One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other
students
in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each
of
their classmates and write it down.
It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and
as
the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a
separate
sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that
individual.
On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire
class was smiling. "Really?" she heard whispered. "I never knew that I
meant
anything to anyone!" and, "I didn't know others liked me so much." were
most
of the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they
discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The
exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with
themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.