The secret of teaching is to appear to have known all your life what you just learned this morning. - Author Unknown

A teacher should have maximal authority, and minimal power. - Thomas Szaz

There are three good reasons to be a teacher - June, July, and August. - Author Unknown

The object of teaching a child is to enable him to get along without his teacher. - Elbert Hubbard

Who dares to teach must never cease to learn. - John Cotton Dana

Don't try to fix the students, fix ourselves first. The good teacher makes the poor student good and the good student superior. When our students fail, we, as teachers, too, have failed. - Marva Collins

Often, when I am reading a good book, I stop and thank my teacher. That is, I used to, until she got an unlisted number. - Author Unknown

The average teacher explains complexity; the gifted teacher reveals simplicity. - Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com

The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book. - Author Unknown

The task of the excellent teacher is to stimulate "apparently ordinary" people to unusual effort. The tough problem is not in identifying winners: it is in making winners out of ordinary people. - K. Patricia Cross

The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind. - Kahlil Gibran

One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child. - Carl Jung

Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition. - Jacques Barzun

Teachers who inspire realize there will always be rocks in the road ahead of us. They will be stumbling blocks or stepping stones; it all depends on how we use them. - Author Unknown

Teachers who inspire know that teaching is like cultivating a garden, and those who would have nothing to do with thorns must never attempt to gather flowers. - Author Unknown

A teacher is a compass that activates the magnets of curiosity, knowledge, and wisdom in the pupils. - Terri Guillemets

Teaching is leaving a vestige of one self in the development of another. And surely the student is a bank where you can deposit your most precious treasures. - Eugene P. Bertin

Teaching should be full of ideas instead of stuffed with facts. - Author Unknown

What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches. - Karl Menninger

A teacher's purpose is not to create students in his own image, but to develop students who can create their own image. - Author Unknown

The best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes, and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself. - Edward Bulwer-Lytton

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. - William Arthur Ward

Good teachers are costly, but bad teachers cost more. - Bob Talbert

A good teacher is a master of simplification and an enemy of simplism. - Louis A. Berman

The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence. He inspires self-distrust. He guides their eyes from himself to the spirit that quickens him. He will have no disciple. - Amos Bronson Alcott

A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others. - Author Unknown

Most teachers have little control over school policy or curriculum or choice of texts or special placement of students, but most have a great deal of autonomy inside the classroom. To a degree shared by only a few other occupations, such as police work, public education rests precariously on the skill and virtue of the people at the bottom of the institutional pyramid. - Tracy Kidder

A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron. - Horace Mann

A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary. - Thomas Carruthers

Modern cynics and skeptics... see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those to whom they entrust the care of their plumbing. - John F. Kennedy

If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher's job. - Donald D. Quinn

Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions. - Author Unknown

In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day's work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years. - Jacques Barzun

The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called "truth." - Dan Rather

I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework. - Lily Tomlin as "Edith Ann"

A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations. - Patricia Neal

A child miseducated is a child lost. - John F. Kennedy

One good teacher in a lifetime may sometimes change a delinquent into a solid citizen. - Philip Wylie

A schoolmaster should have an atmosphere of awe, and walk wonderingly, as if he was amazed at being himself. - Newton D. Baker

To teach is to learn twice over. - Joseph Joubert

Education is the transmission of civilization. - Will Durant

Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition. - Jacques Barzun

To know how to suggest is the great art of teaching. To attain it we must be able to guess what will interest: we must learn to read the childish soul as we might a piece of music. Then, by simply changing the key, we keep up the attraction anil vary the song. - Henri Frederic Amiel

Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant. - Epictetus

He that teaches us anything which we knew not before is undoubtedly to be reverenced as a master. - Samuel Johnson

Nine-tenths of education is encouragement. - Anatole France

To me, education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil's soul. - Muriel Spark

Whatever you want to teach, be brief. - Horace

Education is the guardian genius of democracy. It is the only dictator that free men recognize, and the only ruler that free men require. - Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar

The most effective teacher will always be biased, for the chief force in teaching is confidence and enthusiasm. - Joyce Cary

It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge. - Albert Einstein

Natural ability is by far the best, but many men have succeeded in winning high renown by skill that is the fruit of teaching. - Pindar

