Monday, January 16, 2023

Empathy + Compassion =Kindness

EMPATHY is being aware of other people's emotions

and trying to understand what they feel or think.

COMPASSION is a feeling and creates a desire to help.

KINDNESS is about doing good to others.

We ALL have the power to make our community kind and welcoming if we develop our skills in empathy and act on our compassion.

~ LISTEN to what other people say.

~ LOOK for clues to learn what others FEEL.

~ Imagine yourself in the same situation.

~ ASK people what they need

and then help them if you can.

~ What ideas do YOU have for spreading kindness?

It is important to pay attention to our own feelings and manage our own emotions. Sharing our feelings with others helps them to understand who we are and what we need.

EMPATHY is noticing and connecting to how other people feel and sharing ways to help. How does the character in the video clip below show empathy??

The next time you notice someone feeling angry or sad, or excited, practice EMPATHY. Try to understand how they are feeling and see if you can find a way to help or share their in experience.

Want to learn more about EMPATHY?

Read books about Empathy and Kindness on EPIC (class code mte2015)

Listen to these great stories:

Scroll below for more resources:

Even More Links:
https://startempathy.org/
https://www.tolerance.org/

https://www.empathylab.uk/

https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/

Tuesday, January 3, 2023

Boundaries and Personal Space ...
It's Polite and KIND

YOU MATTER. I do too. Each of us deserves to feel safe and respected, and it all begins with defining our personal space.

Boundaries are like the lines on a sports field. It’s like drawing a line that you don’t want someone to cross and telling people it is not ok to treat you a certain way – and it works both ways. It’s important for you to set boundaries for yourself and to also respect the boundaries that others set.

Personal space is the comfortable distance between you and another person.

You might have different bubbles depending on who you are with, where you are, and what you are doing.

Personal space is important because it helps people feel safe and comfortable.

You can allow someone into your personal space if you want to, like if you want a hug. These people should be people you know and trust.

You should respect other people by staying out of their personal space and respecting their boundaries.

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Personal Boundaries 1-2-3

1. Look around you. Watch faces for emotions and body language too.
Be respectful and stay out of other people's personal space so they feel comfortable.

2. Be kind to your friends. Your friends have their own idea of personal space. Ask before you give a hug or hold a hand. It's RESPECTFUL and KIND. Keep your hands and feet at a safe distance. Your friends shouldn't have to ask you to move.

3. Stand your ground.
You are important and your space is too! Use your words and body language to protect your personal and private space. Ask an adult for help if you need it. You deserve respect and kindness!

There are many good books and other resources to help you understand boundaries and personal space. Scroll down to see a few!

Harrison Bader Space Invader

Ruby's Bubble

Don't Hug Doug

NO Hugs

A Fun Song for Our Youngest Learners

Boundary Song

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Click for More Books On EPIC

Class Code: MTE2015

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

It's December, time to give ourselves a gift~

Strategies to help us feel happy, peaceful and calm.

December is fun with snow and so many holidays. It can be a happy time! We might also feel other BIG feelings.

If you feel
silly, angry, worried or SAD
do YOU know what to do?

Practice and use the Calm Down Steps, and they will be a big help when your feelings feel BIG.

step 1 STOP This is the hardest step when your feeling are BIG. Remember to tell yourself STOP, or WAIT, or THINK to give yourself time to pause.

step 2 NAME YOUR FEELING Happy, sad and mad are easy to remember, but don't forget new words like DISAPPOINTED, FRUSTRATED, ANNOYED AND WORRIED. It is important to KNOW and name our feelings and why we are having them. Say them out loud. Share them with an important grown-up.

step 3 CALM DOWN We all have our own ways to calm down, what are yours? Choose a few that you know will work for YOU!

~ Ways to Calm Down ~

Did you know just NAMING YOUR FEELING begins to help you calm down? Expressing our thoughts and feelings can help us feel more in control, and that feels good!

Focus on Your Breathing. There are so many different kinds of breath. Try one we learned, or explore with your important grown ups and find more ideas!

Take a walk. Have a drink of water. Hug your pet or a stuffy. Dance. TALK to a friend or important grown up. Listen to music. Play outside. Hug a person or a pillow. Rest.

Use positive self - talk:

I AM STRONG. I AM KIND. I AM SMART. I CAN DO ANYTHING!

Draw, paint or craft, or Zen Doodle to give your body and brain time to relax.

Can YOU think of other ways to calm down?

Did you know that being kind to others makes you happy too? This month and all year, try to practice Random Acts of Kindness. Below is a calendar to get you started!

Even MORE ideas:

Mind Yeti shares some wonderful research-based videos that help kids and their adults calm their minds and focus their attention.

Cosmic Kids Yoga has fun yoga and breathing stories!

