Heather Holleman's Blog, page 123

What’s Going Well For You?

Today, my Name Game question was simply, “What’s going well for you?” You’ll find that people begin celebrating small victories, reporting good news, or talking about personal breakthroughs. Soon, the room feels happy.

What’s going well for you? It’s a great question to get students primed to learn, to open their minds to possibility, and to move them from any hopeless, discouraging thoughts to a more learning-conducive brain state. It’s true! You can read the research about the connection between happiness and learning.

You can try this question with your children or in your own learning environments. Try it before your business seminars or meetings. You can revise the question for younger audiences by asking “What’s something that’s currently making you happy or recently made you giggle?” See the effect it has! Technically speaking, the activity raises serotonin and dopamine levels that help the brain build complex connections, remember information, and foster creativity.

You can also play cheerful music, watch a comedic video clip, or tell a funny story in your educational settings before you begin class, but I find that this question raises the mood best.

The Return of the After School Snack Platter

With one daughter still home and starting in-person school today, it’s that time of year to bring back the after school Snack Platter. It’s all part of the Warm Welcome that you’ve heard about for the last 10 years at Live with Flair. You welcome a family member home with a peaceful, joyful atmosphere. It could include music, a lit candle, a tidy environment, and–perhaps most importantly–the snack platter.

It’s a little rest stop before homework or activities. It’s a little moment to connect with a child as you munch on a special treat. Today’s platter? Blackberries and edamame with maybe some crackers and cheese. And I’ll add in some icy water since it’s a hot day!

The Warm Welcome with the Snack Platter is also about celebrating the day and connecting with some great questions like these: When did you feel best about yourself today? What funny thing happened? What was the hardest class? The easiest? But it’s also about silence, especially with teens. You can easily overwhelm people if you pepper them with questions when they walk through the door. So you can sit with the Snack Platter, munch on the delights, and see what happens.

Ideas for Your Snack Platter

Yes, Older Children Still Want Snacks

The History of the Snack Platter

They’ll Eat What You Put Out!

All the Ways You Adapt

This morning during class, I noticed I didn’t notice my mask.

At all.

It’s like I forgot I was wearing it.

The experience made me so happy! In just a few days of teaching in a mask, it became normal. It became a regular part of teaching, just like how I hold the chalk in my hand or pace around the room to make a point. The mask not only didn’t bother me, but it also didn’t demand any attention. It’s just now part of the day.

In psychology, we’d call this habituation. We simply adapt to our surroundings, becoming habituated or accustomed to something. I felt so encouraged by how quickly it felt normal to wear a mask, sanitize my space, use hand sanitizer, and stay six feet away from people. I felt so encouraged because I realized we can indeed continue to live in a COVID-19 world with these kinds of safety precautions.

It’s the same way I feel about how I’ve adapted to a daughter being away at college. It’s only been a week, but I’ve adapted to the new patterns of life with her away from home. It doesn’t feel “normal,” but it feels like the “new normal.”

I’m thankful today for the way God built us to habituate when necessary in order to survive and even thrive. Things we thought we’d never be able to handle become easier over time. Day by day, we habituate.

Patience Rewarded

They do turn red!

What It Was Like To Teach In-Person at Penn State This Morning

I just returned from teaching in-person at Penn State. I teach two small sections of an honors advanced writing course. I was so nervous that it would feel wrong and disconnected and awkward. I was nervous it would feel unsafe.

But guess what? Everyone felt safe. Everyone felt thankful to be present with one another. I’m amazed at how natural and easy it felt and how connected we felt even in masks and when socially distanced. I included some photos from the morning. Even though students gave permission to share, I blurred out their faces just in case.

First, I completed my symptom checker.

A mostly empty campus this morning.



A writing classroom during COVID-19, Penn State, Fall 2020.

Then, I arrived to a mostly empty campus and secured my PPE from the English department’s (also empty) mailroom. Then, I arrived to my classroom, wiped down the computer, microphone, and surfaces, and then welcomed students into their socially-distanced seat. They could take a disinfectant wipe and wipe down their own desks if they wished. Everyone wore masks. Everyone could hear one another. Everyone participated joyfully. Then, everyone filed out in an orderly way, sanitized their hands, and went on with their day.

I’m more at peace with my decision to teach an in-person class after today!

Strong and Courageous

This morning I consider what we’re doing in life that requires strength and courage. I’m reading the book of Joshua, and again I’m struck by the three-time command to Joshua to “be strong and courageous” (1:6, 7, 9). It’s also curious to note how the Lord adds in “very courageous“ in verse 7.

I wonder what He’s asking of us today. Maybe it’s to move forward against the crowd; maybe it’s to assume the responsibility that frightens us; maybe it’s to obey Him in an area that unsettles us. Maybe a reader sits in actual danger by fire, storm, or attack. God says He “is with you wherever you go.”

So we press onward.

Marvelous Things Beneath the Surface

I observe the largest turtle I think I’ve ever seen in nature. My husband thinks it’s a dark boulder in the water until it moves. We stand there, delighted and in awe. We stand there know that beneath the surface, marvelous things await.

A Whisper and a Hush

We don’t know who wrote Psalm 107, but we know it was someone most likely rejoicing as the Jews returned home after the exile in Babylon. I love the language, especially the way the writer describes God’s calming power. We read this in verses 28-31:

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he brought them out of their distress.
He stilled the storm to a whisper;
    the waves of the sea were hushed.
They were glad when it grew calm,
    and he guided them to their desired haven.
 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind.

I love the whisper and the hushing. I love that God stills. I think of any part of our lives filled with trouble, distress, storms, and tumult. We serve a loving and powerful God who can still and hush, calm and guide. He guides us to our “desired haven” and demonstrates “unfailing love” over and over again. I think of all the wonderful deeds of God awaiting you and me today.

Remember How Hard Your Brain Is Working

Today I remember that it’s OK to not have the same level of productivity as we all did pre-COVID. As the new semester begins, I find myself amazed that my To-Do list that would once have, at this point in the day, neat lines crossing out all those things I accomplished instead contains eight items left completely unfinished. I’m not the same person I was this time last year. I can’t do the same things in the same way.

I believe the constant level of pandemic stress combined with everything we’ve all been thinking through–whether politics, social justice, or the best kind of learning for our children–makes everyone exhausted all the time. Perhaps we’re at half capacity externally because internally we’re doing so much work. Our brain is working hard every day, all day. We live in uncertainty and need to adapt mentally nearly every day.

So when you feel like you’re not working hard like you used to externally, remember how hard you’re working internally.

Some Encouragement from Psalm 97

I love the way Psalm 97 ends:

For you, Lord, are the Most High over all the earth;
    you are exalted far above all gods.
Let those who love the Lord hate evil,
    for he guards the lives of his faithful ones
    and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Light shines on the righteous
    and joy on the upright in heart.
Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous,
    and praise his holy name.

I notice that wonderful verb “guards” and the comfort it brings when things feel uncertain and scary as the fall academic semester begins—for me as a teacher, for my college daughter, and for my last daughter returning to high school.

I also focus on how God fills our heart with “light” and “joy.” What a wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit within us. As we walk with Jesus, we experience this light, this joy, and this Guarding Presence.