Shownotes:
Get ready as Nikki Jones drops some gratitude knowledge that will have you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. Tune in to hear how shifting your perspective can make a tough year a little brighter, and get some practical tips for incorporating gratitude into your daily life. It's time to savor the good and spread some appreciation like confetti. Don't miss it!
About Our Guest:
Nikki Jones is a creative and tech-savvy educator with a passion for all things pink and gratitude! With 16 years of experience in education, Nikki has taught 1st and 3rd grade and currently serves as an instructional technology coach. As a mom to two young boys, aged 3 and 7, she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to both her personal and professional life. Nikki's love for STEAM and EdTech is evident in everything she does, whether she's working with students or collaborating with fellow educators.
Twitter: @mrsjones72812
About Lainie:
Lainie Rowell is an educator, international consultant, podcaster, and TEDx speaker. She is the lead author of Evolving Learner and a contributing author of Because of a Teacher. Her latest book, Evolving with Gratitude, was just released. An experienced teacher and district leader, her expertise includes learner-driven design, community building, online/blended learning, and professional learning. Learn more at linktr.ee/lainierowell.
Twitter - @LainieRowell
Instagram - @LainieRowell
Evolving with Gratitude, the book, is now available! Purchase here!
You can also get bulk orders for your staff (10 copies or more) at a discounted price! Just fill out the form linked below and someone will get back to you ASAP! bit.ly/ewgbulkdiscount
Transcript:
Lainie Rowell: [00:00:00] Welcome friends. I have a very special friend here. I have Nikki Jones. Hi Nikki. How are you?
Nikki Jones: Hi, Lainie. I'm so excited to be here. It is a nice sunny day in Virginia and I'm just happy to chat with you.
Lainie Rowell: Well, I'm so happy you're having a nice sunny day. I'm not gonna complain, but I'm here in Southern California and it is a bit overcast, but you know what that's nice too so...
Nikki Jones: As a photographer, like let's find, let's find the perspective here as a photographer, overcast is the best for taking photos.
Lainie Rowell: Hundred percent, hundred percent.
Nikki Jones: I'm also acknowledging the, the sun right now because we are about to be hit with rain and like a complete washout the next five days. Yes. So I'm acknowledging that positive right now. We have some sun.
Lainie Rowell: I know and I do love that you said that about photography. You know, they say it's good luck when it rains on your wedding day, well it rained on our wedding day and we have the most beautiful pictures. Cause luckily it only sprinkled for a little bit, but then it was overcast and the pictures look amazing and so...
Nikki Jones: Exactly.
Lainie Rowell: See look at you already pointing out the the good. All the good. It's so funny, Nikki, cuz I feel like as I was getting all excited and , yay, I get to talk to Nikki today. I was like, I don't actually think we've talked live before, but it feels like we have because you post these amazing videos and we've connected on the socials and so I'm just kind of laughing that I'm like, help my brain.
Nikki Jones: I have to like just comment about this because it's so funny and my husband doesn't understand it. Because I'll be like, oh, I'm gonna meet with my friend Lainie today, And he's like who's Lainie? And I'm like, oh yeah, we met on Twitter.
And he's like, "I don't get that". So I think if you're not in the education space, it's such a hard concept to understand. But I feel like I've connected with you and we're long lost friends, right? Yeah. We've been friends forever. But again, we've connected just on social back and forth. And then, you know, I got involved with your book and obsessed with it. So I'm posting my recommendations, just to share the love, but I feel like we're, you know, kindred souls.
Lainie Rowell: Yes. And Nikki, I feel so comfortable with you. I came straight from workout. I had such a lovely experience. I got to present at Learning and the Brain in New York over the weekend, and so I'm a little off my normal routine and I was just like, you know what?
I think Nikki is just such a sweet person she is gonna forgive me for showing up, sweaty and a mess.
Nikki Jones: You look amazing. I wouldn't have noticed, but I am, I'm here for it all.
