours got quiet enough
to hear His still small voice.
It happened because we watched enough TV
to realize we had watched TV enough,
and golden silence gave us gifts
that weren’t insipid.

“I think, in short, that if we were paying attention,
not only did we get older,
but almost certainly wiser
because even a painful awareness
of what lurks in our hearts and minds
is worth more than gold.

The gift was rediscovering
at a visceral level
that we really are never alone;
nor in the absence of everyone,
are we left unloved.

“My prayer is that when this is over,
and it will one day be over,
we won’t forget the things we learned
the hard way this year:
that God willing,
we’ll never go back
to the tired normalcy of endless distractions,
of busyness as usual,
and the noise that never ends.”

The Mitchell Musings
December 2020
Peace to you.
Good Night, my friends.
Have a wonderful Christmas Eve Day.

Thanks for visiting JanBeek.
I leave with you my hopes and wishes
for a most Blessed Christmas.

Category:

Belief, books, Christmas, Faith, friendship, God, holidays, learning, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Love, mental health, peace, Poetry, prayer, relationships, Sharing, writing

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Ages (Reblogged)

This list of wisdom gained through the ages is beautifully done. I know you will appreciate it as much as I do. Click on the word “ages” below and tell SJ at “Change Therapy” how much you appreciate her blog, too.

“Throughout the Ages Age 6: I’ve learned that I like my teacher because she cries when we sing “Silent Night.” Age 7: I’ve learned that our dog …

Ages

Have a great Sunday afternoon, my friends. We just returned from a wonderful worship service outdoors on this beautiful day. It was predicted to be cccccold – and we were told to dress warmly. But, God is good! It was a comfortable morning in the mid-60s with the sun peeking in and out of clouds.

I video-taped on my phone some of the special music with Jim, Jaime and George singing; Jaime on the keyboard and Jim playing his saw! And of course, I recorded the sermon in my typical poetic fashion. Will share them with you later this afternoon. Come on back!

Have a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
Love to you,

Jan ;o)

Category:

Aging Gracefully, blogging, children, learning, Life's Challenges, Love, mental health, music, self-acceptance, teaching

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Triolet Poetry

Triolet – The triolet is a very brief, tightly rhymed poem that takes part of its structure from the repetition of entire lines. The triolet is composed in eight lines. You see the pattern easily.

Darn the ole car wash

Force of water cracked windshield

Like to sue ‘em, by gosh!

Darn the ole car wash

Met with a nice guy, Josh

Said I’d lose – so better yield

Darn the ole car wash

Force of water cracked windshield

…

Triolets were originally written in French of the Middle Ages.

Category:

Life's Challenges, Love, Poetry

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Wonders of the Unseen World

Today I am having a hernia removed. The doctor will use a robot to do the work. The wonders of today’s science in medicine never cease to amaze me.

I would probably freak out if I could see what the robot is doing. But I am grateful there is this in-and-out procedure available.

While I am out of commission for my blog, today, let me share with you a You.Tube that was sent to me by a friend. Lee said, “Everyone should see this.” I agree!

Take about a few minutes and do yourself a favor. Click on this video and enjoy – be amazed – be in awe… and take a minute to pray for my safe and “easy” surgery and speedy recovery, too, will you?


Oh, and before you go,
take a minute to pray for my older sister, Sally, too,
will you?
She is in PA in a nursing home.
She has Alzheimers.

No one deserves to be in her shoes
with this pandemic preventing all visitors.
I am so saddened by her situation,
but grateful for all those who care for her.

Yup, I am the little sister…
Definitely not well behaved!!
Thanks for stopping by JanBeek

Category:

blessings, friendship, health, learning, life, photography, prayer, relationships, teaching

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Why Me?

Stop asking “Why me?”
Ask, “What’s this goin’ to teach me?”
Then open your heart.

Your heart can reveal
Your purpose, goals, and vision –
Show you your next step.

You aren’t a victim,
You are creative and wise.
Focus on learning.

I am positive
That you are positive, too.
That’s why you are here.

That’s why you visit
JanBeek and love each other
And live happily.

You know happiness
Comes from an internal shift.
Not “Why me?” but “Yes!”

Yes, I’m a learner.
Yes, I invest energy
In finding new ways.

We must be willing
To replace being victims
With being VICTORS!

Are you willing to
Do something new and different
To learn something new?

