So I tried something new this year. Every morning, I’ve taken a few seconds (sometimes minutes) to reflect on what I am grateful for that day, and I’ve been writing it on the board in my classroom for my students to see.
Here are what I would consider the “results” thus far:
- It has helped me start each school day with with a smile.
- When I have a stressful day ahead, it gives me a moment to breathe and consider the bigger picture of just how lucky I am.
- It’s helped me to be grateful for small things, like being able to see my friends at hockey each week.
- It’s helped me to be grateful for big things, like my family and all the support they provide.
- It’s sparked conversations between myself and my students (eg. “Sir, why are you grateful for an after hours vet? Is your dog okay?”, which led to some great chats about their pets).
- I even overheard some grade 12 girls who were working in my room, prior to starting their study session, go around the table and each say what they were grateful for.
Another approach I’ve trying this year is emailing/texting people to thank them and/or congratulate them. I’ve mainly been doing this when my stress levels have been off-the-charts as a way of forcing myself to take a breath and gain some perspective. Also, selfishly, writing these messages just makes me feel happy.
AND NOW FOR MY CHALLENGE!
I’m asking everyone that reads this post to take a minute to reflect on what YOU are grateful for and write it in the comments section below. Let’s see how far our gratitude can spread through both the current Cohort 21 members and alumni, and hopefully beyond.
@gnichols @jmedved @lmitchell @edaigle @kzelinsky @mverbeek @jsetzkorn @fsawyer @bsimmons @jabrams @lkominar @mbrims @ljensen @adamcaplan @nblair @lmcbeth @gvogt @lbettencourt @ckirsh @tfaucher @mmosun @lmustard @amaingot @ddoucet @amacrae @acampbellrogers @mneale @ashaikh @jweening @tjagdeo @hpalmer @dtaylor @lrife @rhae @ceby @mschneider @kjoyce @kmitchell @jsyrota @lbelanger @wwoloshyn @jgravel @rutheichholtz @egelleny
It’s working…
I’m grateful for the incredible human capacity to share experiences. We’re all in this together.
https://youtu.be/meEuZjwJuic
Today I am grateful for the sunshine and the chance to take a nice walk outside with my dog, husband and daughter.
I cannot wait to be grateful for sunshine again! It’s been so long since we last saw it up here at RLC!
I am grateful for a beautiful Sunday where we spent time as a family getting our Christmas trees and going out for lunch together.
Today I’m grateful for toddler trampoline parks and time spent with my family!
@lmitchell
@edaigle @lmitchell
Today I am grateful for Dr. Erin Axt, a wonderful Parry Sound optometrist who has helped our family work through my son’s eye injury. She delivers bad news so gently that I actually want to hear it.
@mmoore I love that you are doing this!
I am grateful for my team at school!
I am grateful for my health
I am grateful to our awesome coaches who inspire me and allow this community to grown in new and exciting ways!
@acampbellrogers @mneale @ashaikh @gvogt
@edaigle @amaingot @lmustard @amacrae
@lmcbeth @tfaucher @mmosun @timrollwagen
@lbettencourt @jweening @lmitchell @tjagdeo
I’m grateful for my family….
My dear friend @mmoore thankyou for a wonderful blog post! I have been the recipient of one of your beautiful emails and please know that they mean a great deal and stick with the people you send them to. Another dear friend @cya_outside sent me an email this week and referenced Dave Mochel’s book “Good Life Practice”. He shared that acts of kindnesses are good for those doing them, those receiving them and to those observing them! Although one may think those emails of congratulations or notes of thanks only benefit one or two people, kindness certainly spreads! Today I am grateful that I get to work with amazing people like you @mmoore and @cya-outside that push me to be better, kinder, more grateful and more “mathie” everyday!
@mmoore,
I am grateful for gratefulness. Sounds like a cop-out, I know, but what else has kept professional teachers complimenting and thanking one another so much; the trickle-down effect being we don’t strangle students. Take that #growthmindset! @mbrims
I totally agree on all fronts! Recognizing the hard work (gratefulness), dedication, and risk-taking of fellow educators (teachers and administrators) further enables (feeds) the growth mindset cycle.
Today I’ll grateful for my supportive colleague…and this post! What a great way to start the day. Thanks for the idea.
Today I’m grateful for my supportive colleagues…and this post! What a great way to start the day. Thanks for the great idea.
Mike! I’m grateful for your blog post that inspired such warm participation!
I’employed active gratitude as a strategy at a faculty meeting Friday morning, after a particularly rough start to the day. So powerful! And wonderful to know that the environment of my work holds the capacity to lift me up, simply by recognizing that power. I am grateful to you @mmoore for this great initiative. I am grateful to @lfarooq for the continuous magic she spins in helping our community to not only function but thrive. I’m also grateful for trees; we don’t spend nearly enough time falling in love with their magic.
I am grateful for the time to read some inspirational blog posts!
I am grateful for my health.
I am grateful for working with so many incredible, supportive people.
Thanks @mmoore
@mmoore, thanks for a great post. I kept a gratitude journal when my father passed away, and it really does help refocus our perspective. Thank you for reminding me of this.
I am grateful for my health and the health of my family.
Thank you for this post @mmoore – I love seeing the list of things you listed through the year so far.
I am grateful for having a few minutes of time on a Tuesday afternoon to catch up on some Cohort 21 blogs.
I am grateful to read this beautiful thread of gratitude from some of the people I look up to most professionally.
And I am grateful for random acts of sugar from kind, baking colleagues to help get us through these last couple of weeks!
And a whole lot more.
Thanks for including me! Today I’m grateful for my adventures in teaching and my growing experience in digital learning. And I’m grateful for my awesome network. Miss you all at C21!!
@mmoore Thank you for this post! You can’t help but smile when you take the time to acknowledge the things you are grateful for.
I am grateful for my run tonight with a friend, despite being dog tired after work.
I am grateful for my family and truly looking forward to time spent together during the well deserved Christmas break.
@mmoore thank you for this amazing post! I am grateful for you sharing this idea. I have been planning to paint a door in my classroom with chalkboard paint as a check-in for students to write answers to questions of the day. Now I know which question to ask first! When we slow down and think of what we are grateful for everything seems more manageable at that moment. Making this your visible daily practice for your students is so inspiring!