Grit is having passion and perseverance for long term goals. Grit is a critical component of student success but did you know that practicing gratitude can help us to develop grit? This week's lesson helps students make the connection of having gratitude and developing grit to meet their personal and educational/academic goals.
Instructions:
Have students take out a sheet of paper and write five things they are grateful for that happened this week. Give students about 7-8 minutes to complete this activity.
Give students small packs of Post-its and have them choose two things off of the list they created to place on the Post-its.
Have students place stickers on a classroom community “Gratitude Board” for everyone to see.
Tell students that gratitude (or thankfulness) helps them to persevere when things are tough or they don’t understand. Thinking of the things they are grateful for actually helps them to develop the grit that they need to reach tough goals that come before them or that they set for themselves. Tell them gratitude leads the way to grit. It is the ingredient that helps us to stick with our goals, even when they seem hard or impossible.
Let students know the purpose of the gratitude board is meant to be a source of encouragement to “keep going” (grit) when they are striving for a difficult goal.
In small circles of 5-6 students, have students share one way the gratitude board has helped them over the past month (or however much time has passed since completing the activity).
Oftentimes students find it difficult to develop grit because they lack the self esteem and self perception necessary to know that they actually can persevere! As educators we have the power to reinforce those negative mindsets in students or help them to develop a growth mindset. Here are some great strategies for continuing to teach grit to students throughout the entire school year https://www.edutopia.org/blog/grit-help-students-overcome-inner-obstacles-vicki-zakrzewski
