RAK: Help Your Janitors

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:

Help your school janitor with one of his or her jobs.

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HERE ARE SOME TIPS FOR DOING THIS RAK: 

• Make sure you check with your school janitor first to make sure that he or she wants your help. The job might go quicker without kids ;) 

• Try to choose a job that multiple kids can help with at the same time so everyone can be involved with the RAK.

• Try to choose a job that kids can perform just as well as adults. It's not really helping if we sweep the floor and the janitor still has to come behind them to complete the job.

HERE ARE SOME JOBS THAT STUDENTS CAN DO:

• Put all the chairs on the table after the last lunch class has left. 
• Wipe down all the tables in the cafeteria
• Collect all the trash from the trashcans in each classroom (or just your hall)
• Windex the hallway windows for each classroom (for older kids)
• Walk around the school grounds and pick up any trash (with gloves and trash bags)

Click here to find past RAK ideas.

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! 

Do you have a good RAK idea? I'd love to hear them! You never know...they might just be featured on YTA in the future :)