Count Your Blessings: The Practice of Gratitude in New Jersey Elementary Classrooms

“Count Your Blessings\u27\u27 takes a deeper look into the changing education landscape to better understand the topic of gratitude. The main research question at hand addresses whether gratitude is being utilized by educators in New Jersey elementary classrooms, and if so, what is its impact. The research additionally prompts whether educators prefer this topic be mandated as part of elementary school curricula. This study examined the specific audience of K-8 educators in the state of New Jersey in hopes to gain a better understanding of their awareness, rated importance, and support of the topic of gratitude in elementary education. Specific steps in this research included reviewing relevant literature, conducting a survey, and leading an in-depth interview. The major finding obtained from completing this research is that gratitude is a valued tool that teachers support and want to introduce in their classrooms, but want to do so at their own pace and style, free from standardization or embedment in curriculum