Sunday, February 12, 2017

Lighting the World With Kindness

Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

Did you know that there is a Random Acts of Kindness Week? It runs from February 12 through the 18th. Actually, this is the first I’ve heard of it, but what an groovy  way for all of us to unite by being kind to each other.  It begins with one simple act - one hello to a stranger, a simple smile, a pat on the back, a cup of coffee for someone you don’t know. This is a chance for participating individuals to make our world a better one and inspire others to follow suit. 

FREEBIE from Socrates Lantern
Random Acts of Kindness (RAC) is an international non profit foundation that believes a little kindness is the key to helping people make the world a better place to  live. Their goal is to remind people that kindness is a choice.  In light of this, they have free tools to help make kindness a part of our everyday lives. 

Learning about kindness in the classroom is one of the most essential things for children to understand.  Scientific studies have shown that it improves our self-worth and helps us feel that we belong to a group.  It improves our health by lowering blood pressure, while decreasing depression and anxiety. This not only helps the receiver, but it REALLY helps the giver. It’s such a wonderful feeling when you know you’ve done something to make another person feel happier.

When a child is happier and more content, grades will improve, attention span will increase, students will be better able to remain calm during stressful situations, there will be less bullying, drug use, violence and school drop outs.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if your classroom and school participated in kindness week. Here’s a video with a link for you to sign up.
https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/rakweekpartners




Here are a few ideas that you can use to get your charges thinking about kindness. 
 1.  Introduce the concept that kindness begins with ONE person. 
      If every ONE person does ONE kind thing for someone else, it 
     would make the world a better place.
 2.  Set up a kindness bulletin board and whenever a child does something kind for someone, add their name and what they did. You can cut out large hearts to use for your valentine bulletin board.
 3.  Have students participate in a game where they say kind things to each other. You can then discuss how they felt about receiving a compliment, and how it felt to give one. Later they can write a paper about this.
 4.  Write this phrase on the board..."Walk a mile in my shoes."  Ask what it means and discuss it. Introduce the subject of bullying and pose this question...Have you ever been bullied, or do you know anyone who was bullied. When someone answers, Have a different child view the situation and share what they might have done to defend the person being bullied. Also ask how the bully may have felt. They can then write about this experience.
 5.  Role play different situations that show random acts of kindness. The children can work in groups to write short skits about this.

You may be interested in this resource entitled Caught in the Act of Being Kind.


Caught in the Act of Being Kind @ Socrates Lantern
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This is part of our Teacher Talk Monthly Blog Link-up. Please read what the rest of the teachers have to say for the month of February...

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