TWINSBURG, Ohio — Each day, MoNique Waters, a kindergarten teacher in the Twinsburg City School District, starts her students’ day off with positive affirmations.
She stands in front of the classroom every morning and says, “I am strong! I am talented! I am smart! I am so special! I can achieve anything!”
And then she has her students repeat each phrase after her.
“I just thought that those were all really important things they can apply to anything they are doing,” said Waters. “I just want to make sure they are ready — mind, body and soul — before we even dive into the curriculum and the standards.”
The teacher started doing the positive affirmations with her students at the beginning of this unusual school year, and she said she has seen a positive change in her students’ attitudes.
“When they are not feeling too great, I might say to them, ‘Well remember what we say’ and they might whisper that to themselves,” Waters explained. “I even heard one of my students saying it to another student, like ‘You’re really smart’ or talking to themselves like ‘I’m special.’”
Waters posted a video of herself saying the positive affirmations to her students on her Instagram account, and it quickly went viral. The teacher even made an appearance on The Ellen Show.
“I didn’t really expect the reaction I got and I was like, ‘Woah this is crazy,'” Waters said. “I am just glad that something so positive that literally anyone can use was something that was noticed.”
Waters said she’s had other teachers reach out to her after seeing her video. She said she has even seen other teachers posting their own versions of daily classroom affirmations online.
“It is something that we should think about including in all of our classrooms throughout all grade levels,” Waters said. “Adults can say affirmations, so of course our high school students and middle schoolers can have affirmations. Maybe it’s a little different than (kindergarteners).”
The teacher hopes the lessons her kindergarteners learn in her class follow them for the rest of their lives.
