Are you grateful? Are your students? Did you know that studies show that people who are grateful sleep better, have higher energy levels, have higher self-esteem, and are happier? When is the last time you asked your students what they are grateful for? And while this may be too personal question to have students answer out loud, I’m sure you could encourage your students to write down one thing they are grateful for once a week or even every day! Looking for things to be grateful for helps retrain neural pathways to see the good in life rather than the bad. Don’t students need this ability? Don’t you and I?
If you don’t want to implement a gratitude exercise in class every day, that’s understandable. But how about once in a while when you finish class a few minutes early but don’t have quite enough time to start a new activity?
Give your students this sheet to put in their notebooks and have them fill it in occasionally.
I came across this article that is an interesting read about gratitude of historical figures in their own words. My absolute favorite quote is from Frederick Douglass:
“From Mas’r Daniel I got protection from the bigger boys, and from Miss Lucretia I got bread by singing when I was hungry, and sympathy when I was abused by the termagant in the kitchen. For such friendship I was deeply grateful, and bitter as are my recollections of slavery, it is true pleasure to recall any instances of kindness, any sunbeams of humane treatment, which found way to my soul, through the iron grating of my house of bondage. Such beams seem all the brighter from the general darkness into which they penetrate, and the impression they make there is vividly distinct.” Frederick Douglass, 1882
Frederick Douglass was in SLA-VER-Y. He found something to be thankful for in his life of slavery. What a great attitude! He chose to find some good in the injustice of his early life. He was not a victim. He was a victor, an overcomer. And look at what he accomplished!
I am a very big advocate of not making people into victims. Students who feel empowered and grateful will accomplish far more than those who feel the world is out to get them. Be grateful! Write down what you are grateful for. Look for that silver lining! You’ll be better for it and so will your students.