special needs {recent observations}
// January 25th, 2012 // No Comments » // Children's Spiritual Formation, Leadership
for the past few weeks, i’ve been working on a special needs report for a local church. i’m providing consulting services for them as they develop new resources, strategies, and volunteer trainings for children with special needs. the pastor requested that i complete a report outlining the services local schools provide, and as i researched the policies, i came away with a few new {to me} special needs observations.
Observations
early childhood matters: early intervention is key in schools, addressing needs and setting an educational path forward is important to parents at their child’s earliest age. and yet, in the church, most of our activity centers around elementary school. consider addressing special needs in your preschool and nursery classrooms.
value options, variety, and custom plans: while the goal of most schools is integration, i noticed many schools offering a variety of options for children including a great variety in learning environments, and custom individualized goals for each child. while the church may not be able to offer as many options, consider interacting with each child as an individual, and be open to offering new learning experiences.
plans are important {and, don’t be without a plan}: every school had a detailed plan that is communicated regularly to parents. don’t be without a plan {even a super simple plan} in your ministry because parents expect church leaders to have a thoughtful process for caring for their children. most school plans include: referral, evaluation, discussion and agreement of individual plan, communication and implementation of plan, and re-evalution. consider these elements when creating a plan.
take a team approach: while researching local schools, i noticed that each child had a dedicated team committed to his/her growth. each team included: parents, child {when appropriate}, special education teacher, regular education teacher, school district representative, and various other people who know the child well {family member, church volunteer, sports/dance teacher, etc}. always, always, always take a team approach in ministry, too. consider adding a volunteer to your leadership team or committee, include school professionals, build a robust group of volunteers, and consider including the child for key decision making. don’t build a plan or a program without a team!
communicate to parents: of course, schools don’t offer perfect communication to parents, but i was very impressed with the amount of information available to parents with special needs children. the communication included: a dedicated webpage, an overview packet with an introduction to special education, contact information {phone numbers, emails}, training workshops, an annual report, and all necessary forms. consider how you’ll be in regular and consistent contact with parents.
also, while i was completing this report, the lovely stephanie spencer sent me super helpful information that she had used in her children’s ministry. her process included: interview (phone, in person, or email depending on the level of need and the family). biography (for teachers and small group leaders), and would use additional information to train a one-on-one aid (who she called a shadow) if it was required.
and, katie wetherbee passed along a growth plan that helps children and family develop a plan for interaction in ministry. check out katie’s blog today, she’s got a great article on communication & confidentiality {including prizes!}.
what have you recently observed regarding the special needs children in your ministry?
#58: build a better meeting (centralization)
// January 23rd, 2012 // No Comments » // build a better meeting
have you ever attended a meeting, and nearly ten minutes into the meeting thought to yourself, have i already attended this meeting? is this the twilight zone? surely, the meeting leader is aware we’ve already done this, right?
if yes, join the club. i often feel this way, and worse, i fear leading meetings in which participants wonder, does she not realize we’ve already had this meeting? yikes!
lately, i’ve been focusing on how to better centralize my meeting information in order to not become too-repetitive or to become not-repetitive enough. make sense? stay with me. for meetings that repeat (weekly staff meetings), or project meetings (repetitive tasks working towards a goal), i need tools that help me communicate, and organize meetings so that participants stay engaged and have the perfect amount of information.
sometimes, after leading several similar meetings, i’ll assume participants know how the meeting will go. i reason to myself, i don’t need to create an agenda, they’ll just know. or, i don’t need to follow up with notes, they know how i like to complete tasks. or, i don’t need to check the invite list, i know who needs to be invited. oh no! all of these assumptions can lead to total meeting disaster. instead, consider centralizing and cross-checking meeting information in order to use participants’ time efficiently.
i’m focusing on centralization a few ways:
dropbox: each time i begin a new project with a client, i create a new dropbox folder that includes meeting agendas, participant lists, and next step lists. i even create various folders for the different types of meetings. what can i say, i’m a dork. dropbox has been a great way to eliminate emailed notes after meetings, and instead has become a centralized place to point attendees towards. perfect!
meeting notes app: available for iPhone or iPad, this app is really helpful for viewing your meetings big-picture. after creating a to-do list, it allows me to view all of my current lists. which, of course, helps me see what actions other participants already are working on. i doubly love the attendee invite section, which lets me view all invitees for various meetings, thus deleting work to figure out who should/shouldn’t be invited and who has been in way too many meetings lately. the app allows me to cross-check multiple levels of information across meetings, which eliminates repeating information.
for meetings that overlap or repeat, centralizing meeting information is crucial. because, really, do you want to be known as the twilight-zone meeting leader? me neither.
how do you centralize meetings?
removing our {cartoon faces}
// January 18th, 2012 // 1 Comment » // Leadership
yesterday, one of my favorite bloggers hello monkeyface revealed her face. amber, for the past year has been a fashion blogger without a face. she’d post photos of her best outfits, all with a cartoon monkey face posted over her actual face {for safety reasons}. for a full year no one knew what she actually looked like minus the monkey face.
