I want to share with you a classroom technique which will help your students to create a sense of belonging and appreciation.
As educators, we have a fundamental role in creating a sense of community and respect in our classrooms, where children can appreciate their peers’ contributions and understand their own values, guiding them to create relationships which foster social responsibility. Implement the use of an ‘appreciation box’ for each child with their name on it.
At the end of a collaborative task, ask children to write a sentence which anonymously expresses appreciation of one of their classmates for something that they have said or done and put it in their box. At points during or at the end of the course or the semester, the boxes are distributed, and students can read what the others have said about them.
Source: TEYLT Worldwide iatefl.org