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Showing posts with the label communication

Showing Empathy During a Tough Conversation Builds Bridges

Today I am talking about having a tough conversation with people and how being empathetic and showing you respect and care about what they are saying goes a long ways to building a bridge that can help you gain some type of agreement.  That agreement may be to agree, disagree or table the topic but using these little techniques will make you a better listener, talker and communicator when having tough conversations.  We face those in life with family, friends, co-workers and at times even strangers.  Knowing how to handle these situations with a calm heart and cool head are the key to getting some results from all that drama.   As a high school teacher and coach, I see this all the time with what I call "teenage drama".  I work with my kids on social skills, communication, manners and learning peer pressure to avoidance to just walk away.  I tell them did you physically hear it, see it or touch it.  If not then avoid it and walk away.  Most drama gets started by another perso

Standing Strong and Upholding Your Values in Troubling Times

Today I am discussing the importance of standing strong to you values, morals and belief system during times of trouble, struggle and strife.  Unfortunately, we are living in a time of moral, political, faith based and other belief systems that have led to a division among friends, family and co-workers.  I have friends that have different values in all of these areas and still remain friends with them despite the differences of opinion.  We all grow up in different households, build different values and form our own opinions about faith, politics, life and all those other things we see and hear daily.  I have had some very interesting conversations lately with friends over the phone, online and other ways and it amazes me how some people think, have formed an opinion and just are dead set on that being the only way. I have been told I am hard headed at times and I definitely have a certain opinion about things.  If you read my blog or follow me you may have figured out by now that I a

Ten Life Skills to Teach Your Teenagers

Today we are talking about basic life skills that we need to be teaching our pre-teen and teenage children that will assist them in being a productive young adult once they leave the safe confines of mom and dads house.  They will no longer have mom and dad to take care of their clothes, make sure the oil is changed in the car, things are clean and organized and all the other stuff we do for and with our children.  As a high school teacher that specializes in working with kids with intellectual and behavior disabilities one of my main focus points all school year is growing the basic life skills of my students.  As a coach I also assign certain duties to the team so they can learn how to do laundry, clean and keep the locker room neat and orderly.  Our children do not need to grow up having everything handed to them or done for them. Our goal as adults, parents, grandparents, teachers, mentors, aunts and uncles should always be to help our kiddos learn to live, work and play the best t