This week at school was Drug Free Week so I decided to tie that into our manners lesson this week. We discussed just saying no. The counselor also came this week and did a lesson on having a peaceable class and the right way to just say no. Having also these activities interwoven together makes the learning that much more meaningful for the kids. In class we discussed proper ways to say no such as:

• No thank you
• No mam
• No sir
• No I don't want to but thanks anyway
• No that's not good for me

We discussed to say no when a stranger ask you to come with them, offers you candy, or ask for your help finding their pet. We talked about saying no to things that may harm your body. On Monday we all signed a banner that said Just Say No, We Are Drug Free. Each day this week we dressed different ways to show we are drug free and in the classroom we tweeked ours a little to show we can say no. On Monday we wore Red to show we are bold enough to say no. On Tuesday we wore silly socks and slippers to sock it to the wrong things and slip into good behavior. Wednesday was career day so we dressed as our future careers to show we are smart enough to make good decisions. Thursday was sunglasses day to shade out drugs, but we were gone to the pumpkin patch in Clanton all day so we didn't participate. Friday was red ribbon day and wore ribbons to just say no.

We also discussed just saying no during trick or treating since its Halloween weekend. We talked about to be safe and say no for those that may be going to large halloween parties, fall festivals, and trick or treating with friends. The kids said things like don't eat candy before your mom or dad tells you to, do go with someone who says that have more candy inside, and don't go to anyone's door alone. We talked about making sure you could see through the head of your costume and don't runaway from your parents or group of friends at halloween parties or fall festivals no matter what anyone says.

The counselor talked about how it is okay to say no when you don't want to do something. She talked to the kids about talking to their parents about when its okay to say yes and no. She brought her friend Tuggles (stuffed bear) who talked about situations when he had to say no to a friend. He told a story about how one of his friends tried to get him to take something from the teachers desk and he said no because it was the wrong thing to do and he didn't want to get into trouble. He also talked about how a strange adult offered him candy and he said no thank you and walked away and so he wouldn't have to continue his walk alone he asked the kids walking ahead of him to wait up.

www.goodcharacter.com, www.halloween-safety.com,

http://family.samhsa.gov/teach/refusal.aspx

This week we discussed citizenship. We talked about ways to do our share to make our school, classroom, and community a better place. We shared ideas on how to protect the environment and recycle. These are some of the ideas:

• Put trash in the trash can and not on the floor or in the street
• Put paper in the big blue buckets in the hallway
• Recycle like my mom and dad. They put plastic, paper, and glass in seperate bags and then the city workers pick it up.
• Pick up trash in the hallways.
• Don't write on the walls or the floor only on paper.

After we talked about ways to do our part in and around the school community we discussed ways to improve our own classroom. I told the students how I noticed that they don't pick up behind themselves like they should after cutting paper, dropping crayons, or completing art projects. So we took one of our trash cans and drew a happy face on it and we call her "Mrs. Trashy." Each day the students must pick up paper or trash off of the floor and feed Mrs. Trashy or she will get a stomach ache from being hungry. I have never seen my floor so clean at any point of the day unless the custodian has cleaned. I even had one child to go home and draw a face on his trash can in his room and his mom asked him why and he told her about the class project. Naturally she let him keep it but told him he must keep his room clean of all trash since he drew on the trash can. So far its working. The other kindergarten teachers also liked the idea. www.hummingbirded.com and www.rudebusters.com

This week we reinforced some of our past lessons including saying please, thank you, being kind, and being respectful. We added using our color friends to help us use correct manners. We have "Rudy Red" who never says thank you, please, or excuse me. There is "Alright Orange who is very polite, takes turns, and is always willing to help. Some of the others include "yelling yellow", "pokey pink", " butt in brown", and "pouty purple" just to name a few. Each day we introduced 2-3 color characters and discussed things that they do that are wrong and how to make them better. We also discussed how we don't want these characters living at our house or coming in our classroom. As the week went on I noticed the children calling each the color character name and explaining how they were being that character and what they could do to become an alright orange. Noone got upset about being called a rudy red or pokey pink instead they fixed the problem so they could become an alright orange. We found a cute manners song on the internet that we now sing at the start of everyday. It goes like this and its to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell":

Manners are the way

To brighten up my day

Please and thank you's what I say

to brighten up my day

Sometimes through out the day I hear the children humming the song at their tables. Normally that would probably bother me, but I can make an exception for this and truely it makes me smile to hear them humming it and know they mean by the way they treat each other.

Some interesting websites are http://www.education-world.com/ and http://www.teacherplanet.com/

This week my students and I discussed the "golden rule": Be kind to others and they will be kind to you. On Monday we talked about ways to be kind and respect each other. The kids came up with ideas like playing nicely, helping each other when they fall, saying thank you, please, and excuse me. On Tuesday we made "golden rulers" and each student taped their personal ruler to their table to remind them to be kind to others. On Wednesday Wilbur did rude things like drawing on someones paper when they weren't looking, he hit someone, and he bumped someone without saying excuse me. When the children saw what happened they corrected Wilbur. This let me know they were noticing Wilbur and what he does and not just thinking of him as another stuffed animal. On Thursday the students looked for who was being kind and showing respect to each other. When they spotted each other being kind they had to tell me who it was, what they saw, and how it was kind then the student received a heart with his/her name on it and the reason why they received the heart. On Friday we recapped what we learned this week and chose the student to take Wilbur home. Our school counselor also launched the six pillars of character program and this week she also discussed respect and gave out yellow bracelets that said respect to anyone she saw being respectful. She gave each teacher bracelets to hand out also. One of my students got a bracelet because he accidently ran into someone and stopped to say excuse and see if they were okay.
www.goodcharacter.com www.teach-nology.com

My students have been working on manners and how to treat each other. The students have been working real hard to earn a heart with their name on it to put up in the room. Last week we discussed hitting. We read the book "Hands Are Not For Hitting" and they sat so quietly as I read, it was amazing. I have noticed that everytime someone gets hit they repeat the chorus from the book, "hands are not for hitting" and then they some something that we discussed about what hands are for such as "hands are for saying hello." The children love taking Wilbur home and being able to share what they did with him. This week we talked about using kind words. Well my husband had to be rushed to the hospital and I was out for two days. When I came back my students said Mrs. Myrick remember what you said about kind words and I said yes well one by one they all said something to cheer me up. They said things like me and mommy prayed for your husband, I hope your husband feels better, and we love you Mrs. Myrick we are glad you are back. Needless to say they all received a heart with their name on it to put up for using kind words. I can see the children are really learning to use proper manners and the appropriate way to treat others just by thier actions and words. I love this! A good website on ideas for building manners is www.getset4k.org