Don’t wait for the new year to resolve to do something new!



What will you do??
Think about it.
See ya tomorrow.
JanBeek

Category:

Belief, Giving, Haiku, happiness, learning, life, Life's Challenges, Living in Harmony, Love, mental health, Poetry, relationships, teaching

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Who is Great, Generous & Giving?

youtu.be/icCdjsjVFGw

Category:

Bible Lessons, blessings, Faith, God, learning, life, Love, teaching

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Love Does

Love Does

“Ambitions don’t flow from the quantity of our ideas or our uninterrupted drive; they gush out from our kindness and willingness to take a genuine interest in others.” Bob Goff

Taking a “genuine interest in others” is what Love Does!

Sometimes we wonder what we can do to make the world a better place. We want to help, but we don’t know how. Let me share an idea that works for me:

Bob Goff’s “Love Does” is an organization devoted to making the world a better place through education of people in places where schools did not exist before they came. Bob Goff wrote a “runaway New York Time’s best seller” book titled, Love Does. In it he spelled out his philosophy of DOING LOVE. Since its publication in 2012, I don’t know how many thousands of copies have been sold … but it is a whole lot!! And Bob’s LOVE DOES organization has raised millions to help thousands of children and adults in Uganda, India, Iraq, Iran, and Somalia have a better life.

In his quote this week on his FaceBook page, Bob talks about the courage to step out in faith:

Love Does

May 7 at 9:35 AM · 

"‪Sometimes God asks us to step out (or through). 
We don’t know what we’ll see 
until we go through the deluge. 
It’s scary to step into the unknown, 
but it’s also where we find Jesus; 
and wherever we find Jesus, 
we find life. 
Fear calls out our doubts; 
God calls out our names." ‬

Bob Goff

Helping to educate people from birth on … helping parents learn better parenting skills… helping to provide nourishment for the soul, the body, the spirit… that’s what Love Does! They built “Restore Leadership Academy” and sponsor the education of future leaders in Uganda.

Love Does

May 10, 2018 · On average in the states, it costs about $20,000 a year for college tuition. In Uganda through Restore Leadership Academy, it costs $700. Our college-aged interns here at Love Does have created a campaign to help fund our Launch students!! Visit lovedoes.org/launch to sponsor a student! Sponsor a student today or make a one-time donation and receive a bag of wildflower seeds and a cool sticker in the mail to help “Plant the Seeds of Education!” #LaunchUganda#LoveDoes#HappyG… See More— in Uganda.

Through Love Does, help moms be better moms – and help children not only survive, but thrive.

There are many ways in your own neighborhood as well as around the world to show your love and compassion and to make the world a better place. We don’t need to sit at home and feel helpless in this COVID-19 world. We can reach out and let our love “gush out from our kindness and willingness to take a genuine interest in others.”

I donate a small amount monthly to this organization. It comes directly out of my retirement check. Not enough that I even notice it! But, if each person who heard about Love Does did the same thing, together our offerings can change lives! Lives of all ages… lives in many parts of the world. Here are a couple of darling children in Somalia who are being helped through Love Does donations.

How adorable are these two little friends in the baby home? We love watching these kiddos grow up here! To learn more about what we’re doing in Somalia, visit lovedoes.org/Somalia
👶🏽🍼❤️

I pray you and I will visibly
gush with kindness and willingness
to take a genuine interest in others.

BOTTOM LINE: LOVE DOES!
Try it!

See ya tomorrow.
Have a Beautiful Sunday.
{{{Hugs}}} from JanBeek

Category:

children, Giving, Love, prayer, relationships, Serving One Another, Sharing

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Doing Your Best

Parents As Teachers

In today’s COVID-19 world, a lot of parents world-wide have become their child’s primary teacher. Even though many of the students have access to on-line classes, still parents discover they must oversee the learning process. Most parents are not prepared for this role. Are you one of them who sometimes feels overwhelmed by it??

Do Not Despair

Photo by Julia M Cameron on Pexels.com

You’re not alone! Many parents who are on this “Stay at Home” routine find themselves thrust into a much more intense teacher role than they ever bargained for. Your time spent with your child/student during this time is precious. You’re making life-long memories. Make them happy ones!

I am a retired educator. I spent more than two decades as an elementary teacher and administrator. During that time, I had the opportunity to experience first-hand how the expectations of others affects our self-evaluations. Our expectation for ourselves affects our self-esteem, too. Just know you are doing your best! Hang in there!

