Needed:
A Rock for each student's shoe
A Piece of Candy for each student's hand
Have students assemble in a line and have them remove their right shoe.
Give them a rock and tell them to place it inside the shoe and then put the shoe back on their foot.
Give them each a piece of candy-tell them they can eat it now or save it for later.
Tell them you are going for a walk.
At the end of the walk, have them share their thoughts as they walked.
We did this the day before Thanksgiving break. I had the students go for a walk inside the building as we were looking for a surprise to use in an activity we did later in class.
As I asked them their thoughts, all they could talk about was the discomfort of the rock, etc.
No one mentioned the lollipop they had in their hands.
I compared this to looking at negatives more than positives.
No one focused on the candy (sweetness) in their hands and right under their noses.
No one chose to open their candy and enjoy it.
They all focused on the rocks(negatives) and over looked the positives.
As I compared this to our lives, it was interesting to see their faces light up when they "got it". I could have stood in front of the class for an hour telling them to be grateful and count their blessings, this simple activity taught more than any words ever could.
No comments:
Post a Comment