Kindness- It's so POWERFUL

What does it mean to be kind?  

It means being friendly, generous and/or considerate towards others.  These are easy ways to treat others, right?  Sadly, not for everyone.  This is why it is so critical as educators we teach our students the impact kindness has on others in their school, home and community.  

Each year, I challenge my students to do 100 Random Acts of Kindness in 30 days.  This is always a lofty goal, but it always seems to put the fire under my kids to go out of their way to do kind acts for others.  While we participate in this challenge, we push ourselves to do things for others we would normally not do.  We then share out our random acts of kindness on our Confetti Wall.  I love seeing my students faces when they share out how doing kind acts for others impacted them in a positive, loving way.

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Why a Kindness Challenge?

Current research shows that devoting time, energy and resources to others has a positive impact on your own well-being.  Researchers have proven that when you are kind, it helps you become a happier person.  

What Have I Learned about Kindness?

Kindness impacts everyone.  You never know how big the impact of a small gesture can really be for someone else.  It makes me a happier person when I focus on being kind to others.  It improves the culture and climate in my classroom and at home.  It also improves the quality of life in our greater community.    When you do things for others, you just feel good inside.  

5 Quick Kind Acts to do TODAY:

1) Make a special card for someone in your life.  Leave it on their desk or pillow.

2) Decorate a kindness rock and leave it at a park for someone to find.

3) Bring flowers to a neighbor- just because it is spring time.

4) Buy coffee or drink in for your colleague.

5) Make it a point to SMILE at everyone you see for 24 hours!

Watch, wait and see how little acts of kindness can make a positive ripple effect in the world.

Power of Positivity

Being Positive is looking on the bright side of things.  This way of thinking does not always come naturally, but you can train your mind to seek it out.  As a teacher, it is important to be a role model of positive thinking for my students.  By doing so, I can help them see the glass as half full when they are faced with hard tasks.  

What is positive thinking or having an optimistic viewpoint?  According to Paraskevi Noulas, PsyD, a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at NYU Langone Health in New York City, it is the idea "of seeing the silver lining on a bad day."    This doesn't mean that you never think about the negative things that are happening, rather its how you view situations from a more well-rounded perspective.  

Why is this important to do as a teacher?

Shifting your mindset can help your overall health.  "Research shows that positive thinking is an incredibly important and efficacious way to improve your overall  mood, physical health, energy level, concentration, productivity and more," says Noulas. 

Not all kids think this way.  It's a skill that can be developed but it takes practice.  These skills can be done in the classroom by practicing compassion meditation.  If kids show daily gratitude is another way to build these key brain circuits that regulate positive emotions.  

How else?  Show Kindness!

One of the most powerful ways to feel positivity is to give back to others.  Show generosity and let the good vibes role!  Its well known that when others perform acts of kindness it was a key way to boost your own happiness!  (Check out my next post as I share examples on how I am doing this in my classroom)

Need a quick way to help boost the positive vibe?  Flash a quick smiles!  

Encourage your students to take the smile challenge and smile at EVERYONE they see for an entire day.   Just smiling, boost so feel good vibes that increase your mood. 

Try a few of these ideas and let me know how the climate in your classroom changes.  

I bet their growth mindset grows too!

Taking a Stand

In honoring Martin Luther King, my class decided to brainstorm key topics that mattered to them.  We discussed them and then they took a "STAND" on that topic by writing a poem.  We created signs and artwork that represented ourselves to show off what we truly believe in.  Check out the finished products!

I was telling the students that being a leader doesn't necessarily mean giving speeches to a large crowd.  You can be a leader at the lunch table by helping make sure the table is cleaned up from the messes.  You can be a leader on the playground by making sure everyone is included.  You can be a leader in the classroom by role modeling what good listening looks like.  You can be a leader by encouraging everyone to recycle.  

The best leaders are the ones who take a "STAND" on what matters most to them.  By doing so, you already have drive and passion for that topic/issue that leading is easier.  I encourage everyone in this world to be more passionate about what truly matters to them and then ...TAKE A STAND on it.  

Word of the Year

Happy New Year!  

Every year, I pick a new word to help represent my goal(s) for the year.  

This year, my word is MINDFUL. 

 Why mindful?  

Using mindfulness practices, can help my ability to my regulate emotions, focus on what is truly important, and help decrease my stress/anxiety.  Specific practices have also been known to help with   being objective, enhancing the ability to be more flexible, improve a person's concentration and mental focus and clarity.  

Not only that, being mindful can also help me bring my attention to the here and now... the present.  So often, we are thinking about what we are going to do next, when in reality we need to focus on the present because that is life.  It's goes with the quote-

Really, you Nichole using Mindfulness?

For those of you who know me, I am a type A personality.  I like to keep busy (some call me the energizer bunny) and I am very goal oriented.  So picking mindful as my word is going to be a challenge but no one grows from doing the same thing each day.  As I live this life, I want to become the best version of me.  For that, I need to step out of where I am most comfortable and try something hard and new.   So, here it goes!

How am I planning to use Mindfulness in my life?

One way is by using basic meditation.  My daily goal is to spend the first 5 minutes upon waking meditating.  I plan to sit or lay quietly and focus on my natural breathing.  While breathing, I will repeat a word or "mantra" silently to myself.  This will allow my thoughts/stresses/feelings to come and go without judgment.  I will make my word/mantra be the focus.  I am hoping that starting the day by centering myself will help bring calm and peace to the start of the day.

I am going to give it a try!  

More to come on how it goes and how else I am bringing mindfulness into my daily life.  

Want to Remember Something?

WRITE it by HAND!

Students everywhere want to use technology and use it ALL THE TIME.  However, the lastest research shows that students who take notes the old fashion way learn it better!

Why is this so?  For one thing, technology can be very distracting.  When you are on tech, it's easy to switch over to another site and just "check it out" while you are learning something new.  This causes your brain to become less focused and more easily distracted in the learning process.

In addition, when you are taking notes and/or learning something new, writing by hand slows down the brain to become more focused which will in turn make it easier to remember.  The brain will be able to retain the information in greater detail, especially if the notes are put into your own words.

Often when we are typing, our brains are moving at such a faster rate that the brain cannot keep up with all the new information that is being taken in.

So, do you want to remember something new?  Make sure to WRITE IT DOWN by HAND!  

IT MATTERS EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Teaching is by far the best profession because everything I do matters. Fom the way I talk to my students, to the way I smile at them, assist them, ask them questions, help them, encourage them, believe in them, challenge them, laugh with them, read to them, play games with them, model for them, educate them and most of all LOVE THEM. IT ALL MATTERS! EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!

Teaching is no longer just teaching anymore. It's about inspiring kids to be the very best they can be socially, emotionally and academically.  

This week I not only inspired my students, but also inspired my colleagues to participate in International Dot Day. It was a day to help our students see that they are important and it's their job to "make their mark" in this world. I am proud of my colleagues who took on the challenge for their students.  

I am also so proud of my students who made their mark!  Pictures soon to follow!