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The article in Module 1 called "How Playful Approaches Can Bring More Joy to Teaching" is right up my alley! I love when students don't even realize they are learning because I make lessons fun through gamification or contests.

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I know that if I can find more joy, my students will see me being more joyful--and hopefully, they will be more joyful, too!

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When I am blue, I force myself to go for a walk outside. It works every time.

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A lot is said about gratitude, and I know that being grateful brings joy. I am starting a daily joy practice with my class. Each day, I will provide a prompt and students can opt in to add to it. Then they put it in a box, and at the end of the year we will read them.

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I would love to share my love for hand building with clay with my students. In showing them some of my own work and what brings me joy, I hope to inspire them to share their passions with me and their peers. Building relationships in my classroom is important to me.

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Infusing Joy into Teaching, Learning, and Living

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Infusing Joy into Teaching, Learning, and Living

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Joy is no longer something I hope just “happens”—it’s something I plan for, prioritize, and protect. As I continue growing as an educator and individual, I’ve learned that joyful moments aren’t separate from the work; they are the heart of it. I will infuse joy into my teaching by creating space for curiosity, connection, and creativity in the classroom—through hands-on learning, student voice, storytelling, and moments that celebrate growth and kindness. I want students to walk into our classroom and feel seen, heard, and excited to learn.

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"If you want to feel joy, practice gratitude" Who doesn't want to feel joy? It is so empowering to learn that joy is not just something that happens to some lucky people. Knowing that joy can be cultivated and strengthened through intentional habits, mindset shifts, and meaningful connections will help me focus on creating more joy in my classroom and daily life.

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I learned about becoming a more self-actualized individual in my life, which will hopefully positively affect my teaching. I learned that self-actualized individuals find the process of achieving a goal as important and enjoyable as the goal itself. I am becoming invigorated by this idea through spending this summer taking a renewed approach to professional development. Joy is seen as a "virtue" and a "habit" that can be cultivated. My goals have shifted toward finding joy through fostering growth and my continuous journey to improve and grow as a person and an educator.

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I appreciate the idea of being busy, but not productive. I often use every second of my lunch and period forcing myself to stay busy and productive. But this time may be better used taking care of myself, protecting my own joy, and prioritizing my needs.

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I plan to start a classroom gratitude journal this year with my kinder students! I also plan to start daily affirmations with my students that we will read each morning. Starting the day with positivity will only bring more joy!

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I'm going to send a message to parents prior to the start of the school year asking them to help their first grader find a picture of something/someone/a place they are grateful for and we'll post everyone's pictures on our grateful wall. We can update all year long. I will also ask for favorite songs to compile a playlist of go-to songs for brain breaks, transition times, etc. I'm loving this course!

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If I can show more JOY to my students, they will see me being more joyful, and so they will feel more JOY in the work they are doing in my classroom and the JOY that can be found in successfully completing their assignments to the best of their ability with optimistic thoughts of success.

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I want to start to show more joy throughout the day. I will start by focusing on things that are in my control. I think that if I am more joyful, my students will also be more joyful. I want to make my joy contagious.

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I am going to create a community space for our adult school community/staff to share notes of gratitude in a visual way throughout the school year to hopefully encourage a more grateful, and in turn joyful, mindset amongst the adults. My hope is that this will trickle down to the students in their classes as well!

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I plan to get outside and exercise more.

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I find myself less stressed, and much happier when my space is organized. I plan on going in before the school year to clean out my desk for the first time in 15 years. I also want to get the classroom more organized for my students. I would like to plan each Thursday as a time after school for cleaning to help maintain.

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I love the idea of a gratitude journal. I plan on starting the first day with students. I hope to get my 4th and 5th grade students to create one a well.

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One of my favorite mindset tools is to allow my students to feel validated in their feelings. Using verbiage like "I can see how that would make you feel frustrated" or " Making that card is hard, but you keep persisiting on - great job!" I feel like having this connection with children goes a long way!

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I really thought that I did not feel joy that often compared to other people. I learned that I do indeed feel joy quite deeply, I was simply confusing joy for happiness.

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I try to celebrate people and students I am grateful for. I loved reading about all the positive effects of gratitude. I would love to talk to students about the benefits of gratitude and start a gratitude wall. I could have every students name on there with a packet of stickers and a key for what each type of sticker means. Students can leave stickers on each other's names to practice showing gratitude.

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I found the fact in the video about that round shapes make us feel safe very interesting. I have slowly swapped all my tables for round ones, and kids always comment that the tables and flexible seating make my room their favorite part of their day.

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I found the fact in the video about that round shapes make us feel safe very interesting. I have slowly swapped all my tables for round ones, and kids always comment that the tables and flexible seating make my room their favorite part of their day.

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I'd really like to start a gratitude journal. The idea that I can be grateful even for people I don't know really resonated with me. I could write down "the person who let me go ahead of them at the stop sign" or "a cashier who lent me the 3 cents, so I didn't break a bill", etc. By knowing that I am going to be writing about it each night, I feel that my attitude will be more likely to look for the positive things in my life.

