No one finds it surprising to know that middle school is the period in which preteens and teens experience their most formative years. What they learn, how they behave, and how they interact with others during middle school can carry on into adulthood—whether positive or negative. Teachers have the opportunity to facilitate positive thinking and actions in their students, even when it comes to building self-esteem in teens. Self-esteem is an incredible component of successful performance in life, so teachers should be concerned about preparing them in this respect as well as academically.
What is Self-Esteem?
This is a question which can be posited to a class at the beginning of a year. Most students know what the term means and can define it, but if asked to describe their own levels some might have more difficulty. Before performing activities directed toward building esteem, it might be a good idea to collect worksheets for students to describe themselves to their teacher. This gives teachers a foundational analysis of each student to assess and compare throughout the year.
For all intents and purposes, self-esteem is both a recognition of self-worth and a healthy love of the self. It is the ability to know the self and to take actions which preserve, improve, and foster the self and one’s relationships with others.
Now, let's look at some things that teachers can do in the classroom to help your students feel more comfortable about who they are. These self-esteem activities are suitable for middle school students, but they could also work with students at any grade.
1. 'I Am'
One of the most popular classroom activities to build self-esteem to facilitate at all grade levels is the “I Am” activity. It utilizes the effective and positive affirmation technique. Students are encouraged to think positively and with energy about what makes them who they are. The idea is that by writing down such positive thoughts, they are reinforced in the students’ minds, and by thinking about themselves and their attributes positively, their self-esteem is heightened.
To do the “I Am” activity, students will each need:
A sheet of paper
A pen or pencil
Some magazines or stencils
Scissors and glue
On the paper, students create a list of “I am”s. Some examples include: “I am a hard worker.” and “I am good at basketball.” Each sentence must begin with “I am…” The student writes down as many positive attributes and qualities about him or herself as he or she can think.
Then the students may decorate their list by adding magazine cut outs of things they like or by drawing, etc. The idea is that students will either keep these throughout the year, or they will be hung up in the classroom so they and their classmates remember to be positive throughout the year.
2. 'We Are
To counteract peer pressure, this is one of the many self-esteem building activities for teenagers that could be used. A variation of the above activity, “We Are…”, is completed as a group. Students find common ground amongst themselves and complete a list which demonstrates what makes them alike.
For example, a common answer will be “We are humans,” but deeper probing might result in interesting things like “We are fans of [TV show].” or “We are each the middle child of our families.”, etc. Finding commonalities may result in friendship, and like-minded people tend to raise each other raise rather than putting one another down, which also results in a boost of self-esteem.
3. Listing Traits
Another activity is “Listing Traits” It’s fairly straightforward: students simply make a list of their positive character traits that make them a good friend, or good sister/brother to their siblings. Ask them to describe in detailed scenarios to why they fit those positive traits/titles, also ask students to explain how these traits are important to them and to people around them.
These can be added to some kind of journal, or on a piece of paper. A teacher should assure students that no one will see what they have written, so the students can be honest about writing something down.
The idea is that by writing down and/or sharing something that they have done for others, students feel more positively about themselves and their behaviours. They might discover something inside of them that they have never thought of. This is also a helpful way for students to start thinking about what kind of person they want to be.
4. Flip
The classroom activity is called “Flip”. Students are to make a list of their mistakes, failures, and obstacles in life, but after having done so, they must “flip” them so that they are positive. The idea is to allow students the opportunity to self-evaluate, problem solve, and improve themselves.
For example, a student might list “I failed a math quiz.” A means of flipping this could be: “I will study harder to pass the next quiz” or “I will ask the teacher for help understanding the material on the last quiz.”
A variation on this activity would be to have each student make a list of their mistakes, failures, and obstacles in life, but then place them in groups. Each group will brainstorm ideas to help individuals flip their listed items.
5. The Interview
“The Interview” is an activity which pairs up students, who interview each other. They are to ask questions with the intention of getting to know the other person, such as “What is your favourite colour?” or “If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?”, etc.
At the end of the sessions, students “present” their partners to the class. Some teachers might hand out a list of diverse questions for students to use during the interviews. The idea behind this activity is to form bonds with one or more classmatesfrom the start of the year.
6. A Letter to Yourself
An underrated (or, perhaps, outdated) activity is writing letters to the self. That is, students each write a letter to his or her future self, detailing whatever they wish, whether it details their life at the moment, a poem, or their future goals, etc. When the students receive the letter back again, they will be able to compare and contrast themselves after a year’s worth of change.
Teachers may ask students to handwrite them and seal them in envelopes, which will be handed back at the end of the year. Or they may utilise an online service like FutureMe.org, which allows users to delay the electronic letter for one, three, or five years, or to choose a specific date of delivery.
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Final Thoughts
Promoting self-esteem in the classroom can be beneficial for all students. Certain activities can help to form lasting connections among students, improve team performance, and heighten students’ empathy levels for othersas well as serve as a means to decrease stranger anxiety through “exposure”. Other activities which focus on the individual’s self-perceptions may foster the skill of self-reflection, which enables them to evaluate their own actions and pinpoint the attributes or habits which need improvement.
