On Instagram, I follow many people in the education field as well as others who are very positive and uplifting. One of these people is a girl named Katie who I met while obtaining my undergraduate degree in college and whose posts are very inspiring and motivating. She is someone who always has a kind word and makes me want to be a better person just by seeing her pictures on social media. (Note: If you would like to view Katie's encouraging posts, follow her on Instagram @katiewestlake1).
Right at the start of the new year, Katie posted about making a vision board for 2015. The idea of the vision board came from The Secret by Rhonda Byrne which was popular around 2006. The purpose of a vision board is to set intentions for yourself through pictures, and then look at those pictures everyday in order to remind yourself of your intentions. Every year, people make resolutions but they usually go unfulfilled because we forget, things get busy, and life moves on. Making a vision board where you can see your intentions daily reminds you of the changes you want to make in your life.
After reading Katie's post, I knew I wanted to make a vision board for myself. My husband and I set off, looking through magazines, thinking up ideas, and creating individual and combination boards for goals we wanted to accomplish together and for ourselves. Then I thought, what a great project do with my students!
That day, I wrote an email to my students' parents, asking for them to send in magazines and explained the project. As soon as I came into school, my students were excited to start this activity. I wanted to combine it with writing so these are the steps I completed with my class: First, we had a discussion about what goals and resolutions are and why people make them. Then, we brainstormed in our Writer's Notebooks different changes we wanted to make during the new year. I modeled by reading my own list to them. Sharing these goals with each of their classmates was fun for the students because they ended up getting more ideas from their friends to add to their own lists. Next, students began the creative part; they looked through magazines to find pictures that represented each of their goals and glued them onto a piece of paper. If they couldn't locate pictures for their intentions, they could draw them as well. Of course, students could add more intentions to their list throughout the whole process. One of my students ended up with 30 goals for the year!
Once the construction of the vision boards were complete, we chose three pictures to write about in a paragraph (remember, I have second graders). For my model, I wrote "I chose a picture of a beautiful living room because I want to decorate my own house just like this picture." Students wrote using my model and a fill-in-the-blank technique to add their own pictures and goals.
All together, the final vision boards were amazing! The students put so much effort into their goals for the future and they were extremely unique for each individual. Here is a picture of two of my students' vision boards:
When I asked these two students to tell me about their vision boards, it practically brought me to tears. The student who made the top vision board said that she added the globe and x'd out the picture of the electronic device on her board so that she can "travel more and not play on her electronics as much." When I asked the student who created the bottom board about her pictures, she explained that she added a picture of a bed, cooking, and an art supply set so that she would "keep her new bedding nice and neat, cook more with her family, and make time for crafts." What precious thoughts and wonderful changes to make in the new year! I noticed that almost all of my students wrote something about spending time with family, whether it be in the form of vacations, cooking together, or being nicer to their brother or sister. That is truly what means the most to children- being with the people who love and care for them.
This was such a fabulous activity that allowed me to learn even more about each of my students' wishes, hopes and dreams for the future as well as to help spread positivity for the new year ahead. After we hang them in the classroom for a little while, I look forward to hearing about how these intentions evolve once the students bring them home and share them with their families.
If you complete this activity with your class, I would love to hear how it goes!
Enjoy!
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