Positive Ideas to Brighten the Teaching/Learning Community

My sister is a teacher. We often discuss, debate, and share educational ideas and issues. 

Today she shared the following great ideas from her teaching/learning community, ideas which can uplift the community.

Kindness Chain

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At the end of the day, students share kindnesses they experienced during the day. The kindnesses are written on colorful strips of paper which are taped together to create a kindness chain. What a great way to brighten up the classroom and illustrate care during the cold months of winer.

Celebration Points
My sister's colleague collects "Celebration Points." Each time the students display extraordinary, positive behavior, she adds a few points. When the points reach 100 the class celebrates with a special event such as a pajama day, movie, or game. Typically they reach 100 points just before every vacation. I know this idea is used by many teachers, but it's a good one, and I like the way this teacher titles it, "Celebration Points."

Mystery Person
The same colleague of my sister uses the "mystery person" approach to promoting positive behavior She'll outline the expectations, then say "I'm choosing a mystery person, and if that mystery person follows through with the expectation, the whole class will receive celebration points." Then if the person follows through, the teacher announces the person's name and adds the points. If the person doesn't follow through, the teacher simply says that the person didn't follow through and doesn't name names.

I often write and talk about big ideas, but seemingly small ideas like the ones above are often the kinds of ideas that impact a teaching/learning with strength and positivity. Thanks to my sister for spreading the good news.