Promoting Good Vibes Between Students

I'll admit it: I love my class this year. We have our issues as a group (we've had to ban Pokemon cards as they caused too much fighting), but overall, I have a group of sweet, funny, interesting little ones to spend each day with. To make it even better, they like each other! They enjoy each other's company, and though they all have good friends, I love seeing how they mix themselves up with groups and partners. 

Back in October we celebrated Anti Bullying Month in many ways, but one was reward based. Students from every grade earned "Gotcha" tickets when they were spotted doing something exceptionally kind. These tickets could be turned in at the end of the week for tickets to our annual Halloween Festival. The students were thrilled that their kind deeds were being rewarded and started going out of their way to help one another. But that wasn't the best part: The started "tattling" on each other. No, I don't mean the way all of us dread, but they started coming to me to share when someone was extra kind to them. Though the ticket system has ended, the culture of noticing kindness has remained. Here are a few ways we continue to promote good vibes between students in our room:

The Graffiti Wall

Underneath the writing center table is a coveted work space for my students, but we made it an even more highly used space when we covered the back wall with chart paper. Students use this space to record the great things their classmates have done. I modeled the first when my students were extra helpful when I lost my voice (teacher nightmare), and sometimes let students know to check when I notice that someone wrote something new about them.  I love reading the sweet notes they write to each other, which range from helping to pick up new supplies, being a good partner, or someone who reached out to play with a new friend. The best part is how happy they are to be noticed for something good by their peers- seeing their happy faces brings me so much joy!

Super Secret Student

I wrote about choosing a Super Secret Student in another post, but want to share how we use this to promote good vibes. Last year, I would announce the SSS at the end of the day, and we would applaud for their great work. This year, we guess. We spend the last few minutes of the day holding a Closing Meeting, and a big part of this is trying to guess who the Secret Student was. There are rules- they have to tell why they think the person they're guessing, and it can't be a reason like, "You looked at them in line." 

The conversation tends to go something like this: "I think it was Martina because she helped me carry my books to Italian class when they were too heavy," "Well I think it was Neev because when we were partners he was kind to me even when I had the wrong answer, and helped me figure out why," "I think it was Tiara because she asked me to play with her at recess when I couldn't find my friends," "It was probably Riccardo because he was so quiet in the hall." 

Yes, it gets repetitive every day. They notice the same bunch of things. However, when one person says something great about another, they tend to reciprocate by sharing why they think the other person was actually the SSS, as well as another guess. When someone finally guesses the Secret Student, I'll say something like, "Hmmm... can anyone else think of a reason they might be it?" At this point, they know that they are talking about the real Secret Student, and everyone wants to chime in about how they knew it all along. Though the SSS feels great about themselves, everyone gets a little compliment throughout the week, and feels special that someone noticed how great they'd been. If you're wondering, NO, they don't only guess their best friends. Somehow the fact that it could be anyone makes them think about their classmates outside their closest buddies. 

Birthday Compliments and Appreciations

On birthdays, we try to make the day as special as possible in our classroom. This includes the birthday boy or girl choosing the morning meeting greeting and activity, and getting to choose a few languages for us to sing to them in (we are trying to learn the other languages of our classmates so they get to also pick between English, Italian, Korean, Spanish, French, Danish, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Persian). 

The best part for me is "Compliments and Appreciations." We sit in our circle, and they get to call on classmates who have their hand up to give them a compliment or appreciation. A compliment is praise or admiration for something we like about the person- we talk about how these aren't physical ("You're so pretty, or, "I like your clothes"), but need to go deeper. Appreciations are when they recognize the great things about someone, or the things that they've done. Compliments come naturally, but appreciations can take time. Help them to see the distinction with daily interactions, such as, "I want to compliment all of your hard work! I really appreciate how you took the time to read each question carefully before answering," or, "Wow! You were really kind during snack time. I'm sure Bianca appreciated how you shared with her."

So, that's how we promote the good vibes in our room. It doesn't take much time out of the day, and helps the room to run smoothly. When students trust each other and feel good about themselves, they're willing to take risks and try things they might not otherwise.

This one breaks my heart. It is from one of my Korean students (brand new to English
last Spring), whose mother passed away suddenly last year. Luna "adopted" her for the
Thanksgiving lunch our school invites families to when Bella's family couldn't make it.
It gives them an outlet to share their appreciations, and let their classmates know
that nothing goes unnoticed.