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I like the idea of gratitude journaling because we often focus on the negative things around us. I think this journaling will give a better daily mindset. I am also going to have this as our question of the day on Thursday's for my pre-K students. We will keep a list of these on the wall (on laminated hearts). What are you grateful for?

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Smiling is contagious, right? I believe that finding gratitude and joy in daily aspects can spread to others. My students tend to match my mood in the classroom. I need to start making this a priority in my day,

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I share my joy by expressing gratitude out loud.

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I will try to voice my appreciation to others more. All the things are worth mentioning, nothing is too little. Smile more and do small acts of good. I'm sure I will feel it internally, and it will show externally.

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I would like to bring a gratitude journal to my freshman English class. I overhear conversations about the drama in their lives and I feel like they could balance that out by spending some time on gratitude. I think I could tie this to the themes from the stories we read.

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I want to feel more joy and pass that onto my students. Therefore, I will practice gratitude. During our morning meeting we will discuss what we are grateful for.

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When I sit down and think about it, I know my students feed off of my joy and attitude during the day. I need to be more mindful of making sure I am creating a positive and joyful environment for my students. Giving more positive reinforcement such as high fives and smiles can help create a more joyful environment.

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I want to find something in each day that brings me joy and record it. I definitely want to smile more in my day instead of being so focused on the next activity.

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During the cold and dark months of January and February, I know it's easy for students (and teachers) to become lazy, overwhelmed, and negative. I think it would be great to share my gratitude journal with my students and encourage them to do the same. It'd be crazy and wonderful to see everything we could come up with in a day or even a week!

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I am going to start printing old photos for loved ones and mailing them to them with a note of gratitude that they are in my life.

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As someone else mentioned, the concept of being "busy but not productive" is truly an eye-opener. I will focus more on accomplishing tasks that bring value to my teaching and life. I can see this being useful in both work and home and life. I can be better about prioritizing and even out the sense of stress that so often comes with teaching, caring for a family, and moving through life.

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I will be joyful about having a healthy body that I can exercise with. I will take in the moments when I'm with my students teaching that bring out joy in a laugh or smile.

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I will add COLOR and shapes to my classroom and regularly have students complete gratitude practices.

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I’ll infuse joy into my classroom by keeping things creative, hands on, and real just like life as a busy boy mom of three 😊. In Fashion and Interior Design, that means giving students space to design, take risks, and feel proud of what they create. I love bringing energy, a little chaos, and lots of encouragement so learning feels exciting and meaningful. I also try to model joy by celebrating the small wins, staying positive, and finding gratitude in everyday moments because when I feel it, my students do too.

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I am working more on not taking work home and to do more things outside of work that I like to do.

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I want to model gratitude notes for my students and hopefully, they will want to write some of their own. I will add this to our writing center for next year.

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Every interaction I have, positive or negative, I ask myself "what is this teaching me??" Like when I feel myself getting anxious about leaving late to work and instead of going down the negative thought path of "oh now I am going to be late to work" I have been trying to think of the REASON. Maybe leaving a few minutes later allowed me to not be part of a vehicle accident/maybe it will allow me to get "more green lights"? I really liked the parts about "space" and how it can impact mood so greatly.

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I like that the psychologists are shifting to self-care being a necessity to success. As a teacher and a mom, I am expending so much energy trying to make others feel joy and success, that I sometimes forget to take care of myself. When I do take care of myself, I feel guilty, like I could be using that time for something more productive. Modeling self-care and recognizing shortcomings or times of stress openly, makes children feel OK about recognizing their own "need to take a minute" situations. I need to be mindful of modeling this behavior for my own well-being and that of those around me.

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I really like the idea of a gratitude journal and even the gratitude jar! I think a journal would benefit me as a mom, wife, teacher, etc. Oftentimes, as with any other person who deals with anxiety, I let the anxious, sad, overthinking thoughts take over. I need to spend more time on focusing on what makes me happy and gives me joy. I could write down those things I am grateful for and reflect on the good things. As a teacher, this would be great for my students. This would also give me a little insight into their thoughts and feelings.

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I will cultivate a learning environment where students feel safe by incorporating visual aesthetics as well as adding such things as humor and individual check ins with students.

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I'm a HS science teacher. I celebrate birthdays as "Another Year on Planet Earth". Many of my student's doesn't have a birthday party or a simple celebration since they were in elementary school. I always bring them a Certificate of VIP. This is a way to bring a short happiness experience, to stimulate self-esteem to find their worth and then grow joy.

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We conduct the "Triple A" activity halfway through the semester. It's a voluntary exercise. Students can write on a card who they appreciate and why. Perhaps they want to apologize to someone and can write their apology on the card. They also could write Aha. Aha is something you have figured out or learned that you were struggling with before. This exercise lets them release bad feelings, express gratitude and develop self-contentment.

