Wonder Book Club with Ramona Recommends

I'm so happy to be joining Ramona Recommends' Book Club this month! We read Wonder by R.J. Palacio and I was so excited because it's been on my to-read list for a long time now!

I LOVED this book! It should definitely be on upper elementary/middle/high school must read lists since it forces you to really take a look and think about how we treat people.

It definitely made me take a deeper look at how I handle students treating each other in the classroom and on the playground. Even though respect and kindness aren't exactly Common Core standards, they should be mandatory themes we teach & model in our classrooms everyday.

Now with a little man of my own, I realize that how he treats others is one of the most important things he'll be learning in life. That regardless of how someone looks, or what they wear, or what they have, everyone has a story. And feelings.

As much as I hate to admit, in the past, I've had a tendency to gloss over things that maybe I should have tried to gain a deeper understanding of. This year, one of my goals is to make sure that I'm working my hardest to better understand every student's story. Even the students who might not be my "favorite" or the students who act out... Because I've noticed that when I'm annoyed with certain students, other students become annoyed too- they mimic our behavior.

This quote from Pinterest sticks out to me...

Here's my precept!

I'm also planning on using Ramona Recommend's "Don't Be a Bully" Pack from TPT! I'll definitely be able to use this with my second graders with some scaffolding, especially at the beginning of the year!