We learn by teaching. - James Howell

To know how to suggest is the great art of teaching. - Henri Frederic Amiel

Grammar speaks; dialectics teach us truth; rhetoric gives colouring to our speech; music sings; arithmetic numbers; geometry weighs and measures; astronomy teaches us to know the stars. - Latin Maxim

We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own. - Ben Sweetland

If you would thoroughly know anything, teach it to others. - Tryon Edwards

Seldom was any knowledge given to keep, but to impart; the grace of this rich jewel is lost in concealment. - Bishop Hall

Education is the mother of leadership. - Wendell L. Willkie

By learning you will teach; by teaching you will understand. - Latin Proverb

What office is there which involves more responsibility, which requires more qualifications, and which ought, therefore, to be more honorable than teaching? - Harriet Martineau

Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life, those the art of living well. - Aristotle

The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn. - John Lubbock

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust

"The beginning is always today." - Mary Wollstonecraft

"Humility does not mean you think less of yourself. It means you think of yourself less." - Ken Blanchard

"You can always tell luck from ability by its duration." - (Anonymous)

'What nobler employment, or more valuable to the state, than that of the man who instructs the rising generation.' - Marcus Tullius Cicero

"In youth we learn; in age we understand" - (Von Ebner-Eschenbach)

"As a general rule, teachers teach more by what they are than by what they say" - (Anonymous)

"What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to a human soul" - (J. Addison)

"It is in identifying yourself with the hopes, dreams, fears and longings of others that you may understand them and help them." - (W.A. Peterson)

A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others." - Unknown

"The ones whom you should try to get even with are the ones who have helped you." - (Anon.)

"The least expensive education is to profit from the mistakes of ourselves and others." - (Anonymous)

"Most people are willing to pay more to be amused than to be educated." - R.C. Savage

'Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater.' - Gail Godwin

'A teacher affects eternity; no one can tell where the influence stops.' - Henry Adams

'Education is the ability to meet life's situations.' - Dr.J.G. Hibben

'At every step a child should be allowed to meet the real experiences of life; the thorns should never be plucked from his roses.' - Ellen Kay

"The greatest sign of success for a teacher ... is to be able to say, 'The children are now working as if I did not exist'. " - Maria Montessori

"A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectation." - Chinese Proverb

"Example isn't another way to teach, it is the only way to teach." - Albert Einstein

"Teaching kids to count is fine, but teaching them what counts is best. " - Bob Talbert

"Housework is a breeze. Cooking is a pleasant diversion. Putting up a retaining wall is a lark. But teaching is like climbing a mountain." - Fawn Brodie

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. - Chinese Proverb

The most effective teacher will always be biased, for the chief force in teaching is confidence and enthusiasm. - Joyce Cary

I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. (John Steinbeck)

A good teacher must be able to put himself in the place of those who find learning hard. (Eliphas Levi)

What nobler profession than to touch the next generation--to see children hold your understanding in their eyes, your hope in their lives, your world in their hands. In their success, you find your own and so to them you give your all. (Unknown)

Teaching kids to count is fine, but teaching them what counts is best. (Bob Talbert)

The man who can make hard things easy is the educator. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

The number one goal of teachers should be to help students learn how to learn. (Randy Pausch)

The job of a teacher is to excite in the young a boundless sense of curiosity about life, so that the growing child shall come to apprehend it with an excitement tempered by awe and wonder. (John Garrett)

The best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes, and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself. (Edward Bulwer-Lytton)

"Don't try to fix the students, fix ourselves first. The good teacher makes the poor student good and the good student superior. When our students fail, we, as teachers, too, have failed." (Marva Collins)

"One mark of a great educator is the ability to lead students out to new places where even the educator has never been." (Thomas Groome)

"The secret of teaching is to appear to have known all your life what you learned this afternoon." (Anonymous)

"If kids come to us (educators/teachers) from strong, healthy functioning families, it makes our job easier. If they do not come to us from strong, healthy, functioning families, it makes our job more important." (Barbara Colorose)

"No man can be a good teacher unless he has feelings of warm affection toward his pupils and a genuine desire to impart to them what he believes to be of value." (Bertrand Russell)

"The greatest sign of success for a teacher...is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist." (Maria Montessori)

"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what like is all about." (Anonymous)

