Saturday, September 14, 2013

Spark Student Motivation Saturday: Good Deeds

It's Saturday, so it's time to motivate each other and our students!

I want to share something I've been using for over 10 years in my classroom that motivates students to recognize and praise good deeds from their classmates. This is a wonderful way to build community and it's a very simple display on my door-I call it:
GOOD DEEDS...PASS IT ON!
I have different colored post-its all on the sides of the door that students can fill out every time someone does something "good". It can be sharing materials, helping, going out of their way for that person, etc. Here are some samples:
 Several shared school supplies with students who didn't bring any or have enough, some recognized when others helped them, and I like the one below that says that another students complimented her (which obviously she appreciated because it made her feel good).
 It's just a nice, easy way to recognize the small, special moments between students.
They fill the good deeds post-its on their own, whenever they want others to know about something good that has happened to them. It's a wonderful way to spread kindness.
Here is my board from last year:
This book is one of my favorite books to share kindness. It's about one girl's smile who makes a difference. She smiles at someone who is down and out looking for a job, who in turn helps someone else, and the cycle goes on and on with people doing something nice for someone else, until the end he ends up getting a job. It's a beautiful story.
I have a real life example that happened to me this summer: While in Philadelphia, we purchased tickets to a museum from the visitor's center. It wasn't until after we left the museum we realized they never collected the tickets (worth about $85). So, while we were visiting another historic site I offered them to a family behind us and they were grateful. (My oldest son wanted me to sell them!)
A couple of days later on our way home to Florida, we stopped at Six Flags in New Jersey (my family loves theme parks). While in line, two young ladies came up to me and said, "Do you want to be my friend? I have a free ticket for a "friend"! Of course, I hugged her and told her I would be glad to be her friend! That saved me over $60 and even my son recognized that it probably happened because we had done something similar a few days earlier.
**Best part: these two young ladies hung out with us the whole time we were there (they had season passes) and showed us all the ins and outs of the park. They rode all the roller coasters over and over again with my boys. I overheard her tell her mom on the phone that she and her friend had met the nicest family and we were all hanging out!
Spread the kindness!

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do or plan to do to get your students motivated or excited!
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15 comments:

  1. What an awesome personal story you shared! :) There are still lots of good people in this world.

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  2. What a great personal story! I always try to pay it forward whenever I can! We read the novel Rules and in the story the main character helps out another character who has physical limitations. We do a big Pay It Forward project - its always optional for the students but its amazing to see how even small acts of kindness really do effect those around us! I'll definitely have to blog about our project as we get it up and running very soon ;)

    Thanks for sharing,
    Amanda
    My Shoe String Life
    Follow Me on Bloglovin'

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  3. I love the good deed board! Totally stealing that one!

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  4. What a beautiful story. I love that your son was able to experience kindness first hand. What a great thing for us to teach our kiddos.

    Hunter's Teaching Tales
    Find me on Facebook

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  5. This is a great story and I love the board you have for your class! Something similar happened to us this summer. We had extra fair tickets since my daughter was performing at the fair and we didn't end up having to use them. Some families were selling theirs but as I walked away from the fair through the parking lot I asked a family if they needed them. They asked me how much I wanted for them. I said, "Nothing!" They were SO grateful and saved about $50. My daughter was with me and she kept saying how happy that family was. Later that summer, we were at an amusement park and someone gave us their extra tickets because they were leaving. It saved my husband and I from having to buy tickets to ride some of the rides. The best part was, both times it made me feel so good!
    ~Holly
    Fourth Grade Flipper

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  6. We just got to Mr. Browne's precept for October in Wonder, where it discuss being remembered for your good deeds. I think this would be a great idea to add to my class especially after reading this. Thanks for sharing!

    Jess
    I {Heart} Recess

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  7. It's so true that kindness is contagious! I love the book you shared, and I loved your story even more.

    The good deed board is an excellent idea. Thank you for sharing.

    Mary
    Fit to be Fourth
    Follow me on Bloglovin

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  8. This board has to make your students and room such a happy place! Love this idea and loved your story...what a great motivational Saturday!
    Aylin :)
    Learning to the Core

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  9. Love your idea for a good deeds chart!

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  10. This is a great idea - I like that the good deeds are posted on your door for everyone to see. We do bucket fillers but what the students write is just for the recepient - I like how public this is. Love your story about the tickets - it is a wonderful feeling to be kind to others with out expecting anything in return - you always get something in return though!! On a side note - very jealous that you are a amusement park family - I made the mistake of marrying a non-amusment park person :) and he passed that gene on to our daughters - it is an uphill battle getting any of them on a ride - but I have not given up yet!!

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  11. This is such a sweet idea! I'm sure your students love having their good deeds acknowledged :-)

    Sarah
    MissKinBK

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  12. I love this idea. This will fit perfectly on the inside of my classroom door. Can't wait to get started with my students.

    Kim
    Quinnessential Lessons

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  13. Love your Post-It board! What a great way to recognize good deeds!

    How do you get the Post-Its to stay? Lately, all of my Post-Its have been falling to the ground whenever I put them on a wall.

    Have a great week Joanne! Thanks for the reminder that we should always choose kindness and pass it on! :)

    Jennifer
    Mrs. Laffin's Laughings

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