Ask An Administrator

January 5

Please show the following video. This was done by our own NJHS students. Nice job!!

Administrator Video

**Please go to the link ahead of time to make sure the video plays okay. If necessary, download the video first.**

Classroom Discussion:

1. Who is your administrator?
     Dr. McGee  (A-K)
     Dr. Wihongi  (L-Z)
2. Who is our school principal?
3. How do you talk with an administrator?  (be respectful, be clear and direct, go see an attendance secretary to schedule an appointment)
4. Where are their offices?
5. What did you learn from the video?
6. What are the 3 feathers of our Warrior Arrows?  (respectful, responsible, safe)

Bonus College & Career Ready question:

All of our administrators have their doctorate degrees. How many additional years of school does this take (AFTER high school)?
8 or more! (Bachelors... Masters... Doctorate)

Resilience

(Week of) Dec 8

This week's lesson is about resilience and how a positive attitude can improve tough situations. Please show this short clip (2:40) about a high school runner from North Carolina with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Mention to the students that there is no cure for this disease - it will get worse over time, and mobility will steadily decrease.

http://youtu.be/c6J0qjWaABE


Afterward, here are some discussion points to go over with your class:

1. What does it mean to be resilient?
1. Resiliency is the ability to overcome challenges of all kinds–trauma, tragedy, personal crises, plain ‘ole’ life problems–and bounce back stronger, wiser, and more personally powerful
2. How was Kayla resilient?  *pair-share*
3. What made the difference for her?  
1. Her attitude, using supports (coach/parents), she set goals, she was grateful for her current physical abilities
4. What are some other resiliency skills? 
1. attitude, goal-setting, determination, gratitude, using resources and support systems, having GRIT, be tough, avoiding the role of victim by taking ownership of your life, knowing/saying that you can do hard things
5. (Self-reflective only) Thinking about struggles you may be facing right now, what would "bouncing back" or being resilient look like?

Banner of Arrows - Targeting Kindness at IHMS

On Monday, our English Language Arts teachers will be distributing die-cut arrows to the students. The students will be writing down acts of kindness that they have seen around the school. These can be anonymous, if desired.

Don't worry - we'll be going through all of the arrows before posting to make sure that they really are all nice...  :)

Thanks, ELA Friends, for all your help!

Orange Day

Nov 6

This Friday is Orange Day, where we’re asking students and faculty to wear orange as a show of our united stance against bullying which is proving to be a pervasive problem in our school this year. In preparation for this school-wide effort, Floyd has approved all teachers to show the following short clip during 6th period on Thursday (the day before).

Today Show clip

After the clip, please remind your students to wear ORANGE on Friday, to show that we are united against bullying in our school.

Things We Should Say More Often

Nov 17

Show this adorable Kid President video.


Class Discussion:

• What was your favorite tip from Kid President?
• What did it mean when he was talking about looking at the BBQ sauce on your own shirt before criticizing someone else for BBQ sauce on their shirt?
• How is saying nothing kind or helpful?
• What does it mean to treat someone like a human being?
• How does that relate to RESPECT - one of the 3 feathers on our arrow?

Encourage your class to use more positive and kind words today, and throughout the week, to see what a difference it makes.

Gossip

Nov 3

Read or show clip of the following story:

Feathers

There was a wise man who lived on a mountain. Everyone in the village would seek his wisdom when problems arose. There was a young man in the village who had offended his best friend. This young man went up to the wise man and explained what happened: he had told the other people in the village secrets that his best friend had confided in him. He shared things about his friend that he swore he would never tell. He asked the wise man what he should do. The wise man told him to go into the village and get the largest down-feather filled pillow he could find. Confused, the young man left and found the pillow. He brought the pillow back to the wise man. The wise man took the pillow to the edge of the cliff, tore it open, and flung the feathers into the wind.

The young man looked at the wise man and asked, "Well, how do I fix what I have done?"

The wise man said, "Go pick up all the feathers."

The young man looked over the mountainside at the feathers that were still floating to the depths below. "It's impossible," he answered. 

"These feathers are exactly like your words. You cannot take them back."

So the young man left, faced with the new challenge of earning back the trust of his friend.

If you prefer watching a video to reading, here is a link to a similar retelling: YouTube clip.


Classroom discussion:

What is gossip?
How is gossip hurtful to an individual?
How does gossip hurt our school?
What can you do to stop gossip from spreading?

Ways to deal with gossip:

1. First, realize that gossip is only part of a story and it has been changed (no matter how reliable the source is).
2. DO NOT REPEAT IT! You can really be hurting someone else.
3. Ignore it.
4. Talk to the other person directly if you're hurt. There may be a problem or misunderstanding that you can fix.
5. Remember, the more YOU talk about the rumor, the more YOU are keeping it going.
6. Talk to a trusted adult for help and advice.

Positive Word List

saving for future....

The best way to decrease negative or vulgar language is to replace it with POSITIVE.  The following link provides a list of positive words: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/wordlist/positivewords.shtml 

Activity:
Put the students into groups of 4.
Explain to them that you will give them a positive word and you would like them to come up with as many ways they can use it in a sentence as possible within one minute. Write it down!
After that minute is up, give the students another word from the list and time them.  Continue this process for as many words as you would like and see which group came up with the most ways to use positive words.
-Have that group share their sentences with the class.

To close:

When we change the words we use, we can change our outlook and the outlook of others.

Challenge your students to use some of these positive words this week.
Possibly follow up later in the week to ask how using more positive words have (or have not) made a difference.


If you use this activity please bring the sentences to Ms. Jones when you are finished.

"Hi!" and Positive Peer Pressure

October 20

Watch the following video: http://www.values.com/inspirational-stories-tv-spots/111-Just-Say-Hi

How did saying "hi" change the girl's expression when she was walking down the hall?
Did you think the girls at the locker were going to say "hi"?
Do you have friends that are nice to people?
Do you have friends that encourage you to see the good in others?
What is positive peer pressure?
Can you create positive peer pressure in your group of friends?

Challenge your class to say "hi" to someone new today.

Stop - Walk - Talk

October2

Show brief Stop-Walk-Talk PowerPoint done by the fabulous Mrs. Bates!

http://ihmscounselingcenter.weebly.com/kindness-campaign.html

Talking points are listed in the body of the slides.

Enjoy!

Anti-bullying Rap/ Song

September 22

The following clip is from Britain's Got Talent.  These two teens rap and sing about anti-bullying and the power of hope. (Start the video at 1:08 to skip some of the intro - make sure you skip the ad if there is one!)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/12/bars-melody-britains-got-talent_n_5310576.html

Which types of bullying are identified in the video?
What were some of the life challenges that were mentioned besides bullying?
What does it mean to be hopeful?
What are some of the things that give you hope?
How can you find strength when someone is trying to make you feel powerless?
Write down who you would reach out to if you were being bullied.
Remember to Stop - Walk - Talk if you see bullying happening.

Introduction to the Kindess Campaign

Our goal at Indian Hills Middle School is to eliminate bullying by emphasizing KINDNESS.

We believe that it is important to talk about the things we SHOULD be doing - focusing on the positive, rather than focusing on the negative - in order to improve the climate of our school.

Each post will contain a brief video, quote, lesson, etc. with a few talking points to encourage classroom discussion.

If you come across a great idea or something that inspires kindness, please let us know so that we can include it in future planning!