Prayerful Teaching is Thanking Others

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his 

love endures forever.

Psalm 107:1  (NIV)

Prayer and Meditation

May I live out every day in thanksgiving to you in 

both my personal and professional life.  May I 

continually recognize your hand in my calling as a 

teacher and show my thanks to you, Lord, in my 

words, my deeds, and my interactions with my 

students, your most precious children.  I am thankful

 for your love which endures forever.  May I show 

love to my students even as they test my patience 

and bestow upon me the  trials and challenges 

inherent in a teacher’s daily life.. 

The Actions of Prayerful Teaching

• Allow students to hear you frequently say “thank you” both to them and to others with whom you work and interact with during the day.

• Write two letters of gratitude to people who have positively influenced their lives.. One letter could be to a family member and one letter  to someone outside the family.  Make provisions so that the people to whom they are addressed actually receive the letter.  If the school can provide the postage, the letters could be mailed.  This would make it extra special for the students and truly be a surprise for the recipients.

• If you have students who speak a second language, have them teach the class how to say words such as “thank you” and “please”  in a different languages.

• Choose a content area.  Create a list of inventions, people, or ideas for whom we are most thankful.

• As literature is read or content areas studied, discuss what various people do for us and how our lives would not be the same without these people whom we usually take for granted.  Some examples would be the fast food worker, the school maintenance workers, the bus drivers, and the checkers at the big box stores.

Challenge of the Week

Look for an appropriate time (or build in an appropriate time) to share with your students some of the thing for which you are most thankful.  This can be very informal, something that just “fits in” the day or flows into the conversation.

God Bless and Prayerful Teaching,

Elizabeth A. Wink

prayerfulteaching@gmail.com