Schools
Pocket Moments
Roberta Tong's AP Language students at San Ramon Valley High take time to think of a "pocket moment," a positive part of your day that takes you by surprise.
Have you ever reached into your pocket and found something you thought you lost a long time ago? Or opened an old purse or wallet, only to find money stashed away?
Now, think of the feeling you get when you find these things. That feeling of surprise, happiness, and sometimes relief. That is the idea behind "pocket moments," to realize the simple things in life that make you happy.
We start off each second period in Robert Tong's AP language class writing down a pocket moment in our journal. It can be as simple as having a literal pocket moment where you find something in your pocket, or it could be meeting someone new, reconnecting with an old friend, or winning a game.
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About once a week, we share our pocket moments with the class. Each student takes a few minutes to talk about their pocket moment, which is usually only a sentence or two. Soon enough, other students are bursting with stories that relate to the other student's pocket moment.
"Everyone is sharing what makes them happy when they share their pocket moments, so it is just kind of an uplifting part of class," said junior Amanda Swasey.
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My most recent pocket moment is the sudden change in weather. Just last week, it was cloudy and gloomy. But, this weekend, it changed to sunny and hot, and according to the news, it's supposed to stay like this all week. I don't know about everyone else but this taste of summer brightens up my whole week!
A recurring theme of "pocket moments" is doing fun things without spending much money. A girl in my class is constantly sharing her "thrifty adventures," such a looking for garage sales during weekends or visiting the local thrift store or Goodwill. Each time, we all, including my teacher, encourage her to bring in her findings for a little show-and-tell. Though it hasn't happened yet, we are hoping she'll share her "pocket moments" with us by the end of the school year.
Along the same theme of having fun without spending money, other students talk about going on hikes or star gazing.
Thinking about pocket moments each day is a great way to take a positive look at life. As terrible as your day may seem, think again, because there might be a "pocket moment" hiding there.