Lainie Rowell: You're so sweet. Okay, so I need to give you a somewhat proper introduction. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna do this and then Nikki, please jump in with all your magic.
You're so amazing. Don't be shy. So first off, I just want people to know that Nikki is the mom of two boys. #BoyMom She's been in education for 16 years. She's taught first, third, currently serving as an instructional technology coach, and that's just scratching the surface.
Nikki, what else do you wanna tell us?
Nikki Jones: I think those are the big things that sum me up. I was originally born in western New York. I went to a SUNY school and I got a degree in education, just like 25 of my other friends and everybody else. So I originally moved to Virginia to pursue a job in education and I always thought I wanted to teach kindergarten.
So I have, my New York certification is birth through two (2nd grade), and I've never taught kindergarten. So I started out teaching first grade and I fell in love with it. Got this amazing school. And I was at a school that really supported technology in the classroom and I was constantly using it.
So my admin was like, will you take this position and I, I kept telling her, no thank you. Like I'm so happy in a first grade classroom. I'm doing my thing. And then, I don't know, she just kept pestering me about it. So I became the instructional technology coach at that former school and I fell in love with it.
I feel like I had a job that I didn't even know I wanted, and I started presenting. So I presented at FETC and at VSTE and some other local conferences and really just fell into this space of coaching and supporting others and inspiring others. And it just kind of became my niche. And then I got pregnant with our first baby Grayson and I was commuting and I was just like, I can't do this, right?
I can't commute 45 minutes with a newborn at home. It's not realistic. So I searched for a new job and instructional technology coaches are kind of hard to come by, right? There's only one of 'em in our building. So I got hired at a brand new school that was opening. It was a STEAM school. And blessed her heart.
So Kathy noticed she took a chance on me. I was six months pregnant due on the third day of school. I had never taught third grade and she was like, sure, I'll hire you. I dunno what she was thinking, but I fell in love with third grade and I just learned their independence and I had so much fun. And again, I was just using so much technology in my classroom.
I was presented with the offer, would you take instructional technology coach here? And it took a lot for me to say yes, because I loved my team and I loved my classroom. And this little bubble that I had created and was in. But I feel like I had this calling, this bigger purpose to make an impact on, on a larger scale and that I could do that as an instructional technology coach.
So for the past three years, that's what I've been doing and doing lots of presenting and a lot of these things I feel like kind of took the back burner as I was a new mom and that was my big focus. I wanted to be a mom for as long as I can remember, and family is so important to me.
So now I'm just kind of figuring out how to weave these things kind of all together and still be a very present mom, but also continue to make an impact in this space.
Lainie Rowell: One of the things that you said, "a job I didn't even know I wanted."
I can say that for so many of the roles that I have held in my __ years of education, I don't wanna say the exact number too many times, it just makes me feel old, but it's, it's really interesting that there are so many ways we can have an impact in education and to not even know that these roles existed and then land in one.
You're like, wow, this is really amazing. I get to support kids and my peers, and I think that's a real blessing. So I'm so happy that you found that.
Nikki Jones: Right? All of those different paths that we take and something you didn't necessarily dream of growing up and writing a book and having a podcast and doing all these things, but your path led you there and you're like, this is where I belong.
And just to add onto that one little piece, so I've been out on medical leave since November until just recently, a couple of weeks ago. And I loved being at home, right? If I could win the lottery and go be any place, I would do it. But as soon as I came back, I was like, if I have to be somewhere earning a paycheck, this is where I need to be.
This brings me so much joy supporting students and supporting educators, and really just coaching and being in this role. I'm so happy being here.
Lainie Rowell: One other thing I wanted to highlight as you were sharing a bit about yourself is you are such a proud mom, and I'm conscious of this that I compartmentalize my life a little bit now, partly because my kids are a little older and they have basically asked this of me... "Mom, don't put me on Instagram." Okay, fine. They're of the age where it's now a conversation. It's not an automatic that they're gonna go on the socials and I appreciate them advocating for themselves.
But I love how your family is at the forefront, and you bring that into all that you do, and I think that's a really lovely thing to do.
Nikki Jones: I think that's just such a big part of who I am is being a wife and being a mom and family is so important to me that I want everybody to know that that's a big piece of me. And I think sometimes in education we think of teachers as these people that like live in the closet, right? If you see them out at a grocery store, they're like, what are you doing here?
You don't belong here. You're just a teacher, right? Teachers belong in school. So I think it's so important that we show those other pieces of us and those other parts, and as we talk about with students and with our peers, building relationships. I don't know how many times I've connected with people on socials or on Twitter, because I'm also a mom.
Right? That piece, the technology is great. That's there, the coaching is there, but I've made some really great friends just because we are moms or just because we do share a similar background or similar role in education. So I think that's really cool
Lainie Rowell: And in different stages of being a mom, there's times where you're like, I really need someone else who's going through this at this exact moment to talk me through and to help me through. Because not every moment of parenting is magical. There's definite challenges. It's joy and it's fulfilling, but it's not always, it's not always...
Nikki Jones: I love that you say that.
Cause right now I have a seven-year-old and a four-year-old, and they love each other dearly and they are like ride or die for each other. But the instigation that goes on in my house right now before we leave and when we get home, I don't, I don't, I just don't even know what to do with them right now.
And yesterday I was like, I'm throwing at my hands and I'm walking into another room like y'all brawl it out. I don't know what to do. So if anybody out there listening has tips for a four and seven year old in how to get the instigation to stop, hit me up because I am at patience end.
Lainie Rowell: I wish I had words of wisdom, but I just have given myself the grace to, to do the best that I can and to sometimes step away and, and trust that you've given them the foundation to work it out on their own.
And I, I have found that a good amount of times, not every time is a win, but a good amount of times, no one's injured and everyone comes out on the other end okay.
Nikki Jones: Woo. I'm gonna use that like mantra in my head today when we are like hustling to get dinner and get everything unpacked and ready for baseball practice and out the door by 5:15 PM I'm going to say you are doing the best that you can. It is okay. It's okay.
Lainie Rowell: You're doing amazing. To that end, I wanna keep conscious of our time because you do have a lot on your plate. You are a very busy woman, and I would love for you to share what gratitude means to you. I invite all guests to open this up as wide as they want to take it personal or professional?
I just wanna reiterate that here. Nikki, what does it mean to you?
Nikki Jones: So I think gratitude is really the act of recognizing and acknowledging those good things and it's about that attitude, right? That "I get to" attitude. I'm talking about this evening when I'm going home and I know my boys are going to be at each other.
They're going to be instigating each other. And that perspective shift refocusing and say, I get to be their mom. I get to come home to these two wild boys and I get to be responsible for them and take them to practice and create these experiences for them and how lucky I am for that.
So I think gratitude is about just refocusing, re-looking at things to find the good. And to be honest, we've had a year Lainie. It's been over a year where if I fast forwarded you through all of the things that have happened in the year, we have had a rough, tough year.
But I think the only thing that has kept me sane is having that mentality of gratitude, finding the positive. And really, I love the word from your book savoring, and I don't know whose podcast it was, but one of your podcasts I was listening to and the word notice came up. So I have the word notice just on sticky notes around.
And I think that's so important to really slow down and notice slow down and savor those things. And having just the perspective change instead of getting frustrated in that moment, take a deep breath and figure out what the good is. I also think gratitude, this is one last piece is about sharing that appreciation.
Sometimes I'm, I'm really good at feeling internally grateful and I do a lot of be internally grateful and I'm thinking it in my head and I'm feeling it in my heart. It, it's all within my being, but I'm really trying to work on that speaking it out loud piece.
Lainie Rowell: I think that word notice, first of all, I just wanna touch on that.
