GLESN Blog
Hyperlinks
Community of caring
World Smile Day
Random acts of Kindness
Pay it Forward
After spending time on the GLESN website I decided to post the above links which are all related to the theme of the GLESN website. My wife did a “Pay it Forward” themed month at her school. The idea was to do something nice for someone else, while expecting nothing in return. The entire school participated and all students got involved. Random Acts of Kindness awards were given out and Pay It Forward cards were given and received by students and staff. The middle school where she works had a big bullying problem and this was one of the ways they attempted to address the issue and change the behaviors. The only one of the links I have personal experience with is the community of caring. Last year Uxbridge became a community of caring school, which means that the school follows the following 5 ideals set forth by the organization. Caring - Respect- Responsibility - Trust- Family. We have also made up a committee of staff, parents, students, and community leaders who come up with ideas for making Uxbridge a better place to live and learn. We have only been a community of caring school for one year and I am not on the committee, but I have noticed a positive change around school.
I NEVER LET MY EDUCATION GET IN THE WAY OF MY LEARNING-MARK TWAIN
I have Pay it forward cards and a nomination form in word format if anyone wants them just send me an email.
ReplyDeleteI think the Pay it Forward cards and Random Acts of Kindness rewards are great incentives for promoting positive behaviors in children. While it is great to reward children who do the right thing, it should also be required of them. Kids shouldn't be going out of their way to do something nice just so they can receive a prize ticket or something. What about the children who are kind all the time? I do think it is a great form of positive reinforcement, but shouldn't be the primary motivator for doing the right thing and being a kind person.
ReplyDeleteMike, that sounds like a good idea. We do something similar in some of the Warwick schools where children receive "red apples" or "gotcha" tickets for good behavior, good deeed or doing positive things. These tickets are then placed in a jar with the student's name on them and drawn for a few raffle prizes at the end of the month. It seems to work really well.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of pay it forward. Random acts of kindness, and using our words for encouraging and lifting one another up all do so much to influence the learning atmosphere. Here is another example of modeling a behavior you want carried home after school....
ReplyDeleteSounds like the community of caring has really been embraced at your school. If you are feeling a difference after only one year, imagine how transformative an experience going to a school really committed to caring could be over many years! (For the kids and the teachers!)