and then yesterday, she wrote this: what started as a way to feel safe and stay fun has begun to make me feel a little isolated from you. you, who have been so kind and generous as to befriend a cartoon. i am as guarded in real life as i may seem on the internet, and you are making me start to feel like i could afford to knock down a wall or two. whew. things are starting to feel less claustrophobic in here already.
beautiful words. and yesterday i’m reading her post wondering how i’ve created my own monkey face in my children’s ministry leadership. for all sorts of reasons, i’m far too slow to remove my cartoon face when leading. i’m not quick to show my weaknesses, my pain, and my confusion to volunteers for fear they’ll stop serving and stop respecting me. and, really, i’m all-too-scared if i show my real face they’ll stop following me.
and, i’m embarrassed to mention that way, way, way too often i hide my true self from colleagues. i feel competitive, and insecure, and far too worried about what they’ll think of my work, and my life, and my talents. but, entering into shared community and true collaboration means removing the cartoon face, regardless of the end results. more than anything, i want to lead strong as myself. and to do this, i must show my whole face.
today, instead, might we consider leading without hiding. leading without cartoon faces. telling the truth, modeling authenticity, removing barriers for community and shared life, and being comfortable leading as ourselves. blessings today for you & me both.
{game} leadership questions
// January 16th, 2012 // 8 Comments » // Leadership
you up for a game? it is monday, after all, the universal day to play games, right? i recently received this email from mike briles: could you do me a favor? i have a project for my developing lay leaders class in my doctorate program. could you answer these questions about you and your leadership style? thanks!
while i’m working away on my answers, let’s play a game! would you mind leaving a comment, answering one of the following questions? if possible, answer the question that’s next in order. for example: the first person to comment, answer question #1, second person to comment, answer question #2. got it? i’m super curious about your leadership style, and will be stealing reading your answers carefully. let’s do this!
- what is your opinion of success?
- what is your definition of leadership?
- what are your principles by which you lead?
- what is the best leadership decision you have ever made and why?
- what is the worst leadership decision you have ever made and why?
- who do you meet with on a regular basis for decisions?
- how do you develop leaders?
- what do you do to keep them motivated?
- what is your favorite leadership/motivation quote?
c’mon! best game ever, right? when we have all nine questions answered, i’ll post my answers. seriously, this is way too much fun for a monday. cheers!
{this week’s} instagram ideas
// January 13th, 2012 // No Comments » // friday reflections
i’ve been using instagram to take photos as visual inspirations. at the end of the week, i scroll through the photos making notes for ways to implement the ideas. i love taking a simple idea and making it happen. and, i love the end of the week. happiness abounds!
here are this week’s instagram ideas:
left column: i was talking to a children’s director recently about how to highlight small group space within a large room. usually, we tend towards small carpets or classroom dividers, but what about lighting? i love these yellow pendent lamps, and think they would be perfect hanging from the ceiling defining each small group space.
top right: before christmas, i was sipping coffee at caribou and noticed these fun instructions on my napkin. made me wonder how we might add more functionality to our parent take home papers or curriculum papers. what if we added an activity for families to do right on their take home paper? or, we added a lesson demonstration on the actual curriculum paper? if we’re going to use paper, let’s use it well.
bottom right: this might be my favorite idea of the week. i spotted this sign on an office space that was looking for a tenant. you scan the QR code with your smartphone and it links you to the website with the leasing information. it made me think about this, and wondered what might happen if we added a QR code to the paper on the door? ahhh! parents could scan the code, be lead to a website with at-home activities, and be ready to engage with their kids once they arrived home. i. love. it.
what are your best ideas this week?
i love jesus > jesus loves me
// January 11th, 2012 // 6 Comments » // Children's Spiritual Formation
on christmas day, in the middle of opening gifts and eating cookies, my almost 3-year-old niece said to no one in particular: “i love jesus!” her declaration was random, and beautiful, and heart-melting all in the same moment. we weren’t specifically talking about jesus at the time, but something caused her to shout her love to him. simply beautiful.
and, of course, it got me thinking…
do we really-honestly-authentically inspire tiny-tiny kids to love jesus?
do we reveal jesus’ magnificence in a way that causes their hearts to respond to him?
or, do we only focus our priority on teaching little children that jesus loves them?
back in the day when i taught early childhood, i often concluded lessons by saying “jesus loves you!” i did this because i wanted every child to know and experience the incredible love jesus had for them. which is good. but, today i’m wondering-did my teaching communicate that it was more important for children to know that jesus loved them instead of understanding the higher priority that we must love jesus?
it almost feels like a chicken or the egg situation. which comes first?
must we first teach children that jesus loves them in order for children to love him?
or, must we first teach the incredible stories, work, and personhood of jesus so that a child’s natural inclination is to respond in love towards him?
what do you think? is i love jesus {greater than} jesus loves me?