"More important than the curriculum is the question of the methods of teaching and the spirit in which the teaching is given." (Bertrand Russell)

"I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It's my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized." (Dr. Haim Ginott)

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers." (Charles W. Eliot)

"A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations." (Patricia Neal)

"If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn." (Ignacio Estrada)

"A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others." (Anonymous)

"To learn and never be filled, is wisdom; to teach and never be weary, is love." (Anonymous)

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." (William Arthur Ward)

"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand." (Chinese Proverb)

"Teachers teach more by what they are than by what they say." (Anonymous)

"Watch you thoughts, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny." (Frank Outlaw)

"They may forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel." (Carol Buchner)

"Once children learn how to learn, nothing is going to narrow their mind. The essence of teaching is to make learning contagious, to have one idea spark another." (Marva Collins)

"Ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross, then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own." (Nikos Kazantzakis)

"I am almost overwhelmed by the courage and dedication of teachers." (Sylvia Solomon)

"He who dares to teach must never cease to learn." (Anonymous)

"To teach well, we need not say all that we know, only what is useful for the pupil to hear." (Anonymous)

"When teaching, light a fire, don't fill a bucket." (Dan Snow)

"A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary." (Thomas Carruthers)

"Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you'll never cease to grow." (Anthony J. D'Angelo)

"A gifted teacher is as rare as a gifted doctor, and makes far less money." (Anonymous)

"If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else." (Chinese Proverb)

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life." (Chinese Proverb)

"The most instructive experiences are those of everyday life."(Friedrich Nietzsche)

"Imagination is better than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." (Thomas Edison)

"I hear, I know, I see, I remember, I do, I understand." (Confucius 551 BC-479)

"All grown-ups were once children, though few of them remember it." (Antoine de Saint Exupery)

"Success is the sum of small efforts--repeated day in and day out." (Robert Collier)

"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way." (J.C. Maxwell)

"When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another." (Helen Keller)

"One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than a hundred teaching it." (Knute Rockne)

"The goal of education is to replace an empty mind with an open mind." (Malcolm Forbes)

"Never mind what others do; do better than yourself, beat your own record from day to day, and you are a success". - William J.H. Boetcker

"Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results. -John Dewey

"Upon our children - how they are taught - rests the fate - or fortune - of tomorrow's world". - B.C. Forbes

"People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing". - Dale Carnegie

"The beginning is always today." -Mary Wollstonecraft

"As a general rule, teachers teach more by what they are than by what they say" (Anonymous)

"I touch the future. I teach." (Christa McAuliffe)

"It isn't the load that weighs us down - it's the way we carry it." (Anon.)

"In youth we learn; in age we understand" (Von Ebner-Eschenbach)

"Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Txes M&A Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe." (Anonymous)

When making life decisions, we want students to rely more heavily on core reasoning skills learned from home and school, not from the omnipresent media. The skills required for sound ethical decision-making need to be taught in formal ways and reinforced in experiential ways. A combination of these methods will equip our students well for the world outside the classroom.” – 3 Rs and an M Reading, ‘Riting, ‘Rithmetic and Morality by Tony Young

“While students can passively learn conventional morality by living in a community, educators should be aiming for the development of students’ capacity to critically analyze moral issues. We should be providing students with curricular opportunities to discuss moral issues so that they will be able to arrive at reasoned conclusions about what to do on their own when they encounter similar scenarios in real life."

“A formal ethics course in high school encourages students to think through moral dilemmas. Students rarely have the chance to be active participants in forming their own opinions within a philosophical framework. Personal ethics are formed through one’s interaction with others. High school students are moving from being intensely influenced by parents to being similarly influenced by their peers. A classroom provides the forum for constructive discussion among these influential peers.” – 3 Rs and an M Reading, ‘Riting, ‘Rithmetic and Morality by Tony Young

Moral action requires a strong sense of self and a large dose of bravery.

