Love Notes

As a 5th grade teacher, I personally feel like Valentine's day cards are overrated, and mean nothing. Also, they are annoying because they are all about candy - which our district is trying to avoid. Thankfully, I have a friend (same friend who helped design the crossfit for kids - she is awesome) who taught me her wonderful way of "love notes."

The first thing I do is create envelopes with my students names on them. They are decorated nicely, and I hang them up before they kids get to school, about a month before (usually after MLK Jr holiday).

Then I explain my feelings about Valentine's Cards, and the point of Valentine's day (to actually show someone you care). So, I tell them that we are going to do something different. We are going to write love notes to each other. I usually get gasps, and ooohs. Then I explain the different types of love, and how we can love someone even if they are just our friends.

Then, I explain what love notes look like. They are compliments to each other. I also tell them that they are going to choose two people at random (I put everyones name twice into a hat). I love when people get someone they just don't like very much, and are forced to find something nice about them. Once they have written to their two people, they can write to whomever they want to. It's fun to see the kids who want to write to everyone.

Then on Valentine's day they get to open their notes - in silence. I make sure they absorb how their classmates view them. Then we discuss how they feel, and which notes made them feel really good. It really is fun to see how the students see their classmates in a new light.