teachpeacenow.org

I recently tried to encourage my students to identify themselves as "teachers of peace" by standing up and recounting how, when and why they helped another person without their expecting any reward. I was surprised to have six kids do this the first day of the challenge. I admit six out of 100 isn't great and that there was a small personal white board (I found a supply of them in my cupboards that were accumulating dust for at least six years) as a prize. Even given that, most middle school students don't like to get up in class or identify themselves as being overly nice. It surprised me, and the first student in the first class offered the challenge showed enough courage to actually send "goose bumps" down my body. The challenge lasts for the duration of the International March for Peace and Justice (93 days). I hope I run out of the prizes and tingle more as I hear their stories of random acts of kindness that, maybe, can ripple through their friends, families and lives.

This is a great idea. I work with younger kids K-4 and I will try this with them. We discuss acts of kindness Not random though) a lot when we are making connections to books I read aloud to the class or in a book club with other students. Today we talked about ways kids can help people in a real way after reading Wednesday Surprise by Eve Bunting.