教育者分享让新学年更有喜悦与连接的17个做法

Joy! What a beautiful way to start the school year, not only because it feels good, but also because science shows that joy is linked closely to learning, as well as individual and collective flourishing.

We asked Greater Good Education newsletter readers to share a favorite strategy for bringing joy into their school or classroom at the beginning of the year. The responses did not disappoint! Here are a few that span ages, time commitments, and subject areas.

Dance party Friday

Laura M. (Newark, DE): “Dancing it out” is a strategy that has been shown to reduce stress, release held feelings, and encourage kids to be in the moment. Providing time for activities like dancing is often seen as an “extra.” Building this activity into our weekly schedule has become a favorite stress-relieving activity—adding tremendous joy and connection between children and children and children and teachers.

Related Greater Good in Education (GGiE) practices: The World Is a Dance; Getting to Know Each Other Through Dance; We Are Better Dancing Together

Finding joy in our lives

Josh (New Haven, CT): Every Monday morning meeting, students greet each other by asking, “What brought you joy (made you smile/laugh) over the weekend?”

Laura H.: At the end of the day, with second graders, we share the activity from our day that brought the most joy. If I wasn’t there for it (i.e., recess, music, art, PE), I ask them to include details.

Enchanting joy through surf, science, and storytelling

Emi (Lobitos, Peru): Identifying forms of enchantment—I use this approach in our Women & Water Program. It’s an all-girls (ages 3–16) surf, science, and storytelling program based in Lobitos, a tiny fishing village in Northern Peru. We use “enchantment” as a way for young girls to foster their curiosity, creativity, and care for themselves, peers, community, and the coastal environment. We do this through photography (taking “macro” photos of small, wondrous things found in their environment, like a flower petal, a beetle, etc.). Or we do this in surfing—the girls notice the “awe” of riding the energy of a leftover storm until it crashes into the sand. These girls also made this song after an oil spill that rocked our community about two years ago.

Related GGiE practices: Meaningful Photos for Students; Mindfully Finding Awe in Nature

Sidewalk messages of joy

Angela (Pleasant Hill, CA): I am a school counselor and with my students who experience anxiety we use sidewalk chalk to write positive welcoming messages and pictures in front of our school. It makes others feel welcomed and helps my students feel connected to our school. They even told me it helps get them to school the first couple of days knowing they would see their chalk messages.

“Would you rather” joy

Lorien (St. Louis, MO): Have a “Would you rather…?” question on the whiteboard at the start of class—the funnier the better. Students put a checkmark next to their choice. It’s a fun way to welcome the “whole student self” into the classroom, not just their “learner selves.” Sometimes we talk about it, but often, we don’t.

Related GGiE practice: Superstar

Engineering joy through perseverence

Pam (Muscogee County, GA): To kick off the year, my eighth graders design and build a cardboard maze that guides three different rolling spheres from start to finish. Working in teams of four, students sketch a plan, build it with cardboard and hot glue, test it, and revise their design. Nothing works perfectly the first time. Students quickly discover that failure is a useful part of the design process. By the end of the week, teams are cheering when a ping pong ball, golf ball, or rubber ball finally makes it all the way through, and that joy comes from earning it through real trial and error. It sets the tone for the whole year: Engineering is a process of building, testing, and improving.

Related GGiE practice: Four 4s

Discovering joy in little wins

Kimberly (Williamsport, PA): Something that I introduce during the first week of classes is our 3 Good Things or 3 Little Wins Padlet. Each week students post about three good things or little wins they had during the week. Before the first post, we discuss why it is important to celebrate these things, no matter how small (e.g., a good cup of coffee!). We also discuss the impact that reflecting on these things has on our physical and psychological well-being. Each week I also post my wins for the week and comment on student posts as well. It creates a wonderful community!

Related GGIE practices: Three Good Things for Students; Gratitude Journals

Our favorite songs joy

Jonah (Duxbury, VT): As a high school English teacher, the first writing assignment I give to students asks them to choose a (clean) song that represents them and tell me why they feel connected to this song. I then make a playlist including all the students’ songs, and play it during work times or use it to play students’ walk-up song on special days like birthdays.

Related GGiE practices: Creating Musical Playlists for the Classroom; Prosocial Music Hub (13 practices to bring music into the classroom)

Cake-pop stick joy

Joe (Bridgeport, CT): Students interact with each other as they navigate around the crowded classroom, connected only by cake-pop sticks balanced between each other using only their index finger. Fosters concentration, cooperation, joyful failures, interconnectedness, and intimacy without actually touching one another.

