Looking For Opportunities to be Kind

When I set out to write about positivity and kindness, I had been trying to think of ways that I could get my students thinking about putting others before themselves. I love that the 12th-grade Learning Strategies class has a year-long project that requires the students to “pay-it-forward” and to complete several random acts of kindness throughout the school year. My goal, sometime this quarter, is to have my English students think of ways they can do this in their own school community in order to tag along with what they are doing in learning strategies. This could even be an opportunity to develop some ideas for how they will approach their acts of kindness for Learning Strategies.

Recently, CBS posted a story on their website that showed how two students decided to give new clothes and shoes to a 9th-grade student, Michael, who had been bullied for wearing the same outfit every day because that is all his family could afford. Students had laughed at him and mocked him for his outfit. However, two students noticed this and gave him clothes out of their own closet to help him fit in better. Although Lawrence has a school uniform and this kind of judgment doesn’t happen as much, students still feel self-conscious about other status symbols. It makes me wonder what we can do to eliminate the alienation that comes with that and what acts of kindness our students can carry out that would make a lasting impact in our community.

We, myself included, must be more conscious of the opportunities presented to us each day to be kind to another person, even with very small gestures. I found this story to be very touching and has re-energized me to create a project in my English classes in which we too look for such opportunities. Stay tuned!

Reading Life
I am currently reading The Good Neighbor, which is a biography of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King and Us Against You by Fredrik Backman, the sequel to Beartown. I am thoroughly enjoying both books so far. I will write reviews when I am finished.

Comments

Thoughts On Remote Learning and This Crazy World We Are In

As we conclude this first week of online learning, I want to give my thoughts about how things are going and the implications of all this. It is never easy to make major life adjustments like this on the fly. Personally, I had to make the move to online learning while also taking two graduate classes online and while having my entire family home. Talk about a challenge! I would love to hear from some of you in the comments about how you are adjusting. I have been so incredibly impressed with the flexibility all of my students have shown through this transition to online learning. I know that this has to be incredibly hard for your senior year to be ending this way and you have all stepped up to the plate. The quality and depth of your words on the discussions board posts, as well as your effort on your 90-second speeches, have been terrific. I know this online learning thing isn’t easy, but trust me you are gaining valuable skills along the way. Namely, flexibility, time-management,...

Mastering Your Fear

Over winter break, I read an article by Brandon Webb titled, “How to Master Your Fear Like a Navy Seal.” He began by discussing a situation in combat in which soldiers were literally facing down an enemy in a stressful situation. Of course, while I found it interesting, I figured it only applied to life-threatening or truly terrifying situations. However, as I continued reading, I began to see many applications in my life. Fear can come in many forms: it can come when faced with a life or death situation or it can come in the form of crippling anxiety, stress, depression, and worry. I find myself ruled by the fear of the latter set of circumstances. The article discusses how to control the inner monologue of our minds to not be ruled by fear but to use it in a positive way. Webb writes, “Whatever it is, you’ll deal with it in its time and place. Meanwhile, don’t let it swim around inside your head!” He also noted that our body language can give away our fear if we let it. In other...

Habits of Success

In a moment of vulnerability, I would like to explore the idea of self-belief. This has not always come easy to me. Self-doubt so easily creeps into our minds on a daily basis and can cripple our productivity. When we believe the lies about ourselves, it is difficult to move from the impossible to the probable. Rather than thinking about ourselves as not talented enough, not athletic enough, not smart enough, we should focus on our strengths and developing the right habits. I have always been fascinated by grit and persistence, which I will blog more about later. However, I recently came across a tweet by author and motivational speaker, Jon Gordon . Gordon speaks in great detail about positivity and using our strengths to propel us forward. As you can see from the screenshot include in this post, Gordon speaks to those habits we can control rather than the arbitrary skill that is assigned to each of us by the world. Even if you don’t have the most skill, you can be on time, ...

Learning to Grow Every Day

Search This Blog