Just saying "hi"

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.

Give a little love

The following video depicts how being aware of others and helping them in small ways can make a big difference in the lives of others.  This is a YOU TUBE video so please be careful of what may pop up afterward.  There is also a scripture at the end that you will want to stop the video before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID0kgP9IVhs&safe=active

Last Act of Kindness

The following video tells a story about an officer who's final act of kindness was caught on video.  There will be a short advertisement before the video starts.  Be sure that what you are showing is school appropriate and please get the video ahead of time.
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/44167629#44167629

Discussion:
What kinds of service did Jeremy(the officer) perform as a career?
What was so significant about Jeremy paying for the cookies?
What service did Jeremy give besides feeding the boy? (he encouraged him to reach his goals)
Would you behave differently if you knew you were being video-recorded?
What acts of kindness can you do that do not cost any money?

The Circle of Kindness

This video is really special. NO ACT OF KINDNESS, NO MATTER HOW SMALL, IS EVER WASTED.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMmozPVUj-s&feature=em-share_video_user&safe=active

If you can't access this video, you can find more stories on this website. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/27/random-acts-of-kindness-believe-in-the-human-race_n_1680813.html#slide=1223923

Positive Words List

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 sentance as possible within one minute. 
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.

If you use this activity please bring the sentances to Mrs. Hutchinson when you are finished. 

Kindness can prevent suicide...

Joni was a ninth grade student at Hillcrest High School.  She loved to draw and sing, but didn't really think she was good at anything.  When her mother died last year, before Christmas, she lost her best friend.  She never thought she would have to grow up without her mother.  Joni's world became very dark, and everyone who she thought was her friend disappeared into the darkness.  She walked down the halls at school alone.  She never bothered looking up, because no one ever said hello.

The football coach at Hillcrest noticed Joni in the hall, walking slowly with her head low.  He felt like he needed to do something for her.  At football practice that day he took a moment in the huddle to talk to the team about how important their leadership ability can be.  He gave them a challenge.  He asked them to say "hi" to Joni in the hall.  He said that he would not ask them to do more than that.  They didn't have to date her, call her, or go out of their way to sit by her at lunch.  Just say "hi". 

Joni had been depressed for what felt like a lifetime.  She was thinking about taking her own life.  She went to school, it was a dreary Monday morning.  She stood by her locker praying the bell would ring so she could escape the halls.  She heard a deep voice say "Hi, Joni."  She looked around and thought maybe she had heard things.  She turned back to face her locker and heard the same thing.  There were only football players near her and so she knew she must be going crazy, they had never bothered with her before.  She always thought she was too "plain" for them.  She turned to face the crowded hall and two more boys smiled and said "hi, Joni."  Skeptical at first, she nodded her head and looked back at the ground.  The next day the football players said "hi" to Joni again.  It still felt surreal that "these" people would even know her name, but it did make her feel better.

As the pleasantries continued, Joni felt increasingly better about her life.  She felt like people noticed her.  She began to look people in the face as they walked by.  She would smile at people as they approached her.  Her pain lessened as she looked forward to seeing some of the boys from the football team who had taken their coaches challenge. 

Thoughts about the story:
-Why was Joni feeling depressed?
-Are suicidal thoughts serious?
-How do you feel when someone says "hi" to you?
-When you walk down the hall do you notice other people?
-How many people do you say "hi" to in the hall?
-What else can you do to help someone that you think is depressed?
Joni was sinking into deep depression when these boys began to say "hello".  If no one had noticed she may have acted on her suicidal thoughts.
Everything we do makes a difference.  We don't need any special talents to say "hello" and be kind.  You never know, you may save someone's life.

Smile

"We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do."

