Teaching Kindness

In the classroom, one thing that is so important to teach is kindness.  This is something I have been focusing on this school year because I hear so many students speaking harshly to one another.

One way I decided to help promote being kind was to do random acts of kindness.  I taught my students that kindness is when you do something from your heart, and not because you want something in return.

When someone does something kind for someone else, they feel good about it.  They are welcome to share it with me, but they aren't able to write their name on the chart.  I want them to do nice things because they want to, not because they want their name on the chart.

In order for kids to put names on the chart, they must have had someone do something kind to them.  For example, if Billy helps Suzie pick up trash.  Suzie can put Billy's name on the chart for doing something kind.  Billy can then be excited that she acknowledged him, but he is not putting his own name on the chart. 

I love how my students have really been excited about this!  They are constantly doing nice things for one another and sharing what they did.  Many students are quick to recognize other students and get excited to add their friend's name to the chart.

I highly encourage trying this in your classroom.  It did take lots of modeling and guiding my students in the beginning, but now they do it all on their own!