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| Didax "Class Ideas" Newsletter Archive |
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This month's Class Ideas tackles an important but often ignored topic: Self-Esteem. Growing up is a daunting task in this day and age and it's only made harder for kids who struggle with poor self-esteem. We all can be hard on ourselves and it's difficult for children to deal with this issue without help. This issue gives you a few ideas, tools and resources to work on raising your students' self-esteem.
The article provides some insight into the importance of self-esteem and some simple tips to boost your classroom's spirit. You can download reproducible pages to give your students and follow links to some great websites. As always, there's a special for newsletter subscribers and a hint as to what's coming in the next issue of Class Ideas.
Happy reading and I hope you're all enjoying your spring,
Anna Mullen, Editor |
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| The Importance of Self-Esteem |
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 The key to building a safe, happy classroom environment is promoting self-esteem. Teachers know that most children don't learn simply because they love learning. Many other factors will influence whether or not a child will experience success. Individual, class and teacher self-esteem will affect learning.
Have you ever noticed how students repeat things you have said when talking to their peers? Students model themselves on the way we behave in a range of situations. It stands to reason that the way we demonstrate positive self-esteem provides a model for students to model positive self-esteem. This is why when we have a bad day, they seem to follow! Similarly, when students are demonstrating poor self-esteem, we need to work hard not to follow suit. In fact, it is our job to build their self-esteem so they can be effective learners.
Here are some classroom (and out of classroom) indicators for why we should demonstrate good self-esteem:
? It empowers us to act positively.
? We respect others.
? We admit mistakes.
? We keep trying to achieve goals despite failures.
We need to manage student behavior in an encouraging manner. Show respect for students while steering them towards taking responsibility for themselves and promoting the indicators for good self-esteem. When a class unit shares positive self-esteem, it will then begin to work as a team with its teacher.
Student self-esteem is boosted when:
? students feel the positive effects of being responsible;
? we listen to them and suspend our feelings until we understand the feelings of the student;
? students demonstrate the good self-esteem we have modeled;
? we believe in our students and that they can achieve exceptional goals.
Tips for Teachers
? Praise often - but only when you mean it. Children quickly pick up on insincerity. Be spontaneous in the way you praise; unexpected praise is the most effective.
? Smile as often as you can - it is contagious. A big smile in the morning as the children enter the classroom will make grumpy faces disappear.
? Remind the class of what they do well. This could be putting bags away neatly, packing up at the end of the day, or sharing.
? Be conscious about the language you use with the children. Does it encourage or show defeat? Do you say, "This is the worst packing up I've seen this week" or "Show me the 'packing up stars' you are!"?
? If a child is not speaking, it is likely he or she feels that no one is listening. Speak to him or her privately or play class discussion games such as "I like you because..." or "Things that I am good at."
? Give students a feeling of being organized by preparing them for what is going to happen in the day.
? Show good work when students get started to give others a benchmark to work towards. Let them know the focus of the task. If a writing task has been set, let them know that today you are looking for capital letters and periods. When students know what is expected, they work twice as hard.
? Show disappointment in poor behavior, not anger. Encourage students who have behaved poorly at every opportunity following their incident.
? Set short-term goals on those days when students are disagreeable.
? When making comments, always start with one positive before you mention the things that need working on. |
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| Downloadable Self-Esteem Activity Pages |
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 This month's downloadable lessons come from our new series, Self-Esteem. The activities in these books are designed to develop self-motivated and resilient students. To give them a try in your classroom, simply download these sample pages, photocopy, and pass out to students. |
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| Self-Esteem Internet Links |
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 With self-esteem and other character education subjects being such hot topics these days, the resources offered by the Internet on this issue are practically endless. Here are a few wonderful sites to get you started. For your students, there's an article from kidshealth.org. For your reference, there's an article with background info and an article about what you can do to encourage good self-esteem in your students. For a quick start, there's a lesson plan from Discoveryschool.org. Enjoy! |
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| Summer Newsletter Theme: Weather |
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 With summer right around the corner, lovely weather is on everybody's minds. The next issue of Class Ideas focuses on just that, Weather. There will be a useful article, downloadable worksheets, links to online resources, and of course, a subscriber-only special. |
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