November Guidance Lessons--Habit 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood. (BULLYING)

In the month of November I will be visiting classes to talk about Habit 5 and how students can use the leadership habit "Seek first to understand, then to be understood" to combat bullying. I will be conducting a bullying survey in grades 4-6 to gather data regarding bullying at HPE: when it happens, how often, where, and strategies students use to stop bullying. I am hoping this will be valuable data to share with administration and teachers to help us recognize where bulling is most often to take place as well as what we can do to be more aware as adults to be part of the solution. Further, I hope to gather this data again in the spring or next year to see how Leader in Me has had an affect on bulling at HPE!

Fourth grade is my Leadership Spotlight this month. Students took the bullying survey, learned the definition of bullying, and we reviewed different strategies a student can use to stand up to bullies. In bullying lessons I focus greatly on the role of the bystander. I am sharing with students in lessons this year that the number one deterrent to bulling is for a bystander to not only stand up to the bully with the target (person being bullied) but take them OUT of the bulling situation and have them join their group, leaving the bully "high and dry." Students in 4th grade read "Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun" by Maria Desmondy and identified times in the book when bystanders could have stood up with the main character when she was being bullied and taken her out of the bullying situation.

Furthermore, bullying lessons this month will focus on Habit 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood. If a student takes a walk in another person's shoes and thinks about how their personal actions truly affect others, they can use this to stop bullying as they will ensure they are not bullying others by what they say and do, and that they are standing up for others when they see bullying behavior happening. This is the essence of Habit 5! 4th grade students engaged in working with a random partner in their class and created a Venn diagram to practice getting to know others, what they have in common with them, and what is unique to each person. See the pictures below for an example!

Check back later in the month for more bullying/Habit 5 lessons in other grades!