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There is so very much to be said about the stress we as educators can feel. We love what we do and it can be all encompassing which can certainly chip away at our "self." My biggest take from the first module is that I need to spend more time with self-care. Taking a few minutes during the day to enage in things that should be norms for better mental health needs to happen. The idea of creating a calm morning routine sounds like an absolute must. Changes to be made!

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I am going to be more intentional about capturing all of the moments that bring me joy. Whether I am texting myself or taking pictures - I know how much it means to me when I receive a thoughtful, encouraging message. I can also spread joy by sharing it as well.

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I will encourage my students to see the positive, even in the small things.. "Its a beautiful day outside, think of all the great things the sun gives us!"

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I will start a gratitude journal and write in it daily to cultivate a greater sense of gratitude and bring more joy into my life. To help foster joy and reflection in my students, I may also incorporate brief gratitude journaling sessions into our classroom routine.

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I will create weekly exit tickets for students, which will include a weekly reflection, gratitude, growth, and connection. This will end with a sentence completion, "One good thing I want to carry into next week is..." I plan to model this from a teacher's perspective to encourage a classroom community of joy and contentment.

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I loved the idea of the gratitude journal. I was thinking it would be nice to start first thing in the morning to start positive. I'm also wondering if it would be a good idea doing it at the end of the day, where students could write what their grateful for that day in school. I also loved the aesthetics of joy. It gave me ideas for decorating my classroom!

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I wish to start a Gratitude Journal to express in written, reflective form my feelings of joy built by relationships with my family, my students, my colleagues, and my friends/acquaintances.  I am often heard stating that many of my students give me my Vitamin E–short for Emotional Vitamins–because they express and demonstrate care for my well-being (having faced bladder cancer for 24 years).  I am incredibly thankful for their efforts to help my healing afte surgery with multitudes of positive encouragement.  I am incredibly thankful for all my students have done and said to bring me back to health. I am incredibly fortunate to have worked in a small school district that shows amazing care when people face struggle.  I want to share my feelings of thanks and the joy caring inspires.  I love being a teacher.  I love being a high school teacher because once trust, respect, and relationships are embraced, community is built, and I feel students’ joy for learning in an active, caring classroom that values and respects their voices. Keeping a Gratitude Journal will keep my focus on the positives which will awaken even more my embracing of joy.

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I love how the act of practicing gratitude brings joy. I plan on having my students practice daily gratitude, as well as, practicing myself. Maybe it will be journaling time or notes to others, or using our morning meeting time/wrap up time to share and celebrate each other.

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Sometimes just having a quick, non-academic chat with students helps me remember I'm just spending my day hanging out with tiny humans who are wildly entertaining and see joy as their full time jobs.

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I have a white board in my classroom that I often share important messages on and I am going to start putting up a grateful writing prompt and have them respond. This can be a part of their morning welcome routine and a fun way to share a bit of what they are grateful for.

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I plan to spark more joy in my classroom by creating a space where staff and students in my classroom can practice gratitude. I plan to incorporate this in my morning meeting time where we can share something we are grateful, happy, or excited for. I think this will be a positive start to the morning for students and staff in the room.

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I love the idea of keeping a space designated for daily/weekly gratitudes. I want to model reflection and joy for my students and include them in that practice.

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Joy

I want to have have my students feel joy when we a creating artwork in my Art room. I want my students to feel welcomed and safe to take risks on creating new pieces of artwork. My goal is for every student to get a "Positive Shout Out" from each other to build and grow new relationships.

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One way I can bring more joy into teaching, learning, and life is by focusing on the positive moments. In the classroom, I can celebrate student successes, use humor, and take time to recognize students' efforts. I can also practice gratitude and appreciate the small things that bring happiness each day.

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I have the joy of living by the ocean and all. of its amazement. I hope to make sure that I daily, take a few moments to sit by the ocean after my walk, and feel grateful for where I live, my ability to have a view, and the wonder and awe in my presence.

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I really like the idea of keeping a jar that houses small/big moments of gratitude that I notice and reflect on daily. I love how powerful it will be to come back to these notes of gratitude at any time. Once I can get myself to do this consistently, I will introduce it to my students. Teaching them how to practice gratitude and be more reflective will no doubt have a positive impact in their daily life and also on our classroom environment.

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I am a classic overgiver. I have an extremely difficult time saying no and end up overgiving and over exerting my capacities. I have always been a people pleaser, and don't like to let others down or feel like I'm letting others down. It made a lot of sense to basically split-time. Give a little bit so others know you care about them and want to help them, but set a boundary and finish when you are losing the capacity to be effective anymore. This would help me charge my batteries and be more effective when I help others. Hopefully it would also help with spending time with my family because I often feel to exhausted by the time I get home to be much use to anyone.

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I am so lucky to work in a co-taught multilingual classroom. I am working with a new co-teacher this year and I really want to take joy in working with her. Co-teaching can be tough but I want to focus on how it can bring us and the kids more joy.