Head Start Association Parent Conference: Dallas

TODAY'S THE DAY!

Long anticipated: THRILL of a lifetime!
I have a BIG story to share today. 
Take a look at this!

That's what has been on-line for months now. 
For REALZ!
My first.Ever.NATIONAL.KEYNOTE!!!
The day is now at hand.
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Here I am! Right here in the flesh!
Living the 'and dreams...' part of my classic song:
"You're Wonderful" 
[Search my YouTube tab above for links. Go to TeachersPayTeachers for digital downloads. 
Grab the FREEBIE on dream quotations here. Stay tuned for the open letter part.]

My responsibility is to speak to this gathering of Head Start parents from across the country. I have been given the honor of being the LAST note on their several day agenda. I am to invigorate.  My role is to send them off with smiles and enthusiasm. What a WONDERFUL assignment. I can do that! I plan to reinforce things they already know. 

• The parent is the child's first teacher.
• Every book read to a child lays a foundation for literacy.
• Laughter + delight encourage learning. 
• Music is a source of inspiration + invitation for learning. 
• Getting up and moving is key to early learning.
• Writing down your ideas is the first step to becoming an author.

I can't wait to share my picture books and extension ideas! 

We want to send them out the door recharged and refueled for their role of leadership on Policy Councils back home as well as in their critical role wearing their mommy/daddy hat. I am to challenge the participants to integrate and take action on the many ideas that they have heard while gathered together. I am to build community prior to our dispersal. These are grass-roots activists on behalf of children. On behalf of opportunity. On behalf of change. On behalf of a better day. On behalf of making a difference. Focus on my contribution to the mission. The building blocks are all in place. 

While keeping in mind my assignment, I also need to get acclimated.
Next up is what our ballroom looked like last night.
Here's a peek during the tech-walk-through! 
There are two of these 'jumbo-tron' screens. 
There will also be a 'director' for my show keynote today.
He will be switching between my power-point slides
and real-time film footage of me, on the stage, as I speak. 
HONEST!
Yes. This is a first for little home-grown Hoosier.
Welcome to the big time.

If you are reading this in real time --
wish me well. 
May all of the technology cooperate so that I can share my story. 
Thank you, as always, for your continued support.
I'll be back.... I've SO excited!!! 
Can't wait to tell you how it goes! 
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<<<<<<<<<<<< DRUMROLL >>>>>>>>>>>>

Update: TRIUMPHANT MORNING REPORT!
OK. Now for the pudding's proof. 
This morning in retrospect.
Right behind me on the up-escalator early this morning are my two primary contacts for this life changing opportunity. 

The building blocks from above have been rotated to spell out:
"See you next year"
but Ed and Sharon are gracious to pose + be part of my scrapbook.

How many tech boards does it take to run a Debbie Clement keynote?

[A variation on the proverbial light-bulb riddle.] 

Approximately SIX!

And that's not counting the translation team with their transistors. 

I had FOUR, tech-men-in-black running the operation.

What a concept. 

People to help. Exhale Debbie. This is your day!

DIVA DEBBIE ON DUTY.

Something that I've learned about blogging this year:

'Fewer' people are interested in seeing pictures of me smiling coast-to-coast on my travels than the number interested in seeing bulletin boards, decorated classroom doors, art projects and other teacher treasures -- the 'goodies' that I'm fortunate to see during my school visits across the country as Author/Illustrator. I can see that evidence now that I know how to read my analytics. I am attempting to build a better blog. So I'm listening and learning.

Something else I've learned about blogging this year: 

Bloggers attract criticism from their peers. 

Mommy bloggers hear snide comments: 

"I suppose you're going to be blogging about this perfect fairy-tale little experience this morning?" 

Teacher bloggers hear these cutting comments: 

"So do you clean your own house? Do you cook for your family? I prefer to spend time with my spouse. 

Just wait till you have children -- then you'll understand." 

Entrepreneurial mommy-teacher bloggers hear down-right cruel comments: 

"Do you have any sort of a life? You're such an OVER-achiever! What are you trying to prove?" 

Here's a corner of the ballroom today, before our morning fun gets underway! THRILLING!!!!