Why do we not teacher ethics as a discipline? Many academic disciplines have formal methodologies educators used explicitly to guide students in mastering subject areas. Scientific method steers inquiries in chemistry, physics and biology. Rules of grammar—despite the many exceptions—direct language development. Why, then is so little formal methodology used to teach students how to make moral decisions? – 3 Rs and an M Reading, ‘Riting, ‘Rithmetic and Morality by Tony Young

“Maybe I’m old. Maybe I’m wiser. Maybe I’m just finally discouraged with the ever-present violence, poverty and environmental troubles. Maybe I’ve reached the ‘tipping point’. I’ve been a long-time advocate of project-based learning, and it seems to me we should be revamping our curriculum to pay more attention to projects that serve a public purpose.” – Reaching Out, Maturing Within by Peter Skillen

In his book The Human Side of School Change, Robert Evans says authentic leaders do not “necessarily preach honesty and fairness as specific virtues, but they demonstrate them through the sincerity of their commitments. This is the basis of trust and loyalty in any group.” The MORAL COMPASS of a school POINTS IN THE DIRECTION SET BY ITS LEADER.

Teachers have the STRONGEST INFLUENCE on the behaviours and attitudes of students when THEY MODEL acceptable or desired behavior.

“Standing up for values is the defining feature of moral courage. But having values is different from living by values… moral courage lifts values from the theoretical to the practical and carries us beyond ethical reasoning to principled action.” – The Courage of One’s Convictions by Paula Mirk, Vice-President, Education at the Institute for Global Ethics

“The classroom is obviously a site of moral education, whether or not we plan for it to be so. We cannot really teach content without values, so we must be aware of the values implicit in our curriculum and discernable in our teaching. Actually, what we do teach is values; the content and skills are simply the vehicles… If schools instill knowledge without principles, they end up creating Frankenstein… - For Goodness’ Sake consider students’ hearts, as well as their minds by Patricia D Parisi

“AS INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS, WE ARE IDEALLY POSITIONED TO BE LEADERS IN MORAL EDUCATION. We have the opportunity to build a school that is positive and consistent… Not only is this a glorious opportunity, it is also a serious responsibility. – For Goodness’ Sake consider students’ hearts as well as their minds by Patricia D Parisi

“When human beings are nurtured, efficiency and economies of scale don’t apply. Helping individuals become acceptable and fulfilled members of a culture takes generous individual attention to each one, usually from numerous people.” – Building Character by David Bird from Dialogue for Canada’s Independent Educators

“Theories abound about why immoral behaviours, such as cheating, have become so socially acceptable and, by virtue of his acceptability, so very widespread. Our ‘moral decay’ has been attributed to any, some, or all of the following: our increasing detachment from traditional spiritual beliefs, the disintegration of the traditional family structures, the weakening of our sense of community, and the increasingly poor moral examples regularly set by our public and corporate leaders. – Building Character by David Bird

Results of a restorative approach are measured…by how much repair was achieved rather than by how much punishment was inflicted.

“…between one-third and one-half of students surveyed who have been victimized did not report the incident to parents, teachers, or the police.” – Ryan, Mathers & Banner

“When staff fail to intervene in violence—whether bullying or violence stemming from peer conflicts—students interpret the failure as permission to be violent.” – Carol Remboldt, Respect & Protect: A Solution to Violence in Our Schools and Communities

“Administrators need to have strategies for not revealing their sources because there are very real reprisals for students. Some maintain that even when it is dealt with appropriately on the part of the school administration, there are reprisals that may escape the notice of the police or even of the adults at school.” – Dr Debra Cullinane, UBC Forum on Violence, Harassment & Bullying in the Secondary Schools, 1999

“Students who feel recognized and appreciated by at least one adult at school will be less likely to act out against the school ethos of nonviolence.” – Hill Walker

“Those who are attacked in school for being perceived to be gay include children, youth, and adults of both genders and various ethnicities. Some are not openly gay, …and some in fact are heterosexual.” – G.A.I.E., Challenging Homophobia in Schools, 2000

“Children and youth spend only five to six hours a day in school for about 180 days a year. The remaining hours and days they spend in their homes or communities. The success of any school-based strategy to reduce student aggression and foster a safe learning environment thus depends on how family members and community contact support students in developing attitudes and behaviours that encourage cooperation with and acceptance of others.” – BC Auditor General (June 2000)

There is solid evidence (among those who harass) of early school dropout, early sexuality, elevated numbers of sexually transmitted diseases, unemployment and even depression and other psychological problems.” – Kathy Levene, Director, Earlscourt Family Centre, Toronto; quoted in the Vancouver Sun, October 23, 1999

Punishing bully behaviours WITHOUT ACKNOWLEDGING VICTIM EXPERIENCES may actually foster increased frustration and subsequent displays of aggressive behaviour by bully-victims.