Related GGiE practice: 1-2-3 Clap

Geological joy

David (San Antonio, TX): For my introductory geology class, I work with the students to develop rules for a “rock-rock-rock” (igneous-sedimentary-metamorphic) version of “rock-paper-scissors.” Students develop the necessary hand signals and the action verbs that say what beats what. Once we have the rules established, the students engage in a best two out of three to crown the class champion. Branded university swag is available for the winners, and everyone gets a candy treat for participating.

Related GGiE practice: Making Science Meaningful

Joyful lies

Susan (St. Paul, MN): I ask students to tell the rest of the class their name and a ridiculous lie about themselves—the more absurd the better. There’s always good-natured laughter and encouragement.

Related GGiE practice: Truth or Tale

Laughing joy

Harry (Hailey, ID): I work to end every “session” (class, administration meeting, faculty meeting, etc.) with laughter, whether incited by me or coming from someone else. That moment becomes the punctuation.

Related GGiE practices: Share a Laugh; The SEL 3 Signature Practices

The joy of contribution—seeing the good in others

Paige (Seattle, WA): About the second or third week of classes (graduate and undergraduate students) we begin doing this ritual that we do a few times during the semester: “The joy of contribution…I see this in you!” Students take turns identifying something they have genuinely observed in another student in the cohort/class: “One leadership capacity I see developing in you is________, because I watched you ________.” The BECAUSE matters.

Examples I have heard from pre-certified teachers and principals: “I see courage building in you because I have watched you ask questions the rest of us were afraid to ask.” OR, “I see you really owning belongingness as you consistently notice who is outside the conversation and what is happening around us as you read the room.”

Related GGiE practices: I See You. Everyone Matters; Behind Your Back

What joy looks like

Lorien (St. Louis, MO): I use a guided visualization to prompt students to think about what joyful teaching, joyful learning, and joyful interactions look like, sound like, and feel like. It makes what we’re doing much more explicit, and it helps me know what they want from me and vice versa.

Related GGiE practice: Designing the Classroom to Promote Kindness

Drawing for joy

Angela (McMinnville, OR): A non-dominant hand drawing activity that gets us all out of our “perfection” thinking and into being learners…and laughing.

Related GGiE practice: Drawing as a Way to Manage Emotions

Joyful greetings

Milton (San Diego, CA): As the associate principal, I stand out in front of the school in the morning with a BIG SMILE sign on and greet the students with a “Good morning & have a great day!” Some students like a fist bump or handshake as well.

Related GGiE practice: Making Families Feel Welcome

Closing the day with joy

Donna (Arkansas): “JOY” is the grounding rhythm that closes every day, honoring the joyful moments that JUST happened, recognizing community attunement through something an OTHER person did, and celebrating internal self-efficacy via something YOU did. Each person is free to select whichever letter resonates with them to share. We pass a rainstick around the circle; once it is turned to let its gentle cascade settle into silence, the person holding it speaks. This tactile ritual and quiet sound not only brings a profound sense of calm to the transition from classroom to home, but it also serves as a gentle reminder to carry those reflections outward.

J—Just happened (joyful moments): This includes moments of awe through visual art design, the natural world, or quiet classroom breakthroughs. Prompt: “What is a small moment of joy or beauty that just happened today—maybe a bird outside our window, a solved puzzle, or a moment of laughter?”
O—Other-centered kindness (noticing moral beauty): This centers on acts of care, inclusion, or helpfulness witnessed throughout the day. Prompt: “Who is someone else you noticed doing something kind, caring, or helpful today—seen or unseen?”
Y—Your own contribution (reflective pride): This is anchored in agency and emotional regulation, helping us to recognize how we foster our own joy. Prompt: “What is something you did today that you are proud of, or a time you showed patience and care to yourself or someone else?”

Thank you to all of the educators in the Greater Good community who shared activities for bringing joy into schools and classrooms. We received many, many more than we could share here. Even in the face of incredible challenges, you are bringing so much joy to your students and their families, your colleagues, and yourself. May you all have a joyful start to the new school year!

We look forward to our next post in the From Our Readers series that will focus on building community through connection and belonging. Want to share an activity? Fill out this quick form! Not only will you strengthen our community, you’ll be entered into a drawing for a free self-paced course or a spot in our Flourishing Spring community of practice!