#57: build a better meeting {w/kidmin academy}
// January 9th, 2012 // No Comments » // build a better meeting
i was super thrilled to join up with tony kummer recently and create a training video for his brand new website kidmin academy. it’s an online community with video training for free. it’s insane. and, fantastic! each video is approximately 30 minutes long and includes downloadable & printable notes, and a section for community comments.
you can browse through the various videos deciding which might be most helpful for your volunteers, send them the links encouraging them to watch from home, and follow up by comparing notes at your next volunteer meeting. brilliant. my video {shockingly} is about leading a great meeting. say what?! i’m mysterious. you never know my next move.
join me here for the full video, training notes, bonus notes, and community discussion.
new year’s {redemptions}
// January 3rd, 2012 // No Comments » // Faith, Leadership
happy new year! i’m slow-ly making my way back to work after a restful, relational, and wonderful holiday break. this break was a wonderful time filled with family, and out-of-town friends, and gifts, and tons & tons of movies. perfection! remind me again why it can’t always be christmas?
i’ve been thinking about resolutions, and goals for the new year, and how i want to make more of this year than last. and, really what i want is to be more myself, to be more who god intended when he formed me, and to live an authentic and full life. but, to do that i need and want to redeem parts of myself that are broken. for this new year, instead of resolutions, i’m focused on redemptions.
redeeming my critical attitude: i’m critical a lot. sometimes because of the work i do, and sometimes because part of my heart needs redeeming. i’ve noticed that when i’m feeling tired or insecure, i tend towards judgment, negativity, and hyper criticism far too quickly. i don’t give people a chance, and i assume their motives. not fair. in the new year, i want my first instinct to be towards positivity, assuming the best, and not making up false realities. my grad school professor says every behavior makes perfect sense in it’s context. i want this to be my driving motivation in the new year; understanding a person’s context before offering my criticism.
redeeming my heart & actions for the poor: i credit david platt’s book radical for completely messing up my heart and mind on how i’ve been thinking about and responding towards the poor. i’ve especially felt connected to jesus’ words in matthew 19:21: jesus answered, “if you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. then come, follow me.” in the new year, i’m planning to take this verse literally and sell what i can so that i can give more to the poor. and i’m believing that doing this will allow me to follow jesus more fully.
redeeming my work: recently, i worked with a fantastic group of pastors. the work was hard, complex, and filled with conflict. i watched as the pastors committed to honesty, integrity, and good-hard work in order to make their environment better. it was refreshing and redeeming to work alongside them. as a consultant i most often see the ugly-not-for-public-viewing-underbelly of the church. and, sometimes i walk away with a bad feeling of hopelessness that the church can’t actually do the work it’s intended to do. this year, i want to see the good in all churches, believe that redemption in the church is possible, and do all i can to add beauty, healing, and integrity to even the most broken ministries.
cheers to 2012, a new year and new redemptions.
merry christmas & happy new year {!}
// December 22nd, 2011 // 4 Comments » // lemon lime kids
grateful this year for your partnership in ministry, encouragement, and friendship. blessings, joy & cheer for the new year. i’ll meet you back here on the blog in 2012!
christmas {pep talk}
// December 19th, 2011 // 2 Comments » // Leadership
today marks the start of christmas week, and with it brings a whole heap of busyness, excitement, anxiety, and of course, last minute kidmin service preparations. if you’re leading a children’s ministry christmas service this week, a pep talk just for you:
relax. breathe. enjoy. you’ve done all you can to prepare for this moment. the supplies are ready. the volunteers are in place. the classroom looks great. the time to worry is over. it’s time to lead strong, hug parents, and smile at the children. as you serve children, let the children bless you. smile as they smile. sing your heart out. jump for joy. laugh for any old reason. thank volunteers, and let volunteers thank you. don’t shrug off their kind words, generous gifts, and encouraging cards. you deserve it.
this week, as i encounter kidmin leaders, i’ll be praying for each one along the way, and cheering on their great success. if you’ll leave a comment with your name, i promise to pray (and cheer you on) this entire week.
tonight, we’ll attend a christmas service with my family at my parents’ home church, and throughout the service i’ll be praying for the kidmin leaders who will sing, teach, and love my nieces. that their energy will be sustained and their joy multiplied.
tomorrow, i’ll meet with a church staff i’ve been working with since summer. as i look into their eyes, i’ll pray for their christmas pageant, their multiple christmas eve services, and their christmas morning service to go off without a hitch, for their children to be loved and kept safe, and that they’ll be a stronger team when it’s over than when they started.
later this week, we’ll attend a christmas service with my husband’s family at their home church, and i’ll be praying their kidmin team will sustain a busy work week in order to serve well this weekend. that joy will prevail over stress, worry, and details.
and for you, i pray as you lead, pastor, teach and hug children, you’ll be filled with energy to enjoy the magic of the season, and that you’ll see miracles all around you.
blessings for christmas week. you’ll be great! no doubt.