“Harassment is an event that involves everyone. Whether as harasser, victim, assistant, observer or intervener, everyone is part of an incident. Seen within this framework, 80% of the school is involved in some way, including adults. Encouraging pro-social behavior involves the whole school community. It’s not just about kids.” – Dr. Shelley Hymel, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and Special Education, UBC 1999.

Harassment and intimidation are COMPLEX BEHAVIOURS that cannot be addressed effectively through simplistic approaches. Each school has a unique history, culture, and demographic profile; it has its own procedures, resources, needs, and challenges. Developing a multifaceted approach to address harassment and intimidation that allows room for the specific characteristics of a school community can therefore be much more effective that any single strategy or program.

The following guiding principles provide a foundation for the development of a comprehensive, school-wide effort to promote a SAFE, INCLUSIVE, and WELCOMING LEARNING ENVIRONMENT:7. The participation of the “affected community” including victims, aggressors, and bystanders is integral to effective solutions. 8. Preferred resolutions aim to repair the harm caused, strengthen relationships, and restore a sense of belonging for those affected.

The following guiding principles provide a foundation for the development of a comprehensive, school-wide effort to promote a SAFE, INCLUSIVE, and WELCOMING LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: 5. Youth involvement is critical in addressing harassment and intimidation from within a peer culture. 6. Positive adult modelling and relationships are significant in preventing and resolving harassment and intimidation in schools.

The following guiding principles provide a foundation for the development of a comprehensive, school-wide effort to promote a SAFE, INCLUSIVE, and WELCOMING LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: 1. Safety is everyone’s responsibility. 2. Individual differences are valued and celebrated in a safe community. 3. Harassment and intimidation are motivated by the unmet and/or frustrated need for safety, belonging, and/or power. 4. Harassment and intimidation are learned behaviours, and can be replaced with more socially acceptable behaviours.

In a safe learning environment, administrators, teachers, and school staff model respectful behaviours, while recognizing the sources and causes of unacceptable behaviours and supporting the changes needed to replace those behaviours.

A safe learning environment occurs when a school community establishes a non-judgemental, welcoming climate where people exhibiting problem behaviours are nevertheless accepted and included. In such an environment, students can learn methods of settling conflicts and participate in activities that meet their needs of recognition, power and belonging.

Violence occurs along a continuum that begins with behaviours that are often excused or overlooked, and that, without effective intervention, can escalate to more serious forms. Research also indicates a link between school-based aggression in youth and sexual harassment, family violence, and criminal behaviour in later years. (Craig & Peplar, 1997; Olweus, 1993)

“The severity and duration of the bullying behaviour determines the level of response required.” – Focus on Bully

…students in schools that promote a positive school climate tend to do better academically. (Schonert-Reichl, 1999)

Caring is the cornerstone of a school community environment that is free of harassment and intimidation. Research has shown that a sense of belonging and connectedness—not just for students, but for everyone in the school community – is a necessary element in the creation and maintenance of a safe learning environment. (Neufeld, 1999)

Encourage your class to communicate to the school community the qualities of a safer school by creating collages, murals, newspaper, mini-dramas, a presentation at the assembly, or displays for classrooms.

“If you punish a child for being naughty, and reward him for being good, he will do right merely for the sake of the reward; and when he goes out into the world and finds that goodness is not always rewarded, nor wickedness always punished, he will grow into a man who only thinks about how he may get on in the world, and does right and wrong according as he finds of advantage to himself.” – Education, by Immanuel Kent

Setting clear behaviour expectations with a class BEFORE disrespectful or harassing behaviours occur is another powerful way to maintain a safe learning environment. The Social Responsibility Performance Standards from the Ministry of Education can help both students and teachers define the parameters of appropriate behaviour.

Sound teaching practices are the very same strategies that help to create a safe and welcoming learning environment.

