Forty (40!) years ago this fall, I received this refrigerator magnet as a gift:

Why would I still have this magnet, and why would I remember the year it was given to me? It dates back to the fall of 1985, when I was an elementary education major at ASU. One of the courses I took that semester was a social studies teaching methods course.

The course itself was not remarkable. I do remember a project where my group was assigned to teach a lesson to the rest of the class on how history is recorded. We broke the class up into smaller groups and placed them in surrounding classrooms. Our professor had a meltdown of historic proportions when she realized we left some of our “students” unsupervised. It was the first (and last) time a professor ever yelled at me. (I also had a TA throw a book at me that year, but that’s a story for another day.)

On the last day of the semester, though, this same professor gathered us all in a circle. She had each of us reach into a bag and take out a magnet. She then explained that, as teachers, we would receive many gifts from students in the future (and, by the way, a lot of them would be magnets!) She wanted to show her appreciation for our hard work by being the first one to present us with a “teacher gift.”

It was a moving moment, and one that stuck with me.

Years later, I found myself in a professional learning seminar about teaching with heart. At the end of the multi-day workshop, the presenter gave us all heart pins to remember the important insights we had gained together:

I’ve thrown away a lot of crap things in my life, but I’ve held on to this heart pin for the last 25 years.

In the book The Power of Moments, authors Chip and Dan Heath would describe both of these experiences as “defining moments” – meaningful experiences that stand out in our lives. The authors share four elements that can create a defining moment:

• Elevation – moments that rise above the everyday and “break the script” of what’s usual
• Insight – moments that rewire our understanding of the world
• Pride – moments of achievement and/or courage
• Connection – moments we share with others

I believe the act of sharing a small token in a ceremony has the potential to include all the elements of a defining moment. As such, I’ve been inspired by these experiences to create a similar tradition in my courses. For example, I teach Educational Psychology, which is a first block course in GCC’s BAEE program. At the end of the course, I, too, give magnets to my students:

I offer the same sentiment to my students about wanting to give them their first teacher gift. The energy in the room is palpable as students take in the importance of the moment. There is, dare I say, a sacred feel to this tradition.

For my Positive Psychology students, we have a similar ceremony, but instead I share smooth heart-shaped rocks:

In every ceremony I’ve conducted, I’ve seen students’ faces soften and I’ve sensed hearts open as they experience a little elevation, insight, pride, and connection. And after the ceremony, I have significantly more students coming up to thank me for the semester.

And by the way, I feel nothing but affection for that professor from 40 years ago (not so much the book-throwing TA). After all, I never, ever left an elementary student unsupervised, and perhaps I have her to thank for that. But I am grateful that she modeled how to have a defining moment in a closing ceremony and that she gave that to me to share with my students.

For more information on using The Power of Moments in higher education see this Teaching Tip.