The idea for "Kind Words" evolved from a story I read many years ago called "All Good Things", in a "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book. In the 1960s, a teacher (Sister Helen Mrosla of Saint Mary's School in Morris, Minnesota) had her class write down something nice about each of their classmates and hand it in. Then, she wrote out all the comments for each student, so they would have a copy of the nice things that were said about him/her. The impact was beyond anything she imagined. At the time, I was not a teacher, but I thought that if I ever was, I would do something like this with my class.
Well, I did become a teacher years later, but I still remembered this and wondered how I could do it. I realized carrying this out was a little more tricky than I thought. The complexities of knowing some would not say nice things, some would not take it seriously, and some would refuse to take part altogether, threw a wrench into this idealistic plan. Then I met a teacher who was doing something similar with her grade one class, and it was working. I loved what she was doing, how she was doing it, and how her students responded. This is how Kind Words came to be.
This activity was a daily occurrence until the very last day of the school year- it was very effective. “Kind Words” was the last activity we did during our Calendar time. The special helper would stand at the front and choose peers with their hands up to share a kind thought about the special helper; I would record them on a piece of paper (5 comments), read it aloud at the end, and the special helper would take it home at the end of the day. I witnessed the pride and happiness on each child’s face when I read the comments about them. Of course, this activity came after a discussion of what the comments should focus on- the person, not what they look like or wear, a discussion about finding the positives in everyone, and that there needed to be a lot of input, many hands should be raised to contribute.
The students really loved this activity and never let the day pass without it being done. If I was away, and “Kind Words” had not been done by the teacher-on-call, the children would come to me when I returned, tell me it was not done, and ask for us to do it for the person that got missed. I am sure it meant more to some of the students than others, but I did know that it was a powerful activity.
Gradually over time, I passed over the recording of “Kind Words” to the students, and had each of them record for the special helper and read aloud the statements. I believe this made the activity more powerful, as the students were in charge of it and became an even more active part in it. Some of the kids even asked to read aloud their own “Kind Words”, and were able to say “I am (and read what a peer had said)”. I saw the pride they wore as they did this.
Kind Words took very little time, but reaped big rewards. It is easy to integrate into the day, and only requires a felt and paper. For older grades, where Calendar and "Special Helpers" are not a part of the day, it could be incorporated into going over the schedule at the beginning of the day, could be done after attendance, right after lunch, or during any transition. The choice of who is being written about can be as simple as going through the attendance and checking off those that have been done and moving onto the next person, or pulling names from a hat. It is worth it.
Here is a similar idea from Heart-Mind Online: Peer Validation
Well, I did become a teacher years later, but I still remembered this and wondered how I could do it. I realized carrying this out was a little more tricky than I thought. The complexities of knowing some would not say nice things, some would not take it seriously, and some would refuse to take part altogether, threw a wrench into this idealistic plan. Then I met a teacher who was doing something similar with her grade one class, and it was working. I loved what she was doing, how she was doing it, and how her students responded. This is how Kind Words came to be.
This activity was a daily occurrence until the very last day of the school year- it was very effective. “Kind Words” was the last activity we did during our Calendar time. The special helper would stand at the front and choose peers with their hands up to share a kind thought about the special helper; I would record them on a piece of paper (5 comments), read it aloud at the end, and the special helper would take it home at the end of the day. I witnessed the pride and happiness on each child’s face when I read the comments about them. Of course, this activity came after a discussion of what the comments should focus on- the person, not what they look like or wear, a discussion about finding the positives in everyone, and that there needed to be a lot of input, many hands should be raised to contribute.
The students really loved this activity and never let the day pass without it being done. If I was away, and “Kind Words” had not been done by the teacher-on-call, the children would come to me when I returned, tell me it was not done, and ask for us to do it for the person that got missed. I am sure it meant more to some of the students than others, but I did know that it was a powerful activity.
Gradually over time, I passed over the recording of “Kind Words” to the students, and had each of them record for the special helper and read aloud the statements. I believe this made the activity more powerful, as the students were in charge of it and became an even more active part in it. Some of the kids even asked to read aloud their own “Kind Words”, and were able to say “I am (and read what a peer had said)”. I saw the pride they wore as they did this.
Kind Words took very little time, but reaped big rewards. It is easy to integrate into the day, and only requires a felt and paper. For older grades, where Calendar and "Special Helpers" are not a part of the day, it could be incorporated into going over the schedule at the beginning of the day, could be done after attendance, right after lunch, or during any transition. The choice of who is being written about can be as simple as going through the attendance and checking off those that have been done and moving onto the next person, or pulling names from a hat. It is worth it.
Here is a similar idea from Heart-Mind Online: Peer Validation