The Kindness Project

     Being in special education does not mean you are immune to being mean, or even being a bully. Not by a long-shot. I know that some people think of special education as the kids I work with, which are high needs kids currently. But special education had a whole spectrum of needs. Sometimes a kid just needs a bit of extra help, a bit of extra time, or a different testing location, etc. Often, they may also need an extra lesson on kindness and social skills. 

    I work with a team that actually has 3 levels of classrooms. We have the higher needs kids, the mid-range needs, and the higher kids but who still qualify for sub-separate classes. Recently we have had issues with some of our kids in the mid and higher level classes. These issues are also not exclusive to our special needs students. Middle school kids can be extremely mean to one another. And to everyone really. The gen ed kids usually (not always) understand what they are doing and just don't care. Some of the kids in our groups may understand, maybe not completely, but being in special education isn't a free pass to be a bully. 

      One of the teachers in our group decided she had had enough of the mean behavior from some of our kids. It is just as easy to to spread a little kindness around the school instead of joining in with the rude and mean behavior. So after a few days of socials skills lessons with the guidance councilors she decided our kids were going to spread some kindness instead of meanness. And the kids all seemed to really like the idea as well. 

    She printed out coloring sheets that had a variety of affirming and inspiration phrases on them. The kids colored them and cut them out. I think this was part of one of the social skills lessons (I was with my student so not part of these lessons). 

    When they had a whole bunch of them ready it was time for the next phase of the kindness project (only I am calling it this, I don't think anyone else did. But it's a fitting name). The kids were split into groups, and the groups were given a stack of the little papers. Every group had an adult with a roll of tape. The assignment was to spread a bit of kindness around the school. 

     The kids went around and hung the little posters on walls, doors, and any other place where people might see them and get a little boost. I knew all this was happening, but I wasn't part of the process so I only got to see the aftermath. Which was a variety of mini posters around the school with nice phrases. I took photos of a bunch of them while I was out and about doing PT with my student. Some of them were in little surprising places, like right above the water fountain, and it was nice to run into them. 

     Middle school is a hard place to be. The kids are not little, but they are not grown. They think they are grown, but they are still really emotional but not yet equipped to deal with all the emotions, or the hormones. Sometimes their behavior gets away from them. At times they know exactly what they are doing and sometimes they seem genuinely baffled that what they did was seen as mean, rude, or inappropriate. Sometimes disciplinary action is necessary and sometimes you can turn things into a teachable moment about how our actions (and words) affect others and encourage people to spread a little bit of kindness instead.