The Kindness Olympics

Happy Random Acts of Kindness Week. We've been on such a kindness kick at school this year that it almost feels like we're training for the Kindness Olympics, as if there were such a thing. We kicked off the year by collecting quarters so that our Student Council leaders could buy some fleece to cut and tie these beautiful blankets to help warm up our friends who are struggling with homelessness. We collected enough quarters to buy the fleece for fifty blankets . . . 

and fill Mr. Whitlock's van for distribution in Houston.

We had just finished with the fleece when we received this incredible donation of blankets from our friends at Warm Up, America!, knit, crocheted, and tied as housewarming gifts for those friends who are just now returning home after Hurricane Harvey displaced them six months ago.

What a delight it has been to distribute this generous gift. Even as I was finding homes for these gorgeous throws, we were busy in Art class creating our Kindness Rocks. Just this past week, this one came in from a school in Racine, Wisconsin.

At the end of January, we welcomed the Kids For Peace Kindness Team . . . 

 to build our Peace Garden and dedicate our Peaceful Hearts Playground. We are so grateful to GameTime, Hasbro, Kind Coins contributors, and our PTO for our new state-of-the-art play space.

Our #kindcoins spokesperson, Jet Stream Jax, has gone on location several times these past few weeks to video chat from the playground with schools who donated to help make our dream play space a reality. It's super fun to watch him interact with other kindness crusaders from coast to coast. 

Before we could even start breaking in our new Challenge Course, it was time to launch our annual Sweets for Our Soldiers campaign. We made these colorful, creative Valentines for our troops in Counseling Classes . . . 

and sent out this request for baked goods.

And did our school family ever respond in kind; just look at this table filled with kindness from our kitchens waiting for our student leaders to put together our priority mail packages.

Thirty six of these care packages are heading to the ten deployed servicemen that we adopted at the time of this post.

And for fun, we cut up our PSA posters like this one . . . 

 and put them in the boxes to give the soldiers a puzzle to build.

We are so grateful to the Friendswood Rotary for their

$500 donation to help defray the cost of postage.

You may think that we're done donating for a while, but just this week I saw some adorable PSA posters being hung in our halls, announcing a Pet Supply drive to help our shelters who are still housing Hurricane Harvey rescue animals. 

See what I mean about the Kindness Olympics? Just imagine if the world were as determined, dedicated, and driven to warm our world with kindness as our olympic athletes are to win a medal for their countries.

I'm so thankful to work in a place where we truly are 

in training for the Kindness Olympics all year long.

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PPBF: That Is NOT A Good Idea!

If you haven't already seen this (or maybe even if you have!), you simply must treat yourself to this hilarious Kid Snippets Valentines Day clip. 
Laughter is such a nice gift, isn't it?

Just like that clip, today's PPBF is hilarious.

Introducing ...

Title: That is NOT a Good Idea!

Author & Illustrator: Mo Willems

Publisher: Balzer & Bray (An Imprint of Harper Collins)

Date: April 23, 2013

Suitable for: ages 4 - 8

Themes: point of view, listening, choices

Brief Synopsis: A hungry fox meets a plump goose and a dinner invitation is extended. What do you imagine the secret ingredient will be?

Fiction

Opening page:

Resources:  Read a review at Marin Mommies {here}.
Find activity ideas from Harper Collins {here}.
Enjoy an engaging post at Rubber Boots and Elf Shoes {here}.

View the book's You Tube trailer here:

Why I like this book:  I found this treasure absolutely intriguing. From the first page when I saw the mama goose's expression, I wondered why she looked so pleased to see the fox. But it never occurred to me that there'd be such a 
creative twist.  

I took it to Margaret Limmer's first grade to try it out yesterday. I asked for predictions before we read and, as you might expect, they pretty much thought that the sneaky fox wanted to cook the goose for dinner. And probably throw in her goslings for dessert. But then one little learner asked, "Why does the fox always have to be the bad guy?" and that question took her friends in a reverse direction. Is it possible that the goose would outfox the fox?

My friend Margaret is the kind of teacher whose kids are thinkers like that. They're curious and kind and they're intelligent and insightful! Some of them even thought that maybe the fox and the goose could become friends. How cute is that? It's because Margaret leads by example. When it's a family member's birthday, for example, Mrs. Limmer will get the phone number of that person and her class will deliver a singing telegram. When a student's grandmother was turning 100, these firsties wrote her amazing notes of birthday blessings and cheer. And as that granny was taking her last earthly breath days later, it was those cards that they were reading to her. As I left the room just this morning, Mrs. Limmer asked if I could mail some cards for her. I couldn't help but noticed that the envelopes were addressed to last year's students from her class. Valentines no doubt. So you can imagine that I love to spend time piloting new material with her class. They got so, so excited about this clever newcomer! Well, most of them.

Check out this reader's response reflection:

Oops ... cat's out of the bag ... so to speak.

And their text-to-self connections with a time that 
someone told them that is NOT a good idea:

For fun, why not do a free dance to the song
What Does The Fox Say?

I've got a good idea; check out this book, then head to 
Susanna Leonard Hill's blog for more intriguing titles.

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The Kindness Contagion

Today I'm excited because I've seen more and more and still more kindness stuff coming over the internet this week than ever before. It seems to be contagious ... not gonna analyze it ... just gonna enjoy and share it!

The first resource I got jazzed about was this post and video playlist from Edutopia called Kindness, Empathy and Connection. Maybe you've already seen it, but I thought it was worth repeating.

Matt Davis at Edutopia posted this amazing resource about empathy trumping even chocolate as a gift to give for Valentines Day that you won't want to miss; the Corner on Character even got a shout out!

Then I found this in my Smile File from last week:

Not only am I delighted by her words, but I am touched by the effort, thoughtfulness, detail and love that this third grader put into this wonderful Valentine for me.

Then there's Barb's post over at Grade ONEderful about the Valentines her kiddos did as a follow up to Eileen Spinelli's classic Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch.

Why not leave blind affirmations around the school, taped on doors ... or go ahead and sign them ... either way I can totally imagine the kindness culture it could create. 

Today I also want to encourage you to be kind to yourself.
Here's are a dozen suggestions I've harvested over the years:

1. Delegate tasks to capable others.
2. Go to bed a little early.
3. Get up when you wake up.
4. Read for 15 minutes. 
5. De-clutter something.
6. Simplify something.
7. Do something for the kid in you.
8. Remind yourself that you're not the manager of the world.
9. Allow extra time to get somewhere.
10. Write down inspirational stuff.
11. Eat healthy meals and snacks and drink plenty of water.
12. Even if just for today, slow down and savor.

Looking for more RAK ideas? Visit Sybil's post {here}.

Expect a terrific Thursday!

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