Gratitude Journals Expand 5th Graders' Resilience and Positivity

“What are you grateful for today?” Middle School Assistant Head Hollis Ligon begins each 5th grade skills lab with this simple question. At the start of the year, fifth graders didn’t think they would use two minutes to answer. By the end, Ligon expanded the gratitude journaling activity to five minutes, and girls are typically still writing when her timer goes off.

With five minutes of gratitude journaling, our girls practice focusing on the good in their lives and in the world around them. From family and friends to trailblazers throughout history, their journal entries reflect curiosity, perspective, and joy. 

“When we practice gratitude and we focus on the things that are going well in our lives, it helps our brain learn to focus on the positives. It rewires our brain to look for the good as opposed to the negative,” Ligon said.

According to Ligon, this practice reduces stress and enhances social connections by releasing dopamine and serotonin, which middle school girls can benefit from. In Skills Lab, fifth graders learn about how their brains function. This understanding empowers them to use effective study strategies and maintain stamina through the learning process.

“It can be easy to fall into the trap of focusing on the negative, thinking about how much you have to do, or the things in your life that you are worried about or stressed about, and so it's important for our girls to center themselves on the things that are going well in their lives, have benefited them, and have brought joy,” she said.

Ligon, who journals with the girls, found herself seeing the world from a different perspective as well. “When you read the science behind it, you understand why it works for the brain and how it rewires your neural pathways and your view of things. To experience this has been eye-opening and fun for me. I’ve even noticed that when I’m in traffic now, instead of being mad about being stuck in traffic, I start thinking about all the things that I’m grateful for.”