Gratitude Journal Assignment

FAM 621A: Stress Management

Gratitude Journal

Due dates:

**All entries must be submitted via turnitin.com

Your journal entries will be due on the following dates:

Sept. 9th

Sept. 23rd

Oct. 7th

Oct. 21st

Nov. 4th

Nov. 18th

Dec. 2nd

Dec. 16^th

Purpose:

A gratitude journal is a great way to keep you in a thankful and positive state of mind.

The idea is that each week you will recognize the small, yet positive things in life and focus on them as opposed to all the negative things that are all too easy to focus on at times.

Assignment: Students will…

Each student will identify five (5) things that they are genuinely thankful for. In each entry you will list the previous items you were thankful for; this will ensure no repetition. (You may choose to point form list your previous entries without description, or copy and paste the full entry, both will be accepted)  Full description and detail as to why you are thankful for these items is required. At least one (1) ‘thing you are grateful for’ each week should focus on actions of others or things that happened that week that you are thankful for.

Tips and examples on how to get started:

·          Avoid repeating the same things. As the weeks go on, this will make writing your entries more challenging, but that's how your awareness and thankfulness will grow. You will be challenging yourself to find new things to be thankful for that perhaps you never noticed before.

·          It's easiest to recognize things that sustain your life here on Earth like your house, your bed, your clothes, your food etc. Be sure to explain how this makes you feel and why you're grateful for it.

o    Example - I am grateful for my house. My house warms my body and shelters and protects me. It gives me a sense of relief knowing that there is always a comforting place to come back to. I have lived in my house my whole life and there are so many memories of my childhood associated with my home. It not only provides me shelter, but is an integral part of my family’s heritage and identity.

·          You can start by feeling grateful to be alive at all. Then start writing about feeling grateful to have the body you have, even if you don't like everything. Avoid the trap of being grateful for something that is better than what other people have. Instead, compare whatever you are grateful for, with how you would feel if you didn't have it at all.

·          There are always situations that have made us happy. For example, you may be grateful for a fun party, a good day at school/work, a fun vacation.

Assessment Rubric:

Categories	Excellent (2)	Satisfactory  (1)	Needs Improvement (.5)
Delivery of Gratitude Entry	Entry has five (5) unique ideas in post. Rare misspellings occur. Items from previous week(s) are listed.	Entry has at least 4 ideas in post. Few grammatical or spelling errors are noted in post.	Fewer than four (4) ideas in post. Errors in spelling and grammar evidenced in several posts.
Detail & Description of Entry	For each point of gratitude a detailed description of why you are thankful for this is given.	A description is given for some of the points of gratitude but not all. A description is given for each, but they lack detail as to why you are thankful.	Points of gratitude are listed but lack description as to why these items make you thankful.
Expression within the post	Honest thought and a real connection to the purpose of the assignment is expressed in each post. At least one (1) item relates to the action of others or events that happened to you.	Some thought is put into the post; an occasional lack of connection to the purpose of the assignment is evidenced. Some entries appear rushed. Items do not relate to actions or events.	A lack of real effort and thought is noticeable. Hasty posts seem to be given just to complete assignment.