The Virtual Calm Down Room has virtual ideas for calming down.

In the Feelings Bitmoji Room you will find many different emotions and strategies to explore!

Create your own calm corner. You'll find a few idea s here!

The more we practice noticing and naming our feelings, the easier it is to manage our emotions and

Be Our Best Self!

Thursday, October 27, 2022

Knowing, Naming and Managing Feelings

Have you ever felt silly, angry, HAPPY, worried or SAD ?

Do you wonder if you are the only one who has these feelings?

Well, you are NOT alone! Every one of us has big feeling sometimes: calm and happy feelings that are just right, excited feelings that make us wiggly, sad feelings that might make us want to hide or cry, angry feelings that we might want to shout out, and many more as you can imagine. There are MANY words for feelings, and most emotions can go into four categories, or zones:

Our emotions and feelings are one thing that makes us special. There are no bad feelings! It is important to pause, recognize and name your feelings. Then you can begin to understand what it is that makes you feel a certain way.

When you want to feel more positive, happy and ready-to-learn, there are many strategies you can use! The easiest strategy is to focus on your breath: Slowly breath in as deeply as you can and fill your belly up, then slowly let your breath out and relax your belly too. You can also count up or count backwards, sign your favorite song, practice your positive talk, and lots more!

Remember, ALL of your emotions are important and make you, YOU.

We learn to recognize, name and understand them

so we can be our best self!

YOU are so important that there are LOTS of resources for you and your grown-ups to help you practice recognizing and managing your emotions and feelings:

Inside Out is a wonderful family movie to watch and talk about together.

Mind Yeti shares some wonderful research-based videos that help kids and their adults calm their minds and focus their attention.

Cosmic Kids Yoga has fun yoga and breathing stories!

The Imagine Neighborhood is a wonderful podcast! Each episode tells a story that’s interesting, full of fun, and maybe even a little silly. The stories help us to understand the big feelings that come with growing up. They give us the words and the story, we LISTEN and build the pictures in our own minds.

The Virtual Calm Down Room has some ideas for ways of calming down when you have BIG feelings.

In the Feelings Bitmoji Room you will find many different emotions and strategies to explore!

Do you want to make your own calm corner at home? Here you'll find a few ideas!

Friday, September 30, 2022

Follow the CODE and Eliminate Bullying

Do YOU Remember the Five Aspects of the

Gorham Community Code of Conduct ?

RESPECT ~ RESPONSIBILITY ~ COURAGE ~ COMPASSION ~ HONESTY

We agree to live by the code of conduct so our school and community will feel safe and welcoming for everyone. Ethics, another term for choosing right over wrong, helps us ALL understand and make good, healthy choices. If we ALL live by the Code of Conduct, we will build a healthy community and eliminate bullying.

COMPASSIONATE people help others, we use kind words and we show we care.

RESPECTFUL people are polite and appreciate differences.

RESPONSIBLE people follow the Code of Conduct and we know that we are responsible for our choices.

HONEST people admit when they make a mistake and we apologize when we hurt others, even it is is by mistake.

COURAGEOUS people STAND UP for others. We speak up and kindly remind others to follow the Code too!

BE A LEADER during Bullying Awareness Month and ALL YEAR LONG.

If we work together we can eliminate bullying and enure ALL feel welcome here.

Enjoy this great book about about bullying. In Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon, the author teaches to be yourself like Molly Lou Melon no matter what a bully may do.

Learn More with the links below:

https://www.stopbullying.gov/ Pacer Pledge

Captain Compassion Code of Conduct Bitmoji Page

Monday, August 22, 2022

Think It. Say It. Believe It!

The Power of Our Words

What you believe you can achieve. Words have energy and power. Be careful with your words. Words move hearts. In our words we create our strengths.

It's a NEW school year! It is time to meet new friends and greet old friends. It is time to feel proud of all that we've learned and to wonder about things we have yet to know!

Let's begin this new and exciting time with positive and energizing words. The words we think, write or speak are powerful and will last forever, good or bad, so let's use our power in a positive way.

We will be careful with what we say to others, and we will remember to be kind to ourselves as well. When things challenge us, we will remember to tell ourselves something positive.

No one is perfect but every one of us matters!

♡♡♡

Positive Affirmations for Kids

101 Positive Affirmations

Positive Words for Kids

♡♡♡

Read Along with the author of You Matter, Christian Robinson:

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Be A S.L.O.T.H.

We Can Learn A Lot from the Sloth

Sloths move through the trees in slow-motion and have a reputation for being lazy, but they can teach us a thing or two! Sloths are slow but important to the environment. They prefer to avoid predators through careful camouflage, but stand up for themselves when necessary.

We can learn a lot from sloths.