“…a move from ‘doing to’ to ‘working with’ is impossible unless there has been an effort to create and sustain relationships among the people involved.” - Focus Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community

“Instruction should be provided at a challenging yet attainable level for all students in the class. Patterns of off-task behavior and refusal to follow teachers’ directions can be a student’s response to academic tasks that are too difficult or seen by the learner as irrelevant.” - Focus on Suspension: A Resource for Schools

Resources: Focus on Bullying—the B.C. Safe Schools Initiative (http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/sco) Focus on Harassment and Intimidation (MOE – Working Together for Safe Schools and Safe Streets) Abbotsford Institute for Safe Schools, UCFV Campus 604-870-5935/1-888-224-7233; http://www2.vpl.vancouver.bc.ca/dbs/redbook/orgpgs/3/3172.html) Dialogue for Canada’s Independent Educators (www.dialogueonline.ca)

Episodes of harassment and intimidation can happen anywhere, any time, in any secondary learning environment. Accordingly, every secondary educator needs to work with the students to reduce the likelihood that episodes of harassment or intimidation will occur in his or her classroom, or anywhere else.

Students learn more effectively in a safe environment that in an unsafe environment.

For a school-wide harassment and intimidation prevention initiative to be successful…it is imperative that ALL EDUCATORS play a part in addressing these behaviours at the classroom level.

For a school-wide harassment and intimidation prevention initiative to be successful…it is imperative that ALL EDUCATORS play a part in addressing these behaviours at the classroom level.

Have students write individual statements and draw pictures depicting “What true friends really look like”!

Discuss the following quote: “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

Study kind people in history. Then have students illustrate these kind works and discuss how their contributions to society affected the world.

Look for opportunities to open the door for someone or give up your seat for someone.

Have students take turns taking people’s photos with an instamatic camera and then give the photo to them.

Ask students to perform a Random Act of Kindness for a stranger then write an essay describing the experience – how it made them feel and the reaction of the person who received their kindness.

Students in grades K-5 participated in a Random Acts of Kindness activity during the month of May. If another student showed kindness towards them they were to write the act on a happy face and post it on the kindness wall.

Have your students write a card thanking a volunteer, the janitor, teacher’s aide, etc for what they do for the school. Be sure to include a very specific acknowledgment: “I appreciate your taking time to take us on a trip.”; “Thank you for helping me put on my coat and shoes.”

Announce over the intercom a Random Act of Kindness done by one of your students.

Have your students collect old clothes and/or toys and give them out to the homeless.

Walk around with a instamatic camera and take people’s pictures and give the photo to them.

Have your students bake a pie or loaf of bread and leave it on someone’s doorstep.

Have your students open the phone book at random, choose a name and send that person a greeting card.

What is A Kindness? Our class had regular discussion times at the start of class. One student wondered if giving his little brother some of his candy “qualified” for an act of kindness? When the entire story came out, he told us the candy given was only candy which he himself didn’t like! This made for a lively discussion.

Collect school supplies, games and toys and donate them to the local children’s hospital.

The students in our school are building a “Rainbow of Random Acts of Kindness.” Students bring in a brief anecdote of their acts of kindness. We then print it on a paper— one of the colours of the rainbow—and post it in place on a foam core board in the hallway.

One class collects children’s books that will be used in the courthouse. (Each child at the courthouse is sent home with a book.) Some students collected food and others met the needs of the SPCA. Still others collect baby items to be donated to a program that helps mothers in need.

Most children love to write and receive letters from friends. How about getting the students to write letters to other students, not necessarily to their friends, which would make the receivers’ day.

Our staff leave notes of praise in each other’s mailboxes and notes of praise to parents in the students’ agenda books for the month of February. The children are responding in wonderful ways.

Have your Student Association write kind messages on hearts for each student in the school. Then tape one to every locker. Include a message such as, “We’re glad you’re a student at…………”.

Bring a little beauty into sterile places – drop off a geranium plant at a police station or a cutting from a houseplant to your local fire station. Take a flower or small gift to people living on their own.

One that I wanted to share with you came from our third grade classroom. They are doing a mitten drive. They advertised with posters around the school and in the newsletters. Outside their classrooms is a Christmas tree where mitten and glove donations are hanging. I though this was a great idea!

Each classroom is given a plastic 32 ounce pretzel jar. The goal is to collect only pennies and put them in the jar. When the jar is full, the class is given another one. The money collected will be given to a charity. The purpose of this project is to show that one small act (symbolized by a penny) can grow into many good acts.

Have your students collect old clothes and give them to the homeless people.

