Running head: Implementing 3 Good Things

Educators Summit 2020

Improving Engagement in a Fourth Grade Classroom by Implementing 3 Good Things

Hailey McGargill

Nebraska Wesleyan University

hmcgargi@nebrwesleyan.edu

402-917-0402
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Abstract:

Getting students engaged in instruction can be a tricky task for educators. This tends to

happen when students do not have the most positive outlook toward school and their

academics. As a fourth grade teacher, I started to notice how my students outlook on school

started to turn negative. In order to put a more positive outlook on academics and increase

engagement and excitement, I believe positive education should be introduced into students

daily lives. “Positive education is defined as “education for both traditional skills and for

happiness”(Borkar, 2016). A way to spark positive education in school systems is by

implementing gratitude strategies to show students how much they have to be thankful for. One

strategy that I have grown fond of is implementing 3 Good Things into students daily lives.

Literature shows that when the three good things activity is used, it requires the participants to

become more aware and pay attention to what is actually going on in their daily life (Seear &

Vella-Brodrick, 2012).

The aim of this session is to introduce the problem of practice, research that is and has

been done on this topic, and how to implement the 3 Good Things activity into a classroom to

increase positivity. I will show how I began using this activity in our daily routine, ways to teach

students how to hunt for positive occurrences in their daily lives, and the results of how much

gratitude has had an effect on fourth grade students’ academic outlooks. After learning about

research backing the 3 Good Things exercise, the participants will be given the opportunity to

find 3 Good Things that they have experienced and reflect on why those events stuck out to

them and why they believe they occurred. To wrap up our session, we will have a question and

answer and participants will be given the opportunity to share one of their 3 Good Things with

the group.
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References

Borkar, V. (2016). Positive school climate and positive education: impact on students

w well-being. Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing, 7, 8, 861-862.

Seear, K.H., & Vella-Brodrick, D.A. (2012). Efficacy of positive psychology interventions to

i increase well-being: examining the role of dispositional mindfulness. Social Indicators

R Research, 114, 1125-1141.