The rest of my 'article' today is an open-letter to achievers. 

Welcome: PART II

This is for all of the willing-to-learn-something-new risk-takers. All of the using your full-potential, digging deeper type folks. All of those willing to think outside the box, imagine a better day people-of-passion. The rest of my ramble is for those who live each day with a profound hope that their contribution can indeed make a difference in the grand scheme of things. 

WELCOME, like minded wonders. 

First of all let me just say that I know absolutely nothing of over-night success or get-rich quick schemes. 

The pictures that I share today are the culmination of 16.5 years of being 

a music-lady, 'solo-preneur' Arts-type, rainbow-maker, 

doing what I can to brighten the world. 

I am the tortoise chugging along in the marathon of contribution. 

I'm the one taking baby steps from my technologically-challenged cave, 

in an ever faster moving cyber-universe.

AND? 

AND I LUV, LUV, LUV what I am uniquely able to share! 

"I think I can. I think I can. I think I can."

Things I know for sure: 

• Baby steps add up over time. (Even the tiniest of steps.)
• Focus and contribution over months + years turn into forward progress.
• Honoring your unique gifts generates resilience.
• The world needs your contribution and you are uniquely qualified. 
• It is possible to rise up from your current situation, imagine a better one and WORK to create it. 
• It takes genuine effort, sustained over time to make discernible progress.
• We are each endowed with unique gifts. The world needs your set! 
• It is critical to keep the candle of your dream lit. By doing so? You light the way for others to follow.

Find friends who will support you in your journey! Create your own team of joy!

It is very easy for others to cast judgement. 

When we 'rise above' our peers we create the possibility of comparison.

"Comparison is the thief of joy."

--Theodore Roosevelt-- 

There are always people more than eager to 'bring-you-down-a-peg' so that they can keep their equilibrium and the status quo. Their criticisms of your extra effort are a justification for their life just plunking along, of their own in-action on the road to greatness. 

DON'T LISTEN TO THE WET BLANKETS! 

TUNE OUT THE GUILT THROWERS! 

WALK AWAY FROM THE NAY-SAYERS!

Instead? 

CELEBRATE! EDUCATE! APPRECIATE!

Listen carefully to your own inner-compass, the small voice that directs you to your individual, unique contribution. 

Know that staying true to your own capabilities will be  just like cream rising to the top. 

Not over night. Not without detractors. Not without sleeplessness and tears and frustrations and lost files and lost 'friends' and periodic banging of your head against the wall and lost opportunities and rejection.

Did I mention that there will be rejection?

I promise. There will. There will be rejection.

The better you get, the more you encounter a "Mean Girls" mentality and start having flash-backs of junior high. When that happens? Smile. Pat yourself on the back and realize that you've moved forward sufficiently to upset others. Step one: check.

And another thing I know for sure? 

LIFE IS NOT FAIR.  

The sooner you can let go of that wishful childish concept, 

the easier the path ahead to your joy.

Poverty is real. The economy is challenged. Storms hit.  

TAKE HEART.

You are not alone on this journey.

There's a village willing to welcome you!

There are people who step up to offer you a hand as you fumble.

Akron, OH Head Start Quilt made in Response to my Book, "You're Wonderful" 

Take those baby steps. 

Take a deep breath and dive into uncharted waters. 

Ask questions. 

Find a mentor. 

Be willing. 

Google it.

Show up.  

Say yes.

Floss.

Go for it.

Just do it.

Make a list.  

Check it twice.

A stitch it time. 

Believe in yourself. 

Do your homework.

Go back to the library. 

Search out excellence. 

Make hay while the sun shines.

Be.

Be willing.

Be willing to go.

Be willing to see. 

Be willing to learn. 

Be willing to stretch.

Be willing to practice.  

Be willing to start over.  

Be willing to dig deeper.

Be willing to feel anxiety.

Be willing to get up earlier.

Be willing to feel frustration.

Be willing to make sacrifices. 

Be willing to "pay your dues." 

Be willing to be put to the test.

Be willing to see others imitate.

Be willing to change time zones.

Be willing to build your legacy.

