Internationally recognized author & educator for professionals, parents, and kids
Posts tagged kindness
Kindness Activities, Videos and Links for Kids
04 years
by signewhitson
in Uncategorized
I’ve had a lot of fun this school year creating “Virtual Offices” for my students to visit, even when I can’t be in their classrooms as often as I’d like due to COVID. This month, we are celebrating Kindness in words, actions, and as a way of being.
Here’s a thumbnail of my Virtual Office, along with this link that you can use to enjoy it with students. Click on the various objects and phrases in the “office” to discover all of its fun features.
#beknownforbeingkind
(We all have the) POWER to be Kind!
05 years
by signewhitson
in Uncategorized
As a Bullying Prevention educator, I often share the mountain of evidence that cultivating kindness in schools and classrooms is one of the most effective ways to bring an end to bullying. At my school, we are highlighting Kindness as a Value throughout the month of February and really stepping it up a notch this week as we Celebrate Kindness with a Spirit Week filled with special dress days, door decorating, and other fun activities. All week long, I’ll be posting photos and ideas of what our amazing teachers are doing to Make Kindness Cool at School.
Today is (We all have the) POWER to be Kind day! Check out our superhero outfits and poses, as we used our kindness superpowers all throughout the school.
Making Kindness a Part of School Culture
06 years
by signewhitson
in Uncategorized
This month, I’m working with my first grade students on the power of kindness and the idea that the “little,” daily things we do to reach out to others can make the biggest difference.
Making kindness a part of school culture is the most effective Bullying Prevention strategy.
Join the Great Kindness Challenge: Jan 22-26th
07 years
by signewhitson
in Uncategorized
Wanted to share with you how we are celebrating Kindness at my school this week:
(To learn more about the Great Kindness Challenge and how to get your students or your family involved, click here.)
Dear Families,
As many of you may have heard from your children, I have been working with students on turning kindness and compassion into verbs over the last two months.This coming week, I’d love for all Swain students and families to join together to take part in the 2018 Great Kindness Challenge, a national campaign to create cultures of kindness in schools and communities.Beginning tomorrow (Monday, Jan. 22), all students will receive a GKC 2018 Checklist, filled with no-cost ways to show kindness to others. The students will be challenged to carry out as many of the acts of kindness as possible. Teachers will be checking in with students throughout the week to talk about how their acts of kindness impact others and how showing kindness makes them feel about themselves.We would love to involve you as well! Attached, please find the Great Kindness Challenge Family Edition checklist that you can use to carry out acts of kindness with your children. Please engage them in conversation about how small acts of kindness can make a big difference for others. I hope you will enjoy this as a family challenge!Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for your help in making this school-wide Kindness Campaign work!!Signe WhitsonDirector of School Counseling
6 Simple Strategies to Stop Bullying
07 years
by signewhitson
in Uncategorized
Bullying among school-aged children is a pervasive problem in the United States. If there was a magic wand, one-size-fits-all solution to the problem, it would have been suggested and implemented long ago. You wouldn’t be thinking about it and I wouldn’t be writing about it. Bringing an end to bullying involves comprehensive school culture shifts as well as convincing young people (and the adults in their lives!) to use social power fairly and justly, at all times. Changing human dynamics, as we all know, is neither easy nor swift.
That’s the bad news.
The good news is that time-consuming, complicated solutions are trumped each and every day by the small, powerful acts that trustworthy adults can use to signal to individual kids that their dignity is paramount and that their safety will be prioritized.
At the risk of oversimplifying a very complex issue among young people, but at the hope of creating a go-to roadmap for educators, counselors, youth workers, and parents, this article I just posted on PsychologyToday offers 6 simple strategies for upgrading our approach to bullying in schools. Please check it out and share with professionals and parents who are looking for guidance in this area.
Click here to read and share the full article.
Be Known for Being Kind
08 years
by signewhitson
in Uncategorized
I was walking through the halls of my school this morning when a 3rd grade student saw me and told me she had brought in a book from her local library because it made her think of me. When I asked what the book was called, she couldn’t remember the exact title, but said she knew I’d love it because it was about a girl who wanted to BE KNOWN FOR BEING KIND. (Heart swells.)
We walked to her cubby to get the book…and she was right…I love it! This title and author are new to me and I thought they might be new to you too. Do yourself a favor and check out Melissa Parkington’s Beautiful, Beautiful Hair by Pat Brisson.
Teaching Respect, as an Action Verb
08 years
by signewhitson
in Uncategorized
Over the course of the last month, I have been talking with my students about Respect and how we show respect to ourselves, to others, to property, to all living things, and to our Earth. We don’t just talk about the word ‘Respect’ as a vague virtue, but rather we apply ‘Respect’ as an action verb, consistently planning and practicing real-world ways that young people can show respect on a daily basis.
Yesterday, I challenged my third graders to think about something in their world for which they want to raise awareness and respect (saving animals, cleaning oceans, curing cancer, etc.) and to think of ways to take actions to support this cause. I reminded these amazing kiddos how their small acts can be powerful when it comes to making changes and helping the world around them.
Imagine how my heart overflowed when a parent sent me these three photos of her son and the lemonade stand he held right after school, complete with the poster he made in my class, to raise money to cure cancer. (Permission granted to share photos).
Kids are amazing change-makers!