I'm such a linear person sometimes it's embarrassing, but you know that word notice obviously it's an important word and I'm so glad you, you highlighted it. It's been mentioned by a number of guests and it does happen to be the first step in gratitude if you look at Dr. Hussong out of University of North Carolina, when she talks about the notice, think, feel, and do for the four steps of gratitude.
And so I think it's important and I find it to be one of those things that I still need to relearn over and over again. I didn't write a book about gratitude because I figured it all out. I wrote the book I needed to read and I need to keep reminding myself to notice the things. Cause I don't know about you, Nikki, but I tend to be a what's next person?
Okay, check this off my list. What's next? What's next? What's next? And when I'm doing that, I'm stepping away from what's happening. And I'm not noticing, I'm not as present. And so I don't know if you can relate to that, but that's one thing.
Nikki Jones: Yes, I can definitely relate to that. And then, Brian Martin, we have that connection one of the things that he says is, "Be where your feet are". And I love that quote because I think you're so right. There's oftentimes, I'm making a to-do list or, you know, I've just recently gone back to work and this, this really was resonating with me on that Sunday before we were going back to school.
We had just got back from the beach. I had 1,001 things to do. I'm like making mental notes. This is what I have to do for our Airbnb. This is what I have to do, like to get ready for the week. This is what I have to do for school. This is what I have to do to get my boys ready. This is our schedule. This is where we need to be at what time, this is what we're going to cook.
And I'm at Easter breakfast worrying about all of these things and thinking linearly, putting them on my to-do list, getting ready to check them out. And my boys are so enamored. There is an Easter bunny in a costume at IHOP and I am just constantly needing to, you know, my brain is thinking about all of these things.
So I'm just hearing that quote in my head, "be where your feet are", all of that is not important right now, just be present in this. And that's something that I really have worked a lot on doing as a mom. After school, I usually try to, four o'clock, I am done. I am out until my boys go to bed.
They are my focus, my family is my focus. So I'm usually pretty good at that. But I feel in those moments of being overwhelmed and kind of making those lists, it's really easy to lose sight of that gratitude or stop noticing the things that are right in front of us that we need to be acknowledging and appreciating.
Lainie Rowell: I have to give a shout out to my son. There is no one I have seen on this planet that is better at noticing than my son. He will have something to eat and he will light up and he will go, "Wow. That is amazing. That is so delicious." And his vocabulary is better than mine. Not even joking.
He'll just go off talking about how delicious... he savoring and he savors everything. It's truly remarkable. I am looking through his eyes to try and see things. I've heard people say, look through the eyes of a three-year-old, in my case, even my nine-year-old. But I don't know, I'm just throwing that out there, that that's one way I connect as a mom to how it's helped me experience and express gratitude.
Nikki Jones: I think that's an important way that we can look at gratitude if we have young kids or if we are around young kids, they are so good at being joyful and seeing the gratitude. And so Reagan is our four year old and he's actually apraxic. So he does not have a lot of language development, but he is a bundle of sunshine.
He is constantly smiling and happy and he seeks out to make other people happy. So we were out on a walk and I was busy noticing all of the things I wanted to notice. You know, I was using my senses and noticing, he was noticing all the people going by us and he was saying, hi, how are you? And then his classic response, if you ask him how he is, he says, Happy.
And it's so funny how many people it catches off guard because he truly is just happy. He is such a joyful little and he gets happy about seeing everything, but people really make him happy and he really likes to make other people happy. So I think that's so sweet. Thinking from a child's perspective and our seven year old, he's really good at vocalizing that appreciation.
And something from your book, over the summer I was reading. And I was doing a lot of the, say it out loud and making a big deal about those pieces that I'm grateful for. And just that modeling for him was so huge and the language that he developed from that or his ability to, to find gratitude or to find a happiness or joyfulness in a hard place is really something special that he has too.
