I tell all my classes that my most important job is to keep them safe. Their parents entrust me with their care, and I will always do my best to protect both their bodies and their hearts.

Our words are powerful, and they can tear others down or build them up. We should taste our words before we spit them out. Are they sweet?

Then we discussed the poem in this picture. We shared how words have hurt our hearts and our hearts take longer to heal than our bodies.

I cut out a large paper heart. We passed the heart around and as each child recalled a time his/her heart was hurt, he/she crumbled a piece of the heart. In the end, the heart was all wrinkled and even had a few tears. We passed the heart around again and as we stated encouraging words, each of us tried to smooth out the heart. Although it looked better, we realized that it would never be the same as it was when we started.

We finished by reading the story, Heartprints by Hallinan. The author explains that we leave a heartprint behind each time we do something kind.

  Therefore encourage one another and build each other up.
1Thessalonians 5:11