Teaching Gratitude

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Why it works

Gratitude, the practice of noticing, appreciating, and savoring the good things in one's life and the people and circumstances that contribute to them, is among the most robustly researched positive psychology practices, linked to greater happiness, stronger relationships, better coping and resilience, and wellbeing. Importantly, gratitude is a cultivatable habit, not a fixed trait: simple, regular practices (noticing and naming things one is grateful for, reflecting on them, expressing gratitude to others) strengthen it over time. Teaching students gratitude, through age-appropriate practices and a classroom culture that notices and appreciates the good, gives them an accessible, evidence-based tool for wellbeing that serves them for life. The keys are that it is genuine (not forced or performative), regular, and modeled.

The research: Positive psychology; research on gratitude.

The run-of-show

Choose your slot. The agenda, timings, and length update to match.

The core activity: cultivate genuine gratitude

Teachers leave with simple, genuine gratitude practices to try.

Introduce simple, regular gratitude practices (noticing and naming things to be grateful for, reflecting, expressing gratitude to others).
Keep it genuine, not forced or performative.
Build a classroom culture that notices and appreciates the good.
Model gratitude yourself.

A cultivatable habit for wellbeingGratitude, genuinely noticing and appreciating the good, strengthens wellbeing and is a learnable habit. Teach simple, regular, genuine gratitude practices and model them, without forcing it.

Facilitator notes

Use simple, regular gratitude practices, and keep it genuine.
Build a culture that appreciates the good.
Model it.

Forced or performative gratitude backfiresMaking students perform gratitude, or denying real difficulties, becomes hollow or toxic positivity. Keep gratitude genuine, noticing real good alongside the hard, and model it.

Adapt it

Elementary: notice and name, express thanks, simple practices.
Secondary: reflect, express, genuine practices.
All settings: simple, regular, genuine gratitude, modeled.

Participant handout

One page for every teacher. Print it, or save it as a PDF.

K12 Academics · Professional Learning

Teaching Gratitude: genuine and regular

Evidence-based wellbeing: simple, regular, genuine gratitude practices, a culture that appreciates the good, modeled.

The simple, regular gratitude practices I introduce:
How I keep it genuine, not forced:
How I build a culture that notices and appreciates the good:
How I model gratitude:
A gratitude practice to try:

Make it stick

Genuine and regular:

Cultivate genuine gratitude.
Keep it real.
Bring a gratitude practice to the next PLC.

Common questions

Does gratitude really affect wellbeing?

Yes, gratitude is one of the most robustly researched positive psychology practices, linked to greater happiness, stronger relationships, better resilience, and wellbeing. And it is a cultivatable habit, not a fixed trait.

How do I teach gratitude?

Through simple, regular, age-appropriate practices, noticing and naming things to be grateful for, reflecting, and expressing gratitude to others, and a classroom culture that notices and appreciates the good. Keep it genuine, not forced.

Isn't forced gratitude just toxic positivity?

Genuine gratitude is not denying difficulties or forcing positivity, it is noticing real good alongside the hard. Keep it authentic and avoid making students perform gratitude; model it and make it genuine.