Lainie Rowell: So taking it back to what you said earlier when you were talking about your definition of gratitude, and I don't wanna put words into your mouth, so please correct me if I got this wrong, but you were talking about how an important part of gratitude is sharing it, right? Not only experiencing and having the feelings and having this kind of internal process happening, but actually putting it out to others.
And so, when you're modeling it, and when you're saying it out loud, you are potentially sharing it directly with the person that you're wanting to express the gratitude to, but you're also modeling it to your littles and they're catching onto that, and that's making an impact on how they experience and express gratitude as well.
Nikki Jones: Yes. So one thing that we also like to do with the boys is, so Reagan is like really loves a firetruck, recycling truck. And we know the firemen, we know their names, we know their shifts, we know everything about them. We know the recycling, same thing. So we've really tried to instill in them. I feel like my love language is like giving gifts.
I love giving gifts. I love giving words of affirmation. So at the fire station we go, we just show up with watermelon and brownies and cake and we make sure we tell them how much we appreciate them. Thank you for your service. We know you're away from your family for a long time. And we've talked to the boys a lot about that.
Same thing with the recycling men, and those are guys that maybe are not as appreciated. So we kind of go out of our way to make them feel appreciated. And we talk about what hard work they're doing and what can we do? So we've had all different ideas and I usually let the boys kind of pick, you know, like if we're gonna buy them something or make them something.
So it was cold winter January and Grayson was like, let's make them hot chocolate and bring them brownies. I was like, dude, like whatever you wanna do, we will make them hot chocolate and brownies. And do you know how happy they were to have brownies and hot chocolate from two Beautiful, you know, little kids.
So I think that's one way is just giving gifts. And for me, I love to do that too. So in my coaching role, if somebody I noticed something that they've done or they've gone out of their way, gone above and beyond, worked with me, just made me smile in some way. I actually just have a basket of little notes, note cards and stickers, and I like to just, write a little quick note or I actually like to record myself doing a flip note.
So flip, which is formally Flipgrid, I usually just record. Hey, thanks so much. I really appreciate that you did blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Print out the QR code on like a cute little Canva thing, or put it in a note, give 'em a sticker. And it's just these little things that I want people to know how much I appreciate them, and I want my boys to see that and have that modeled for them.
And then just, you know, you, you know more about this than me, but that, that wellbeing piece, when we take the time to do that, you feel so much better. And I remember last year, so we got these bucket filler things at school and to be honest, we kind of rolled our eyes. Don't tell my former principal, but we were like the bucket filler....
This is so old, we sort of grumbled about it. And then one day I was having a really crummy day. I feel like I spilled my coffee. My first lesson got canceled. Who knows? Something blew up. It was just one of those days. And I walked by the lounge and I saw these little heart sticky notes.
I was like, fine, I will fill your buckets. And I went in there, in the grumpiest mood and I scribbled my first note. And then I stood there and probably scribbled, I don't know how many more. And I walked out and I was like, Oh, I'm not so grumpy anymore. So that, that piece I think is really important to highlight too, that when we are feeling grateful and expressing that gratitude it, it does something for us.
Lainie Rowell: I appreciate some people don't like this phrase, fake it till you make it, but it actually is true that even if you're not feeling it in that moment, just going through that motions of it. Is, and I know you did it with intention and it was authentic and sincere, but kind of forcing yourself to do it, even though it wasn't like your instinct at the moment.
You're like, I'm just, no, you know what? Something's telling me to do this, so I'm gonna just do this and see if it works. And it totally worked. I love that. So I really appreciate, Nikki, that you have shared personal and professional examples. I mean, so thoughtful to think about the firefighters in your local area and those who work on recycling. And there's so many people in our community that do just. So many things and they have to make sacrifices.
Like you said, the firefighters are away from their family. I happen to live in a neighborhood that it's like every other door is a fire person. They're all firefighters in my neighborhood, so I am very aware there's actual carpool situations that are dependent on whose significant other is on shift and things like that.