Do Your Best

How do you know when you have done your best? Who helps you determine what your best is?

I learned from a wise educator (Madeline Hunter) in an in-service once upon a time eons ago that the question is not, “Are you smart?” The question is, “How are you smart?” What a difference that makes!

As teachers, coaches, mentors, parents, friends, our task is to look for the natural strengths in others (as well as in ourselves). We all have them. Dig! Find the positives. Build on successes. Learn from, but do not emphasize, failures. Reward achievement.

Build On Strengths

Photo by Oleg Magni on Pexels.com

Did you read my blog a couple days ago when I told you about our adventures on “Lucille” our Polaris Razor? She is a red-head who is a “Ball” – but she required a whole new level of “Do Your Best” when Bob took her into snow that was too deep for her body. Lucille high-centered and Bob was stuck. His best efforts at digging I her out were not good enough. She was not budging!

Nope, Lucille wasn’t going anywhere. She was stuck!

What does this have to do with “Build On Strengths?” Well thank God, we had friends with us – and one of them, Rex, has a wonderful Boy Scout skill: “Be prepared.” He had the necessary equipment to hook up a rope to his ATV and latch the other end of it to Lucille. He pulled our ATV out of that snow… and “saved our bacon!”

Bob & I can learn from Rex’s strengths. Be prepared! Carry a rope and the necessary winch in case of emergency in the future. And when the rope came loose at the end of the reel, Rex taught Bob how to secure it with a set pin so that it would not come loose again. God bless Rex! And as for us… we’re never too old to learn!

Focus on the Positive

My favorite expression when I was counseling teachers was one with poor grammar, but with great truth: “What you pay attention to is what you get more of.”

Want success? Find the best effort and praise it! Find what the student does best and teach through that strength. Sometimes our teaching is by example – people just watch what we do. Certainly our kids are perfect examples of that! It doesn’t work to tell them “Do as I say, not as I do!” They WATCH!!

Teaching is a JOY!

After I retired, I had the fun of teaching adults who had not learned yet how to read. I joined the volunteers in the “Stanislaus Literacy Program” in Modesto, California.

When I met her, Grace was an illiterate adult. She was nearly 40 and she had spent the last 30 years avoiding the world of print. Her “best” was sorting clothes from the dressing rooms at JC Penney and putting them back on the proper racks. No words needed for that task. But she hated being unable to read. She hid it well, but it made her feel “less than.” You can imagine!

Grace enrolled in the adult literacy program and I had the privilege of working with her to unlock the world of print. Sorting letters was a lot like sorting clothes. Matching capital to small case letters, sounds to letters, classifying vowels and consonants. One step at a time, backing up to the beginning, building on her strengths, we did it. The joy in Grace’s life when she discovered she could read menus, street signs, and billboards was palpable! Next step: books. A whole new world opened up to her.

Have you ever watched the light glow in a learner’s eyes when the key to a previously locked skill is found and the door opens? “I did my best” took on a whole new meaning for me!

You can watch that key unlock new learning, new ideas, new attitudes for your child. These days offer parents great opportunities.

Photo by Ylanite Koppens on Pexels.com

Help Break Down Tough Concepts

When anyone is asked to perform at a level above their capabilities, frustration abounds. I’ve had that happen to me. I was put in a place where I was supposed to lead a ZOOM group. Be the host. What? At that time, I didn’t even know what ZOOM was!

But, I WOULD have been capable of that performance, if somebody took the time to show me how.

You have a chance to be that somebody for your child… or for a neighbor or friend. With love and patience, and confidence in his/her ability to catch on, be the somebody who breaks it down. Step by step, lead him/her through the process of knowing how, trusting that s/he CAN.

People need to know that we believe in them. Believe in yourself as a teacher. Do your best! Watch the light dawn. It’s a thrill!

Learn Something New

Everyday is a new opportunity to DO MY BEST. My mother-in-law always said, “No day is complete until you have learned something new.”

There is no better way to encourage a student to continue learning than to be the example who is a life-long learner.

What will I tackle with confidence today?

How about you?

Photo by Tim Gouw on Pexels.com

Tell me about a skill you want to acquire.
Then, Just do it!

See ya tomorrow.

Category:

children, Giving, happiness, learning, Life's Challenges, Love, Serving One Another, teaching, work

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