Wednesday's Wisdom....from Robert Fulghum

Today I'm sharing a few tidbits of wisdom from Robert Fulghum. I have several of his quotes hanging over my desk. His words are simple, direct and always right on the mark. Here are a few of my favorites:


All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school.
These are the things I learned:

* Share everything.
* Play fair.
* Don't hit people.
* Put things back where you found them.
* Clean up your own mess.
* Don't take things that aren't yours.
* Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
* Wash your hands before you eat.
* Flush.
* Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
* Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
* Take a nap every afternoon.
* When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
* Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
* Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
* And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

And this one is SO important!

Sticks and stones will break our bones, but words will break our hearts.

Remember, you can say you're sorry, but you can't take ugly words back. 

My class has adjourned for the summer. Today is officially my first day of Summer break. Hope everyone has a great week!

Wednesday's Witticism ..... Out of the Mouths of Babes

I apologize for the lack of posts lately. We've had some internet difficulties and with a very hectic time at school, it's made it nearly impossible to get online and visit the blogs and post as I usually do.

For today's "Witticism" post, I thought I would share a cute story that happened yesterday. We're finishing our last week of school with the "tale" end of our fairytale unit. Today's story was "Jack and the Beanstalk". I usually try to find literature to share that is relatively free of violence and "bad words". I started to read the story and realized it was a particularly gory version, so I swapped it for another. The second version was pretty accurate with original violence, but I continued.  As I was reading the part about Jack cutting down the beanstalk and the giant falls to his death, I was praying that the friends wouldn't focus on the violence. (You know there's always one who will do just what you hope no one will! ) Just as I finished, one of my most enthusiastic friends jumped up and yelled, "MAN, HE GOT SERVED!"
I stifled my laughter and said with an almost straight face, "Ben, what does that mean, 'he got served'? "
He looked up at me with a big smile (proud of his newly expanded vocabulary),  "I don't know, but that giant sure got it!"

Kids, you gotta love them! Only 3 more school days left, .....I'm really gonna miss these moments!

Happy Wednesday!

Wednesday's Wisdom

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, I'm posting this poem for all the wonderful teachers out there in Blogland. You inspire me daily. Thanks for your words, ideas and inspiration!

I found this a few years ago and read it now and then as a reminder to myself. Just remember...... you never know!


You Never Know
author unknown

You never know when someone
might catch a dream from you.
You never know when a little word
or something that you might do,
May open up a window
of a mind that seeks the light.

The way you teach may not matter at all,
but you never know, it might.

And just in case it could be
that another's life through you
might change for the better
with a broader, brighter view.
It seems it might be worth a try
to do what you know is right.

The way you teach may not matter at all,
but you never know, it might.


Happy Wednesday!