So I'm very aware of that and it's so thoughtful to bring them the brownies and the hot chocolate when it's cold outside. I love all this empathy for what the recipient is living. And then, okay, how can I bring them something that will bring them joy showing my gratitude?
So I think that's lovely. And then I also wanna. Touch on what you said about professionally in your role. Could you just really quickly explain what Flip formally known as Flipgrid is all about? Because I really love this example you're giving of how, and, and this is again why I feel like I know you so well, is cuz you're so good at having this presence through video that not everyone gets the chance to experience. So could you just really briefly share a little bit about Flip and what that is for the people who don't know?
Nikki Jones: And then I have one more really cool idea with Flip too. So Flip formally, Flipgrid is a video platform. They have been around for over 10 years now, and it's kind of grown and changed basically in the most simplest form.
You can literally download the app. And press the record button. There are lots of other cool camera features, so there's like lenses and filters and stickers and gifs or gifs, however you say it, that you can add on. And then you can just save your video and share it in any way that you want. So I could share a link, I can download it, I can share a QR code.
And this is something that I really like to do, especially when I'm connecting with people online, right? Because I've become really familiar by being connected on video and you feel like you kind of know somebody. So that's actually how I shared about your book a couple of different times.
So Flip is one of the big things that we use to show gratitude. You can just record a simple, quick message. But one of the things that we actually started doing in our home to practice gratitude is every night I asked the boys, "What was the best part of your day?" What was the favorite part of your day?
And we would just talk about it before bed. So this is just like a very simple thing. But then I started thinking like, I wanna remember all of the things that they're grateful for and all of the things that they're saying, but in the hustle and bustle of nighttime, like I don't have a journal. We're trying to get to bed.
I want it to be just authentic conversation. I don't want it to feel like it's scripted. So I was thinking, and one night I was like, I'm just gonna make a Flip. Like I just made a topic. And every night before bed they record a video so it can be a video with their face, it can be just a sound video.
So it's just their voice. They can also add pictures. I'm a photographer and a mom, the amount of pictures that I have on my phone is embarrassing. I don't even know how my phone still functions, but here we are. So they love to just make these videos and I have, I think right now over 400 videos of the past, whatever, 200 some days that we've been doing it, that every night they share the best part of their day. And how cool is that going to be to go back and look at kind of like a gratitude jar, a gratitude journal. It's just digitally and it's a different media, I guess, that works right now for the season of life that our family is in.
Lainie Rowell: I appreciate that because I think that you do have to think about how do we make this accessible? And so you've made this digital, and I love how you called it a digital gratitude jar /gratitude journal, and the same concept applies is that you're being really intentional and thinking through the notice, think, feel, do. And you're also capturing it in a way that you can go back when things are difficult and watch that video and just be like, oh, you know, last year at this time this was happening.
And that was such a great moment, and I think that's a really lovely way to capture it. And to me, you're removing the barrier of it might take more time to write, or again, you said the season of our lives, and so it just feels very natural and authentic to just say, okay, and you're giving them so much choice, which I truly appreciate.
You're basically universally designing their gratitude experience every night.
Nikki Jones: 100% Yes, exactly. It's just such a cool thing. And like you said, they love to scroll through the videos and watch the videos and just seeing their face light up or them talk about, then, you know, they'll go off on a whole story of, of what happened if they just have a little snippet of it.
And it's also cool, like you can add video clips too. So this weekend we were in the outer banks and Grayson's favorite part of his day was we went to an arboretum, and there's a huge pond, and he caught a bunch of turtles, like with his bare hands. He is our nature guy. There is nothing he is afraid of.
He is all about getting dirty, getting his hands on reptiles, he's gonna be like a herpetologist or biologist. He's gonna do something cool. Snakes, he loves it all. So the favorite part of his day was touching these turtles. So he knows so much about, and he's so familiar with the platform. He was like, mommy, just, just gimme it.
