It's a Trick, but a Treat!
By: Aaryn Birchell
My Grandma Snow had a non-negotiable Halloween tradition. If you wanted a treat, you had to do a trick. Whether it was playing a song on her piano, or reciting a poem, or doing a handstand, we prepared a trick before we knocked on her door. Though I would start off feeling pretty silly playing a piano song in my butterfly costume, Grandma’s clapping and, “Thank you for your performance!” made me feel pretty good, even better than the treat of a honey-sweet popcorn ball.
Years later I was sitting in my classroom wondering what to do. Though I started every day with a burst of positive energy and taught my students with unending excitement for literature and communication, my students resented my rigor. I cut down the amount of essays and novels from the previous teacher, but they complained about every step of the process.
I had a culture problem in my Sophomore English class.
“We really like you as a person . . .we just really hate your class.”
Ouch.
Some students approached the class with a great attitude, but the majority’s destructive complaining affected my students’ learning and emotional health.
How does one force teenagers to have a good attitude?
That’s the trick.
My summer focused on looking for ways to influence my classroom culture. But giving my students every part of me had me feeling pretty burned out. The thought of doing More and MORE felt overwhelming. Hence my criteria
-
Effective
-
Cheap
-
Simple
Quite the Trick indeed.
Enter Gratitude! I read how gratitude opens learning and floods the brain with positive hormones that actually help students learn more. It promotes better sleep, better relationships, better overall health.
Effective? Check!
Cheap? Check!
Simple? . . . .Hmmm. I imagined the first day of school telling a bunch of teeagers, “Just be grateful!” and watch their jaded and resentful eyes narrow in.
However, deep down, my students needed gratitude. I needed it too.
Fast forward a few months and I had my “simple to implement” method figured out. To avoid a logistical nightmare, “The Gratitude Tracker” is a simple grid sheet with five columns for the school days in a week and three rows for the weeks. Each box is numbered
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
A glance revealed my students’ gratitude. I kept the criteria simple. As long as there were five words written down each day, (It could even be the same 5 words every day) they got the participation points. I also warned them that they could not just fill in a bunch in one day. The benefit was from the daily practice.
Some kids thought it was dumb. No worries. “This is a simple thing that will get you points that will improve your grade.” Avoiding the “Just be grateful” trap, I taught them how this practice will help their brains learn more in class with less effort and longer retention. It was all about learning.
Soon this little trick became a treat. Students started talking about what they were going to write down as they shared their gratitude observations with others. Some students self selected to write down something different each day. Other students started looking for things to write down in the gratitude tracker as they went throughout the day. My daughter when she was in my class loved cold cereal and tried to come up with as many different types of cold cereals that she could find just to see how long she could go.
The method didn’t matter.
Kids were practicing the powerful behavior of gratitude.
Most importantly, our classroom culture changed. Same teacher using the same stories and poems, but the overall attitude of the class about the learning improved! Now I will never say that ALL students loved EVERY day in my classroom. I still have students who occasionally resent the rigor, but enrollment in the advanced classes went from two sections offered at my school to needing five sections. Yes, the class is challenging, but so many former student said it was really worth it.
And the treat?
Increased learning.
Better emotional health and attitude about learning.
More thank you notes at the end of the year than I had ever received before.
Grandma knew what she was doing those many years ago. If you want a treat, you have to do a little trick.
Aaryn Birchell’s Bio:
Draped on the wall in lace and burlap a sign in Mrs. Aaryn Birchell’s classroom asks, “Does your Grit have Gratitude?” Modeling this mindset with eager eyes, endless energy and a “You-can-do-it!” attitude, she champions and celebrates students. As the 2018 Utah Teacher of the Year, Aaryn continues that advocacy for students statewide to help address the teacher shortage while supporting a citizen initiative that would bring additional funding to education.
Aaryn honed her teaching skills after earning her degree by volunteering at the Utah State University Writing Center and working as a substitute teacher for twelve years. When a part-time position teaching advanced sophomore English classes opened at her alma mater, Uintah High, she jumped at the chance to teach emerging adults the beauty of life through world literature. Now teaching full time, she has additional responsibility and joy teaching AP Literature.
In school, Aaryn advocates by listening to overwhelmed teens and arranging over eighteen service projects for Honor Society; by coordinating a scholarship writing workshop and teaching ACT prep classes; by decorating for Prom late into the night and co-writing the annual Senior Poem.
In her community, she serves as a board member of the Uintah Literacy Commission and as former director of the Vernal Storytelling Festival, constantly looking for opportunities to connect a well-lived life to literacy.
In her professional affiliations, her service on the local and state Education Agencies demonstrates the grit needed to advocate for the teaching profession also enriches the lives of her students and her own family.
In her home, she shares her deep gratitude for the joy that teaching brings with her husband Garn and their four kids, often nestling them under a tree in the Uintah Basin she calls home.
