Happiness

One of my favorite non-education blogs is The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I LOVE the topic of happiness, and think it is quite relevant to the classroom. Aside from that, her blog is professionally written and the content of her posts is so varied: personal experiences, quotations, observations, resources, and anything else related to happiness.

As an educator, I think that my personal level of happiness is related to what happens in the classroom; if the teacher isn't happy with what she is doing, then how can the students be expected to be happy, motivated, and engaged? Like Rubin, I can "test drive " different ways to increase my own happiness, but what can I do for students in this area?

I was thrilled when a colleague introduced me to Marc Helgesen's ELT and the Science of Happiness site which has a collection of short activities for the English language classroom related to happiness. For instance, material for a "Happiness Journal" and "A thank you letter to someone in your family" are just two of the short activities available on the site.

There are enough stressed and grumpy teachers; let's try something different, like expressing our sincere enthusiasm for our subject, and being grateful for the wonderful profession we've chosen!