I was like, okay, so I just give him my phone, right? It's right on my phone. And he's adding the pictures. He's adding a turtle emoji or a turtle gif, and then he uploads a video just right from my phone of him actually catching the turtle and you know, the narration of our family behind it.
So that's a really cool way for him to go back. And see what a fun experience that was and have that saved. I feel like we have all these pictures and videos on our phone, but to have them really curated in a place and created where we can go back to them and look at 'em and you know, during hard times or good times, just appreciate that special moment.
Lainie Rowell: And that word curation means a lot to me because I do feel like with the ease of capturing things on our phone, we sometimes capture so much that we actually never go back and look at anything cuz it's too overwhelming. Like 20 pictures that I took in 30 seconds and it's, I can't even handle it. So that curating as you go, I think is really important.
Now, I hope this doesn't come across as self-serving, but I'm working on my next project with Allyson Liu, and we're creating an interactive gratitude journal, and I feel like this conversation we're having is very affirming for me because one of the things I wanted out of the journal is I wanted to universally design it, and so the practices can actually take place in the journal if you want, but we specifically say at the beginning, if you don't feel like writing it, pull out your phone and record it. Pull out a device, you can do it in so many different ways. We're trying to focus on what's the purpose of the practice, and then giving the multiple means for actually doing the practice.
So you can do it in the journal, and I think a lot of people will choose to do it in the journal.
Nikki Jones: Right.
Lainie Rowell: But some people are going to want to, and it's gonna be contextual. So it could be like, today I actually feel like writing it out. Other days I might feel like recording it and so you're making my heart happy again.
I hope that doesn't self-serving, but...
Nikki Jones: no, that's not self-serving at all. I think that's really important. And you know, as educators we think about that. It doesn't matter how our students learn the content or show that they've mastered the content, we wanna know that they're, they're learning it, they're mastering it.
Right? So you don't necessarily care how we're showing that we're grateful or expressing gratitude. It's just that it's happening. And I think those seasons of life in the, the best intentions would, I love to sit down with a gratitude journal every day and, and make that work. Sure. Realistically, though I know that that's, that's not me right now.
So I know that I can put it on my phone and I just have a notepad on my phone. It's nothing fancy, but I have a notepad on my phone for myself where I go through and I really try to be intentional and I would love to do it in the morning and like really think about it. But for me right now where I am is that when I'm in that moment of really feeling something throughout the day where I have that gratitude and I feel like it's something I want to remember, I just pull out my phone, I pull out this notepad, and I try to type a couple of sentences about it.
I've tried the thing like where you do 10 things every morning and I feel like I'm writing the same things. So for me, I wanna remember more. Like I'm not just grateful today for my family and my husband and my mom, like, I wanna know about this experience. I am really grateful today that I work with a staff that is so welcoming and inclusive and embracing technology.
I wanna know what specifically happened when I go back to that piece.
Lainie Rowell: Oh, Nikki, you're so inspiring and again, you're, you're making me feel really good cuz this interactive journal that we're designing, it's meant to get people past that monotony of okay, list your three things.
And so there's tons of different activities. The journal is coming.
Nikki Jones: Wait, is there a date I need to know?
Lainie Rowell: I mean, not yet. Not yet. In fact, Nikki, you're the first time I think I've ever mentioned this on the podcast. I don't think I've said it before, but yeah, it's in the process.
Nikki Jones: I need to know the pre-order date when that comes out.
Lainie Rowell: You're so sweet. And I wanna give you credit, it's been watching you and others and how they do things in their own way. And again, it's like we say with Universal Design for Learning firm goals, flexible means like we know what we're trying to do.
We're trying to experience express gratitude, that's going to nurture relationships, improve wellbeing, and activate learning. That's our firm goals and how people do that should really be up to them and let them have some voice and choice and it's gonna be contextual. And so I'm super excited about this project.
I'm really excited to hear your thoughts on it. And again, thank you, it's watching you and other people who've taken to Evolving with Gratitude and made me see, oh, well that's a way you could do it. And so offering those choices and giving people the option to choose their own path, right?
