Teacher Tip Tuesday: Celebrate Kindness

“‘This is what kindness does,’ Ms. Albert said. ‘Each little thing we do goes out, like a ripple, into the world.’” ~ Jacqueline Woodson, “Each Kindness”

This time of the year is a wonderful opportunity to invite something novel into your classroom routine! One practice I’ve used to strengthen our classroom community is a Kindness Board. I’ve seen teachers adapt this idea in so many creative ways! Essentially the purpose remains the same: To inspire students to notice and celebrate acts of kindness around them. 

Here’s what I have done in my classroom. (If the idea peaks your interest, you can modify it to fit your classroom’s style.) First I read the picture book, “Each Kindness,” by Jacqueline Woodson and facilitate a conversation with my students about the impact of small acts of kindness. In the book, the author uses the imagery of a rock making a ripple effect on water, illustrating that our choices can have positive or negative outcomes. Using this idea, I cut out small slips of paper in the shapes of rocks and have them available for students. In the coming days and weeks, students are invited to notice the random acts of kindness around them: A student pushing in another student’s chair, someone helping a classmate when they got stuck on a math question, picking up garbage off the floor without being asked, taking time to comfort a friend at recess, etc. When students notice these actions, they write it down on one of those slips of paper and we add it to our kindness board. Sometimes at the end of our day, we sit in a Closing Circle and give shout-outs to people who were showing kindness throughout the day. It always amazes me how much this one practice impacts the entire feeling of our classroom. 

Have you used a Kindness Board in your classroom or a version of this activity? I’d love to hear how you’ve intentionally celebrated kindness with your students!