![]() Well what if I told you that in a Midwestern Elementary School there are 5 th grade boys evil-giggling while plotting how to carry out secret missions of kindness? In our school we have implemented a new kindness intervention to spread kindness, reduce bullying, and re-direct energy spent on disruptive behaviors. Teachers all over the country (maybe now more than ever) are struck by the age-old question, “How do we make our schools kinder?” Many schools attempt to answer this question with celebrating Random Acts of Kindness week or giving students other challenges to be kind. During our meetings I also tried to build connections between the students by facilitating conversations and noting commonalities between them.Secret Kindness Agents: Spreading Kindness in Schools by Making it a “Secret” I left most of the planning and implementation in the hands of the students-giving them an opportunity to practice problem solving and cooperation as well. ![]() Then during each subsequent meeting we worked on completing our missions. making holiday cards for a local nursing homeĭuring our first meeting I reviewed the purpose of the group, had the students vote for their favorite missions, and played an icebreaker game.completing chores or helpful activities at home without being asked.creating kindness posters for the hallways.making thank you notes the office staff and cafeteria staff for their efforts at our school.making complimentary notes or cards for a specials teacher.This got them more involved in the process and gave them a sense of responsibility for the missions. I selected about 7-10 missions ahead of time and had the group vote to select 4 missions to complete during our meetings. I also used the points system as described in the kit-students earned points for each mission they completed and once they earned a certain amount they picked something out of my treasure chest! For each mission they completed, we filled out the labels. I printed Code Name labels and Documentation labels for each mission to stick in our Mission Log notebooks. Using a small blank notebooks I had on hand, I created Mission Logs for each student. I used these ideas to organize and structure our meetings and created my own system of documentation to go with it. The kit included sample permission forms, a structure and agenda for the meetings, a list of kind acts called “missions” and 20 individual sheets describing and documenting each mission. Please comment below if you are able to find it somewhere! I couldn’t find it at the Marco website or on Amazon. Unfortunately the kit is no longer in publication. ![]() I knew I wanted to facilitate a group that would provide them with a chance to hang out with their classmates and connect with them that wasn’t directly focused on social skills “training” so I decided to put a kit called “Secret Agents: A Top Secret Club Performing Acts of Kindness” from Marco Products to good use! The group’s purpose was twofold-to provide my students with a safe place to connect with the classmates and foster friendships and to give them a role in developing a positive school climate through kind acts. They felt a bit lost and had a hard time at lunch and recess. I started facilitating this group primarily because I had a few students who needed some help making friends and connecting with their classmates. It doesn’t hurt that it’s also a fun diversion from the back to school work I need to do! □ Since a few counselors on Facebook had some questions about my Kindness Club I thought a quick blog post would be an easy way to share my purpose, content and organization for the club. If you are not a part of it, I highly recommend it! It is a wonderful place to connect with other counselors, share resources, and find inspiration and support! Recently I joined in an online conversation about Kindness Clubs on the wonderful elementary school counselors Facebook group: Elementary School Counselors Exchange.
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