Showing gratitude to others

I have observed how my students have changed their message throughout each unit of inquiry; they have shown a deep understanding of their life and crucial moments around them. At the beginning of the task, they wrote sentences focused on stuff, in some cases the most important for them were devices. Nowadays, they have changed the perspective of life, and they have been learning through this experience that family, life, food, shelter are charming gifts to be grateful for. It shows as pupils are so genuine in their insights and thoughts by writing sincere messages about their feelings, as well as showing an intense joy to express their ideas to the entire class. It has been a terrific event to see their big smile when they finished reading and listening to other peers. I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to listen to them attentively each day, engaging students to keep appreciate their amazing life experiences. 

Some girls have to cope with some tough events in their homes, but this experience takes them further when writing gratitude messages to give them happiness and peace in their hearts. They know the importance of showing gratitude, particularly loved ones who are supporting them in their decisions and actions.

Once students gain the habit of gratitude, they start a path of satisfaction, full of blessings for being alive and having a family. These aspects were written most of the time in their journal of gratitude. This stimulation can help the state of mind, especially the part of resilience and emotional management. As you notice, the role of the teacher is relevant who guides the process of gratitude, gives the students trust, and also provides relentless persistence to appreciate what they have. 

                                                                         

                                                                            

In this image, you can see one gratitude message did from one of my students. It was a double reward. First, of all, pupils felt amazing to write a message that expresses their feelings and also their parents were outstanding to receive them. This allowed my students to show a high level of self-assessment skills, and we could socialize some questions about the process of this task. 

 

How did they feel about this message?

 

One student told me, "When I was writing the message I felt happy because I am going to say thanks to a person who gives me a smile every day, and they are important for me”.

 

How did your parents feel about receiving the message?

 

When parents received the messages, another student said, “When I gave the message to my parents, they felt very happy because they are proud that I am a grateful girl”.

 

 

 

It brings charming happiness to their families, regardless of the challenges or changes of those days. This experience inspires me to keep working hard to ignite the inner power of my students. It has impressed me with the attitude of my students during this pathway. They use their own and each other’s ideas in order to make connections to cope with different situations in this way; they have conveyed deeply message.

Interestingly, I figure out that this learning experience has shown a higher level among some IB key concepts:

 

Connections: they have made connections with themselves, classmates, family and other people.

 

Change: they have been appreciating to be alive and have a family.

 

Perspective: they have been respecting points of view.

 

Reflection: they reflected on being grateful and value their families and life.

 

This heightened change has been a process in which students have changed some structures in their daily routine to be more aware of the importance of being grateful to people who are around them.

Below, you can see the word "happy" which is the most common in this learning participation.

 

 

Please share your experience related to gratitude.