Last Heart Print - Day 28- Reflection

Sadly, our project has come to a close, but a big change has occurred in this classroom. Yesterday and today we discussed how "Heart Prints" have changed us on the inside and how it has changed our classroom, school,  and community. It is best if you read exactly what the children wrote and said....Enjoy!

First question:

What was your favorite "Heart Print"?

reading to the first graders- Three votes

Giving someone a hug -Three votes

Hold the door open for someone - Three votes

Making a snack for someone - Three votes

Giving Mrs. K our art work- Two votes

Writing someone a surprise note - 1 vote

Asking someone new to play with you at recess - 1 vote

Second Question: 

How do you think "Heart Prints" changed our class?

"Our class isn't fighting as much"

"More laughing and fun and less getting upset about cutting in line." 

"We are more kind to one another."

"Heart Prints changed us for the good. It made me a better person a bunch of other people too."

"There are lot less arguments about things that don't matter."

"Less problems!"

Third Question: 

How did "Heart Prints" make you feel?

"Heart Prints made me feel really good because I was doing something nice for people and that made them feel good."

"Happy, good, fantastic!"

"I feel like a made difference!"

"Thrilling, because when we fought it made me sad and when we used "Heart Prints" it made me feel cool!"

"I am so amazed how hard I am working to spread Heart Prints."

"They made me feel very very very good!"

"Terrific because it changed our school and my house!"

"The Heart Prints made me feel super happy!"

"Like a $1,000 dollar bill."

"Great, fantastic, awesome!"

"Amazing because I am doing kind things for other people." 

"Heart Prints made me feel amazing!"

"It felt very good inside."

"I feel really good because people feel really good that we helped them!"

I hope you enjoyed these comments as much as I do. Thank you for all your support throughout our project. We hope we have touched you in someone way....

Doing kind things that stay with someone forever...Miss Anderson's Second Grade Class

Daily Heart Print -Day 27 - Hugs and Smiles sent out to Mrs. K

Today was our last big "Heart Print!" I still can't believe our project is coming to an end. Tomorrow we will spend the day reflecting back on our project and writing about the difference we hoped to have made in our classroom, school, community.

Today we sent out hugs and smiles to Mrs K, N.K.'s mom. We wanted her to feel special since we know she is fighting a big fight right now. Just like the children who received our Valentine's at the hospital are fighting a big fight! Everyone deserves hugs and smiles! 

 A large part of what we talked about over the past month of February is learning how to pay attention to each others' facial expressions and body language. We discussed emotions and how we can tell if someone is sad, mad, happy, or excited by their facial expressions and their body language. We also talked about how some days are going to be the happiest days and we might get mad or sad about something. If we see someone who is upset or sad about something we should try to leave a "Heart Print" on him/her to brighten his/her day. This is the true meaning of a "Heart Print" - Doing kind things that will stay with someone forever. 

Over the past few days, I have heard the children talking about how other students are leaving Heart Prints on them:

Here are few things I have overheard or experienced:

Can I take out the recycling, Miss A?

S gave me a "Heart Print" because I needed and eraser and couldn't find one.

J brought by coat down for me.

Tomorrow will be the last post for the month. Please visit us tomorrow to read about what we have learned from our project and how it has changed us as a class!

                                                              Miss Anderson's 2nd Grade Class!

 Heart Prints for Mrs. K

 

Daily Heart Print - Day 26 - Choose your own "Heart Print"

Happy Monday! The children were challenged to make a snack for someone over the weekend for Days 24 and 25. We were to busy spreading our own "Heart Prints" today we forgot to discuss our weekend "Heart Prints!"

I will make sure to inform you about our weekend adventures.

Today, the children were challenged to give, send, and/or leave their very own "Heart Print." It was very exciting this morning as the children whispered to one another what they were going to do.

Here is the list of the amazing things we did today:

S.Z. - Pushed people on the swings at recess

M.R. - Helped first graders get on to the spinning objects at recess

W.G. - gave suckers to me this morning

S.A. - Made her mom smile while getting ready this morning

S.L. - picked up trash at lunch

A.C. - taught someone something new during PE

C.S. - poured her sister juice at breakfast this morning

N.K. - asked somebody new to play at recess (he noticed this child was not playing with anyone...Great job N!)

