Zig Ziglar's Top Ten Quotes

 1.   Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.~Martin Luther King

  2. Each of us will one day be judged by our standard of life, not by our standard of goodness, not by our seeming greatness.~William Arthur Ward

  3.   The message is clear:  plan with attitude, prepare with aptitude, participate...with servitude, receive with gratitude, and this should be enough to separate you from the multitudes.~Krish Dhanam

  4.   A winner is big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.~John Maxwell

  5.   You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.           ~Joe Sabah

  6.   Regardless of your lot in life, you can build something beautiful on it.

  ~Zig Ziglar

  7.   Decision is the spark that ignites action. Until a decision is made nothing happens.~Wilfred A. Peterson                                                                  

  8.You might not be what you say you are, but what you say, you are.  Ziglar                                   

  9.   When I was young, I observed that nine out of every ten things I did were failures, so I did ten times more work.~George Bernard Shaw

10. If you don't think every day is a good day, just try missing one. ~Cavett Robert

Poetry is still Gates retiree's key to reaching kids

If you've ever been to the Rochester Children's Book Festival, you've likely seen Joe"Silly" Sottile (yes, it rhymes!) decked out in his rainbow-colored propeller hat. But the truth is, Sottile wears many hats.

Please click below for the rest of the story:

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20110222/NEWS0212/102230308/Poetry-still-Gates-retiree-s-key-reaching-kids?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|p

If I Were in Charge of the School (Student Version)

Please check out this one minute video on You-Tube of a shy poet  reading the poem "If I Were in Charge of the School" from WAITING TO SEE THE PRINCIPAL AND OTHER POEMS written by Joe Sottile, and illustrated by Lori Aman. This is the student's version of the poem, and it's okay to laugh or giggle at the words.


This is where you can see the video:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrhRv9QFcgk


Thanks for viewing!


Joe "Silly" Sottile

How to Plan a Great School Visit with Silly Sottile

I have some ideas for a great school visit, but you don’t have to use any of them. I know that teachers are very very busy people. Planning periods seem to evaporate in broad daylight. So, I won’t feel hurt if you’re unable to do any of these. Just consider them as food for thought. Yes, if I were planning a WHOLE SCHOOL author visit, I would plan at least six months ahead of time. So, here  are my short-range classroom visit ideas: 

1.    Get the kids involved before I come. I used to think that it wasn’t such a good idea for teachers to read the poems ahead of time to the class, or let them see the drawings in the book. I no longer feel that way. Don’t worry about stealing “my thunder.” The more the kids see and hear poetry, the more they will cherish the author read them and show the sketches on the big classroom screen. It will be like having another bowl of their favorite ice cream with whip cream and cherries on top.

2.    Make selective copies of your favorite poems for your class to read and color. I give you permission to do this since I am coming to your classroom. At Booklocker.com, two-thirds of my book is on pdf in the trial version. Just go there and download that version, save it, and use it freely to run off copies for your class. Kids will have fun reading them and coloring them.

3.    When I visit make sure your kids have nametags on. First names only please—in large, easy-to-read printed letters. This will help me immensely as a walk around and talk to the kids.

4.    Let them wear a funny hat during the show. After all, I will be wearing my propeller hat! Why should I have all the fun?

5.    Give the day itself an interesting name such as “Silly So-til-ee Day” or Backwards Day. And then do some silly things before I come. Teachers are good at using their imagination. The kids will love being silly. You could always play “Simon Says.”

6.    Write a simple poem with the kids, if you have a tried and true poetry project up your sleeve.

7.    Create a poetry tree on a bulletin before I visit with some of the kids’ favorite poems written on leaves.

8.     Encourage kids to purchase my book—not because I need the money, but because it’s always a fond experience having an author sign your own personal book and have him or her look in your eyes and say, “Thank you very much for purchasing my book. I really appreciate it.”

9.    Please make sure we take a few photos of this event. I will bring my pocket camera. You might even want to ask you media specialist to pop in and take photos.

Contact me,  if you have any questions at jsottile@frontiernet.net.

Best Internet: About Drugs???

The other day, someone at a store in our town read that a methamphetamine lab had been found in an old farmhouse in the adjoining county and he asked me a rhetorical question, ''Why didn't we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?''

I replied: I had a drug problem when I was young:

I was drug to church on Sunday morning.

I was drug to church for weddings and funerals.

I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather.

I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults.

I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke ill of the teacher or the preacher, or if I didn't put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me.

I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profane four-letter word.

I was drug out to pull weeds in mom's garden and flower beds and cockleburs out of dad's fields.

I was drug to the homes of family, friends, and neighbors to help out some poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothesline, or chop some firewood; and, if my mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug me back to the woodshed.

Those drugs are still in my veins; and they affect my behavior in everything I do, say, and think. They are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin; and, if today's children had this kind of drug problem, America would be a better place.

-Submitted by concerned citizen

Poetry Can Heal A Broken Heart

Poetry can help heal a broken heart. The following essays speaks to that aspect of poetry writing and appreciation...

http://www.mysanantonio.com/community/north_central/news/article/A-night-of-healing-through-poetry-1016360.php

Best Internet: It's About Politics--Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road (LOL)?

SARAH PALIN:  The chicken crossed the road because gosh-darn it, he's a maverick!      BARACK OBAMA:  The chicken crossed the road because it was time for change!  The chicken wanted change!      JOHN MC CAIN:  My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.      HILLARY CLINTON:  When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.      GEORGE W. BUSH:  We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.      DICK CHENEY:  Where's my gun? COLIN POWELL:  Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.      BILL CLINTON:  I did not cross the road with that chicken.      AL GORE:  I invented the chicken.      JOHN KERRY:  Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.      AL SHARPTON:  Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.      DR. PHIL:  The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.      OPRAH:  Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a NEW CAR so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.        ANDERSON COOPER, CNN:  We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.      NANCY GRACE:  That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.      PAT BUCHANAN:  To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.         MARTHA STEWART:  No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.      DR SEUSS:  Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.      ERNEST HEMINGWAY:  To die in the rain, alone.         JERRY FALWELL:  Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth? That's why they call it the 'other side.' Yes, my friends, That chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the Liberal media whitewashes with seemingly harmless phrases like 'the other side.' That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that .          GRANDPA:  In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.      BARBARA WALTERS:  Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart- warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish it's lifelong dream of crossing the road.      ARISTOTLE:  It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.         JOHN LENNON:  Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.      BILL GATES:  I have just released eChicken2010, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and  balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken2010.  This new platform is much more stable and will never reboot.

    
ALBERT EINSTEIN:  Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

        
COLONEL SANDERS:  Did I miss one?

Silly Sottile Works With a Silly Class at Longridge Elementary School, New York

These were great kids and two wonderful teachers that I had the pleasure of performing poetry and teaching a poetry workshop to. See more at my website--lots more photos. Pretty Silly Photo, Eh? The serious one is below, as well as the address for the site. Kids and teachers were awesome!

http://www.consideration.org/sottile/photos/201102/last-seen.html