Happiness Jars for the Classroom

I’ve always thought that happiness jars are a great idea. At the end of each day you write down the best thing that happened that day. Then, when you have a tough day, or just want to revisit happy moments, you open the jar and read your happy memories. Unfortunately, I’ve never been very good at following through, and despite good intentions my jars remain mostly empty.

So this year I thought I might try something different — happiness jars for each of my classes. At the end of class, I’ll write something down that I thought went well, or something my students did that made me happy, and add it to the jar.

Why do I think this will work when it hasn’t worked before?

Because, if I write a note and stick it in the jar at the end of each class, my students will notice and ask me what I’m doing. If I give them a chance to make suggestions, I’m pretty sure they’ll have their own ideas about what went well, or what made them happy. If I forget, they’ll remind me about adding a note to the jar.

Then, when we have a class that is frustrating, or students have a bad day, we can open the jar and remember our accomplishments and things that made us happy in class.

I’m excited to try something new in 2019! Are you going to try anything new?

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About Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto

Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto has taught English and ESL in the US, and EFL in Japan. An EFL teacher and teacher trainer since 1985, she has conducted workshops throughout Asia, the USA and Latin America. Barbara’s motto is ‘Always try new things’, so these days, when she’s not teaching, writing, or giving workshops, she’s exploring the potential of new technologies for collaboration and professional development. You can often find Barbara online working with teachers around the world as Program Director for International Teacher Development Institute (iTDi.pro) or on her new blog for English teaches who work with young learners, Teaching Children English.

• The Leader in the Mirror - January 8, 2019
• Happiness Jars for the Classroom - January 2, 2019
• From This Teacher’s Daughter - May 22, 2015
• Remembering - March 11, 2015
• Why I love Teachers 2014 - February 16, 2014
• Help! I just got another new student! - January 18, 2014
• When kids don’t want to be there - June 10, 2013
• A very bad, horrible, no good class - May 28, 2013
• More than five ways to use milk carton cubes - April 6, 2013
• Boisterous Boys and Bored Girls - February 19, 2013