Gratitude and Growth: Positively Impacting Learning Environments

Research-based Gratitude activities help educators and students succeed and thrive.

·        Gratitude Journal - Use this prompt that encourages students and teachers to look more deeply into why they are grateful: “Thank you for _____because________________.”

 

Change Educators/Students Gratitude Routines - To avoid “Gratitude Fatigue,” keep activities fun and novel. For example:

·        Have educators and students write gratitude statements to each other on sticky notes.

·        Make a Gratitude Facebook page for students, teachers, and the entire school community.

·        Turn a “Gripe into a Gratitude.” Have students and teachers turn complaints into statements of Gratitude. For example, “I hate doing my homework” can be flipped into “I am grateful I get to learn by doing my homework. It will help me get a good job someday.”

·        Let student and teachers create their own Gratitude activities for class, using their strengths and interests.

Incorporate Gratitude Activities into Induction and Mentoring Programs. New teachers will:

·        Write and deliver a “Gratitude Letter” to someone who helped them become an educator. Research shows this helps both giver and receiver.

·        Incorporate a few moments into their daily routine to pause and keep a “Grateful” perspective.

Incorporate Gratitude Activities into existing curriculum to make it easier to use. Students will

·        Have students compose a “Gratitude Letter” to someone they are grateful for as a part of an English writing assignment. (If possible, have them deliver the letter and read it to them.)

·        Research a historical figure that had a positive impact on the world and write about why they are grateful for them as part of a Social Studies assignment.

·        Incorporate Gratitude into art, music, science or technology projects.

Points to Consider:

·        Gratitude improves teachers’ and students’ social ties to each other, families, and the school community, building a positive learning community and encouraging radical collaboration.

·        Gratitude can be used to help educators and students build resilience to survive and thrive through the challenges of a school year by re-framing how they view challenges. 

·        Educators should practice Gratitude activities personally before they give it to their students so they can tell their students of the potential benefits.

·        Gratitude is much more than a pleasant emotion; it is a conscious choice, a way of seeing and interacting with the world. 

·        Gratitude is a powerful tool that can help reshape education and promote a positive culture in any classroom or school.

References: Gratitude: A Way of Teaching, Owen M.Griffith, Rowman and Littlefield, 2016.