If you've never read my blog before today... WELCOME! My name is Tami and I teach 3rd grade at a Christian school in Ohio. I am passionate about educating our future generation, and especially doing so about our salvation in Jesus Christ.
When I head back to school, I make it point to start our year on a positive, God-honoring note. There's a BTS favorite picture book out there, you've probably heard of... Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud. If you haven't, without ruining it, I'll just say that it sends such a positive message to students about how to treat others. But, in teaching at a Christian school and in-looking at the world from a Biblical perspective, I wanted to utilize this book to do just that. I started to think through the Bible and the more I read in the New Testament, the more I began to realize that Jesus IS the ULTIMATE BUCKET FILLER!
So, on the first day of school, I read this book to my students. We talk about ways to be a Bucket Filler, how we can treat others, and how it feels when we treat others kindly; showing them love. Then, I read them this verse, Matthew 7:12 [NIV]
"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.."
You may have heard of this verse also as "The Golden Rule".... "treat others how you want to be treated." It is exactly what Jesus intends for us, to LOVE others the way we want to be loved. The way HE LOVES US. He is the ULTIMATE Bucket Filler, perfect and without sin. He showed everyone His Heavenly Father's love and did so especially by dying on the cross for our sins.
We spend time the first day studying this in my 3rd grade class to set a positive, Jesus-centered tone in our classroom.
I also have a plastic bucket I got one summer and have it hanging by the door to my room. I show my students that it is hanging there and it serves as our reminder to be a Bucket Filler to someone every day, just like Jesus. My students absolutely love this book and completely understand how to treat others kindly, and how not treating them kindly [or being a Bucket Dipper] is not a choice Jesus made. We strive to be like Him at our school, and this book takes that idea straight from the words and actions of Jesus Himself and makes them relevant for the brain and heart of an eight year old child.
If you teach in a Christian school, I hope this gives you a practical idea to implement in your classrooms to set a positive tone in your classroom. It would even be a great study for your whole school during Chapel!
I pray you are having a blessed beginning of the school year!
