Yardsticks

Horton Hears a Who....Do You?

This week our whole school is reading Horton Hears A Who ( as I’m sure many of you are too) in honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday month and “Read-Across-America” and the release of the new animated feature film by the same name, which our small school will attend en masse on Friday – phew!

Our discussions in class as we read the book, have centered on bullying, something readers of this blog know has been a focus for our school that we have not let drop.

We have read Loser by Jerry Spinelli, the folk tale Feathers and other stories to talk about teasing and bullying in our school.

We conduct role playing and peer mediations, we conduct class meetings and “making it better” classes.

We use Responsive Classroom rules and consequences in classrooms, on the playground and in the lunchroom.

We notice children who have the courage to not be bystanders and to help those being left out or picked on and we acknowledge them with Courage Awards that go home in the form of “Happy Mail” to parents weekly (Academic Happy Mail is acknowledged similarly).

Yet, with all this effort, I still see, as you must, if you are a teacher, the children who are often alone at lunch or on the playground that we have to encourage another child to be a Horton for. If you are a parent of a child with few friends, how much it hurts not to be able to find a playdate for your child. If that is the case, please call your school, every school has access to some Hortons at school, at least.

Mean Words

As parents and teachers we hear them every day. What can we do about it?

Children can say the cruelest things, but often they are unaware of the impact of their words on others because the words are so much a part of their common vernacular at school and in the neighborhood.

Recently at school we have been involved in continuing activity to address issues of bullying that often begin with verbal harrassment or bullying that can be as hurtful as a punch or kick. In some ways we are addressing the issue by undressing the words; that is, making sure that the children know what the words they are using mean and the impact they might have on another. Also we focus on the role of the bystander who may hear the hurt in the words and not know what to say.