I don't want to tempt fate...

...but I think our daily discussions about kindness and respect are finally starting to sink in! I can honestly say that I didn't have a single day this week where I had to scratch my head and think to myself, "Am I just wasting my breath with some of this stuff?" Now, that's not to say that I didn't have some instances this week where I needed to redirect students and explain that there are kinder ways to express their frustrations, but I didn't have to calm a shouting match or separate students to opposite sides of the room. I also didn't have any negative reports from the playground (which is where a lot of the shouting matches stem from to begin with). So, I'm chalking this week up as a win, currently knocking on the table in hopes that I haven't just jinxed my day for tomorrow, and am hoping that we've turned a corner in order to make these last 3 months really successful!

Problem solvers of the future! In writing right now, the students have just begun a part of our persuasive writing unit in which the students are forming cause groups. I gave the students a task at the end of writing the other day to think up big problems in the world that they would like to help solve, and we shared ideas today. The students came up with some rather insightful causes (even though it is a little disheartening to think of the fact that 3rd graders are aware of some of these issues): bullying, oil spills, arguing, ocean pollution, littering, world hunger, smoking, ozone layer, being kind, staying off phones while driving, drunk driving, drug abuse, vandalism, stealing, child abuse, and kidnapping. After sharing all our ideas, the students then had to choose one that they were interested in focusing on and working with a small team to write persuasively. We have already worked through persuasive writing at the individual level, so I am interested to see how they will do in a team situation. I'm very excited, however, to give them an opportunity to work collaboratively within a Google Doc. We had a little practice with working in a Google Doc the other day, and it did have its hiccups, but that was also with the whole class in one document. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the students do with this, and I'll keep you posted!

Kindness chain update: we added in our next section to the chain. Here's a picture :-)
Mindfulness thought for the week: Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much. 
--Blaise Pascal

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