Positivity Wall

My kids were incredibly well-behaved on a field trip last week, so the next day, this happened.

I used dry erase markers on our tiled wall in the hall to write positive traits about my students, and they loved reading them every time we walked by!  Honestly, I think it brightened the day of all of us!

The Best Thing About You

Okay, I know I've been off the blogosphere for a few weeks now...  But the last two weeks of school have been CRAZY!  And I've been getting ready for a teacher training happening this week.  And the dog ate my homework.  Any other excuses I can come up with??  Would it help if I bribed you with a freebie?
This is a form I include in my kids' end of the year books, on one of the first pages.  We sit in a large circle and the kids pass their paper, in timed, 1 min chunks, slowly around the circle.  By the time their own paper circles around back to them, all of the students have written something unique and kind about that person (I have the kids read through the list on the paper before they write their comment, to make sure there aren't repetitions or ridiculous comments like "you're cool" or "you are nice").  It's a great compilation of compliments and a positive way to end the year!

Fabulous Finds Friday: Unkindness Behavior Consequence

I saw this idea on Pinterest today, from the blog lil light o' mine.  Random acts of kindness are part of the birthday routine in our classroom so I was diggin' this idea.   I actually liked the comment from a pinner the best, which was to have a child pull a random act of kindness from the jar as a consequence for being unkind in the classroom.  I could totally see myself saying to a rude or harsh-speaking student, "It looks like you need to work on the skill of being kind.  Why don't you go pick out a task that will help you practice that."  Ah, how I love natural consequences.  And wouldn't it be great to have them perform their act of kindness before apologizing, just to soften the heart for a more genuine apology? 

A Grateful Class

So the geeky, scientific side of me wants to explain all the research that's been done on happiness, and how people that write just 5 things each day that they are grateful for feel more fulfilled in their life and more readily notice the good in their life.  I'd love to quote the statistics showing they complain less and stick to difficult tasks longer.  But I'll refrain because, frankly, I don't think anyone would necessarily care about the specifics.

The point is, all these things I want to be part of our classroom culture so I'm careful to teach, model and develop them in very specific ways.  One way is through our Thankful Books.  Every day, either when they finish their morning starter or while I'm handing out papers at the end of the day, the kids write down 5 specific things they're thankful for.  Then whenever we have a few extra minutes to kill, we like to share some of the things the kids have written down.  

I've noticed the kids that always seem to find everything wrong in life (pet peeve!) or that complain at the least struggle start to change their mindset...or at least I can send them to add more to their Thankful Book when they don't!

Easy peasy - fold some white paper in half, add a construction paper cover and let them go to town!

Random Acts of Kindness

There are a lot of things floating around the blog world about Random Acts of (Christmas) Kindness, so I thought I'd share what we do to celebrate birthdays.  I've been a little unimpressed with the gifting of cute things to my students for their birthdays, knowing it would last as far as the school hallways before being opened, eaten, lost or tossed aside.  I wanted something more meaningful.  So after coming across a blog about random acts of kindness done for a lovely woman's birthday, I decided we should do the same.  Now when we have a birthday in our class, the kids get this paper in the morning:

Throughout the day, they do and record random acts of kindness in honor of the birthday person.  At the end of the day, while I'm passing out papers, they write a happy message to the person and we present the stack to the birthday student.  

I wasn't sure how this would go over with the kids, but they love it even more than the small gift the PTA gives them and often ask about it the morning of their birthday.  So much more fun and meaningful than the old birthday standbys! 

Help

I just came across a post by Stephanie Ann at Sparkling in Third Grade about a great opportunity for teachers to help other teachers affected by Hurricane Sandy.  Click the link below to see how you can help!