This article was written by Nicole Badyrka, a kindergarten teacher at Turrill Elementary in Lapeer Community Schools in Lapeer, Michigan. Nicole is in her 14th year at Turrill, where she has taught early fives and kindergarten throughout. Turrill serves roughly 390 students in grades PreK–5 in Lapeer County.
The Positivity Project (P2) has been a wonderful new addition to my classroom curriculum this school year. Through the use of The Positivity Project, my students have enhanced their social-emotional skills, developing qualities such as teamwork, empathy, and resiliency. The Positivity Project has promoted character development among my students in a classroom environment.
Teaching a Character Strength to a Five-Year-Old
Since The Positivity Project was adapted at my school, I began teaching the lessons during my morning meeting. This is the time of day when we meet as a classroom community to greet each other, talk about current events, and build relationships. We emphasized character strengths while setting a positive tone for the day.
At the beginning of each week, I start with a short discussion on the new character strength. Each day after that, I incorporate the activities outlined in The Positivity Project lessons. As kindergarten teachers, we focus a lot on helping students learn to self-regulate and manage their emotions, along with laying the foundations for relationship skills; The Positivity Project guides us as a class and school on how to achieve this effectively.
I feel empowered that this is the first experience students will have with The Positivity Project. I have an important job to make it a positive one that they will take with them into the coming years at school.
Hearing the Same Words From My Fourth Grader
I also have the luxury of seeing the impact on my 4th-grade son, who also attends Turrill Elementary. I hear him tell stories of conversations about the character strengths that my kindergarten students are also learning about. It’s a beautiful thing to have a common language around a common goal across all grade levels.
