First Angry Note

Bucket Filling is all the rage in so many classrooms now adays. It is supposed to help students help others feel better and more positive, eliminating the idea of bullying. Who wants to feel bad? We all want to feel good. I had experienced bucket-filling during my field work in  Milwaukee Public Schools and when I saw that one of my co-teachers was doing it, I thought "What a great idea!" and I ran with her idea. Especially with so many students who need that extra positive boost, I figured it would be a great thing to have.

So in my classroom, I have bucket slips that students can fill out. These slips then go into a class bucket. Each week we try to fill the bucket. Then I have volunteers put them into pockets that have the students' names on them. I ordered a hanging jewelry holder with plastic pockets and I used address labels to label each student's slot. The slips of paper are folded in half and slip into the pockets. Then, before tests, or sometimes on a random day, I tell the students they can get a bucket filler.

Last week we were doing WKCE testing, so I heavily encouraged students to fill out bucket fillers for all students so that they would be able to read one before testing. During that week, one of my student volunteers showed me that another student wrote an anonymous note to another student saying "You smell bad, take a shower." It was a one-time incident and with the high stress of testing, I didn't want to lay it on the students, so I let it go, especially since the student did not receive the note. I took a little extra time and went through a few of the students' pockets to make sure the notes were appropriate.

So this week was going well, except one girl was really fighting me. You can't always have a happy day with everyone all of the time, but when you're breaking the rules and not following policy, don't be angry at me for it. It isn't my fault you were on your phone or that you were excessively tardy for class.

On Friday I cleaned out my bucket filler pocket (yes, I have one, too). It had been a long week and there were only three. So I read the first couple, and they were very nice and made me laugh. Then I had one from the girl I was battling with during the week. "I am filling Bonilla's bucket Your' fat and mean"  She even signed her name. Over under the picture of the bucket on the paper, she wrote BIT. I wasn't sure how to react. I didn't react personally, but I needed to know if there was a procedure for this. Do I need to show it to the special education teacher? 

I shared it with my co-workers in my house and was told I just need to file it away. Date it and treasure it. One of my co-workers showed me her first angry note and had a good laugh about it. And then we focused on the grammatical issues and lack of punctuation and we joked about how it could be turned into a grammar lesson.

How nice it was to have a silly perspective on the situation. The funny thing is, I think she put it in the pocket a while ago, without me being in the room, a few days ago. She even thanked me for the incentive cookie from earlier when we spoke at the end of the day.

It is what it is, but I have so many positive relationships with students, I can't be phased by a note like this from an angry student who has issues controlling their emotions anyways. Let it be an outlet if it lessens their rage. If more start to appear, then there might be an issue. But I think after Thanksgiving, I'm going to have a talk with the students about remembering the point of the Bucket, indirectly addressing the problems. Reminding them that they are doing exactly what bucket filling is meant to stop, and that's bucket dipping.