Generosity
This afternoon, an announcement came over the loudspeaker that the father of our custodian is in the hospital, and if anyone wished to make a donation, they could send it to the office. Now, this was clearly aimed at teachers and assistants, but as it was announced to the whole school, the children heard as well. S-- raised her hand.
"Can I give him a dollar?" she asked. I said that was very nice of her. We got a snack size plastic ziploc (the closest thing to an envelope I have in the classroom). Mrs. Butler and I put in some money. S-- put in her dollar. A-- raised his hand and asked if he could put in his quarter (his snack money). Most of the children don't have any money at school. They are six, why would they have money? But I could see on their faces that they wanted to give something. R-- reached inside his nametag and pulled out two red tickets. "Can I give him these?" he asked hopefully.
Red tickets are currency in my classroom. If you get a red ticket, you can put your name on it and put it in a jar. Every day, I pull two names out of the jar at the end of the day and give those two kids candy. I also pull a name out when we sit in the meeting area and let that child sit on the "poodle pillow." Occasionally I will pull a name for another special treat or privilege (like sitting next to me at lunch, or erasing the board.)
Suddenly, hands with red tickets went up. K-- looked concerned. "I don't have a red ticket," he told me. "Can I give him a blue ticket?" Blue tickets are emergency bathroom passes, even more valuable than red tickets.
"You don't have to give him anything, sweetheart," I told him. Nevertheless, he offered me a blue ticket. I put it in a bag. Another child didn't have any tickets, but wanted to give something. She pulled out the sucker the librarian had given her and put it in the bag.
All in all, about half of my class really wanted to give something to Mr. C--'s father. I sent our messenger down to the office holding a plastic baggie with about $12.27, seven red tickets, two blue tickets, and a sucker down to the office. I know that Mr. C-- can't do anything with the tickets but I loved that my children wanted to give him something that they consider valuable. I told them how wonderful I thought they all were to give something to help another person.
Then I gave them some class marbles (we are *really* close to a class party now.)
They are so cute.
"Can I give him a dollar?" she asked. I said that was very nice of her. We got a snack size plastic ziploc (the closest thing to an envelope I have in the classroom). Mrs. Butler and I put in some money. S-- put in her dollar. A-- raised his hand and asked if he could put in his quarter (his snack money). Most of the children don't have any money at school. They are six, why would they have money? But I could see on their faces that they wanted to give something. R-- reached inside his nametag and pulled out two red tickets. "Can I give him these?" he asked hopefully.
Red tickets are currency in my classroom. If you get a red ticket, you can put your name on it and put it in a jar. Every day, I pull two names out of the jar at the end of the day and give those two kids candy. I also pull a name out when we sit in the meeting area and let that child sit on the "poodle pillow." Occasionally I will pull a name for another special treat or privilege (like sitting next to me at lunch, or erasing the board.)
Suddenly, hands with red tickets went up. K-- looked concerned. "I don't have a red ticket," he told me. "Can I give him a blue ticket?" Blue tickets are emergency bathroom passes, even more valuable than red tickets.
"You don't have to give him anything, sweetheart," I told him. Nevertheless, he offered me a blue ticket. I put it in a bag. Another child didn't have any tickets, but wanted to give something. She pulled out the sucker the librarian had given her and put it in the bag.
All in all, about half of my class really wanted to give something to Mr. C--'s father. I sent our messenger down to the office holding a plastic baggie with about $12.27, seven red tickets, two blue tickets, and a sucker down to the office. I know that Mr. C-- can't do anything with the tickets but I loved that my children wanted to give him something that they consider valuable. I told them how wonderful I thought they all were to give something to help another person.
Then I gave them some class marbles (we are *really* close to a class party now.)
They are so cute.
posted by Jessica at 9:46 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home