Random Acts of Kindness

Student Contributor: M. Guthrie
Random Acts of Kindness is a tool used in the beginning of the year where students first pick one envelope each where it has an act of kindness written in it. Their next step is to do that act of kindness and take a picture or write about what they did. It is helpful as it shows students different ways they can show kindness to each other.

As this tool is preventative, it should be used before learning. I would use Random Acts of Kindness for an introduction in doing rules and procedures with students showing that being kind is a very important rule in my classroom. Students can see how kindness impacts them and those around them. Especially in classrooms of kindergartners and first graders, they are still learning ways to show kindness so to start the year off by teaching them these ways will improve the behaviors of your students. Having a classroom where students get to help the teacher come up with rules and procedures increases the chance for them to follow them and this is an activity that leads to creating rules and procedures.

Random Acts of Kindness relates to the preventative phase because this is an activity students will do before learning. However, this is something you can continue to have them do throughout the year to remind them on ways to be kind to one another. This is why it also relates to the supportive and corrective phase. This activity supports students in ensuring everyone is respectful and knows how to treat others. This also can relate to the corrective phase because the activity can correct student’s behavior. Random Acts of Kindness is student directed, collaborative, and teacher directed. The teacher comes up with the kindness activities but students get to choose how they want to do the act and how to document it.

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Tool Source: Pinterest