February Mentor – Mentee Activity

The very least we can do is to figure out what we hope for. And the most we can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance, but live right in it, under its roof. - Barbara Kingsolver

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February in Minnesota is a month in the middle of our winter season - a time that can be cold and challenging. But if we take notice, we see the gradual, steady, and increasing return of the light.

Take time as mentor – mentee partners to read the quotes on hope.

  • Which quote(s) or parts of a quote speak to you at this time?
  • How do you model hope in your work with students?
  • How do your daily interactions and communications with students, staff and families reflect hope?
  • How does the learning environment in your classroom / at your site, where students spend the majority of their day, reflect hope?

Read the story of the two wolves and use this during the month of February to track what wolf you are feeding. Use it with your students, if you determine it appropriate, to talk about what we feed our mind and how this can impact our thoughts and actions.

Our capabilities go way beyond our understanding. Trust in that and go forward. Get past the clutter, the noise inside you that says, “I can’t, I can’t, I’m not good enough, I don’t feel like it, I’m sick, I don’t want to.” That is just like static on a radio. Just clear the channel, find good reception, and you’ll be amazed by what you can do. - Christopher Reeves

Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or a willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good. Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out. - Vaclav Havel

Hope works in these ways: it looks for the good in people instead of harping on the worst; it discovers what can be done instead of grumbling about what cannot; it regards problems, large or small, as opportunities; it pushes ahead when it would be easy to quit; it "lights the candle" instead of "cursing the darkness." - Anoymous

Right now, it's easy to lose hope. However, loss of hope doesn't have to be the path we walk down. You see, hope is actually something we create. It's not something that magically appears from an outside source. We each have within us the capacity to generate hope. It's critical that we be absolutely intentional about nurturing hope in our lives and the lives of our children. -Naomi Drew

We look around and don't necessarily see a lot to be hopeful about. But the truth is, each of us carries within our hearts the seeds of enduring hope. Growing hope is an inside job. And like anything worth cultivating — happiness, success, peace of mind, a loving family — hope requires conscious effort and committed action to be able to grow deep roots in our heart and soul. - Sue Patton Thoele

We can’t always change the outside world, but we can change how we see it. In each and every aspect of life, the chance to turn straw into gold is there in our hearts. All that is asked is our respectful attention and our willingness to learn from and find value in difficult circumstances. - Jack Kornfield

What breath is to the physical body, hope is to the human spirit. Hope is what consoles us. It is the fuel that energizes us, gets us up in the morning and propels us through the day. Hope sees that which is possible, but is not yet. - John R. Claypool

I’m not an optimist, because I don’t believe everything will turn out well. I’m not a pessimist, because I don’t believe everything will turn out badly. But I do keep hope in my heart because it is the antidote to cynicism, apathy and hopelessness. - Vaclav Havel

The Story of Two Wolves

A Grandfather from the Cherokee Nation was talking with his grandson.

"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One wolf is filled with anger, envy, war, greed, self-pity, sorrow, regret, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, selfishness and arrogance."

He continued, "The other wolf is friendly, joyful, filled with peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, justice, fairness, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, gratitude, and deep vision."

Grandfather ended saying,"Sometimes, it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit. This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other human as well."

The grandson paused in deep reflection because of what his grandfather had just said. Then he finally cried out; "Grandfather, which wolf will win?"

The elder Cherokee replied, "The wolf that you feed."