Be willing to work in isolation. 

Be willing to accept criticism. 

Be willing to be a role model. 

Be willing to feel frustration.

Be willing to be evaluated.

Be willing to succeed.

Be willing to adjust.

Be willing to focus.  

Be willing to trust.

Swing and Sway' Verse Number Three, Crossing the Mid-Line: "All Together Now"

Be willing to show your inexperience and your eagerness,

 to improve your odds and shorten your learning curve. 

Be exceptional and then seek out other 'exceptionals' who get it, who've been where you've been and will applaud and empathize and regale their own rejections and share their heart-aches turned-into-triumphs and offer an example of staying the course.

Build a team. 

Listen. 

Take notes. 

Follow through on what makes sense to you.

Improve the soil.

Plant seeds.

Cultivate. 

Harvest.

Put your own oxygen mask on first.

Get your annual mammogram.

Eat your veggies. 

Get fresh air. 

Exercise.

Be kind always.

Go to the library. 

Fake it till ya make it.

ACT: "AS IF" -- as if you're already there.

Give yourself credit for your effort. 

Rinse and repeat. 

Then ask some more questions. 

Remember to smile when you get to the spotlight. 

Remember to thank people. 

Remember to celebrate the progress. 

Remember to help someone just getting started. 

Remember to pause in the midst of it all and rejoice.

TRUST. 

TRUST that there will come a day when it will ALL come together.

TRUST that all things work together for good. 

TRUST that there are people who want to see you succeed. 

TRUST that there are people willing to help you succeed. 

Remember to ask for help. 

Remember to 'purchase' help if necessary. 

Remember to do everything within your power to safe-guard your spirit. 

Remember to do everything within your power to safe-guard your health. 

Remember to breathe. 

EXHALE DEEPLY.

Seek balance.

Whistle.

Skip. 

Count your blessings.

Lend a helping hand.

Keep a journal.

Imagine.

Sing in the shower.

Appreciate. 

Remember to reflect. 

Remember to plan ahead -- way ahead at times.

Remember to embrace this very moment. 

Remember to celebrate the journey!

Believe in your worth.  

Keep your arms wide open!
Be true to yourself and sing YOUR song! 

The world needs your gifts. 

It is your responsibility to nurture them.

When in doubt, listen to the laughter of children.

Whenever possible incite their laughter and then bask in it. 

Store it away in your heart. 

When you hear their gen-u-ine laughter ~~

take it as a sign that you are on the right path. 

TRUST that one day there will be applause for your efforts.
Pray that you live long enough for it to happen.
Mine is a story of triumph. Two battles against Breast Cancer and the continuing battle of the aftermath of treatment and I'm still here. Still able to contribute. 
Bucket list check: National Keynote = PRICELESS!
Chug. Chug. Chug. Chug. Chug. Chug. Chug. 
HOPE.
HOPE. 
HOPE. 
HOPE. 
HOPE.  

-- Debbie -- 

Special thanks to Renee Sutherland my dear friend-of-the-ages -- 
THE Head Start Association 
Conscious Discipline GURU.
*Renee rearranged her flight home at the last possible minute to support my moment in the spotlight and take today's candid shots in action.  
To track her down, click on this link. 

So many things that you can do to help: 
Follow me on Pinterest where I have over 20,000 early educational ideas organized. 
Pin this article for me.

Get acquainted with TeachersPayTeachers where I am gradually getting my songs into zipped files for your instant download as Mp3 files of my songs with support materials. By following my store you'll know when I have added something new. 

And of course the old, tried and true. Tell a friend!

Yes, you can tweet and google+ and all the new-fangled, but how about just telling someone? 

I'm the word-of-mouth phenomena that your friend has never heard of before. 

What's in YOUR Bag?

LINKIE PARTY!! LINKIE PARTY!!! You know how I am learning the value of the linkie party?? Much of my increased traffic and newer 'visibility' is coming as a result of my grasping the value & the 'how-to' of the linkie party. Tonight I give my gratitude to Abby over at The Inspired Apple, who is hosting a 'back-to-school' link-up where teachers are sharing "what's in their bag" and in the process sharing plenty of teacher tips and theory in the process of introducing themselves....not to mention a whole fashion show about teacher bags and the organizational tips that are unique to each bag! Welcome, if this is your first visit!!

