Jumping Into Community: November

We are working everyday to be better leaders in all of our communities; classroom, school (B.T. Bullock Elementary), Classroom Champions, home, neighborhood, and Sanford NC. It is not always easy, but we are trying our best. It is a work in progress. Thank you Lex for teaching us how to be leaders in our communities in this month's video lesson. After watching Lex’s video, we jumped right into brainstorming community projects for our classroom, school, and local community. We quickly realized a simple act of kindness can make a huge difference in any one of our communities.

Lex's Challenge: Part 1

Lex challenged us to create a positive plan for one of our communities and put the plan into action. We came up with several plans because just one plan did not seem fitting. Some of our plans have already been completed, while others are still in action. Before Thanksgiving break, students made “Thank You” cards to individual staff members at our school that have made a difference in their education so far. (I didn’t let them write to me because I wanted them reaching out to other adults.) We also wrote “Thank You” cards to every aspect of our school; all teachers and TA’s, office staff, administration, cafeteria, custodial, bus drivers, tutors. If they work at our school, we wrote them a “Thank You”. In addition to this class plan, students have had individual plans in motion. Some have volunteered their time raking leaves, donating money to charity, cleaning up at the horse stables, and helping their parents. They are excited to continue their random acts of kindness into December and beyond community months.

(Students took responsibility and filmed this video all on their own.)

 

 

Bragging About Ourselves

Every student in our school has their own necklace of brag tags. Students can earn them for being a “Leader on TRACK”, meeting their accelerated reader goal, having perfect attendance for the quarter, and mastering their multiplication facts. Our first brag tag celebration was at the beginning of the month. Each student was recognized for their individual accomplishments. We celebrated together and set goals for students to earn more brag tags in January.

Inspiring Community

Each month at our staff meetings we have a "You Inspire Me" award that a staff member gives to another staff member. For the month of November, I was recognized by another teacher for the inspirations she sees in me. This was a great example of a community recognizing each other for their hard work and perseverance.

To be continued in December...

We will be continuing Lex's challenge into the month of December. In addition to our small acts of kindness, we will be working on a project for the Lee County Sheriff's Department. We will be making holiday cards and crafts for our elderly community members who do not have any family or friends in town. The Sheriff's Department will deliver these for us as they make their holiday rounds. We cannot wait to spread our love to community members we do not know. Stay tuned to see what we create!

Standards

ELA: W.5.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience SL.5.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions