Roslyn High School English teacher Jolene Grgas is continuing her tradition of Warm & Fuzzy Fridays in her World Humanities classes.
For the last 15 years, she has built a classroom community by setting aside five minutes every Friday and asking students to reflect in writing on how their peers affect their lives.
At the beginning of the period, the students write their names on the top of a post-it and then fold the post-it in half. Towards the end of the period, the post-its are disseminated and each student looks at the name and writes something gracious about the person in the class.
At the end of the period, each student gets their note returned. As time goes on, a community slowly develops as the students work hard to notice each other’s behaviors and become their best selves.
“We all have people who we interact with daily, but who play a peripheral role in our lives,” said Ms. Grgas. “The kid behind you in math class, the person whose locker is two down from yours, the person who always seems to go to the bathroom at the same time that you do. This exercise builds empathy and prompts students to think about a wider circle of peers that they can build relationships with here at the high school.”
Submitted by Cynthia Younker on behalf of the Roslyn Public Schools.
