TL;DR: Make gratitude in the classroom a part of your daily routine. Implement a Friendsgiving Gratitude Circle to build classroom community. Show gratitude in the classroom on Veteran’s Day, at the end of the year, and in your school community. Gratitude is defined as “the state of being grateful” (Merriam-Webster). There was a study published in the Journal of Happiness … Read More
Practicing Gratitude on a Daily Basis
TL;DR: Practice gratitude on a daily basis by seeing the glass half full, taking in the small joys around you, and incorporating mindfulness into your routine. Use your 5 senses to reflect on what you are grateful for. Keep a gratitude token as a reminder to practice gratitude daily. Here in the U.S. we have Thanksgiving coming up on the … Read More
Teach Gratitude
TL;DR: Teaching gratitude has benefits for students, teachers, and the community. There are many simple activities for all ages that you can embed into your classroom. Incorporate gratitude into your own life. There’s a lot of talk about the need for teacher self-care but less about simple hows and whens. But what if self-care wasn’t something separate? What if we … Read More
Teachers Need the SEL Approach Too
TL;DR: Struggling through depression made me feel lost and alone. Remote learning started to help me heal and become myself again. SEL is important for adults, too. I have been meaning to find a way to settle down to write this blog. It has taken me some time to overcome my own anxiety issues, both personal and professional. After my … Read More
Meaningful Connections
TL;DR: Parents want teachers to see their children and notice great things about them. Send an email at the start of the year introducing yourself. Ask parents to tell you about their child. Periodically check in with parents to see how they feel things are going. Celebrate children! Meaningful Connections: What Parents Want When my children were younger, I wished … Read More