Appreciation Tree...a Species of Kindness

Lately I've been on a kick to really have students focus on kindness. It is our school goal as well. Recently I saw a t-shirt with a kindness logo on it that said, "You always have a choice. Choose kindness." Yes, we do have that choice. After observing students entering the library without holding the door open for the next person and letting it come close to slamming and pinching fingers, it got me thinking about how I promote and model kindness and appreciation to others. One of the first things was to teach and practice how to hold open the door for the next person. 

To have students become aware of kind actions happening around them, they noted any kindness they saw. At first it was slow going and I was disappointed that there was seemingly no kindness-but then it began.

Kindness and appreciations start with us. The adult. I know from experience that most of us have no idea what even a close colleague might be dealing with in their personal life. We tend to get bogged down in negatives and the positives tend to get lost if we even had any to begin with. Too many of us pass others by without a smile or "good morning". We can all use an extra dose or twenty of kindness and so I've been trying to show that in small ways throughout the day to staff and students. 

Perhaps it's just a friendly smile or a follow-up on something someone mentioned a few days ago. It's small but it truly goes a long way. I also thought of what I already do in my classroom and remembered my "Appreciation Tree".

"Appreciation Tree" species?
So years ago when my mom retired and cleaned out her classroom...going through 36 years worth of teaching stuff... she came across a bare bones black tree that measured about 15 inches tall. I immediately scooped it up and thought about how I could repurpose it as an "Appreciation  Tree". Giving appreciations had been the theme that year at school and I thought it would be the perfect visual reminder all year long.

This had been a Halloween prop in its past life.

Tree Leaves
Each month I use a seasonal dye cut (or students could use a tracer to cut shapes) and label each one with a student name. Next I have students choose a name other than their own. Yep, as you can imagine there are students who prefer to write their own appreciations! 

We talk about what appreciations are and are not. We discuss positive attributes we observe and admire in others such as including others in a game, helping a friend, seeing someone paying attention or following directions. During discussions, someone asked about appreciating someone's cool new shoes or clothing. While some students even at such a young age notice style and latest name brand clothing, chances are that purchasing those items did not have much to do with the student but more to do with an adult willing to spend the money on said items. So the students do not write appreciations about latest and greatest purchases. Each month students are asked to pick a different person to give an appreciation to and they must sign their name.

Reflections
Early on I discovered that I usually need to reteach types and examples of appreciations before writing for a new month or the tree ends up with a lot of "I like how nice you are to me" sentences.  

I have been doing this for nearly 20 years and every year students have shown excitement when the new dye cut is put out each month. They spend time reading not only their own appreciations but those of others as well.

 

A former parent (and now staff member) happened to be in my room years after I had her daughter and saw the tree. She commented how she had saved all the dye cuts and really appreciated how I have done this activity over the years as a small way to have students show kindness to each other. 

It has come full circle. We do have a choice...choose kindness.