First, let’s get to the SUPER SAVING DEALS, then a great classroom exercise you can do with your kids. 

Over the next few weeks I’ll be presenting the Bully-Free Amazing Wonder Show assembly in the following areas:

Michigan
Yonkers, New York
North Central Pennsylvania 

All of these areas are far from my home and in all of these areas I have days available before and after my visit where I could fit YOUR school in at a greatly reduced fee. Why? I love presenting my assembly and helping kids become bully-free. Traveling, on the other hand, is not one of my favorite pastimes, lol. So if you book me when I’m ALREADY in your area, you can save BIG BUCKS. If you are near any of these areas or are in places between theses areas and the greater Pittsburgh, PA area a great deal is waiting for you. If you are one of the schools out there that have a super tight budget, but have always wanted to host our assembly, this could be your opportunity. 

Call our offices for dates & areas available — 1-800-732-7469.

Get Kindergarten Up To Speed

Would you like to encourage your kindergarten and first graders to do a better job at report bullying? Some of the challenge happens because the kids aren’t sure quite sure whom to tell. Sure, they know their teacher, but what if the teacher isn’t nearby and another suitable adult is? Create a Wall Of Helpers (WOH). A WOH is a simple way to get kids connected to all the people they can report bullying.

Take a photo of each possible person: teachers, principal, counselor, school nurse, etc. These picture don’t have to be “glamour shots”. Just every day, ordinary photos. Print them up. Then print up the adults; names small cards. A marker and construction paper will do nicely. 

Now you have the props, you’re ready to play! Have the kids match up the names (after you’ve read them aloud) with the picture of the adult. After only a few games the kids will know EVERYONE they can seek for help. Knowing the adult’s name goes a long way in getting kids connected and getting them to report bullying. 

BTW, while this is a good activity now, the idea is a GREAT activity for the beginning of the school year and gets the kids “up to speed” in a hurry. Make sure you bookmark it for next fall. 

Until next time — STAY BULLY-FREE!!

Chris Dixon
1-800-732-7469

Message: Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a trick that illustrates the hurt of painful words and healing power of helpful, kind words. A paper heart is shown. As it is torn to pieces, a different hurtful remark is mentioned. The students are asked for helpful, caring words that would support the bullying victim. As these words are said, the once torn heart is restored!

Trick: You tear a paper heart into pieces. The students say the “magic” words and the torn pieces magically come back together!

The Secret: Cut out two identical hearts from red paper. Tissue paper or other thing paper works best. Construction paper usually too thick for this trick. Get a glue stick and you’re ready to prepare for this trick. Before the performance fold the second heart into a small square and paste it to the back of the first heart. During the trick tear the first heart into pieces and keep putting the them in front while the second napkin stays hidden in back. Fold the torn pieces forward into a small package. Turn the whole bundle over and unfold the second napkin while you keep the bundle of torn pieces towards you and behind the first napkin.

Be sure you try this in your classroom. Like many things in magic, the method is simple but the impact can be HUGE

The Bully-Free Amazing Wonder Show assembly is still the BEST, MOST EFFICIENT way to get all of your students back on the right track for the second semester. It’s more than just great assembly presentation. It’s a great assembly presentation coupled with enough support materials to fill up your entire bullying prevention calendar! (You do have a bullying prevention calendar, don’t you?)

Get more information about getting the assembly at your school here or call 1-800-732-7469.

Until next time — STAY BULLY-FREE!!

Chris Dixon
1-800-732-7469

Friday, January 27 the Bully-Free Amazing Wonder Show visited P.S. #36 in Staten Island, New York. It was my third year visiting the school so I knew what to expect.

★Great faculty ✓
★Great kids ✓
★And great pizza at Mona Lisa’s Pizzeria! ✓✓✓✓✓✓

Every time I’ve visited this school I’ve made a post-assembly visit to Mona Lisa’s (Thank you for the recommendation, Lilliann!) Mona Lisa’s Pizzeria is pizza heaven on earth. A real New York pizzeria is unlike another any other pizzeria in the country.

★The quality is A1 best! In a competitive market like New York, a shop has to have repeat customers to thrive. Repeat customers only come through A1 best quality.
★Great prices! This is Leonard Da Vinci pizza at graffiti artist prices!
★The selection is incredibly varied. You’ll find flavors & styles you can’t find anywhere else.
★You not only get different sizes of pizza, you can buy your pizza by the slice, a rarity in most other parts of the U.S.  

What’s this have to do with stopping bullying
& anti-bullying assemblies? 

Everything. Let’s look at each one.

★The quality is A1 best! In a competitive market like New York, a shop has to have repeat customers to thrive. Repeat customers only come through A1 best quality.  

