Excellence Shoes

March is Excellence month at my school so all my classroom lessons focused on some aspect of the importance of trying your best. In first grade we read the book "My Shoes Take Me Where I Want to Go" by Minnesota author Marianne Richmond. The kids love the playfulness of the story and the concept of different shoes transforming them into different characters.

After reading the book we discuss the idea of wearing excellence shoes. I ask students to tell me why we should try our best in first grade. Common student responses include to make their teacher or parents proud, so they can become a Super Scholar (a recognition program at our school), to get a good report card, etc. Then I ask them what comes after first grade. This gets their brains working and they start to connect that each grade prepares them for the next year.

Students' Excellence shoes on display above their lockers.

I ask them to again think about their excellence shoes and where they want them to take them in their future. Each student is given a white cut-out of a shoe which they decorate based on what they want to become through hard work and trying their best. I collect the shoes at the end of our lesson and display them in the hallway by their classrooms. At the end of the first grade hallway I hung a sign that reads "wearing our excellence shoes to reach our dreams" to explain to the rest of the school why first grade has a track of shoes on top of their lockers! The kids love seeing their shoe when they come and go from their classroom and several other grade level teachers have commented on how much they like the excellence shoes. It has been a great reminder for students that we are focusing on effort and trying our best.

The sign in the first grade hallway announcing
that they're wearing their Excellence shoes.

Giraffes Can't Dance!

I love using books to teach concepts during my lessons! One of my favorites is "Giraffes Can't Dance" by Giles Andreae. Part of the reason I enjoy using this book is that it can fit many topics a counselor teaches. For this lesson my kindergarteners were learning about excellence. We read the story and talked about how each of us can become what we want. All we need is to find something we love and be willing to do our best at it.

 I relate the giraffe in the story to how if they do their best in kindergarten they will be ready for first grade and if they do their best in first grade they will be prepared for second grade and so on up to college and their future careers.


Students then think about what they want to try their best to become when they are older. We talk about how if we choose something we love we don't mind working hard for it. Each student chooses a giraffe cut-out which they transform into what they want to be when they grow up. I provide scrap paper for them to add to their giraffe cards to represent their future career. It is always fun to hear how excited they get thinking about what they might do when they are older. While the students work, I walk around and write down what each student is turning their giraffe into so I can label their cards. We conclude our lesson by talking about how their teacher is looking for them to give their best effort, even when things are challenging.

After our lesson, I create labels with each student's name and what they are trying their best to become. I hang the giraffe cards in the hallway next to their classroom with a sign that reads "Doing my best so I can...".  All month long students are reminded to work hard each and every day.