-Mother Teresa

Roman Catholic missionary and Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Happy Ending

Karen Klein’s Happy Ending

Some of you may remember the story of Karen Huff Klein, the 68-year-old bus monitor who was badly bullied and berated by four seventh-graders, who recorded and then streamed the assault online.
Amid the 10 minute long stream of insults, swearing, and even physical approach which drove the woman to tears, one boy even states that, “You don’t have a family because they all killed themselves because they didn’t want to be near you.”
Klein, in addition to being widowed at 51, lost one of her children to suicide 10 years ago.
The deeply personal and savage assault on her, further compounded by going viral online, surprisingly may have a happy ending thanks to a random stranger online, Max Sidorov. Max saw the story and decided to start an online campaign to raise $5,000 for Klein to enjoy a vacation, but the campaign went viral, too. Over 32,000 people have contributed more than $700,000 to Klein – a whole lot more than her normal annual salary of just over $15,500.
With the new funds, coming this next week likely without taxes, Karen is going to enjoy a well-deserved retirement, but has no intentions of sitting around sewing. Not only does she intend to help out her family, but she also wants to get involved in helping to prevent bullying and suicide.
“I’m not a great speaker… but I would like to try to do something,” she says. “Kids write to me and tell me that they’ve been bullied. The kids that get bullied…I hate it.”
All of this coming from one act of cruelty and childishness. Thankfully, we have four brats trying to berate one adult, but 32,000 compassionate people looking to make things right. Karen says it best:
“I didn’t realize there were so many nice people out there in the world.”
http://www.changeathought.com/professionals/public-service/karen-kleins-happy-ending/

Remember, bullying ends when people quit putting up with it.  If the people surrounding them on the bus would have stepped in and stopped what was happening, Karen's feelings could have been spared (of course she wouldn't have reaped the benefits later).
How did the "internet bystander" help her?
Why were the words hurtful to her?
 How has she turned this into a positive experience?

Happiness

A Beautiful Winter

For her 8th birthday, Winter Slade decided that she wanted to do something different. Instead of presents, she decided that she wanted to help protect the pine marten, a relative of the ferret whose habitat is being threatened. Though her birthday isn’t until November, Winter can’t stop talking about it.
But the road to victory hasn’t been easy. When she first started telling her friends about it, their parents effectively shut her down, openly talking about her “stupid idea” right in front of her. Their skepticism is definitely understandable, we’ve all been around long enough to see examples of bad charities and over-hyped promises, but poor Winter was crushed. On her way home from school, she openly started crying, asking her mom why her friend’s parents “said I was stupid.” Her excitement was crushed by jaded adults.
Realizing that they needed to shift gears, Winter’s mom, Michelle, took to Reddit on a Thursday night. There, she put out a simple plea, “Please help me restore her faith in humanity.” When she awoke the next morning, she’d started to see some results. People had responded to her plea, and Winter had almost $100 donated to her name. As the day progressed, more and more people contributed – praising Winter’s kindness and sharing how Winter had inspired them as well. Overnight, Winter’s dream was coming true. By Saturday, Winter had nearly $2,500 raised and a beaming smile.
There’s one important detail that makes this story stand out, but that Winter’s mom intentionally kept a secret in her plea to ensure that Winter got the spotlight. You see, Winter needed this excitement. Her mother has been fighting a long battle with cancer, which consumes much of their lives. Michelle shares that Winter is “my oldest and most concerned. She thinks about it a lot and cries about it a lot.”
For Michelle, the most important part of this journey is seeing her daughter happy again. It gives her something to be excited about instead of worrying about what might happen tomorrow.
http://www.changeathought.com/family-friends/children/beautiful-winter/

Good in the World

Perspective

Objective: Tell the students that someone is always watching them and paying attention to how they react to things.  Help them to understand that they are leaders, whether they think of themselves that way or not. 

The following video depicts REAL people, not actors.  Have them pay attention to all the positive behaviors depicted
 http://www.wimp.com/colacameras/

What positive behaviors did you see in the video?
How did the video make you feel?
Which of these behaviors can you incorporate into your own life? 

Simple Smile

We shall never know the good that a simple smile can do.

- Mother Teresa