I.K. helped his brother finish his homework this morning

T.S. - comforted his mom when she broke the jelly jar

K.O - gave a hug

T.W. - gave a hug

J.S. - wash the dishes tonight after dinner

These children are amazing and spreading "Heart Prints" everywhere we go. Please visit us tomorrow as we will be completing our last big "Heart Print!"

                                                        Miss Anderson's Second Grade Class

Daily Heart Print - Day 23 -

 Recycling

 Recycling Friends!

 I showing off his St. Baldrick's hat - A Heart Print he did with his father!

Today's "Heart Print" might have been one of the childrens' favorites! During our Wows and Worries, an activity that takes place every Friday, many of the children said their wow was to visit another class, take our their recycling, and leave a Heart Print on them.

Each child was paired up and sent to two different classrooms to take our the classroom's recycling. This seems like such an easy activity, which it is, but to the teachers and custodians at Lincoln it is something we have to do at the end of the day, every single day. We wanted to give everyone a day off and do it for them. We hope our "Heart Print" touched every person at Lincoln today. 

Come back and visit us for our last few "Heart Prints" next week!
                                                      Miss Anderson's 2nd Grade Class

Daily Heart Print - Day 22 - Give someone a hug!

Today's "Heart Print" is one of my favorites! I am lucky enough each day to be showered with hugs from my students. Its amazing how a simple hug can lift the soul and make a person smile. 

Today the children were challenged to hug someone. Our discussion started off with first, lets not take the person off guard, but instead go up to the person and ask if you could hug them. It was quite humorous when W.G. and T.S. both said, "Miss Anderson, wouldn't it be a little strange to do it to someone you don't know?" I immediately started to laugh...I quickly reminded the children we want to hug people we know, people who would appreciate our hugs. Not make anyone uncomfortable.
They also were told hugging each other did not count, they were all a little bummed about that. Their guidelines were to hug a friend not in our class, an old teacher, or family member. As the day passed on, I witnessed lots of smiles, hugs, and a few screams about how happy they were to receive a hug. I know Mrs. Hyde appreciated the hugs she received!
 At the end of the day we counted a total of 35 people we hugged. I guess you could say we were a happy bunch at the end of the day. Here are a few pictures to show our smiles!

Miss Anderson's 2nd Grade Class

Daily Heart Print - Day 21 - Tidy up your room/area without being asked!

Today's post comes a day late since the students' "Heart Print" was to tidy up their room/play area without being asked! We had our community meeting about it this morning.
Here are few of the things the children did: 
C.S. - cleaned up her room.
R.L. - made his bed.
N.K. - cleaned up his parent's room.
T.S. - cleaned up his room.
M.B. - cleaned up her room.
J.S. - made both bunk beds.
C.C. - cleaned up the basement.

and so on....
Each child rose to the occasion and helped out around the house. When I asked the children what how their parents responded they all said, "With smiles and lots of thank yous!" Hopefully the children will keep this "Heart Print" going since they now understand how happy it made their parents!

                                                             Miss Anderson's 2nd Grade Class 
 

Daily Heart Print - Day 20 -Pick up after others!

I hope everyone had a relaxing three day weekend! The children were busy away calling friends and family members to say hi to meet their weekend "Heart Print." The children were very excited to share the excitement the person who they called provided to them. Way to go,  2nd graders!

Today's "Heart Print" started out originally being to pick up litter around the school and in the community, but quickly turned into picking up gloves, mittens, food, lunchboxes, etc... They took it to the next level once again!  During our community meeting I asked the children what they did to meet today's "Heart Print?" Hands shot up and we began discussing our good deeds.

Here are a few of their responses:

I picked up a glove on the ground and it turned out to be C.S.'s glove! (one of our very own students) She was extremely thankful! - T.W.

I stayed after lunch and picked up the extra trash on our table. - C.C.

I picked up a peanut butter cookie wrapper under Mrs. Suzuki's class's table! - W.G.

I picked up pencils and trash all day long! - S.A. 

I picked up my neighbor's pencil on the ground. - J.S.

The children rose to the occasion once again and I have a feeling they will take this "Heart Print" home and provide a helping hand around their house. 