There are dozens of assembly programs that claim to be “A1 best”. But how many are hosted by schools six, seven, eight, nine and even TEN times? I only know of one: the Bully-Free Amazing Wonder Show. Virtually any assembly can “get the gig” the first time. That’s a function of good promotional material. REPEAT assembly customers only happen to great assemblies. 

★Great prices! This is Leonard Da Vinci pizza at graffiti artist prices!

You chose a career in education because you wanted to become a millionaire, right? LOL. Neither did we. Here’s how we like to do things: We want to work with you to work with us. Simply put, even for schools that have significant travel expense for us, we are able to work out very competitive prices, especially when schools work together to host the program the same day. Contact me for details for your school. 

★The selection is incredibly varied. You’ll find flavors & styles you can’t find anywhere else.
★You not only get different sizes of pizza, you can buy your pizza by the slice, a rarity in most other parts of the U.S.

Variety

There is no single “magic wand” you can wave over your school to make bullying disappear. The truth is you need MANY different magic wands (tools, techniques, concepts, idea, lesson plans, posters, etc) to stop bullying at your school. 

Compare this to the 4 or 5 pages of "support" most other assemblies offer!

One of the things that makes our assembly so awesome is that it is MORE THAN AN ASSEMBLY. It’s virtually an entire bullying prevention package!! 

• 45 lesson plans covering virtually every topic of bullying prevention
• Posters
• DVD and CD
• Educational souvenir for each student

Size 

When the Bully-Free Amazing Wonder Show assembly visits your school it’s a BIG event. Big events should to be a part of your bullying prevention plan. And not only our assembly, but in-school events you can create like the “B.O.B. the Fish” assembly, the “Balloon” assembly, the “Toothpaste” assembly and the “Poster” assembly — all described in our support materials! For small events, you have support materials filled with dozens of lessons and exercises you can do with your students on a daily, monthly and weekly basis. 

The Bottom Line

As someone who spoken to over one millions students, parents and educators, I am uniquely prepared to help your school become bully-free. We produce the affordable, A1 best anti-bullying assembly that will give you the tools to stop bullying at your school. With all the tools our assembly program provides, there’s one thing we can’t do: read your mind. In other words, you have to make the first and very small step: contact us. It amazes me how often I hear educators tell me…

“I’ve been reading about your emails and blog for years and we finally decided to host your assembly and I’m glad we did. It’s great!” 

You don’t have to wait so long. Take the first step. Give us a call at 1-800-732-7469 or go here and request information and we’ll contact you at your convenience.

Best,

Chris Dixon

Happy New Year & Welcome Back!

As the second semester begins, don’t forget bullying prevention is like bathing — just because you did it last month doesn’t mean you don’t need to do it now.  

But it’s snowing outside…
And it’s wicked cold (at least in Pittsburgh)…
And would it be bad to just coast just this one time? 

Well, yes. Successful bullying prevention is accomplished through a plan that emphasizes the consistency of daily & weekly smaller actions & events working with less frequent, large events like assemblies. 

The Bully-Free Amazing Wonder Show assembly is still the BEST, MOST EFFICIENT way to get all of your students back on the right track for the second semester. It’s more than just great assembly presentation. It’s a great assembly presentation coupled with enough support materials to fill up your entire bullying prevention calendar! (You do have a bullying prevention calendar, don’t you?) 

Get more information about getting the assembly at your school here or call 1-800-732-7469.

Until next time — STAY BULLY-FREE!!

Chris Dixon
1-800-732-7469 

There are some bullying prevention ideas that are so much fun, I repeat them in my newsletters and blog every few years just to make sure new readers can join in on the fun, too.

This wonderful idea will only cost about eight cents a kid. How is that for affordable? I encountered this activity at a school in 2002. I had just finished presenting the Bully-Free Amazing Wonder Show. I then witnessed one of the most unusual bully prevention exercises I’ve ever seen.  

Hundreds of inflated balloons were brought on to the gym floor, until each kid was holding a balloon. Then the counselor instructed the children to put the balloon on the floor to symbolize “stomping out bullying” at their school. The kids complied and what followed was about 60 seconds of good, clean fun. (I don’t know why, but there is just something inherently funny and fun about 300+ kids stomping out balloons.)    

 Of course, there are safety concerns with several hundred kids trying to stomp anything, let alone bouncing balloons. If you should decide to do this, you do so at your own risk. But if safety is maintained and you make sure the kids realize you are stomping out “bullying” — an action, and not “bullies” — people, this could be a very, very fun and novel event for your school. 

