Co-Constructing a Classroom Mantra

 Throughout the school year, my students would frequently add to a space we designated in the classroom. We called it our Inspiration Wall. On it, we would add pictures, song lyrics, quotes, parts of text we really loved, and even family photos. When we received mail from friends across the US, we would sometimes add those as well. We became really good at reflecting and noting when things felt good to us. We became inspiration seekers throughout our days together. Kids started to design their own Inspiration Walls at home, too! 

Doing this was great, but I started to realize that we weren't always tapping into the inspiration we all had within ourselves. We have powerful words and ideas and creations that also inspire others. We had conversations about our gifts, talents, and our message(s) that we often shared with others around us. We engaged in reflective conversations about positive self talk. 

Weeks went by and the students started to play with their own affirmations. These developed into our classroom Mantra. We recited it at the beginning of class to get us going. We would recite it together before a test or a performance. We would recite it when we wanted to share it with a guest, another teacher, or another class. We even ended our day with it. 

What I loved most about our classroom mantra was that the students called the shots. Take a peek at what they created!

Over the years, I'll still have students share out that mantra that they had etched into their memory. I even had a student surprise me with the mantra when I changed positions in the same school district, and they eventually moved on to another building. Imagine my surprise when I returned to my office after a challenging day and I found our class mantra sitting on my desk waiting for me. #CueTheTears 

I love checking out new children's books and I found this one recently that has affirmations in English and Spanish. What a wonderful mentor text this would have been!! 

There have since been other books published as well! Remember that affirmations can be super powerful- and what gets you going one day might not be what inspires you on a different day. Flip up those mantras and affirmations. Helping ourselves and each other lean in to what we need to hear or say is a powerful life skill!