With a week and half left of our project, I have to say I am thrilled with the change I am seeing. Not only with my class but with all of the second graders! We talk consistently about how we will still always have problems and disagreements with others, but if we strive to do our best and spread "Heart Prints" everywhere in school, home, and our communities, positive actions and words can't stop from spreading!

Daily Heart Print - Day 16 - Bookmarks for Readers

 Books, Books, Books!

 More Books!

 Books all ready to go!

 

324 BOOKS!!!! The children in Mrs. Mayer's, Mrs. Ruzic, and my class collected a total of 324 books to donate! The children were beaming at the end of the day....we were all smiles as we left Room 3. 

To add to our big donation we, and with the help of Mrs. Mayer's class, created reading bookmarks for the kids to use while they use the books. 

What is so wonderful about today's "Heart Print" is the bookmarks were not an idea created by me or any other teacher. The idea came from the children. Amazing! Yesterday during our community meeting I asked the children if we should leave a small note or a message for Mrs. Lamb's class. The children all chimed in, "Yes, Yes, Yes!" Quietly, I.K. said, "why don't we give them bookmarks, we always love getting new bookmarks to use." It was silent for a quick second and then everyone at once screams, "Great idea!" 

Today we worked hard on making bookmarks and putting them in a beautifully designed envelope, thanks to S.Z. and M.R. 

Here are a few of the creative sayings the children wrote down:

Reading is good for the brain!

Do you know reading is awesome? It is!

Reading Rocks!

                                                          Enjoy the 3 day weekend, I know we will!

                                                          Miss Anderson's Second Grade Class

Mrs. Ruzic's Class - Heart Print Kids

 Mrs. Mayer's Class - Heart Print Kids

 Bookmarks

 Did you know reading is awesome? I swear it is!

S.Z. and M.R.'s beautiful work!

 

Daily Heart Print - Day 15- Donate books to a clasroom in need!

 Just a few of the books we are donating

 Silly :)

One of the many boxes

91 books so far!!!! That is NOT including Mrs. Mayer's and Mrs. Ruzic's Class. As a second grade team we are donating books to a school in need located in the city of Chicago. I was connected with this teacher through a friend. After emailing with Mrs. Lamb back and forth, I could tell she was estatic to be a part of the project! She couldn't keep from expressing her gratitude and all I kept thinking was how lucky we are to help. The children are truly learning how giving can brighten someone's day but also theirs.

The children brought in a range books for the children in Mrs. Lamb's second grade class to enjoy. 

The children loved counting the number of books today and felt wonderful giving away books they don't need anymore. After we counted all of the children's books, we went through my library and pulled books that I had double or triple copies. I was thrilled when the children found 26 books we could donate from my own classroom library.

I will be meeting with Mrs. Lamb tomorrow to pass along our love for reading and the books that helped us become avid readers! Stay tuned for more pictures!

I am proud to say, I.K., his sister, N.K., and Mr. Kent delivered the cards to children in the hospital and as I.K. stated today, "they were speechless!" 

We all hope our valentines brought smiles to the children and made yesterday a special day for them :) 

                Daily Heart Prints - Doing kind things that stay with someone forever

                                                            Miss Anderson's Second Grade Class

Daily Heart Print - Day 14 - Help a friend, family member or neighbor with a chore/project

Today's "Heart Print" is random act of kindness that will be completed after school today or tonight. Visit us tomorrow to read about what the children did to lend a helping hand.

Luckily, we were able to send a small "Heart Print" to our Harmonica teacher, Mr. Milan. We created beautiful written thank you notes for teaching us how to play the Harmonica the last five weeks. Today the children performed a small concert for their parents and grandparents. At the end, I.K. presented the thank you notes to Mr. Milan. He was beaming with smiles! 

Here are a few pictures of us hard at work:

 
 

Daily Heart Print - Day 13 - Write valentines to children in the hospital fighting cancer

 a valentine in progress!

 just another beautiful piece of art

 M working hard

Happy Valentine's Day!!! I hope everyone is feeling the love today. I know I 

am. :) Today was a remarkable and exciting day for the us. As the bell rung, the children started rushing in saying "Happy Valentine's Day!" Of course with the biggest and brightest smiles on their faces. One student specifically astonished me. She took our project one step further and created Valentine's to give to others to share the joy. On her valentine she wrote about our project and shared our blog so others to can follow and join in on the fun! The disease is spreading and we are loving it!

