Resiliency Week in our classroom

Dear Parents,
This coming week will be especially important.  We have had a huge issue with bullying in our classroom and in our grade.  This is most evident with the girls, but we know that every student is impacted in one way or another by bullying.  This year, already, I am seeing some issues that I am not okay with.  I have been researching and discussing options with others who have experienced this.  I plan to attack these issues head on.  This week we will take a special focus on bullying and how to be positive and resilient human beings.  This week will benefit all students no matter where they fall in bullying situations. 
Parents, you can support your child by discussing situations that you have been through.  It would be great for them to hear about times that you were kind, times you felt you were a victim of bullying, and even times that maybe you were the bully.  I know this isn’t fun to talk about with our kids, but they need to hear it and understand the impact it has.  We have all made the choice to be unkind at some point in our life.  Share these things with your child.
I will be sharing a time from my childhood where I was especially unkind to another.  I justified myself by thinking that I was defending a friend when, in fact, I became a bully myself.  This left a lasting impression on me.  I know it also affected the other person and was reminded of that years later when I saw them again.  I will share this with the class to demonstrate the lasting impact that bullying has on our lives and that we are all capable of becoming the bully.  I am passionate about getting through to the class that this is an issue we need to solve right now.
The lessons this week will be coming from a place of compassion and love.  Like I said, everyone is affected by bullying.  When one of my children was affected, I came across a great motivational speaker named Brook Gibbs.  You can look him up.  He does a great job of teaching children how to be resilient.  I believe this is the best approach to stop bullying.  We need to empower our children to be able to handle these sad situations.  When we teach and train kids to be resilient, the bullies lose their impact and power over them.  And most times, the bullies have been victims themselves.
I will document the things we are doing in class throughout the week so that you can discuss these things at home as well.  Please email me or call the school with any questions or concerns.
Thank you in advance for your support,
Mrs. Zimm