Winner of the Week – May 21, 2017

winner of the week

It’s time to announce the winner of the week! Each week I choose one winner to receive a free copy of the winner’s choice from one of my electronic publications listed here.

The winner is chosen for the best story or experience from one (not each) of the following topics:

  • Live Without Stress,
  • Parenting Without Stress,
  • Discipline Without Stress, or
  • Using authority without coercion (Not using bribes to control, telling, threats, or imposed punishments) to achieve a goal

Here is this week’s winning story:

It was a beautiful afternoon and instead of playing inside with my kindergarteners, I took them outside on the playground. My students ran wildly out the door and began to swing, slide, jump, and laugh. One little girl was trying to master the monkey bars. She just couldn’t do it. She came up to me and propped down and started to complain, “I’ll never! I keep trying but I’ll just never do it.”

She was really complaining and feeling a lot of self-pity. She seemed like she wanted me to fix the problem. Prior to using the Raise Responsibility System, I would have probably babied my students’ feelings and felt bad with her. But I didn’t have that urge. I had the urge to empower her.

I said to her, “I understand how you are feeling, but you’re either going to sit here and feel bad for yourself or tell yourself I’m not going to give up and keep trying no matter how long it takes. The choice is yours. I can’t make that decision for you!”

The little girl, within a second (literally a second), popped up and said, “Okay, I got this.”

She didn’t bother me on the playground again and kept trying.

She still hasn’t mastered the monkey bars but she will. Her “I’ll never!” has turned into “I Will.”

Tough love in the form of empowerment can change lives.

Submitted by Brianne Siderio, Kindergarten Teacher

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Submit your story! Send an email to drmlmarshall@gmail.com with the word “Contest” in the subject line. You will be notified if you are the week’s winner.

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