Stay motivated
We've got great ideas to keep students and staff motivated but it's important that you build time in the classroom for students to reflect on their progress, identify the benefits to their well-being and get help if they need it. Encourage them to keep a diary so they can review progress and identify what's gone well. The type of benefits students might identify include more energy, feeling cheerful and relaxed, more confidence, improved appearance and enhanced relationships with friends and family.
Below are 2 examples of how schools created reflection opportunities for students:
Visual charts
Maintain a visual chart that shows collective progess. For example a primary school might create a tree with leaves to illustrate a class challenge. As the challenge progresses the class can populate the tree with leaves and comments.
Competitions
A secondary school arranged a rowing challenge competition across an entire year group. The class that travelled the furthest distance was rewarded with a prize.
Later this year the SmallSteps4Life website will include 'tracker' tools and journals that students can use to reflect on their challenge journey. Stay tuned for updates! You may like to build in time within classroom teaching for students to complete their journals, perhaps at the start or end of every day.
Help students to find ways to reward themselves for continuing with their challenge. Rewards can be anything they would like to have or do and doesn't have to cost money, for example: inviting friends round, listening to music, or playing their favourite game. You should aim to find healthy rewards that still help students to achieve their challenge.
We're keen that the SmallSteps4Life website enables young people to share their experiences and be recognised for their achievements. If you or other members of your staff would like to nominate young activators (an individual or a group), SmallSteps4Life would like to hear your story in our young activators section (coming soon). It's a great way to motivate students to take up the challenge and to share your school's great work at a national level.
Step 3: Let's go > Step 5: Share your progress >