Tuesday January 19th, 2016

Next week is bullying prevention week, and the Great Kindness Challenge. Programs and curriculum programs off the shelf are nice to help with bullying prevention, but it all comes down to kindness and empathy. Kindness and empathy are what counters bullying, and both are free! Here are two videos to share with students this week to help get ready for next week. Look for heart die cuts that student office leaders will be bringing to you, and in the office, so you can have students write the kindness acts that they do. The hearts can then be posted outside your classroom, the office, and around the school.

Here is also a handout with ideas for the hearts and spreading kindness, but students can definitely think of other ideas. Mrs. Jensen has made copies for every classroom. The great piece to be proud of at Harrison is the size of hearts, both students and staff:

Kindness Video 1

Kindness Video 2

Kindness List of Ideas

When we look at raising student achievement, it all comes down to closing the opportunity gap. This short article discusses tips for reading, and giving students as many opportunities as possible to help build knowledge is crucial:

Reading Tips

This thought fits very well with the training certified staff had on Monday. Something to think about: