A Curriculum of kindness
A look at creating fluent English Language Learners through building a community by treating others the way you want to be treated.

Primary, State sector
Nancy Schwartz, USA

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As I sit down to write this piece, my own life's curriculum of kindness seems to take precedence. This is okay because I model what I want my ELL students to do and learn. We visit my children's great grandma in the hospital, "bubby" they call her. Her smile lights up as she blows kisses to Sam and Josh during our visit at the rehab hospital. My friend, Sharon calls as I try to write more and tells me her throat hurts and she knows she should call the doctor but she has to put herself after her children. No I tell her, take time to take care of Sharon, as a wise friend, Mark had reminded me. The conversation takes time from writing but I know it is important. Sharon phones back to tell me she thought of what I said about taking care of Sharon and she called the doctor and is feeling better. Michael, my husband starts a new job after nine months without one. I was going to write but I take my two year old by the hand and travel to get a cake with blue flowers that Josh picks, we have the women at the grocery bakery write, Congratulations Daddy :! The time is ticking to write this. Ruth and David friends from long ago call and say David's grandfather died. I listen I console and offer our family will visit. The curriculum of kindness is also in what others like My Mom, My husband's Parents, Aunt Paula and Uncle Stan did. They were there to support my family through nine months of my husband's unemployment. When my husband's brother died, our neighbors, coincidentally also named Nancy and Michael Reilly- went in to our apartment walked our dog and filled our refrigerator with home cooked meals and food. Those meals- and the kindness they represented, feed our souls, to this day! My own sister and how she is always there to lend a kind word or support. My professor, Dr. Ailing Kong and her reminder to never stop learning and growing is another model for the curriculum of kindness. Pam Allen at Columbia University's Teacher's College said that through loss comes kindness and I think that is true. My book group- a bunch of women who I do not think I could survive without their love. My children in whose faces I see the sun rise. My husband who's constant behind the scene work allows me to achieve professionally. My other sister and mentor Susie Garber who is my constant role model. My mentor at school Jane Dugdale who without her guidance I would not be where I am today. My principal, Sharon is the kindest leader. She models every day how we should treat others. My neighbor at school, Janet, is the kind of person that makes you happy to go to work. My students, parents, and colleagues are a community of kind and peaceful people. I am lucky every day I get to spend with them. It is this unending love and kindness that keeps me here and able to help others. I think that is our reason for being. All these things are all part of who and what I am writing. No- you say this has nothing to do with teaching. Ah, but I think it is all there is. We must be the change we wish to see in the world, as Gandhi states. Show students by our example how to do unto others, as we would have them do to us. Wayne Dyer, the prolific writer, said acts of kindness have been shown to boost immunity and seretonin levels in the doer, receiver and the person observing the kind act!

I am teaching in an Elementary School in the Radnor Township School District. I teach in a suburb of Philadelphia. I have fifteen students that are of varying degrees of fluency, according to Ruth Swinney's language acquisition chart they range from, "Stage I- Pre Production, Stage II Early Production, Stage III Speech Emergent, Stage IV Intermediate fluency to Stage V Fluency." The countries my students come from are: China, Korea, Burma, Mongolia, Africa, Sweden, Israel, Ukraine, Mexico and Pakistan The program at Wayne Elementary is a push in and pull out program, called English Language Learning. The proficiency of my students is varied from high proficiency with a need for strictly mechanical writing support to lower proficiency with higher needs in reading, writing, speaking and listening in English. The students I teach come from all over the world. They are each my teacher and I honor them as the unbelievable people they are. I am in awe of how they constantly and endlessly, love everyone, keep working and never give up! Looking over time at these students I am happy to say I see huge changes in the area of English Language Learning for all of them. I see the relevance and need for support of their ELL learning for a longer time but I also see their potential to soar.
Temuulen, a third grader, is taking her writing to a new level with her understanding of the curriculum of kindness and the way it can bridge her world from Mongolia to her world here in the United states Bogdan, a second grader, from the Ukraine was not able to speak an English sentence quickly when I first worked with him this year. He is currently talking so fast and much in English that at times I have to ask him to please wait a minute. Gerardo, a second grader, from Mexico- when I first worked with him had barely any English words for what he wanted to express. He was having periods of frustration and had some fights because of his difficulty communicating. I am proud to say he is no longer in fights and can express himself quite well using the English language. Both Gerardo and Bogdan are able to use invented spelling, pictures and acting out to show what they mean in English.
Unser a kindergartner from Urdu, another amazing student while making huge gains such as interacting with peers and teachers is still emerging as an ELL learner. Through play and the lessons of the curriculum of kindness: he too is making huge strides.
The curriculum of kindness is a way to lay a foundation for learning. Under any thing you want students to learn this kindness is there. It becomes the most important focal point. It means that all students treat others the way they want to be treated. I first learned about the term curriculum of kindness from Pam Allen at Teachers College during a summer institute years ago. It quickly became the backbone of not only my teaching but also for my life. It means no gossip and taking into account others by seeing them, as Lucy Calkins said with your heart not just your eyes. For the ELL learner it means specifically taking into account as a dear friend Jeanette says our soothing similarities and delightful differences. This dear friend Jeanette also says that children need to know there are limits like a guardrail at the Empire state building. She said kids like adults want to touch the guard rail to know it is there for safety and security but that we as adults do not need barbed wire on it just that this is the limit. I think also as another dear friend, Deirdre said, good neighbors have good fences so too children need to know this. The curriculum of kindness is that guardrail and that good fence; it allows students to be themselves while maintaining the limits and laws of the school. I focus on the positive strides that my ELL learners make. This curriculum minimizes the weaknesses our students bring to their class. This way it allows them to appreciate others and to be a true part of the entire school community. This is my ultimate hope for our children in our schools and in our world. They all deserve a safe place to grow and blossom.

This way of teaching or philosophy has the ELL teacher thinking of all children as if they were their own children. When I approach my ELL students in this way it allows me to implement my basic idea that we all must treat others the way you want to be treated. My Mom a great Art Teacher, taught me that my rule could be Treat others the way you want to be treated- so that is my one constant rule. My father who passed away taught me to always keep the faith. My husband's parents taught me to always believe in people. I try to trust my students the way they taught me to trust myself. Regardless of my students country whether it is Morocco, Pakistan, Africa, Korea, China, Israel, Iran, Burma, or Sweden- they know they are respected and accepted into the community of learners.

To do this I set up from the start that gossip and hurtful comments and gestures are not allowed. Lots of time is spent on this community building because as Katherine Bomer said "With community you can do anything and without it you can do nothing." In doing so, I hope the ELL students feel accepted and respected for who they are and where they are from. Each one has a world to teach our world. Behavior problems disappear with this way of teaching because everyone is valued regardless of their level of competency or fluency. The idea of treating others, as you would want to be treated is a universal idea. In china it is called (jisuobuyu, wushiyuren) I like to acknowledge students L1 by starting each class with hello in those students language. Each child learns to say hello in Chinese(Nihau), Burmese(Minglaba), Urdu (Salaam), Korean(Anyounghasayoh), and Russian (Dubraootra), Hebrew(Shalom)Morrocan (Salaam Alakeem) Mongolian (Sano) Swahilian (Habari) etc… It is also a fun way to learn about other people and places.

At the start of the year I have students build a wall of kindness to enforce this curriculum of kindness. This wall of kindness tears down the walls of divisiveness through creating a common ground of kindness as everyone's goal and language. First we establish what kindness means and we may need the L1 to explain this. Next I simply distribute a post-it note and ask the question-"Was there a kind act that you did or that someone else did for you?" Some ELL students have enough English to describe a kind act but it may not be grammatically correct. I accept all answers and I then write the correct grammatical statement on the board. For example a student I have from Russia may say "My Aunt give me an aquarium." I then would say wow that is a kind act! I would write on the board as I repeat, "My aunt gave me an aquarium." This allows children to feel they are not being corrected but being guided. It is a fine line. But as Ruth Swinney said at the Teachers College we do not want to constantly tell the ELL learner they are wrong because they will give up. Again think how we would feel if we were in Korea learning Korean!

Some students I have cannot articulate yet at all in English for this group they can draw a picture of their kind act and or they can act it out. This allows for vocabulary acquisition while maintaining a safe, fun and meaningful atmosphere for learning English to take place. Acting out can be a lot fun because actions are universal in all cultures and can be named in English or any language. It is a true blessing to see ELL students behaving kindly to each other. I feel they could teach our world this curriculum of kindness so we would have a world of peace.

I try to model my own behavior in the way I want my students to act. Just as Russ Walsh at Saint Joseph's University taught me I walk away from others that gossip. I dress nicely especially on days that are tough. I try to go through a whole day and just say positive things. I learn about my colleagues and their hopes and families. I try to be kind to my family and know they are as Dr. Ailing Kong taught me a part of what makes my rainbow. This way of teaching is also a way of living which allows me to love my life and what I do. Teaching as Russ Walsh said is not just a job- it is a way of living. My interactions with parents and colleagues reflect my philosophy of treating others the way you want to be treated and I allow the students to see this too. I invite any parent who chooses to come to school to learn English along with their child and help us out. I had one parent this year, Maria, Gerardo's Mom come each week. It was gratifying to watch her English grow and her child love having her be a part of his school life. Gerardo also increased his fluency- he saw school as important enough for his parent to be a part of it. This speaks volumes about his family and his chance for success in learning English.

Through my ability to help others my students learn to help each other. If a child is new, I pair them with a student that has been here. This allows the child that has been here to shine as the expert and allows the new student to have a guide that they can rely on to help them feel comfortable. It is like having a tour guide in a new country. The interactions between my students are treated with as much import as the literacy curriculum itself. People have asked where I presented- how do you have time to fit in all this kindness stuff? I say we do not have time not to. Look at the current newspaper and you will understand the urgency for a curriculum of kindness. Through understanding of others we have a hope for a world of peace.

I set up a happy call schedule early on to allow parents to know the positive strides their children are making. Life is short we must focus on all the students can do! Some parents I have may not have enough English to understand a happy call- I will then get the L1 translated phonetically so I can call and in Romanian say (fatchin otriabo buna) _ your child is doing a good job. Even if I butcher the language the parent who is my partner in this marriage of teaching the child, knows I tried. I think ultimately that is our goal. We cannot know every wrong move or nuance in every culture- but if our intention is to be kind and treat others the way we want to be treated we cannot fail.

This building of the curriculum of kindness is further established through use of literature that encourages kind act responses. Some of the literature that I used this year to echo the ideas of kindness are Hey Ant, I Like Your Buttons , The Keeping Quilt and Dog Heaven. Almost all literature can be adapted to demonstrate kindness towards other living beings. It is a question of level and appropriateness. Read aloud time is a wonderful way to model for ELL students grammatically correct English as well as how to respond and think metacognitively. I have used bilingual storybooks too.

Students in my class are also encouraged to read on their own in a reading workshop and at home. I have them sign out books daily. At times the books may be in their L1 or they may only have pictures but the act of reading is there. This emphasis on a love of reading is also modeled by me in that I share my own reading life with my students and how I am reading certain books for my graduate work, book group or for my own enjoyment. I show them the process I use when I find beautiful lines or things that remind me of other things. I take them through my thinking and reading process. Students are also asked to informally share their reading lives. Some love to research areas of interest such as Bogdan from Russia, he was amazed to learn in a non-fiction text that there is such a thing as flying snakes! He was so amazed that he shared it with everyone in English on our way to class one day. Pam a teacher in our school gave her own petrified response, which was wonderful because he used English to tell her and she used English to respond to him. Bogdan learned that day that his reading life was powerful and he could even gross out a teacher or two with it! So as Randy Bomer said at Teacher's College as a reader he saw the importance of response or talking to others around a text.

Writing is another stage that allows students to learn about the curriculum of kindness. ELL students in my classes have a chance to publish and become famous using their writing. Just as Dr. Fu in An Island of English says I allow students that are more fluent in their L1 to write in that first. They all keep their own writers notebook in the style of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. They are allowed to stretch out their ideas with confidence while know they must only write appropriate words, no cursing, deep secrets or gossip. Students are encouraged but not forced to share their writing informally. They sit in listening posture. They make eye contact to the speaker and give positive comments at the end of a share time.

Then students I teach are encouraged to take their ideas and polish them like a beautiful diamond. They can publish them through peer and teacher edits. My students Gerardo and Bogdan published pieces on a response to the poem I Never Saw Another Butterfly… a poem from a child in the Holocaust that really perished. In the poem the child talks about not seeing another butterfly because butterflies do not live here … Gerardo understood the poem and wrote about Mariposa Spanish for butterfly (I will send sample when article is accepted) Bogdan chose to write about his kindness towards the ducks on a recent zoo trip of his. We worked on editing and the principal of our school took their final copies and read them over the loud speaker in the morning announcement time. This gave the students a voice and a sense e of accomplishment that again gave them the keys to be a true part of our community. Gerardo's Mom volunteered and came to school to help type their work. It was such a blessing to see her work at typing and the children working with her to express their ideas.

At the end of the day when I think of my ELL students I want them to love living here in this community and at the same time I want them to stretch and challenge themselves to reach for the stars with their learning and their abilities. They each have unlimited potential and as Chungwha from Korea said, "wonderful job." He said this to me and I think ultimately I want to do a wonderful job and feel it in my heart. I am happy each day I can be at work it does not even feel like work unless progress or testing reports are due. I count my blessings each day that I am alive to have the supreme privilege to learn along side my children. Of course I have to thank my own children Josh- two and Sam nine months that taught me the curriculum of kindness and how to acquire language. Josh says" I wub you" when he is told I love you and I know just what he means!

Please check the Methodology & Language for Primary Teachers course at Pilgrims website.