Hi Friends!
So, I've been thinking…
** What if we started off our new school years with an intentional effort to spread kindness in our classrooms?
** What if we found a way to create a classroom where simply being kind to everyone comes first?
** What if that spills out over into the hallways?
** What if it even makes its way into the bathrooms? (I know, sounds gross…but hold tight!)
I think that simply being kind to everyone, even when we are tired, hungry, or just plain fussy, is a great way to keep positive energy in our classrooms!
We are the leaders in our classrooms. And we all know that a group is only as good as its leader. So why not go out of our way to model kindness every day, especially to the kids who we feel don't deserve it? Or even the ones who aren't so kind to us in return?
I came up with 4 practical ways we can all help spread kindness throughout our classrooms and our schools.
These are not crazy elaborate ideas. They are actually quite simple, making even less of an excuse for us to not be intentional about being KIND every day!
NUMBER 1: Introduce Kindness Cards
Click the image to get your FREE set of kindness cards!!
NUMBER 2: Make Smile! mini posters for the bathroom mirrors!
But, then I saw the message…
Click on the image to grab the FREE Smile pages!
NUMBER 3: Plaster the halls with Smiles!
Have your kids create their own posters, or click on the link below for these FREE templates!
NUMBER 4: Build Each Other Up With Kindness (the long, personal story part)
You can grab these free pages to use or create your own
Before I end this post, let me tell a personal story that speaks to the power of KINDNESS
I'm going to be totally honest here.
He broke me down.
He mocked me for my questions. Everyone heard.
He stole my confidence.
He made me cry.
And that's when I decided to become a teacher. I wanted to be sure there was one less cruel teacher in the world impacting kids like I was impacted.
I really believe in focusing on kindness in the classroom and really made a conscious effort this past year to do kindness activities in my classroom. I really like your ideas and will use them. In an effort to promote kindness in my class this year, I had students draw a name in the morning and that would be their secret person for the day. They needed to do something nice for them and at the end of the day they filled out slips saying who they were and what they did for their secret person. These slips went on their desks so they would get them first thing the next day.
That is an AWESOME idea!!! Thank you so much for sharing! I love that you are making kindness at the heart of your classroom! 🙂
What a beautiful post and fantastic idea! I cannot wait to implement this in my classroom this year! Fantastic job!
Thank you so much! I'm so glad to hear that it's something you can use with your class. Have a fantastic year!!!
Jen, thanks so much for sharing from your heart. This is so powerful! I love the idea of starting the school year with an intentional focus on kindness. Off I go to pin and post this, and I'm definitely sharing with my colleagues when we go back to school in September. (The quote in my TpT store says, "Kindness is contagious. Help start an epidemic in your corner of the world.")
I LOVE that quote!! It gets me so excited to hear that you are just as passionate about intentionally choosing to be kind. I hope you have an amazing year!!
What an awesome post! Thank you!
Literacy Programme in India
You are so welcome! I really enjoyed writing this one!!
First, thank you for a great post! I'm going to share and pin the heck out of this one! =)
Second, I appreciate your personal story. I can't say I had one teacher specifically tear me down, but I don't have good memories of school. Like you, I went into teaching to make school a fun, memorable place for students to learn. I'd like to think I've done that.
Third, thank you for sharing your awesomeness all over social media during this year's TpT conference. I was unable to attend, but all of your #paulswag had me cracking up throughout the day!
~Heather aka HoJo~
Awe thank you so much Heather for this message. I am so glad that you chose to be a teacher. I LOVE how you make learning FUN!!! And for the #paulswag, it's going to be off the charts in 2016! Haha I hope to meet you next year!! Have a wonderful year teaching!!!
Thanks for your honesty and for sharing your story. I too was impacted by less than positive teachers, but thankfully, had a fantastic one in Junior High who saw past the quiet mousey exterior and encouraged me. He acknowledged my voracious reading and took the time to help me find books in the library to challenge me. And when I ran out of books at the school, loaned me his books from home. He was also the the first one to plant the idea in my head that, I too, could be a teacher. And from there on, I had a singular goal. Even though I was not a top student, he made me believe I could succeed. Neither of my parents had graduated from High School. They were both still highly successful people, and always made sure we worked our hardest at whatever we did, whether it was cleaning a barn or writing a paper, but we knew that academic achievement wasn't the be-all or end-all of our lives. And, in the end, I was the first person from my family (as far back as you can trace on either side) to graduate from university.
I always do my best to keep my class positive and focus on what the kids can do, rather than what they can't. And I have had parents, over the years, who have come to me expressing what a great year their child had in my room, even when their child was not the most successful student or the best behaved. Those are the moments I really treasure.
Hi Teresa!
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your story! I am sure everyone in your family is so proud of you for all your hard work and accomplishments!! 🙂 It's always so amazing to me the ripple effect of one teacher. It's impossible to even imagine how many lives he and you have reached!!!! Keep up the amazing work!!
Thank you so much for sharing these wonderful ideas with us. And for sharing your story. It is so important to let our sweet kids know how important they are. We really could be the only one telling them that. Thanks so much for the encouragement! I do so greatly appreciate it!!