Hello colleagues, Teachers writing personal notes of encouragement to learners can be an empowering practice. Larry Ferlazzo offers several examples of post-Thanksgiving notes he has written to the high school students in his class.
I have never tried this approach, but I sure want to give it a try. What are your thoughts about this practice?
Cheers, Susan Finn Miller
Moderator, Teaching & Learning CoP
Comments
I know if I received a letter from one of my teachers I would have felt pretty darn special. I think the letters are a great opportunity to help our students feel special, a feeling we all could use more of. I also like the way Larry included things he would like the students to work on.
Speaking of being thankful, I’d like to share a lesson idea I learned from one of our Ohio teachers. She asked students to think about someone they would like to thank. Could be a friend, family member, the mailperson, anyone. As students drafted their thank you notes they were encouraged to use strong vocabulary words and be specific and descriptive about what they were thanking the person for. Once students were ready for their final draft, she would give them nice notecards with envelopes. She said students really enjoyed the activity.
Hello Di and all, Thanks, Di, for sharing this wonderful idea. Engaging students in writing notes of appreciation to someone who has made a difference in their lives would be a great activity to engage in during this season of thanks -- or any time!
Ferlazzo shares Katie Hull's lesson on gratitude which is very similar to the one you described. The writing prompt Hull gives the students is: "Close your eyes and think of somebody who is really influential in your life and/or who matters to you. Why is this person so important?" Hull also offers her own writing about her father as an example. After the students wrote and shared their writing in pairs, she showed a Soul Pancake video on "The Science of Happiness."
Some members will want to check this out!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Cheers, Susan Finn Miller
Moderator, Thinking & Learning CoP