Rubber Stamps in Action

Seeing is believing.  I am loving how easy the stamps are to use, meld into my grading & feedback giving and also, a simple way to let my students know how much I appreciate them.

You can purchase any or all of the rubber stamps at Upcycled Education's new online stamp shop.  I think they are marvelous - wink, wink.

More stamps in action.....

Visit here to shop.

My absolute best,
Jen

PS - Curious about how this stamp shop came to be?  Read here for the full story.

And I Opened a Stamp Shop

Look above. Do you see anything new?

Yep, I opened an online stamp shop.

Right now, you might be semi-confused or not with the whole stamp shop grand opening.  It depends if you've been in my presence lately how confused you might be feeling.  My students, who see me weekly, are not confused at all. I've been talking about stamps and asking them questions about stamps for a month now.

Here's the skinny on how the online stamp shop came to be.....

#1:  I love stamps. 

I literally collected rubber stamps in my 20s.  I used to go to stamp shows (like conferences) when I lived in Denver in the 1990s.  My creative friend, Colleen, used to go with me.  We would buy a gaggle of stamps and then spend an entire day making greeting cards.  In fact, this year was the first time I can remember that I bought a pre-made greeting card.   My mother was shocked.  I still have the majority of my stamp collection as evidenced by this photo below.  I don't take care of the stamps nearly as well as I used to.

#2:  Most teacher stamps aren't my style.

We all have our own style.  Most teacher or classroom stamps don't resonate with me.  Plus, most teacher stamps fit in the "Good Job" category.  You know how I feel about good jobs.  Good bye is how I feel.  Upcycled Education's stamps are here to change that.  The stamps I offer all encourage reflection and thoughtful feedback.   No good-jobs-empty-feedback here.

#3:  I like to shake up the snow globe.

Almost every year at my annual review, my department chair says something to the effect, You always are looking for ways to improve.  It is true.  I love the feel of growth, the challenge of doing something new and since I've been involved in teaching for almost 20+ years, it is time to shake up the snow globe again.  These stamps are helping me improve giving feedback to my students and increase the amount of student reflection within my lessons.  Total wins.

#4:  I dream 85% of the time and do 5% of the time.  The other 10%, I'm sleeping.

I am a huge dreamer and believe it or not, a rarely doer.  For 2013, that is changing.  My inspiration comes from one of my favorite blogs, Enjoy It.  I can't put my finger on the exact blog post, but one post Elise mentioned how she finds it more stressful to think about an idea over a long period of time than actually do or execute an idea.  That 100% spoke to me.  Take the cycling team, as an example.  I literally thought about launching a cycling team for two years before actually doing anything about it.    Two years!  Why did I wait?  Because I never thought it was the right time.  I didn't think I had the right skills to lure sponsors, blah, blah, blah.  For the exorbitant amount of time I dreamt about the cycling team, I could have launched ten teams by now.  Plus, look at this incredible jersey and our 17 sponsors.  Pinch me.

#5:  I'm going full circle

Since I love stamps.  I love teaching.  I am inspired by the stamp line at Enjoy It, which aren't teaching related, but absolutely lovely AND I'm a doer for 2013, I proudly introduce to you Upcycled Education's new stamp shop.  Cue curtains opening.  Ta-da!

Come look around.  Please tell all your friends about the stamps.  Buy one or more stamps for your favorite teachers - especially since Teacher Appreciation Week is in early May.  Or, purchase a stamp to use at home with your kiddos after a museum outing.  You can see the stamps in action here.

So thrilled,

Jen

STAMP SHOP NOW OPEN!

PS - I can't thank you enough for all your support of Upcycled Education.  This Dear Abby quote really speaks to this whole process.  This is not work at all, but pure joy.

My Thoughts on the Connecticut Shooting

My heart.  Oh, my heavy heart.

This weekend has been absolutely bittersweet.  Sweet because of spending so much time with family and Mr. UpCyclist returning from a trip to Finland and Sweden.  Bitter because of the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.  So many lovely, innocent lives and families changed forever.

I've had just a few days to process the act of the shooter.  My thoughts continue to swirl in my head.  As an educator, I've had many family and friends ask my opinion on the topic.  Is it a school problem?  Gun control issue?  Mental healthcare concern?   Community challenge?  What?

Though, I believe it is all of those things, I believe the real answer lies in a blog post I wrote almost a year ago.  Assets.  Our humans, our citizens, our adults and our kids need more developmental assets. Period.  The more you have, according to the Search Institute research, the more likely you will avoid high-risk behaviors like violence and suicide.  What I notice about the majority of the assets is they are related to connection - connection with others, connection with school, connection with activities, connection with spirituality, connection. I believe the shooter possessed very few, if any, assets.  Very few, if any, connections.

Don't believe me?  Look at the asset list for the highest age group - 12-18 year olds.  Do you think the shooter possessed more than five of those?  Five out of forty?  Come on.  That's a human whose soul is starved, lost and unvalued.

While the FBI works on its profile for a shooter - be it a school shooter, theater, mall, post office, whatever shooter, I think I know what the profile is.  A human with few, if any, assets.

We can't change history, but we can learn from it and influence the future.  One asset.  One connection at a time.

Download the assets lists here and figure out how you can contribute to the assets of others.  I realize there is no "adult" asset list, but I think the age 12-18 year old list could be modified to fit the adult age range.  If you haven't read my initial post on the developmental assets, read that, too, to understand them here.  If you are still stuck what to do, try following this blog post about emotional bank accounts.  That's an easy one you can do on a daily basis with every single person you come into contact with - man, woman and child.

Be safe, Upcyclists.  Give your families a hug, kiss and cuddle from me.

With a heavy heart,

Jen

PS - I know the question will come up, what about humans who can't embrace the assets?  What about those who just cannot connect?  I think this article and blog post from a mom of a mentally ill child speaks to the need for increased mental healthcare and support in the US.  For those humans who just cannot connect, we will need to implore more.   And if you do read her post, I found the comments others left fascinating and thought-provoking.