Give Great Gratitude: Eight Ideas to Kindle Kindness and a Culture of Caring in the School Community
By Scott B. Freiberger
With cerulean, carmine, and chalky holiday lights sparking sensations of splendor rife with family life and frolicking friends, November is a terrific time to reflect and rejoice. With resolve and ingenuity flowing freely from fresh autumn air, now would be a propitious time to provide students with a voice to articulate appreciation for the scholarship, seasonal sentiments, and magic-like merriment that they experience. Advancing an attitude of gratitude is also particularly poignant to model for young minds. Here are eight ideas to kindle kindness and a culture of caring in the school community.
1. Give the Gift of Gratitude
Consider comme il faut behavior by having students pen a pertinent letter to remember. Discuss crucial caregivers and pertinent professionals, from grandparents, aunts and uncles, to parents and family members, who may be teachers, doctors, or nurses, and how they shape each educational journey in a unique way. Students could then pen a letter of gratitude thanking someone for the important influence she or he has had on their lives. Educators may also want to print a Thank You For Putting Others First template for students to color and write a short note to show appreciation.
2. Kindle Kindness with Anti-Bullying Behavior
At nearly every learning institution, educators strive to keep hope alive and aim for the humane. Here are some ideas on how to instill kindness and anti-bullying behavior. First, show pictures portraying what it means to be kind. Next, explain how you can be kind in your family, school, and community. Then, students could use these materials to demonstrate understanding.
On a related, realistic note, “Loop” and “Float” are two Disney short films that pertain to autism. Students could watch these videos and then react via art therapy or particular coloring projects to express how they feel. Art therapy has been found to help students, particularly students with autism, because it can help to scale down some noticeable symptoms, solidify a safe style for students to express themselves, and encourage social interaction between pairs or among groups.
Educators may want to ask:
· What did you learn?
· How does this relate to your life?
· How can you be kind?
· Why should we show others respect?
3. Grow a Gratitude Tree for All to See
Ready for responsiveness? Grow a “Gratitude Tree.” Relevant research from Harvard University delineates that giving thanks can make you happier. According to the research, [g]ratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. Thus, for both children and adults alike, the practice of giving great gratitude is a boon to mental health and a benefit to physical well-being. Gratitude also helps us to develop resilience, foster connection, share appreciation, improve sleep, and lift our self-esteem. Using a paper tree branch for a 3D effect, students could first identify and then write something they are grateful for each week on a paper “leaf.” Then, watch the gratitude tree grow as you attach lovely, hued, literature-laden leaves.
4. Be Brave, Strong, and Proud: Shout it out Loud!
Shout-Outs are meaningful measures for students to celebrate each other for doing a job well-done, for overcoming a challenge, or for attempting something arduous. Shout-outs can be infused at any time, in any lesson, and in any class. For example, the classroom teacher could ring a chime during a math class or English Language Arts (ELA) lesson to get the class’s attention and signal that it’s time for the children to share a shout-out. Students could also facilitate poignant discussions by utilizing a talking stick to show respect, and learn the value of listening attentively, considering constructive feedback, and managing missteps.
5. Paper Tweets and Group Salutes
Paper tweets can be short and sweet. Students use a template to create a user profile, and they then enlist at least three classroom “followers,” who could be a friend, an acquaintance, and someone in the class whom they don’t interact much with. The students then take turns presenting praise coupled with their unique “paper tweets,” rife with inspirational words and images, which may help to create bonds and a stronger sense of belonging.
Special social standards can also have magic-like meaning to young people. A group salute is a teacher-prompted interaction that is a wonderful way to cultivate classroom community. The shared classroom gesture can be physical, such as a high-five, or essentially social, such as a pedagogue asking peers to ponder how they could express gratitude to their group members.
6. Every Rose Has its Thorn
At the outset of a class, the classroom teacher and students could take turns sharing one rose (something inspirational) and one thorn (something unfavorable). The process, in its entirety, typically takes about five minutes. For example, a low-stakes thorn shared by a shy student might be, “I feel tired today.” This is entirely acceptable. In contrast, more sociable students may choose to share deeper, more meaningful information, such as, “My thorn is that my sibling is sick. I’m concerned about her health.” This is an effective way to teach empathy, respect, and understanding while improving social and emotional, as well as listening, skills.
7. First Chapter Fridays
First Chapter Fridays are creative ways to kindle kindness and cultivate classroom community. For example, a teacher could read aloud a chapter of a book the class is interested in to build community around meaningful message-making or stories showing sympathy. The story theme could be caring, kindness, empathy, sharing, or enhancing community health, safety, and welfare. Here are 30 of the best books to teach children empathy.
8. Help Habitat for Humanity or do a Donation Drive
For older students who care to make a difference while enjoying time off from school, an “alternative spring break” may be a viable option. They can travel, meet new people, and feel the satisfaction that comes from working to improve communities — and lives. One interesting idea is for students to help out with a Habitat for Humanity project. Each year, over 10,000 students partake in “alternative spring breaks” with Habitat for Humanity housing projects. Alternatively, students could also sponsor a donation drive to provide items a family in need could use during the holidays.
Perennially Praise the Process
Perennially praising pupils’ efforts across classrooms may bolster self-esteem, garner greater understanding, and encourage uncommon undertakings. Throughout the learning process, celebrate student success often. Instill pride in ongoing progress as well as summative accomplishments. As Henry B. Adams had mused, “A teacher affects eternity; [she or] he can never tell where [her or] his influence stops.”
Build upon a warm, welcoming school culture, and perhaps most important, never lose sight of the fact that all students have intrinsic value. Especially in this new normal, empower all students to delve into determination and discover happiness, health, hope, and purpose.
This article also appears here.
BIO
Scott Freiberger is an attentive administrator and a passionate, multilingual pedagogue who advocates for ELLs/MLLs and students with special needs. Follow him on Twitter: @scottfreiberger