So we don't have to be so rigid.
Nikki Jones: I love that. I love all that.
Lainie Rowell: Oh my goodness. This conversation... so fast. But I wanna make sure and give you time for your shout out.
Nikki Jones: So I feel like this is such a hard question, and I've listened to all your podcasts, and just narrowing it down to one person is really hard.
So I feel like I have a tribe of people and they know who they are that I'm so, so grateful for, and I really try to express daily to the people that I love most. But I have to give a shout out to my mom. She is the most amazing human. She actually takes care of our boys when I am at work and this lady does everything with unconditional love and I don't have to ask her to do these extra things, but during the week, my week is crazy.
She will just change my laundry, do my laundry. We've left dishes in the sink. She does the dishes. She takes care of our dogs without asking for anything. She doesn't want an accolade. She doesn't want a pat on the back. She just wants to do whatever she can to make our life better and easier for her grandkids and my husband and I, and.
I'm just so appreciative and like I kind of mentioned, we've had a year, my husband was sick and he was in the hospital for a while. Both of our boys got sick. I had emergency surgery. I was completely out of commission. She was our taxi driver. I mean, she was there. She lives about 45 minutes from us.
She was there driving my kids to school every single day back from school, driving me to physical therapy, driving me to target, to pick up whatever we needed. Without a single complaint, and she actually last year was diagnosed with breast cancer, like all of this through her own things. She was just there for us, and I know, I don't tell her enough how much I appreciate her and all of the support that she provides for us and the lifestyle that she's allowed us to live and, and have, you know, our boys being taken care of.
We're really blessed to have. She's there for them when, when we're not home, you know, she is the one that is there and she'll stay late. She'll get there early. She'll spend overnight, she'll make dinner. All of the things. I am so, so, so grateful for her and, and the things that she gives up to be there for us.
And I just love her so much. So I could not do it without the village that I have, but especially my mom. So her name is Kim. She is the most remarkable person that I know, and she's like my best friend too. I mean, I am on the phone with her daily actually. Anymore. She just wants to talk to the boys. Like if I call, she's like, oh, where's Grayson?
Like, wait, I'm your kid. So she's getting my big huge gratitude shout out.
Lainie Rowell: Oh, Kim, thank you for all you do for Nikki and her family and what a lovely shout out.
Nikki, make sure and tell people how they can catch you on the socials or whatever way you want people to connect with you.
Nikki Jones: So Twitter, I am super active on Twitter. I love being connected with other educators, other moms, other gratitude followers, other Lainie followers. That is the best place to find me. So I'm @mrsjones72812 on Twitter. Like I said, I'm super active there and I love sharing, but I also love borrowing ideas from others.
So if you're doing cool things, follow me, tweet me. I'm super happy to be connected to you.
Lainie Rowell: And you share a lot of amazing stuff on Twitter so I encourage people to go check it out and make sure and soak in and savor as we say. All the amazing that is Nikki Jones. So Nikki thank you so much for being here and I'm just so grateful for this time because like I said, you're so good at having this online presence and with the videos and with everything you share.
Honestly, if someone said Lainie, have you talked with her live before? I would not have a hundred percent been confident one way or the other because I just feel like we've gotten to know each other through the magic of technology.
Nikki Jones: Yeah. I think that's such a cool thing to be connected with other people and to just really learn and grow.
Right. I've learned so much from you. I'm so grateful for you. I've loved reading your book, following you. I go back to your book and thumb through it and look at all my highlights and ideas and the podcast. This is such a special place where I continue to get connected with other really awesome people.
So I love, I love that I'm just here for it all.
Lainie Rowell: Well, I appreciate that and I never, ever forget that. I'm very proud of what I wrote and Evolving with Gratitude. But what took that book from good to great was the contributors and all the guests on this podcast is what makes it great, and that includes you, Nikki.
So thank you for being here, and thank you all for listening.