Student Contributor: Lara Creighton
It helps students understand empathy and to be kind to others because we don’t always know what others may be going through.
This tool is called roses and thorns and it would be something I would do at the beginning of the year every Friday. I would have a roses side and a thorns side up on the whiteboard. The prompt would be put one thorn of the week (not-so good thing) and and rose (happy thing.) This is an anonymous way for students to just get their stressed and anxieties out because it is incredibly important for students to know its out to share emotions. I would remind students that they can come to me at anytime if they would like to talk about their roses or thorns and that this is a safe environment.
I put this tool in the preventative phase because I feel like if you allows your students to have a voice whether it be anonymous or not your students are going to respect you. Giving students that power takes away from the teacher over student dynamic, it creates a safe learning space there for everyone.
More Information –
Tool Source: Mentor Teacher
I used the Roses and Thorns tool in my 7th grade English language arts class. It’s a suburban environment with 17 students. It was extremely easy to set up and even easier to explain, which is always a benefit. We did it with basic index cards that you can find a dollar tree. The students found success in this as it was a way for them to talk things out with themselves in a way and put things into perspective. The fact that they could just write out what is going on seemed to bring a lot of peace to them. The students understood their role in this tool and were excited to have an opportunity to share whatever was on their mind. They also understood that they could come talk about their roses and thorns instead of being anonymous, but having that choice seemed to really resonate with them and they liked having a voice. The only adjustment I would make is having this be a year-round activity.