Month: August 2020

Taking Life For Granted

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Photo by Hernan Pauccara on Pexels.com

Even though I sometimes say I don’t, I know I do take life for granted. Living through a pandemic makes you examine and reflect on your life. I know there are too many things that I have taken for granted. What about you?

Taking living life without a pandemic in it for granted. Now, listening to the sickness and deaths and tragedies of so many around the world and feeling powerless to stop it, but doing your part as best you can.

Not being able to see your best friend F2F.

The joys of inviting whoever you want for dinner.

Spending time with family and friends and not worrying how close you are to them or of they will get sick.

Walking around freely, not carrying the worries of the world on your shoulders.

Going to work, loving what you do without thinking that what you do could lead to someone being sick or worse.

Thinking your children have finally made it in the world, only now you worry about their security and what their future and the future of your potential grandchildren will look like.

Living life the best you know how, realizing you have reached retirement, but never imagining how the world would turn out in your lifetime.

The joys of having a girls weekend or a shopping trip or other small pleasure that you like doing..

The simple pleasures of going to a farmers market.

The small mundane things that are no longer mundane.

Life as you used to know it and so many other things that you still take for granted.

While these and many more things can be difficult , I choose to embrace every day and remember I can live life in the best way possible given some of the things I took or take for granted. I will seek out ways to enjoy what is, as it is for today.

You Make The World A Better Place

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Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

In this world we encounter a few people who change how we feel about life. Around 30 years ago you entered my life. I was not looking for a new friend, but oh how the loss would have been mine if I did not open my heart to new friendships. A lesson that has sustained me to this day.

Today is your birthday and I want to celebrate you and all that you are.

Fun and spontaneous Remember the time we were Thelma and Louise (without the driving off the cliff part) ? We bought new hats, scarves and dresses took off in your moms convertible and laughed and created memories to our hearts delight.

Intelligent Remember the times we have chatted about life’s problems and concerns and while often we agree, sometimes we don’t and those can be great conversations with you.

Generous I have watched you be generous to others in so many ways you never get acknowledged for. You have given me so many beautiful and thoughtful gifts over the years. Thanks from the bottom of my heart.

Accomplished I have loved celebrating and watching you do what you do best.

Courageous You have encountered many challenges in your life and have overcome them with grace and determination.

Champion You are a champion for so many and especially care about those with severe challenges.

Dependable I can count on you to be there anytime I need a friend.

Sensational The many times we spent together with our children laughing and doing silly things. Oh what fun. You are an outstanding auntie to my kids. They love you.

Effervescent I love spending time with you. It is never dull. Our trips together together to Vegas, Palm Springs and Mexico or wherever we are in the world are always full of joy. Even when we just vegetate together it is fun.

Beautiful heart and mind. You are beautiful inside and out.

You are optimistic, unwavering, determined, vibrant, accepting, kind and so much more. I cannot imagine my life without you in it. We have created so many memories that make me smile every time I think of them. We have laughed (too many times to count) and cried together. We have weathered many storms, trials and tribulations and come out on the other side knowing that we are and will always be here for each other.

I appreciate all that you are and all that you do. I value YOU. You enrich my life and make it better because you are in it. I love you my friend and look forward to all that life brings us as we journey through it.

You make the world a better place.

10 Affirmations for School Counsellors

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1. I will face this school year with strength and demonstrate my leadership skills. I will lead from my heart with courage.

2. I will bring my best to school each day helping as many students as possible, wherever and whenever possible.

3. I will live just for today helping students and staff while taking care of myself.

4. I will radiate confidence, strength and hope in all I do.

5. I will be brave and model bravery for my students and staff.

6. I will practice being grateful each day as I enter the school building or my workplace wherever that may be.

7. I will look at all the possibilities and opportunities this time offers me.

8. I will open my heart to the staff and students I work with focusing on their strengths.

9. I will celebrate all that is right in my school and in the world.

10. In my words, actions and deeds, I will let go of fears and embrace love, joy and hope. I know that being a School Counsellor is what I am meant to do and be.

In Love

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31 years ago when I was 30, I gave birth to our first child. She was six weeks premature. I was so scared , but immediately and profoundly in love. There is no experience like it that’s for sure. No one prepares you for the overwhelming love you are about to feel. That love never goes away, but the intensity of it ebbs and flows.

Today I am so grateful for the woman she has become. The two weeks in intensive care are still vivid in my mind. The moments in between can be a blur sometimes. How does time go by so fast?

The teen years were quite the ride, but today as I look at her, I am filled with the intense love I felt for her that moment she was born. Today, she is an amazing, caring, loving, kind, intelligent young woman whom I love spending time with.

Treasure all those moments , even the teen years they go by so fast. In loving our daughter, I became a better human being one who loves her child more than mere words could ever describe. Thank you for being born and thanks to the nurses and doctors who helped her live, especially my dear friend Darlene, one of the neonatal intensive care nurses. I love you my precious daughter. With you in it I know there is hope for a better world.

OER and School Counsellors

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What is Open Educational Resources and why should School Counsellors contribute to the #oer commons? “The term “Open Educational Resource(s)” (OER) refers to educational resources (lesson plans, quizzes, syllabi, instructional modules, simulations, etc.) that are freely available for use, reuse, adaptation, and sharing.”

As an educator I have always been willing to share my work freely. If anyone asked and even when they did not I was always willing and happily shared anything I created. In 2013, I joined Etmooc and developed a new understanding of being an open educator and what a creative commons license meant.

This year a School Counsellor on twitter was asking for a place to collate school counselling materials and @verenanz one of my friends and fellow etmooc ‘er suggested the oercommons. I was excited a place to share freely.

Megan from the commons quickly connected and offered to assist. So here we go the first School Counsellor group on the commons . School Counsellors from Across The World. You too can contribute and join this group.

It’s easy to create and share on the commons and you can feel free to remix any of my work. I say if i can do it , so can you and I am willing to help any of you learn how to just DM me on twitter @sspellmancann.

Megan has also offered to set up PD as well, so be on the lookout in September around the 16th for some great PD.

Need more reasons to contribute ? Watch this …

So School Counsellors join in. We can model for our students why #oer is important. Collaboration is key and we can help each other by working together to share, remix and help each other.

There are so many reasons to use oer. The most important thing about OER is it enables the best quality knowledge material to travel free of charge to the most remote and underserved places in the world. Who doesn’t want to be a part of that?

This Life

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photo by Peggy Corkum taken in Lake George

This life is made for living each day. This life is what I make it and just for today I choose to be grateful for every second. If I look around I choose to see the beauty in the small pleasures, the small things, the everyday mundane things that I choose to make not so mundane. I love photos of children like the one above. There is something so special about them. This life is about all those special moments. Some we capture, many we don’t. This life to me is complex, but oh so fabulous. Today anyways.

Friendship is Everything

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I just spent the past couple of days walking and talking over 10 km on the beach with one of my dearest friends. I just had a facetime and a phone call with two of my other dear friends. I cannot imagine life without their presence in my life. They enrich my days and make me a better human. I love and treasure these moments. Connections make us whole human beings and the truest of friends accept us just as we are. They know who we are deeply and care about us in ways that sometimes family cannot. Oh how I have treasured my friendships over the years and still do. Now with the pandemic, my time with friends is ever so much more precious. Thank you for being my friends. You know who you are.