Thanks Abby for the new friends. I'm a music-lady, author/illustrator, keynote speaker.

I happened upon the party just as we are genuinely unloading our car from our latest cross-country vagabond, which included the proverbial 1000 mile round-trip, road trip PLUS a flight back & forth in the midst of all that driving to go across the country and back. So here's how I travel and a peek at my 'bag'. It's ironic that this would be the subject of the hop, because the big over-sized polka-dot bag is one that I 'confiscated' a year ago from our dear daughter-in-law out in Denver, where we just were last week to meet grand-child #7. The bag was hanging on the hook by their back door and I was given permission to claim it as my Christmas present. THANK YOU MEGAN!!!!

Once you take my 'tulip' purse off the top of the bag, you can see the ingrediants inside -- the bare necessities for a successful author/illustrator visit: my laptop, an LCD projector and 4 copies of each of my three picture books. Feel free to go back to this earlier post to see my sewing of the purse itself. These are the fabrics that I used to create my purse.



BTW: I make the illustrations for my books from fabric, as small quilts. My professional ensembles and travel appearance are to 'co-ordinate' with the quilted illustrations from my first book -- which includes an abundance of polka-dots, as you may have guessed!!! I LUV patterns and colors and shapes and black-n-white, and graphics and design and FABRIC!!!! AND POLKA-DOTS!!!!

 I see that I have my brochures stashed inside the laptop case.

With my laptop AND the LCD projector, I can carry in one dozen books -- 4 of each title!!!

My newest: "Red, White and Blue" winner of the national INDIE Award of Excellence

My second book, created with my sister Rebecca: "Tall Giraffe" with photos taken by my niece, Kelly

And my very first picture book, the instant classic: "You're Wonderful"

Yup, you heard me correctly!!!! My dream came true!!!!! 

I won a national award this summer!!!!!!

My polka-dot bag which is intended for a laptop holds yet more flyers and my polka-dot business card case.

Voila!!!! All you need to schedule an author/illustrator visit to your school: my email & phone number. 

I'm VERY VERY VERY eager to schedule school visits in FL for the months of Jan. & Feb.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to share my work with a wider world. 

Heads up: I am hosting my second linkie-party, here at my rainbow beginning tomorrow. The topic is all things "Monster-like" in order to help everyone get excited about October. Creepy costumes, monsters, scary stuff, frightening read-a-louds, Wild Things -- they're all welcome!!

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We're coming to the end of September and that means my current promo code to save 20% off the list price of my picture book, "Red, White and Blue" is just about set to expire. Order the book in the month of September from my website and use the PromoCode: RWB911 to receive your savings. Order now and you'll have the book in time to prepare your class for Veteran's Day.

Sept 11th Picture Book

September 11th. 2011. Today is the tenth anniversary of what no one had ever imagined in their worst nightmare. We have had ten years to ponder and make sense out of this most senseless day in my mortal memory. What sense is there? There are no words adequate to quantify the loss on that day. There are no words. Like other events in Camelot we will remember where we were and how we learned what unfolded.

The staggering loss of life is one grievous toll, but the unfathomable loss of innocence is what wracks an entire nation, an entire planet, a decade later. My heart is full as this day gets underway. I personally have decided to leave the television turned off as the visual memories are already seared into my brain. [I am one of those creative types who is easily overwhelmed by the nightly news & have learned that for myself, I must carefully ration the world's horrors to 'protect' my optimal functioning.] 

Instead I will contemplate what I have personally contributed to the making of peace. I will contemplate the power of my book. I will contemplate the power of the Arts. I will consider the power of children and the hope that they offer -- even in the face of the unthinkable. [After all, it is the children that provide potential to improve upon this experience of our sharing Planet Earth -- peacefully and together.] I will contemplate the power of my book for all patriotic moments: Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July and the morning pledge of Allegiance -- it could be the perfect contribution for any and all of these.