Kind Acts Students Can Do For Each Other 1. Pick up another student’s jacket that has fallen on the floor. 2. Ask a student you have never played with to join you at recess. 3. Share your snack with a friend. 4. Take time to find out about a student you don’t really know.

Popcorn Surprise – to celebrate World Kindness Day, third and fourth grade students in the RAK Club at this school held a surprise popcorn party for the school. They filled bags with popcorn and while the rest of the school was at recess, they slipped into empty classrooms and left a bag of popcorn for each student. They also got the mayor to proclaim Random Acts of Kindness Week.

Have your students drop their pennies in a penny jar and use the money to help out a needy person.

Create a kindness door competition. Students in each classroom decorate their door with kindness quotes, stories, pictures, etc. Teachers judge the doors and give out prizes, in addition to a breakfast for the winners. Have a TV or radio station cover the event.

Go to the post office in mid December and ask for the “letters to Santa” that they receive every year. Choose how many you want to take and buy/make the gift and send for Christmas.

Secret Kindness Pals – students in one classroom drew the names of secret kindness pals. All week long they did kind acts for the person and left anonymous notes on his/her desk with kind messages. At the end of the week, they tried to guess who their kindness pal was. They also spent time reflecting and discussing how it felt to give and receive kindness.

Ask the students to think about a time when they hurt someone’s feelings by being unkind and then to rewrite the situation with a different outcome.

Let the neighbours around your school know that if they need help with raking leaves, shovelling snow, painting a fence, etc. your school would be happy to help out.

Bake a cake or pie and leave on someone’s doorstep.

Have a poster contest where the students draw kind acts they observe around the school. Posters can be judged by the Student Association.

Have your students visit a neighbour with a bouquet of flowers (wild ones work well) for no reason at all.

Note to Parents – When a student is observed being kind, the teacher surprises the student by mailing a note to the parents or guardians, reporting the kind act to them and commending the students’ kindness. The student is awarded a kindness certificate at the next school assembly.

Designate an area of the school where students practice Random Acts of Kindness.

Encourage your students to start a conversation with a new student or with a classmate who seems lonely or left out. Have them write a note to someone in your class who is having a bad day.

"Be a Super-Hero: Commit Random Acts of Kindness". Recognize everyday heroes in the community.

Students were encouraged to draw pictures of the Random Acts of Kindness they did outside of school. The students’ drawings were in the local paper.

We are sponsoring a soup supper and canned food drive. We have opened our project to the public, and many local businesses have donated items for the supper. We hope to sell at least 500 tickets to the event. A local bank has offered to be a drop-off site for canned goods for us.

Kindness Connection – students make paper cut-outs of the human body silhouette. They write an essay, poem, or the name of someone they saw doing a kind act. They then connect the paper figures: "We are all connected by kindness."

No Putdowns – a middle school uses Random Acts of Kindness in their “No Putdowns” program. The guidance counselor discussed the need for change with some students, who then took ownership of the idea and helped the student body adopt an ethos of kindness. It has been very successful in reducing putdown behaviour.

Our school celebrated “Custodian and Teacher Appreciation Day”. We served continental breakfast to the staff, cleaned the cafeteria after breakfast and lunch and cleaned the windows inside the school. The children now have a better appreciation for the custodians and the school.

Conduct a newspaper kindness search. Have the students look through the newspaper for stories about acts of kindness and summarize the stories for the rest of class. Then create a Random Acts of Kindness list of ideas.

Have your students make a list of things to do to bring more kindness into the world and then have them exchange lists. Do one item per day for a month. You could also make a list of kindnesses you could do for your students and do one for each student.

Tape a quarter to a pay phone with a note welcoming anyone who needs it to use it.

Have your students create bumper stickers with messages & quotes of kindness to place throughout the school, in your local community, in the church parking lot, etc.

“Make My Day” Committee—teachers watch throughout the year for students who do kind acts or “make someone’s day” through helpful behavior. At the end of the year these students are rewarded with a special “Make My Day” lunch put on by the Student Association.

Have your students create greeting cards and placemats for pediatric hospital patients.

Buy a donut or chocolate for the mail carrier or the man who delivers your water. Have your students secretly watch as he/she finds out it’s for them.

Visit a nursing home and bring cupcakes. Sit and visit with a few of the residents. You’d be amazed at the loving reception you will receive as many residents rarely receive visitors.