The Kindness Tree

I love to upcycle!  This means, I like to take items that would otherwise be added to a landfill and make them into something useful. This is how the Kindness Tree came into being.  

First I will set the scene and give background knowledge on this classroom addition.  

I was participating in a book study of The Wild Card by Hope and Wade King.  As part of the study, I was challenged to try something from the book to boost student engagement.  I decided to try a room transformation and turn my room into and apple orchard.  I crowd sourced fake trees to borrow for this project.

One of the trees was in pretty sorry shape (I was warned).  Most of its leaves had fallen off already and continued to fall during our apple orchard experience.  I dutifully saved them.  However, when it came time to return the trees, the owner said I could keep or toss the tree.  I couldn't bring myself to throw it away (if you have ever seen the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, you probably understand my reluctance).  I brought the tree home and stored it in my garage (along with all the leaves that fell off in my trunk during the journey home).  The tree sat in my garage for a looong while.  

Inspiration finally struck in February when one of the 2nd grade teachers challenged the 1st and 2nd grade classes to commit 100 acts of kindness for the 100th day of school.  She gave us hearts to record the acts of kindness and display.  When I drove into my garage that evening I saw the tree.  What a great way to display the kindness hearts!  Hey, the leaves could be hung on the tree and represent acts of kindness too!

With the help of parent volunteers, we punched holes in the leaves and the colorful paper hearts and strung pipe cleaners through the holes for hanging (chenille rods to you newer teachers and crafters).  We didn't write on the hearts so they could be reused.

The kindness tree is now and ongoing feature in the classroom.  Students can add a leaf or heart on their own or sometimes whisper to me privately something they have done that is kind, seeking permission to add to the tree.  I also try to notice kindness and encourage the child to add to the tree.  The outcome is that our class values kindness.  Other teachers even notice and comment on our culture of kindness.  Adults are encouraged to add to the kindness tree too. 
Maybe someday our kindness will change the world!