It is those young & innocent children for whom I first wrote my simple dittie, "Red, White and Blue." Written so that together we might have some means to remember what we hold dear about this amazing and diverse country of ours. Written in that time of crisis. Written with the assumption that one day we would have an observation for the tenth year anniversary. We would persevere. As would our flag. Waving flags and the vast history those colors represent. Perseverance. Surviving. Keep it simple.  

Children + Song + Flags + Hope = Debbie's contribution.

Then somehow, somewhere in the midst of these past ten years I learned how to become an author/illustrator!!!! What would you begin if I could promise you that in a decade it would bring fruit? That's probably the topic for an entirely different blog-post. The truth of the matter? Get underway. Begin. Start. Move. Make a list. Take a step. Trust. Believe. Just do it!!

Today I can sit here on another singular, spectacular, sunny, September morn and see the very first evidence of my idea taking root, of a contribution being made, of a book making a difference. These first pictures are from my summer library programs for the Richland County library system, in and around Mansfield OH.

That first picture was taken in a small town Americana-library housed in the basement of the village post office. Here I am sharing my labor-of-love. I am sharing with children what it takes to make a book. In my case: fabric and guts. Plus the biggest gift of all for a cancer survivor? The gift of time. I am sharing with them that we who survived that day ten years ago owe a debt of gratitude to those who have gone before us. We make payment on the debt by using our talents and capabilities for the service of our wider world. Here we're using sign language to convey the other significant lyric in the song, after red, white and blue comes I love you.

                                       

It doesn't matter if we don't know how to get things done when we begin. We still owe it to ourselves and our communities to get underway. Volunteer. Seek a mentor. Ask questions. Attend a seminar. Learn. Use your talents. Expand your capabilities. Stretch and Grow. 

When I began the quilts-as-illustrations for the book version of "Red, White and Blue" I didn't even have any idea of what all 16 quilts subject matter would include. I knew I needed 6 'flag' quilts: 4 verses + the book's cover + the endpapers = six. That left me with 10 more images to conceive and create. Yet I began. I knew that I wanted my book to be about the diversity of our country -- from the diversity of our geography to the diversity of our people. 

So one of the first quilts I made was of a small village, Ephraim WI. I'd learned that the word Ephraim translates from Moravian to the word 'peace'. A suitable place to begin. Iconic two white churches on the hillside and red & white striped awning for Wilson's ice cream parlor. (That's us together with THE Wilson family -- my BCO/Breast Cancer buddy Saint -- whose gift of time was all together way too short IMHO.) From that extreme microcosm village-America I next began the quilt of the big city. 

It wasn't until last summer, watching the Bailey's Harbor Fourth of July parade, five years after I'd first begun the quilts, that I had the brainstorm that the image of fire trucks was the perfect complement to the big city quilt & to reference the events of September 11th in an 'appropriate' manner for children. Every child is fascinated by fire trucks. Our community helpers. Those who respond when we need help the most. How had it taken me five years to think of that connection?? No matter. When I was ready to begin that quilt the inspiration came barreling down the parade route, in the form of a 911 painted boldly on the front bumper. This quilt is the one that I frequently share with children, with students. That illustration out of all 16 quilts, is the one overt reference to today, to September eleventh. Here it is just getting underway.

Now to contemplate the power of the Arts. It was my song, "Red, White and Blue" that directed a community to unite together last year for Veterans Day to honor the military families in their midst and the Veterans years of service. This year they will have the book to share as a part of their new and ongoing tradition.

It was the song and it's book version which inspired Carie to direct her kindergarten students to create a flag-esque quilt from construction paper that covers the gym wall -- all from marbles rolling through paint.  This is the mammoth project created by one who teaches K-kiddos now, but had served nine years in the Army previously and had a year stationed in Iraq. A truly amazing story of being heroic and being inspired by a book. Watch the YouTube version of Carrie's class singing and signing last spring.

