Appreciation
6. Students will express comfort with people who are both similar to and different from them and engage respectfully with all people.
THE LAST WEEK: Appreciation Rocks
Tuesday
We are going to borrow an end of year tradition that I learned when I worked at Rock Point School in Burlington. On the last night of the the end of the year camping trip students would go out and find a small rock. In the evening, all of the students in the school would gather in a circle and take turns giving their rock to someone and telling them what they appreciated about them.
How it Works
The first person to start chooses someone to appreciate. They spend a minute or so telling that person what they appreciate about them and then present them with their rock, "Joyce, I appreciate..." The person who was just appreciated repeats this process for someone else in the circle. This continues until there is one person remaining. The last person appreciates the first person that started off the circle.
Ground Rules
Everyone in the circle gets appreciated, and if someone has already been appreciated, they do not get appreciated again (mathematicians would call this a one-to-one and onto function 🤓).
If the person you wanted to appreciate was already picked you pick someone else. We should always be able to find something to appreciate about someone, even if we don't know them that well. It is also a good reminder that people should work to get to know everyone in their advisory.
Being picked first/last shouldn't be seen as a badge of honor/shame, this is just the nature of how this process functions.
No inside jokes.
No backhanded "compliments."
Teachers/Staff are included in this process.
This appreciation practice is something that students will do every year in their advisories.
For Today
Explain this process to your students, then go outside and have them find a rock for tomorrow. As students are walking around trying to find their rock they can do some reflecting on what they appreciate about each member of their advisory. Once they find a rock, they could leave it somewhere in your room so that they don't forget it or take it home to decorate it if that's their thing.
Pro tip: You should gather a bunch of extra rocks for backup when your students forget where theirs went.
Wednesday
Find a nice spot (outside if the weather permits) and have everyone sit in a circle. Review the ground rules for this circle then decide on someone to start the circle. If you have a student that is new to the group, consider letting them start first so that they have the most options for who to pick.
Leave with all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings 💕 .