December can feel like a whirlwind in schools, which makes it the perfect time to slow down and center students in one of the most grounding SEL themes we have: gratitude.

In this episode, I am sharing simple, meaningful ways to introduce gratitude to students of all ages, plus ideas for weaving it into your counseling program throughout the whole month.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why gratitude boosts mood, relationships, and academic outcomes

• How gratitude connects to all five CASEL competencies

• How I use the book Last Stop on Market Street to introduce perspective and meaning

• Reflection questions that help deepen student understanding

• My daily Witness Moment practice and how students can create gratitude snapshots

• A gratitude acorn activity that helps younger students understand growth

• A powerful gratitude cross the line lesson for older students

• Schoolwide ideas: gratitude walls, gratitude grams, morning announcements

• How to track simple Tier 1 data when implementing gratitude centered lessons

Quote From the Episode

"It can start off tiny, just like an acorn, but gratitude has a way of growing into something great."

Encouragement for the Week

As we close out the year, gratitude becomes a beautiful reminder of why we do this work. Whether it is an acorn on the wall, a hallway display, or a quiet moment in your office, I hope you always find ways to grow gratitude in your school this season.

Resources Mentioned:

Last Stop On Market Street

Grab the Show Notes: Counselingessentials.org/podcast

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Mentioned in this episode:

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Carol: You're listening to the Counselor Chat Podcast, a show for school counselors looking for easy to implement strategies, how to tips, collaboration, and a little spark of joy.

I'm Carol Miller, your host. I'm a full time school counselor and the face behind counseling Essentials. I'm all about creating simplified systems, data driven practices, and using creative approaches to engage students.

Carol: If you're looking for a little inspiration.

Carol: To help you make a big impact on student growth and success, you're in the right place. Because we're better together. Ready to chat? Let's dive in.

Carol: Hi everyone and welcome back to another episode of Counselor Chat.

I am so excited that you are here with me again this week as we are really heading into the holiday season.

Right now it feels like it's the perfect time to talk about one of my favorite SEL themes.

And that's gratitude.

Now, I know December, it can be a whirlwind in schools.

Students are antsy, teachers are tired,

and our to do list seems to like magically double overnight.

But here's the thing.

Gratitude. It's one of those topics that can bring calm connection and perspective to both students and staff when things start to feel a little wild.

Now,

gratitude isn't just about saying thank you.

It's really all about noticing the good that's already there.

And research shows that practicing gratitude can really increase happiness,

improve relationships, and even boost academic outcomes.

And for our students,

gratitude really helps them shift their focus from what's missing to what's meaningful.

And for us as school counselors, it's one of those SEL topics that truly hits all five casel self awareness, Social awareness,

relationship skills,

self management,

and responsible decision making.

Now, one of my favorite favorite ways to introduce gratitude is really through a good book.

And one of my favorites for this topic is Last Stop on Market Street.

That is by Matt De La Penna, and really, it's an absolute gem if you haven't used it before.

It tells the story of C.J. and his grandma taking the bus after church.

Carol: C.J.

Carol: I mean, he starts off noticing what others have that he doesn't cars, gadgets,

and even a nicer neighborhood.

But his grandma gently reminds him to see beauty in what they do have the music, the people,

and the community around them.

It really is such a powerful story for helping students understand gratitude as a way of seeing the world and not just for a list of things that we're thankful for.

And after reading,

I like to ask my kids reflective questions like what does CJ notice at the beginning of the story?

How does his perspective change by the end?

And what's something you have in your life that you might not always notice after that? I like to have the kids create a gratitude snapshot.

It's a quick drawing or a writing prompt about a small,

everyday thing that just brings them joy.

In my own personal practice, I do what's called my witness moment. I have talked about this on the podcast before,

but every day I look for something.

Something that I witness, something that I see that I that truly made me grateful for the day.

And it can be something simple. It can be like a cloud in the sky that looks like a cartoon character.

Or maybe it's a house that I drove by a million times and never noticed before.

Or since. It is December.

Maybe it's the way the snow,

well, the new fallen snow gently lines the trees.

It looks so fresh and so pretty.

Those things that I was able to witness just brings me such. Such joy.

Now I use the last stop in Market Street.

Really? This year I used it with my fifth graders. I try to,

when I use a book, use it only with one particular grade so that I can use it every single year. Because if I read it to the whole school, I'd actually have to take a few years off.

But. But by reading it only to fifth graders, I get to read it every single year.

And I really do love that story.

Now with my younger kids,

in particular my third graders, I did a gratitude acorns lesson.

