{"id":5335,"date":"2021-11-03T16:52:18","date_gmt":"2021-11-03T20:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.playworks.org\/new-england\/?p=5335"},"modified":"2025-02-19T15:01:22","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T20:01:22","slug":"thank-you-for-tying-my-shoes-coach-leah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.playworks.org\/new-england\/2021\/11\/03\/thank-you-for-tying-my-shoes-coach-leah\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThank you for tying my shoes, Coach Leah\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2019, my first year as a Playworks Coach, it seemed as though 90% of what I did on the recess yard was tie my students\u2019 shoelaces. Many of them would run up to me, breathless, motion to their untied shoes, and I knew exactly what they were asking. As soon as I finished tying their laces, they would bolt off without another word, immediately immersed in a new tag game.<\/span><\/h3>\n

But there was one first grade student who, halfway through the year, started to pause before running back to his soccer game. He\u2019d look down at his freshly tied shoes, look back up at me, and say, \u201cThank you for tying my shoes, Coach Leah.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take me long to remember that the previous week during our Class Game Time, we had talked about gratitude and the importance of saying thank you. After I noticed this particular first grader\u2019s new habit of saying thank you for tying his shoes, my eyes were opened to students thanking their lunch monitors for helping them in the cafeteria, thanking their bus drivers, custodians, teachers, classmates, and so on. The art of saying thank you transcended our Class Game Time, and was embraced by the students as something they should practice throughout their days, with as many people as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"When I started seeing my students express gratitude, it inspired me to do the same. This is one of the wonderful things about gratitude: it has ripple effects. According to a study at the <\/span>University of North Carolina Chapel Hill<\/span><\/a>, expressions of gratitude not only positively affect those giving and receiving the gratitude, but also positively impact those who witness it. Intentionally teaching one group of first graders about gratitude had a ripple effect throughout the school community, and the ways that I saw people show appreciation for one another was inspiring.<\/span><\/p>\n

Research conducted at Harvard<\/span><\/a> states that gratitude \u201chelps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.\u201d There\u2019s a whole lot of good that saying thank you can do, and teaching gratitude on the playground, in the classroom\/workplace, and throughout the community is necessary for kids and adults to build positive and empathetic spaces.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Teaching and expressing gratitude can start with small acts, but has the potential to shift school, work, and home environments. Here are five simple ways to incorporate thankfulness into your communities:<\/span><\/p>\n