Today's "Heart Print" was to create a valentine for a child in the hospital fighting cancer.  First off a big thank you goes out to Dr. Kent (I's dad) for joining our efforts and hand delivering the valentines to his patients. Before we created the cards, I.K. shared with us pictures, videos, and stories of some of the children he has met at his dad's work. This allowed the children to make a connection with the children. They loved the videos! We had a good discussion on the importance of laughter and how sometimes when things are hard, laughing is the best medicine. The children thought this was a great idea.

A few of my favorite jokes the children wrote were:

 What did the stamp say to the envelope on Valentine's Day? 

A: I'm stuck on you!

What did the boy pickle say to the girl pickle of Valentine's Day?

A: You mean a great dill to me! 

 If we laughed at them, we knew we could bring smiles to the recipients of the cards. 

I.K. and Dr. Kent will be delivering the valentines, please come back and visit us to hear about their reactions. Another big thank you goes out to all the parents to help assist in putting today's "Heart Print" together.

The children are spreading their joy everywhere and my hope is you can feel the joy too!

                                                                  Happy Valentine's Day,

                                                              Miss Anderson's Second Grade Class

 

 S with his finished product

 L with his finished product

 K with her finished valentine

Celebrating our hard work on Valentine's Day

Daily Heart Print - Day 10, 11, & 12

Days 10 & 11 - Do Something Helpful for a Family Member
The children are amazing! During our morning meeting, I asked the children, "What "Heart Print" did you leave on someone this weekend?" Hands shot up immediately. 
I called on J.S. first. "I shoveled the snow for my dad! He was really happy."
C.S said, "I cleaned the playroom without being asked." The children went on and on saying all the things they did this weekend for others. Many did more than one.
During Writer's Workshop today, I was truly touched and reassured of the power of kindness. The children were writing a Bio Poem. During this writing actvity, the children are asked to write things they love, feel, and say. As I walked around the classroom I repeatedly read the following statements:
Lover of smiles
Lover of kindess
Who felt all the heart prints we are sending
Who felt happy doing things for others


Second graders are naturally giving, but this group of students are truly beginning to understand the positive effects they can have on others. Today was one of those days in my teaching career, that I am reminded of why I became a teacher. I am truly blessed!



Day 12 - Write a Valentine to a Neighbor or Grandparent
Today the children were challenged to write a valentine to someone who is least expecting a note from him/her on tomorrow's big day. The children worked furiously throughout the day creating a valentine for their special person. The children were very excited to hand deliver or send their valentine in the mail. 
Come back tomorrow for our Daily Heart Print, it will be an exciting day in second grade!


                                                Miss Anderson's Second Grade Class

Valentines

 

Daily Heart Print - Day 9 - wrote surprise notes to our Lincoln Friends

"More laughing less fighting!" It's true, I.K. is right! Today during our community meeting we discussed our experiences involved with our "Heart Prints" project. I asked the students if they noticed anything change since we began our project. A.C. said, "at recess, we aren't fighting anymore over our game. We are being nicer to each other. It's a lot more fun!"
I.K immediately yelled out, "There's more laughing and less fighting!" In response all the children laughed and agreed.

Lately, I have taken a step back and really tried to observe the children's behavior with one another. Here are a few things I noticed just today:
Smiling children in the halls.
Holding the doors open for one another.
No cutting in line!(This can be tough in second grade)
More interaction, asking one another to play!
Friendships formed.

The goal of this project is to strengthen our relationships with one another and spread joy and happiness everywhere we go. I am overjoyed with the impact we have already made and can't wait for the upcoming "Heart Prints!" 


Today's "Heart Print" was writing surprise notes to our Lincoln friends. The children paired up and wrote a surprise note to one of the K-4 classrooms at Lincoln. Since we have enjoyed laughing and smiling lately we tried to spread the laughter by including a joke on our note. 
The children delivered the notes to the classrooms right before lunch and were beaming with joy on their return. S.A. shared with us, "Mrs. Bajo's class clapped and screamed! They were so excited for their heart print." Mrs. Bruzek's P.M. kindergarten class gave us a big thank you for their "Heart Print." 
Stayed tuned for the weekend "Heart Print!" The children are going to leave a good feeling on some very special people.  

                                                     Miss Anderson's 2nd grade class