During my first few years of teaching, I read a book by Ron Clark called The Essential 55. Besides being an extremely entertaining story, Ron talks about 55 'life rules' that he imparted to his students each year.
The one rule that really stood out to me was Rule 11: "Surprise others by performing random acts of kindness. Go out of your way to do something surprisingly kind and generous for someone at least once a month. " My students and I decided that we would brainstorm and do a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) each month at our school and it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable parts of our year. While not technically *random,* these act were a great way to teach my students the value of being kind to others.
Want to join the club? Each month, we are going to highlight a different RAK that you can do with your class. You can choose to do this or any RAK of your choosing. Don't forget to come back and share with us how it went!
This month's RAK:
Do a Super Secret Clean Sweep of someone else's classroom.
Here's some tips:
- Tell your class that they are going to take over someone else's classroom and clean every inch of it and that it's going to be a surprise to the other teacher and his/her kids. (Secretly clear this plan with the other teacher first- trust me, he or she will appreciate the heads up!)
- Give each student a wipe.
- Set some ground rules: (1) No talking when you are in the room. This is a Super Stealthy Secret Clean Sweep and 'won't it be fun if we don't even giggle when we go in?...we just clean and leave!' (2) No cleaning the teacher's desk or any computer/tv/SmartBoard screens.
- Explain that this is a 1 minute clean. Have a whistle, bell, or just clap when the minute is up. That's their signal to quickly and silently leave the room and line up in the hall.
It's your turn now! Go brainstorm a RAK with your class or use the one found here. Then come back and tell us how it went!
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