It was the book that powered the USO style tour to Germany & Italy where I met our military members stationed abroad and sang with their children, the children of our troops during Month of the Young Military Child. My mind is still spinning at this opportunity. I am both grateful and humbled to have had the amazing good fortune to have traveled and shared this project abroad. Feel free to read the 39 posts here on my blog of that two week adventure earlier this spring.  [It was while in Europe that we had THE most amazing encounter with the LUV of America in Verona, Italy during their re-enactment of the US liberating them.... you can read that account here.]

This picture above is probably my all time favorite photographic image. Me-on-the-move with two uniformed daddies -- one holding the original quilt and the other soldier holding my open book (endpapers showing) with an adoring and onlooking toddler-daughter looking up in awe to her papa as I introduce the project to all the families gathered together. We are in Italy and we have just shared a meal together. Beyond my wildest imagination a year ago. The power of the Arts. The power of the book.

Yet there are limits to self-publication, when I am the complete creative staff AND the entire marketing and sales departments all rolled into one. This song & book, book &amp; song of mine are still very much a 'word-of-mouth' enterprise. I have to remind myself that It is still a toddler. It hasn't yet celebrated its first birthday. It has not yet started to walk on its own. Receiving the national INDIE Award of Excellence was another exhilarating step forward.

What possibilities lie ahead? My responsibility this summer has been to reach out & get connected to a broader blogging educational community. As a result I have received an email that "Red, White and Blue" was used in Florida on Friday of last week, as they sought permission to circulate their video to the school's website. And I know that my book will be part of the second grade's efforts in Texas on Tuesday as they perform for their PTA. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I think YOU can!!! You can tell others of this effort.

Here's a quilt created in the BIG Apple, NYC, last winter in anticipation of my author visit to the preschool right in the heart of it all. This quilt was created by young hands of 3 & 4 year olds.

I will spend this day of observation taking a deep breath. I will spend this day in appreciation for the freedom that I have, that has been crafted by the effort of so many, which needs constant protection. (Click here for my Freedom isn't Free post which chronicles my son-in-law's return from one of his numerous deployments. He is today, now as I type, again in a place I can't spell, far far far from his family. I just received the text message from my daughter that she's fractured her foot. Life goes on with challenges, doesn't it?)

I will spend this day in prayer for those who work to keep us safe: our community helpers, our first responders and our military members here and abroad. I will pray for the many families whose world was irrevocably shattered a decade ago. I will spend this day using my talents. That is the one contribution I can make. That is the one way that I can stand up to terrorism. It is that I can stand up & stitch together my own unique capabilities. I will stand up and be counted. I will stand up and attempt to find teachers in search of this resource. I will stand up and put my capabilities to work. I will stand up in an act of hope. I will stand up in the hope that our children will improve upon this world of ours -- because we have taught them well.

This photo composite was created from my illustrations by Sunny Days

This photo composite was created by my friends at Kindergarten Lesson Plans
Children + Arts + Songs + Books + Literacy = HOPE

[Editor's note from 9-11-12. This song is now available in a digital download format. I am now a participant at Teacher's Pay Teachers where you can immediately purchase and use the song in Mp3 format. Click here.]

In my efforts to learn to 'market' to a wider audience I have learned much about connecting my blog to others. I have learned about linkie-parties. Right this minute Denise of Sunny Days-in-Second Grade is hosting a group link up of ideas that teachers are using to observe 911. I know you will find additional inspiration by going to her blog post. This is her classroom of children and their heart projects created at the end of last week. Go to her post to learn what the children have written on the back of the hearts.

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To me one of the amazing posts in the Sunny Days link-up is from a third grade teacher in Illinois, who devised a project with her class and the fellow third grade classes to have each student write 25 words to describe September 11th. (This was the number 3000 -- total lives lost, divided by the number of students working on the project.) Her project is described here on her blog, Lifelong Learning. The words were written to create two Twin Towers, to graphically demonstrate what was lost, with the power of words. Please take a moment to read on her blog what all was involved in the creation of this effort.

These photos are from the amazing blog, Lifelong Learning.

And show the 3rd graders twin towers and 25 words from each student. Please take a moment to read on her blog what all was involved in the creation of this effort. I know that I'm moved at the very thought. What difference can you make?

Just do it.

****To ORDER a copy for your collection, please follow this link to my WEBSITE!!!!