“They were such nice students when they left for the winter break. What happened to them??!!“

Average teacher marveling how all kids (especially bullies) seem to want to test boundaries when they return in January

For the past dozen years the months of September and October have been the busiest period for my Bully-Free Amazing Wonder Show assembly. The second busiest? January! It’s the time where educators every where realize…  

Bullying prevention is like bathing, just because you did it yesterday doesn’t mean you don’t have to do it today! 

And there’s no better way to jump start that “second bath” than hosting the Bully-Free Amazing Wonder Show assembly program.  Get on board with us for the winter of 2012! Call 1-800-732-7469 or fill out the form here to get all the details, including available dates and fees. 

Until next time, stay bully-free!

Chris Dixon
1-800-732-7469 

Stopping bullying in a lunch bag

Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal about school lunch box notes.

Ms. Swanson, an associate professor of architecture at the University of Kentucky, likes to show her kids she loves them with art and notes. “You could probably psychoanalyze moms by the notes they leave in their kids lunches,” she says.

The lunch-box note used to be an occasional smiley face on scratch paper. Now it’s an elaborate fixture of the school cafeteria. Some kids complain when they don’t get a lunch note. Or they may compare lunch notes with friends. Parents hear about it when their efforts fall short.

I can’t help but think there’s some application here to bullying prevention, not only in lunch bags but on lunch trays, too.

Read the article and let me know what you think…

“January, it’s like the beginning of a brand new year!” 

For the past dozen years the months of September and October have been the busiest period for my Bully-Free Amazing Wonder Show assembly. The second busiest? January! It’s the time where educators every where realize…  

Bullying prevention is like bathing, just because you did it yesterday doesn’t mean you don’t have to do it today! 

And there’s no better way to jump start that “second bath” than hosting the Bully-Free Amazing Wonder Show assembly program.  Get on board with us for the winter of 2012! Call 1-800-732-7469 or fill out the form here to get all the details, including available dates and fees. 

Until next time, stay bully-free!

Chris Dixon
1-800-732-7469 

Thanksgiving is over. I don’t know which was stuffed more. Me or the turkey? Probably the turkey at first, then me! With Thanksgiving done, the holiday season begins in earnest and along with it, challenges for bullying prevention. 

File this blog post under the heading of “to be forewarned is to be forearmed”, a “word to the wise is sufficient” and “thanks for the reminder” 

Religious intolerance

An old joke from legendary comic Emo Phillips

Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, “Don’t do it!” He said, “Nobody loves me.” I said, “God loves you. Do you believe in God?”

He said, “Yes.” I said, “Are you a Christian or a Jew?” He said, “A Christian.” I said, “Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?” He said, “Protestant.” I said, “Me, too! What franchise?” He said, “Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?” He said, “Northern Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?”

He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.” I said, “Me, too!”

Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.” I said, “Die, heretic!” And I pushed him over.

Whether it is a school with one or two kids who aren’t of the prevailing faith or a school where two, three or more faiths are evenly represented, religious differences (or more accurately, intolerance of differences) can lead to bullying and other forms of conflict. 

Materialism

Some families are more materially blessed than others.
Some families give bigger gifts than others. 
A world that seems to having a progressively larger gap between the “haves and have-nots” can be a tough place for kids and fertile ground for bullying. And I’m guessing in the current tough economic times this situation is worse than it ever was, when Mom and/or Dad are frequently unemployed or underemployed. It would be the height of naivete to think these stresses aren’t carried over by the kids in your school. And this is especially apparent at holiday time. To put it in 1950s terms, one kid gets a electric train track and another gets a lump of coal. 

Until Next Time – Stay Bully-Free

Chris Dixon
1-800-732-7469

PS: A few dates are still available on our winter and spring 2012 schedule. Don’t hesitate. Get on board! Get the details here and more details here.

We’ve done a major overhaul to the website and want to celebrate with a poster giveaway to our subscribers. Here are the details.

FOUR happy winners will receive a 4-pack of our great Bully-Free Four S.T.A.R. Steps posters (a$20.00 value) If you’re already a subscriber to our email newsletter, you’re already entered. If you’re not a subscriber (or just not sure) go here and fill out the form by 7pm Eastern time November 29, 2011 and we’ll enter your name.

The winner will be drawn and notified the morning of November 29.

If you aren’t one of the four winners, don’t worry, as we’ll have plenty of opportunities to win prizing during the school year.

Best,

Chris Dixon

1-800-732-7469

If you’re reading this, you’re working too hard! Get home and eat too much, laugh too much and love too much. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! 

Chris Dixon

Right now we are in the midst of reloading the site with new bullying resources. Come back MONDAY NOVEMBER 28 @ 8AM for the grand debut of the NEW BullyFreeSchools.com!!!