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Kindness Matters

Friday, February 18, 2022 12:21:00 PM America/Los_Angeles

Our School Life team has a common goal of spreading positivity and kindness every day. Our School Life team practices random acts of kindness throughout the year, so we wanted to share some of the creative things our team members did this February during kindness week. Also, this past week, we gave a few customers $25 gift cards to enjoy their favorite latte on us. And we asked that they pay it forward by continuing to pay for the drinks of those behind them until the funds on the gift card were depleted. We look forward to hearing about all the good feels that our customers got and gave while participating in this little random act of kindness. School Life is a family business built by educators for educators. We all take great pride in helping with the development and overall betterment of today’s youth. Educators are our heroes and we are honored to partner with you. Together we can spread peace, unity and kindness.

Love,
Team School Life
4 Comments | Posted by

Kim Madey

Pay it Forward

Sunday, February 6, 2022 10:49:26 PM America/Los_Angeles

Remember the novel and/or the movie “Pay It Forward”, about a young boy who did three good deeds for others in need. All the boy wanted in return was that his three recipients pass on the good deed to three other people and keep the cycle going.

One good deed might not seem like much, but if everyone did something good for someone else, then the cycle of generosity and kindness can spark us to become better people.

Help your students brainstorm ideas for “Pay It Forward Day”. You will be amazed at how many ideas the children will think of themselves. Implement their ideas during the month of April and have a PAY IT FORWARD ceremony in your classroom on April 26.

Here are a few fun pay it forward ideas for elementary students:

FREEZE TAG – Play freeze-tag and “unfreeze” the person by saying something kind about them.

PAY IT FORWARD TREE

FRIENDSHIP HAND

GOOD DEEDS JAR

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Comments | Posted by

Kim Madey

Kindness Count Down

Sunday, February 6, 2022 10:25:49 PM America/Los_Angeles

Cut thin strips of construction paper (1 x 1.8″) in blue, white & silver or red, green and gold (or any holiday color theme you choose). Each day, until winter break – students will write random acts of kindness they’ve performed, or seen other students perform, on the strips of paper and add them to the “KINDNESS” chain.

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The goal is to “naturally” do acts of kindness for people, living things and our earth every day!

Perform RAK at school, at home or in the community. (ex: take cookies to a neighbor, or elderly person, help another student with homework, write letters to veterans, clean litter in playground or in community, plant seeds, read to younger students, take notes or treats to school staff etc). See how long and colorful your classroom can make a kindness chain! String the chain up in the classroom; it will become more and more decorative as winter break approaches. Send this letter home to parents to inform them of the count down project, and get the whole family involved!

Another tip: After your kindness chain is completed, ask a volunteer to take it to a community elderly home, halfway house, or other needy facility, and decorate their door or tree. Be creative with this project, put your own spin on it, and have fun!

Comments | Posted by

Kim Madey

Get Creative with Kindness

Sunday, February 6, 2022 9:20:24 PM America/Los_Angeles

In addition to Valentine’s Day, February 14th- 20th is Random Acts of Kindness Week. We love that teachers are sharing the love, and challenging their students to show kindness in small and/or big ways. Below are some easy ways to help your students celebrate Random Acts of Kindness all week:

  1. Make Cards for a Nursing Home or Local Business.  Help your little artists make cards or pictures and then deliver them to cheer the residents at a local nursing home or to help decorate the offices of a local business.
  2. Help other kids.  If you teach older students in a school, have your students read stories, tutor or play with the kids in a younger class.
  3. Make a Wall of Kindness in your classroom.  Have your kids write all the ways they can show kindness both now and throughout the school year on slips of paper and then post them on a wall of kindness to remind them.
  4. Who’s Kind?  Research kind “heroes” from throughout history or literature and have each kid write a report about one person who inspired them to be kind.
  5. Write letters.  Help your kids write letters home to their parents or grandparents telling them how much they love and appreciate them.
  6. Start Kindness Journals.  Give each kid a notebook and ask them to record each time they do or see an act of kindness and how that act made them feel.
  7. Create a Kindness Chain. Start a chain of kindness that will reach your whole school or your whole city by challenging another classroom (or the whole school) to do something kind for someone else.
  8. The Giving Tree.  Read “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein and discuss how the tree showed kindness to the boy even when the boy wasn’t showing it in return.
  9. Make a List. Ask students to list the names of the other students in the room on a sheet of paper, leaving a space between each name. Think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down and turn in. Only positive comments are acceptable. Write the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and list what everyone else said about that individual. Give each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class will be smiling. Tell the students to fold them up and see how long they can keep them. 

How do you celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week?

KINDNESS COUNTS!


Comments | Posted by

Kim Madey

BragTags on the News

Wednesday, October 21, 2020 12:50:21 PM America/Los_Angeles

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School Life

Community Collaboration

Monday, October 12, 2020 11:17:38 AM America/Los_Angeles


Thank You for Being our Partner

Because needs are different during this pandemic, we're asking you for your input so we can better meet the needs of our education community. We’re asking for your help in spreading positivity, optimism and resilience in our schools. To show our appreciation for your input, we'll give you 100 BRAG BUCK$ credit to use on future orders. 

Please Comment Below About:
Any new design(s) or item(s) that you would find useful
Any feedback on how to improve an existing item
Anyhing we can change or update on our website

18 Comments | Posted by

School Life

HOW BRAG TAGS CAN BE USED TO PROMOTE YOUR SCHOOL’S GOALS

Saturday, April 20, 2019 10:44:00 AM America/Los_Angeles

We're often asked for ways to get the word out to students and staff about utilizing Brag Tags® in conjunction with school and/or classroom goals.

