Peace, Hope, Love, and Kindness

Today we are here, working with our good friends Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching and Jessica at Ideas by Jivey for a Peace, Hope, Love, and Kindness Linky!  The purpose of this is to have one place where we can store all of our warm fuzzies so that when things are getting tough, we can look at all of these wonderful posts and feel better!!  Let's be inspired by the peace, hope, love, and kindness around us!

Our post is dedicated to some things that have brightened our days recently.   These are not huge things...but they do make a difference!  Sometimes we get caught up in the big things and miss the smaller things that can mean so much!

Stacia-

I want to share some "little moments" of kindness I have found at school this year.  :)

~ A student drops his tray in the cafeteria and looks as though he is about to cry. Immediately another student who is headed to recess, stops, picks up the trash with the student and then mops it up for him...Just because....

~ We are making special candy treats one day and a student who has a hard time getting along with others is absent. Everyone is excited to make their own treats and they get started. One little girl comes up and asks if she can make one for the student who is absent. She doesn't want him to feel left out. She made him one too...Just because...

~ A teacher was having a rough day with her class. Another teacher sees the frustration on her face and jumps right in to help. "Here let me take the kids for a little bit. I'll read them a book. Do what you need to do. I have a break right now." She could have done what she needed or wanted to but instead she helped a fellow teacher...Just because...

~ We all know that state testing is stressful for students and teachers. A student walks into the classroom on a testing morning, runs to her teacher and gives her a big hug. Neither one say a word. Then the little girl smiles and walks away. A comforting hug...Just because...

Amanda-

Have you seen this book?

It's basically like the Liberty Mutual commercial where one person does a nice thing for another, someone sees it, and then they do something nice for someone else, too, and it keeps getting passed on.  This book is like that, except it all starts with a smile.

Stacia and I talked about smiles.  How contagious they are.  How happy they are.  And, how they can affect others.  I try my hardest to always smile at people, but I'm sure I fall short.  Especially when things get stressful or dealing with that difficult person in your life, who, no matter how nice you are, how much you smile, or how positive you try to be, they just pull you down with the weight of their negativity.  That's when I have a hard time smiling.  When that person is coming towards you and you know whatever they are about to say is not nice or is a complaint of some kind, it's hard to smile, isn't it?  BUT, that's when a smile can matter most!!  I need to remember this.  It's my goal to smile on!!  It's my challenge to myself!!

I have a student in my class who smiles all the time.  No matter what.  Anytime you catch her eye, she smiles beautifully, happily.  Even when I'm right in the middle of a lesson.  If I catch her eye, she smiles.  And you know what.  I smile back.  Because it's contagious.  So, I have some fun things in store for myself and my class with this book in the future.  I wasn't able to get it all worked out before this post since we are in the midst of state testing right now, but I will post about it in the future. I think it will be an interesting experiment...just to leave you hanging...  I will ask you this though:  What does it cost you to give one smile?  How might it affect the person you smile at?  How do you feel when someone genuinely smiles at you?  Isn't it amazing what something so simple can do for you and for someone else??  One smile...

There are a few people in our blogging world that are making a difference, just because they want to help!

This weekend I bought some amazing products from Jen at Runde's Room.  These items had been on my wishlist for a month or so, and I knew I wanted them, I just hadn't gotten around to buying them.  This past weekend, she had a very special sale in her TpT store.  She put all of her items on sale and then donated every last penny that she earned to her very good friend, whose son Taten, is battling cancer.  You can read more about this HERE, but needless to say, when I saw this post, I went straight to my wishlist and moved everything on my wishlist from her store to my cart and bought it.  I can't really begin to go into all the feelings I was having but I will say that what Jen did was inspiring and it blessed my heart.  At then end of the weekend, she had quadrupled her goal.  I can only imagine the impact that will make on her friend and their family.  What a blessing!  If you haven't visited Jen's blog, I highly recommend it!  She's amazing all around!

One more fundraiser that is happening now:

This is a donation that has been set up and 100% of the money goes to One Fund to help the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.  Many teachers have donated to this cause!  For a donation of $20, you can get one of these bundles, or you can donate $40 for both!!  If you are interested in donating, click the button above to take you to the blog where donations are being made.

K-2 Bundle (Valued at $150)

3-6 Bundle (Valued at $170)

Last but not least, I (Amanda) received two gifts this week......Just because.  

The first came from Stacia's husband (oooooo! I know!).  It's the owl cup!  He bought Stacia one (isn't he sweet?) and I saw it and adored it (my classroom theme is owls...in case you were wondering).  Guess what?  He went out and got me one too!!!  Just because!  Isn't he the sweetest!  The second gift came from another teacher I work with.  She saw the notepad and said it screamed Amanda (I guess the owls were yelling my name) and she had to get it for me.  Just because.  

And, just because they did this...it made me happy and to want to do something for someone else...just because...

How about you?  Do you have something that you can link up that gives you warm fuzzies?  If you do, please link it up below.  And don't forget to go check out all of the other warm fuzzies linked up, too!!