Kicking 2017 off with Kindness

Courtesy of Helen from UK:
http://maketodayhappy.co.uk/kindness-calendar-january-2017/

To download your free copy, please click on this link: Kindness-Calendar-January-2017.pdf (8350 downloads)

World Kindness Day - Early Start

Buddy Bench

We will be starting our grade 1 guidance lessons in the next few weeks featuring the heart-breaking and heart-warming book "The Invisible Boy" by Trudy Ludwig.  

This year we are going to explore this idea as well because "Sometimes, it's good to have a buddy."

Buddy bench a big hit at Willowgrove School
Sometimes, it's good to have a buddy.Full story: http://www.cbc.ca/1.3505066via Leisha Grebinski & #SaskatoonMorning
Posted by CBC Saskatoon on Thursday, March 24, 2016

New Bulletin Board Idea!!!

Thinking that we can use it for Acts of Cooperation, Perseverance, and all the core values!



Another great idea:
Posted by School Counselor Central on Friday, February 19, 2016

How to Change the World in Less Than 1 Minute #RAKWeek2015

February is a time many of us pay special attention to our relationships as the piles of heart-shaped candies remind us of our need to be connected.  In a 2014 article, "Science Says Lasting Relationships Come Down to 2 Basic Traits", Emily Esfahani Smith at The Atlantic cited two important dynamics in successful relationships.  The first is the responsiveness partners show each other when one asks for the attention of another in conversation or in observation of something interesting.  Basically, this is the putting down of the iPad, looking up, and engaging in what is termed in the research "bid" for attention.  The second is choosing to be kind in the relationship, even during a conflict.  Julie Gottman, one of the researchers, speaks of kindness not only as an internal character trait, but also as a muscle which can be built.  The more we practice acts of kindness, the more acts of kindness will become a natural response.

Although the research cited are conducted between married couples, these ideas translate to parenting and friendships.  Many of us experience the universal phenomenon of a child asking for attention when we are in the middle of cooking dinner.  The times when I placate them with half acknowledgements tend to result in greater demands for my attention.  The times when I push aside the stress of dinner deadline, turn off the stove, get on her eye level and give her the five minutes she needs, often lead to a better evening.  Even now, as the teenager bid for my attention, if I close the laptop and turn around to give her my full attention, she leaves with a little bounce in her steps.  (Which incidentally is why this entry has taken three tries to complete!)

The topic of kindness, on the other hand, deserves it's own entry.  For now an inspiring quote:  "Wherever there is a human being there is an opportunity for a kindness" ~Seneca~

Kindness Month

The Lowell School is working on growing in kindness this month.  November 13th was World Kindness Day but every day can be a Random Acts of Kindness day!  Check out the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation's #ShareAMonster project.  There is also a calendar of ideas for spreading kindness.  Consider becoming a RAKtivist like Bert from Pittsburg who shared "Kindness can be a smile, a kind word, or a helping hand. It is simply the act of caring for each other, without judgement."

Me and My Community

This school year, Guidance and Library Sciences will continue in the tradition of co-teaching our guidance series for our Kindergarteners through 5th graders.  (Kudos to Ms. Steim, our amazing librarian!)  We will once again, start with our leaders in grades four and five, spending four weeks talking about friendships, how to approach diversity and differences, and ways to prevent bullying in our school.  Weaving through our discussions will be threads of kindness, courage, and community.  Please visit the Lowell Guidance website for more specifics about the "Me and My Community" series.

On the issue of diversity, I learned something rather interesting this summer while taking a course called "Evolution & Cognition".  There has been some research evidence that we are not wired to be racially biased, although many of us actively categorize people by race and culture.  When shown pictures of "people" in generic shirts and different skin colors, subjects sorted and stored (remembered) the individuals based on their skin tones.  When the pictures had different soccer team uniforms instead of generic shirts, subjects remembered the "people" by their teams, or affiliation/coalition, rather than skin color.  Given the evolutionary history of human, it has always been important to our survival to be able to distinguish if someone belongs to the same "group" as us and whether they are friend or foe.

If we learn to recognize ourselves as a community, whether in the form of a classroom, a grade, a school, a town, etc., we will perhaps put down barriers embedded in perceived differences and be more inclined to be interested and respectful in the differences between us.  Seeing ourselves as a community may also help us engage in civil discourse when conflicts arise and help us multiple our acts of kindness.

Kindness - Round 1

The other day, I heard a student telling another student to "go away" when she tried to join in on a conversation.  I was shocked!  I probably shouldn't be, because kids actually say things like that all the time.  Yet I hope I will always be shocked in reactions to actions such as these.

"Don't be nice, be kind!" - one of my favorite sayings.  

There is nothing wrong with being polite and "nice"; but being kind is from the heart, a place of empathy and goodness.  When we are older, I hope the men and women in charge of our lives, our towns, and our country are kind people.

Towards that goal, Ms. Steim, Mr. Connors, and I began our Guidance lessons with the 4th and 5th graders this past week.  We watched Shel Silverstein narrate The Giving Tree and responded to a few reflection questions via Google Form.  This is the resulting Woodle from the prompt:  "Please share three words that describe the tree in The Giving Tree."

Please join us on our quest of kindness~

Setting Up for Success

Opening school is an exciting endeavor; with it the hopes and dreams of a new year and an opportunity to improve upon the year prior. For our family, this is a year of big transitions: one off to college and one onto high school. Thus my heart was especially full on Thursday as I drew chalk lines on which our new Kindergartners would line up. Reflecting on the past 13 years of being a parent in a public school...

That "stated mandated Kindergarten Screening" - well, I missed it with my first born, even though I was already in training to become a school counselor. We were off in Acton at a children's museum. I still feel a little guilty about it, but she ended up with a wonderful teacher.

On the topic of teachers, I learned to never listen to others' opinions about teachers through the grapevine. Instead I was to trust that my children will learn to learn from all kinds of teachers. When they enter the world of work, they will need to work for all kinds of supervisors. Therefore, I was to help them figure out how to be successful with all types of matches.

Every time I got a call from the school, I was sure one of them was en route to children's hospital! None of those calls compared to the one I had to make because a girl was physically hurting one of my daughters - the kind of hurt that leaves a mark on her skin. I learned to never call angry, to never send an email angry, to never show up at school emotional. I have drafted plenty of emotional emails, but am always glad twenty-four hours later that I did not send them. I would have been embarrassed. Besides, it was important to remember that the someone on the receiving end of my emails and phone calls is also a person.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle,”
(Plato, or Philo of Alexandra, or the 1898 Christmas edition of The British Weekly"

Here's off to a year of kindness and growth to all~