Children Keeping it Simple, Teaching Simplicity

A few inspiring comments from my teachers in simplicity, children.

• I was participating in Seattle’s Martin Luther King, Jr., March and Rally this year with some of the faculty, students and parents from the school I work at. During the march one of our first graders looked up at me and said, “Oh, I know why you’re here today, Ashley.” “Why?” I asked. “Because this is all about friendship… and you’re the friendship teacher.”
  
  (fyi: I host Friendship Groups, a class that all the students in the class participate in just like math or reading. The aim is to help students deepen their ability to connect with and understand themselves and others. It's all about friendship... with ourselves, others and the world around us!)
  
  
• During Obama's presidential inauguration Rev. Joseph Lowery was talking about love,
  "And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance."
  
  I looked in front of me as a Kindergartner was staring down at his little hands, shaping them into a heart. That image summed up where my hope for our future lies... in love.
  
  
• After the inauguration we hosted an Open Space with the 3rd graders. One child's closing remarks, "I learned that when everyone pitches in just a little bit, it can make a giant difference."
  
  
• Words of wisdom that a 2nd grader told me over lunch one day that I am practicing and trying to better embody, "Just listen until your mind gets deeper and then you'll understand."

I am so grateful for all the gifts that are bestowed upon me by these wise humans who are so willing to share their world.

heart photo by samantha celera

What do friends do?

In a previous class, students drew a picture of friends doing something after learning skills for active listening. This lesson begins by asking the students what they can remember about being an active listener. Once most of the important points have been named, invite them to practice active listening again today while we share our pictures from last week.

Students who wish can share their drawing of friends doing something. Create a list of things that friends like to do. This list can be a resource for children who are looking for something to do, especially at recess. It can even be made into a wheel that is labeled with ideas for things to do that children can turn to when in need. While the students are sharing their art work, the other children are practicing active listening. If students forget, remind them that we are practing active listening and inquire about one thing that you do when you are actively listening.

If there is extra time the students can color in the drawings they made.

One class asked if the drawings can be made into a book... We'll explore that more when they share their drawings next week.

Friends Doing Something

After the Active Listening lesson, the students return to their tables to draw a picture with just pencil of friends doing something. As they finish the teacher writes on the back (for a class with Kindergartners) what the friends are doing. Next week, to practice Active Listening, the students who wish will present their pictures to the class and follow the discussion that unfolds.