I mean, it's really themed around fall, but it helps kid kids understand that gratitude can grow just like an acorn grows into a tree.

We start off looking at an acorn,

and in this, we try to say, like,

what's in this acorn?

It really is this little tiny, like, knot.

And it's really funny if you ask kids, like, what is an acorn? Describe it to me what they say, especially because it is third grade. They say things like, it's something that squirrels put in their cheeks.

We find them on the ground,

they have these little hats on them.

I mean, they're so cute.

But then we talk about an acorn comes from what? It comes from a tree. And actually it's an oak tree. And that little tiny acorn really has everything it needs to grow into the mighty oak.

And so gratitude is a lot like that.

It's can start off really tiny, but it has this way of growing into something great.

So what I do is after we talk about the acorns,

I give each student their own paper acorn where they can write or draw something or Someone that they're grateful for.

Sometimes we put them on a big tree display in the hallway or the classroom.

This year, they had a sheet of paper that I put four. Four little acorns on,

and that is going home.

But if you do a big display in your hallway or the classroom, it can be your gratitude grove.

You know, grove, like grove of trees.

It's simple, it's visual, and it really is a great way for students to see that gratitude can spread really all across the school.

Now, for my big, bigger kids,

I did kind of like a gratitude cross the line lesson.

And I asked things like, cross the line if you've ever had someone do something kind for you this week.

Cross the line if you've helped someone without being asked.

Cross the line if you're thankful for a teacher who makes you feel seen.

And we're just talking about all these statements about gratitude.

And it's really powerful to see the room shift as students begin to realize how many shared experiences they have and how gratitude connects us all.

And if there's a kid that's not standing or crossing the line,

when you read your statement, the kids are be like,

yeah, you have. I've seen this. Yes, you.

And they will pull the kid over over with them.

So it's kind of powerful to see how it really can touch us all.

Afterwards, I have the students really complete another little worksheet, a reflection worksheet where they can identify ways to show gratitude moving forward.

We can tie this into community service,

random acts of kindness, or even writing gratitude letters.

But you don't have to limit teaching gratitude. And just a class lesson.

There are so many ways to really weave gratitude into your whole counseling program.

And for this time of year,

I think that's pretty special.

So you can do gratitude grams.

I mean, my co counselor did this with the little tiny tots. I mean, maybe they weren't that little. They were second grade. But she had them write little gratitude grams to staff or their peers.

And she came back into the. Into our office, and she's like, boy,

Mrs. Hummel, who was our principal, she got a ton. She was a little upset. She didn't get any. But it was kind of cute that so many kids were writing to the principal.

But the little gratitude grams.

You could also do a hallway gratitude wall. We actually have one up in our building right now too.

It's actually a tree with leaves, and on each leaf,

the students just post what they're thankful for.

You can incorporate gratitude into your morning announcements feature, student shout outs, or some gratitude quotes.

You can even do a staff circle.

Use a community circle with your teachers where everyone shares just one thing they're grateful for this semester.

It's a really great thing to add into your faculty meetings for the month.

And don't forget the data connection.

You should try to track the changes in student mood or classmate climate when these gratitude activities are implemented. It's really great tier 1 data to share with administrators because when we really start to talk about gratitude and incorporate it,

we are going to make some changes.

You know, I think as we wrap up the year,

gratitude, it's really such a beautiful reminder of why we do this work.

It shifts us from what's missing to what matters.

That's something we can all use this time of year.

So whether it's an acorn on the wall,

a student reflection in class,

or a quiet moment in your office,

I hope you'll always find ways to grow gratitude in your school this season.

Well, my friends, thank you so much for tuning into this episode of Counselor Chat.

If you try any any of these gratitude lessons or activities,

I'd love to see them tag me on Instagram at Counseling Essentials.

I am so very, very grateful for you.

I'm grateful for the notes that you send me,

for the emails that I receive,

and just seeing that people are actually downloading this podcast and they're listening to it.

So thank you so much for doing that.

And remember, my friends,

helping students thrive is your mission,

but helping you thrive is ours.

So until next time,

I hope you have a really great week.

Stay, grateful friends.

Bye for now.

Carol: Thanks for listening to today's episode of Counselor Chat. All of the links I talked about can be found in the show notes and at counselingessentials.org podcast.

Be sure to hit follow or subscribe on your favorite podcast player. And if you would be so kind.

Carol: To leave a review, I'd really appreciate it.

Carol: Want to connect? Send me a DM on Facebook or Instagram at Counseling Essentials until next time. Can't wait till we chat. Bye for now.