101. The Transformative Power of AI

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Folks, let’s face it. Our classrooms are going to look a little different this year. AI, specifically ChatGPT, is going to change the way we design learning experiences and assess student mastery. I’ll be honest, when I first explored the ChatGPT platform I was terrified. As I have dug deeper into the technology and its capabilities, I realized that while it does pose significant challenges — it also presents us with some pretty amazing opportunities. In this series, we will explore what AI is capable of, its implications in the classroom, and how it can benefit both teachers and students. Let’s start by examining where we have been, where we are currently, and looking forward to where we are going. Whether this is a trip you wanted to go on or not, the AI train has left the station and it is time for all of us to jump on board. From Card Catalogs to Artificial Intelligence I belong to the micro-generation called Xennial. Xennials are considered to be a “bridge” between Generation X a...
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#40. Growth through Gratitude

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November is a hard time of the year for teachers. The days are shorter, the weather is colder and the honeymoon period has been over for quite awhile. Teacher burnout peaks and motivation falls. This year the transition to winter is made even more difficult because it is fraught with unprecedented challenges impacting both teachers and students.  In my next series of posts, I would like to share some interventions that can increase your and your students' well-being. I will even share a way that you can incorporate them into your building to increase the well-being of your faculty.

The field of positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life worth living (Peterson, 2008). According to Sonja Lyubomirsky, there are three factors that influence a person's happiness; genetics, life circumstances and intentional activity. You might not be able to change your genetics or even your life circumstances, but you can change your intentional activities. In the field of psychology, these intentional activities are called Positive Psychology Interventions, or PPI's. PPI's are intentionally designed activities aimed at cultivating positive behaviors and include topics like character strengths, resilience, grit and optimism. I am going to kick of this series by focusing on gratitude. Did you know November is National Gratitude Month?

Gratitude is the state of being grateful and acknowledging the good things in our lives. There are a number of benefits to practicing gratitude:

  • Increased happiness and optimism
  • Reduced feelings of depression and anxiety
  • Boost the immune system
  • Improve sleep
  • Strengthen relationships

There are a ton of ready-to-use gratitude lessons available. I have a curated list of my favorites for you!

Greater Good Lesson Plan

This is a 4 lesson mini-unit designed to help the students understand what gratitude is, why it matters to their well-being and ways to cultivate it. There are two activities that I would like to highlight. 

1. Journaling is a common intervention used to increase gratitude. I found the way they build on these interventions to be very meaningful. They provide the following two prompts as part of the writing process. Each week the student is asked to look back on their weekly gratitude journal and...
"Choose an entry or two from your Gratitude Journal to reflect on. Was it someone who did something nice or helpful for you? Why did this person do it? What did he or she do to make it happen? And how did it affect you? If it didn’t involve another person and it was just a good thing that happened, then describe your experience and how it affected you."
Every few weeks, the student is asked to look back at their weekly gratitude journal and respond to the following prompt:
" Look back at your Good Week Reflections and choose one to DESCRIBE HOW YOUR LIFE WOULD BE DIFFERENT IF that thing didn’t happen or if someone didn’t help make it happen."
2. Writing letters of gratitude is another common intervention used to increase gratitude. I love the template that is provided for the students in this lesson. Specifically, I like how it asks the students to address the following three aspects of grateful thinking in the letter:
  • The value of the benefit to themselves.
  • The cost of the action to the benefactor.
  • The intention of the benefactor.
Merely the act of writing a letter of gratitude improves well-being! You don't even have to send it.

Keys to Well-Being

The Greater Good Science Center provides easily-implemented activities designed to foster gratitude. There is a quiz (link) that students can take to determine their current level of gratitude. The students are then given ways to cultivate gratitude. One thing that I really like about this resource is that it teaches about the importance of savoring and being mindful to "take in the good."

Daily Gratitude

Ask the students to record three things that happened in the last 24 hours that they are thankful for. This can be broad or specific. Ideally, they would name three NEW things every day. You could also use prompts like "I am grateful for my family" or name" three things that are red that you are grateful for."

 Five Day Gratitude Challenge

This resource is produced by TED Talks. They have provided five different gratitude practices designed to foster well-being. Each activity is linked to the TED talk that it was taken from. I loved the idea of creating gratitude stop signs. Another activity that is sure to foster some deep thinking is the "Be Honest" challenge. This speaker challenges people to identify how and what they need to feel gratitude for.

Positive Education

Through my research I learned about an emerging movement in education called Positive Education. Positive Education focuses on applying the principles of positive psychology to enhance student, staff and community well-being. The goal of positive education is to build a community of learners in which people learn the skills to be their best selves. Positive Education prepares people for the future by giving them the tools they need to not only survive but to thrive.

The schools who have implemented a positive education system suggest that you start building the movement with the faculty, not the students.The faculty will then see the positive effects in their own lives and want to build it into their daily instruction. Armed with this knowledge, I decided to start focusing on the well-being of my division. As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, teachers are under a great deal of stress right now. I am very concerned with their well being.

Gratitude Challenge

Keeping with the spirit of this post, I wrote each teacher in my division a thank you letter. It included specific acts that I was thankful for, how those acts impacted me and an acknowledgement as to what the cost of the action was to them. In addition, I provided them with a blank card that they could use to write a letter to someone else if they wanted to. I did not mandate it. This truly has to be an authentic experience for the sender and the receiver. Forced gratitude is definitely not keeping in the spirit of the exercise!

If you are interested in learning more about positive education, I suggest you look into the Positive Education Schools Association, the International Positive Education Network and the Character Lab. There are some schools out there that are doing some truly amazing things. Keep an eye out for more posts about positive psychology interventions like resilience and character strengths!

Resources:




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