Student Contributor: J Engeland
Kindness cones is a way for students to learn how to recognize other peers for a kind thing they did that day. Students receive a cone when they receive a kindness compliment from a student and then the next day that student thinks about who was kind that day, gives them a compliment and gives that student their cone. In our classroom we have about 6 cones that regularly circulate that classroom.
With kindness cones expectations are laid out at the beginning of the year for how this works. Students should be on the lookout for kind things their classmates do for them or for fellow classmates. Then at the end of the day students share something someone did that was kind. Whoever was the person doing the act of kindness then receives a cone. If students have a cone but don’t have anything to share about anyone then another student can share a kindness act they saw for them. We usually have about 5 or 6 shared a day as we have 5 or 6 cones in rotation. This is beneficial to students because it helps them focus on being kind themselves, as well as noticing the actions of others. Its important to note that many students will say something like “Im giving my cone to my friend ___ because they scored the winning touchdown at recess” or “Im giving my cone to ______ because they are nice”. In these instances its important to try an extend a students thinking, well how were they nice?
I placed this tool in the supportive theory because it is a way to support students learning academically and socially, support their behavior towards others, and community. Kindness cones may also relate to preventative as it works to encourage positive behavior and prevent antisocial behavior.
This is a student directed and collaborative tool because it is a way for the students show appreciation to each other and build a community with themselves and the teacher. Showing how we appreciate each other and we notice kind actions really helps to create a positive supportive community in the classroom and aligns really well with the collaborative theory.
More Information –
Tool Source: My mentor teacher, Mr. McMannis