Below are some things we’ve learned over the 20+ years that we’ve been creating wearable incentives to positively motivate students, specifically through the use of Brag Tags®.

We know that students love being awarded Brag Tags! The sense of pride and accomplishment is evident by the instant smile upon a student’s face when awarded a Brag Tags. When Brag Tags are introduced into school wide goals, programs and expectations, it doesn’t take long to notice how motivated students become to earn and collect as many Brag Tags as possible throughout the school year. Brag Tags stimulate friendly competition between students and classrooms, and encourage goals and expectations to be met in order to earn more Brag Tags. Students proudly wear Brag Tags around their neck or dangle them from backpacks so that they can display their accomplishments to the world!

So, we know students love to be awarded Brag Tags, but just how can you bring awareness to students, staff and parents about utilizing Brag Tag as an incentive to meet desired goals, behaviors and expectations?

1. Giving every students a starter Brag Tag is a really good way to stimulate buzz, as this motivates students to earn more!

Read More...
Comments | Posted by

Kim Madey

Four make-or-break principles for motivating students

Friday, March 1, 2019 9:54:20 AM America/Los_Angeles

Many teachers are concerned about how to best motivate students. We want to appeal to intrinsic motivation rather than having students work for extrinsic rewards. None of us want to foster unhealthy competitiveness in our classroom. Teachers want to motivate ALL the students, not just the most able and brightest students. Here are four principles of motivation that need to be taken into account when designing a system of motivation.

1. Is the teacher impressed?

The most powerful aspect of any reward or recognition is how the teacher acts when giving it out. Teachers powerfully motivate their students when their affect is one of being impressed by the accomplishment. Students love to do something that "wows" their teacher. Children are motivated to do things that impress adults. When adults seem like they think the child really did something amazing, then the concrete form of the recognition doesn't matter. Even a slip of paper,if it's given out for an impressive accomplishment, will be highly sought after. A food prize, that is given out without caring by the teacher, will be worth little. The Olympic gold medal is powerful because of the recognition that everyone gives to that accomplishment--it has nothing to do with the actual token given. Read More...

Comments | Posted by

our Rocket Math partner Don Crawford

A word from Kim and Stacey of School Life

Monday, February 11, 2019 4:20:00 PM America/Los_Angeles


We sought a partnership with Angie of Lucky Little Learners because it was apparent to us that Angie's philosophies and goals are perfectly in sync with ours. Both companies have a a bottom line mission to enhance all aspects of education through positive student motivation and recognition.

We approached Angie because not only do we love her DIY Brag Tags, we also love the positive influence she has on the educational community. For more than 20 years, my sister, (Stacey) and I (Kim), have owned and operated School Life, and we love it! Our humble beginnings were made possible by the support and love of our father and partner Jim. Our family has deep roots in the public school system - our sweet Dad is a former principal and savvy business owner, and our cute Momma was the first female to be named High School Principal in one of the largest school districts in Texas, where she served tirelessly for over 20 years. Our aunts are retired teachers and librarians, so we learned early about the importance of quality education. The educational community, and student achievement, have always meant a lot to our family, so it has been our honor and goal from the very beginning to ensure that ALL students are being rewarded and recognized.

Over the past 20 years, to our delight, the Brag Tags® craze spread and we began seeing the positive effects everywhere! Being the registered owner of our trademarked term Brag Tags, it is our legal responsibility to protect our intellectual property. It was evident to us that Angie shares the same goals as we do, and even more evident that she is respected and loved. So we contacted Angie to ask about her interest in licensing Brag Tags® and creating a positive partnership with us to spread Brag Tag love to as many teachers and educational communities as possible.

Luckily, Lucky Little Learners saw the value in a positive partnership with School Life, and it was a match made in heaven. School Life and Lucky Little Learners partnered in January of 2019 to give ALL educators as much support as possible. We love hearing from you, so please, at any time, contact Kim & Stacey of SchoolLife.com or Angie of LuckyLittleLearners.com.

Cheers!
Kim & Stacey

Comments | Posted by

Kim Madey

School Life and Lucky Little Learners Partnership

Saturday, January 5, 2019 10:15:59 PM America/Los_Angeles

We are excited to announce our partnership with Angie Olson of Lucky Little Learners. At her website, you can discover a wealth of educational activity kits as well as the option of DIY Digital Download Brag Tags. These are a different kind of Brag Tag than what School Life offers. On Angie's website, you can purchase and download a rectangle Brag Tag template, then print, laminate, cut and hole punch the Brag Tags yourself.

DIY Brag Tags(Lucky Little Learners DIY Brag Tags)

“We partnered with Angie and Lucky Little Learners because we strive to offer our teacher and school customers options in wearable incentives that fit their specific needs,” said School Life co-founders Stacey & Kim. “Lucky Little Learner's Brag Tag system works well for those do-it-yourselfers.” At LuckyLittleLearners.com, you’ll find a full range of classroom management digital downloads as well as specific subject focused lesson plans, activities, games, and pedagogical tools that are fun, engaging, and very worthwhile. “I partnered with School Life because I know their products and philosophy fit well with mine, said Lucky founder Angie Olson. "Kim and Stacey are committed to improving schools and classrooms with their products and company.” Angie, furthermore, has an active network of educators with whom she corresponds, blogs and collaborates on the latest in educational strategies, classroom management and effective classroom activities. Check out her website and let us know what you think. We think you'll like what you discover.

Comments | Posted by

Blake Johnson

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