Gigi Wara is an inspired writer who loves writing about language and acquisition, career building and education-related stories in general. Her post comes courtesy of Kids Helpline, an Australia’s only free, private and confidential 24/7 phone and online counselling service for young people.
Bill McDonagh
Phone: (716) 926-1730
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Every student deserves to learn—and every educator deserves to teach in a safe school. But zero tolerance school discipline policies, which were supposed to make schools safer, have done more harm than good, pushing kids out of the classroom and into the criminal justice system at unprecedented rates.
Add to the mix overburdened educators, cuts to school counseling programs, and police (often referred to as school resource officers), and you’ve got the makings of . . . well . . . a school-to-prison pipeline.
The term school-to-prison pipeline can ruffle the feathers of the most dedicated and caring educators, making it seem as if they’re personally responsible for thrusting students into the system.
Yet no one can deny the numbers. Across the country, school suspensions and expulsions, referrals to alternative schools and law enforcement, and school-based arrests have increased, blurring the line between the education and criminal justice systems.
Despite the systemic obstacles that have hampered progress nationwide, many educators and their schools are leading the way in adopting more positive, less exclusionary disciplinary practices.
Meet Lynn Harrison of Redland Middle School in Montgomery County. MD. You know you’re onto something good when your school goes from referring over 1200 students to the principal’s office to under 30 in just one year. “As a staff we were thrilled at the respect that was growing in our building,” says Harrison, coordinator of Redland’s Positive Behavior Intervention Strategies (PBIS) program.
The PBIS process emphasizes constructive interventions as an alternative to punitive discipline. Redland, a bright, airy middle school with students who look like they’re happy to be there, has won an award for its efforts every year since starting the program in 2009. Equally impressive, Redland’s referral rates broken down by student ethnicity are pretty evenly distributed among White, Black, and Hispanic students—unlike some schools that improve their overall numbers but still show disproportionate referral and suspension rates for students of color.
“Even though we didn’t have a high suspension rate,” says Harrison, “many students were being referred to the office and teachers were reaching frustration level. Referrals mean that students are not actively engaged in learning, which can result in suspension. We knew we had to be a lot more proactive about preventing negative behavior.
How did they do it? How did Redland reverse the numbers and revitalize the overall school climate? By responding to the unique needs of middle schoolers, says assistant principal Shenice Brevard. “Not only are middle school students different from elementary and high school students because of the physiological changes that occur during their middle school years,” explains Brevard, “they’re highly influenced by peers and media and these distractions can lend themselves to more disruptions in the school environment.”
To get a handle on the situation, Redland focused on setting expectations, building relationships, and engaging students. Harrison and Brevard share the award-winning strategies that have made the school a PBIS star.(To learn more about strategies for keeping kids in the classroom and out of the courtroom, view and download NEA EdJustice: Freeing Schools from the School-to-Prison Pipeline.
Tools To Use
Implement school wide expectations and teach positive behaviors. Once we determined our core expectation and school motto—Respect School, Self, and Others—we set behavioral expectations for the classroom, hallway, buses, and cafeteria and posted these throughout the building and in all classrooms. Staff and students are taught the expectations through modeling, and lessons throughout the year reinforce these expectations Even our announcements end with our school motto.
Employpeer mediators. Peer mediation is a positive behavior intervention that has worked well for us. School counselors train student volunteers to mediate incidents involving their peers. For example, a peer might intercede in a situation where two students were referred to the office for using inappropriate language during an argument. At this age, it helps students to have someone who understands where they’re coming from—someone who can relate to them and give them positive feedback. Sometimes kids come up with ideas to solve problems that adults wouldn’t think of.
Have fun with creative rewards. Our students earn “Bulldog bucks,” paper money with a picture of our school mascot, as a reward for positive behavior, like picking up somebody’s books in the hallway or helping another student solve a thorny math problem. All students have to do is follow our Respect School, Self, and Others motto. Bus drivers hand out three dollars for good behavior on the bus. Substitute teachers hand out two dollar bills to students who follow directions, help others, and show respect and responsibility. Teachers and other staff members hand out one dollar bills. When students earn enough money, they can shop in the “Dog Pound” (our school store), where they can buy everything from school supplies to apparel, like hats and tee shirts. Ninety percent of the items in the store are donated by parents, while the rest of the merchandise comes from PBIS grant money. Sixth and seventh graders love shopping in the Dog Pound, but we had to up the ante for older students, who use their Bulldog bucks to get into the Dog Pound Café, during lunch. The Café is an eighth grade hangout with Wii, air hockey, a variety of board games and puzzles, couches, chairs, and a flat screen TV—all from donated funds.
Lynn Harrison
Match students with mentors. We have a year-long mentoring program for kids who are struggling behaviorally or academically. Grade-level team leaders match students with educators who volunteer to monitor and work with a particular student. If the student and teacher already have a great relationship, students are more likely to work hard for their mentor and strive to improve their behavior or grades. Members of Redland’s Instructional Leadership Team also work with mentees after school once a month to support academic achievements as well as build personal relationships. In addition, Redland runs a chapter of Courageous Young Men, a program that nurtures young men academically, socially, and emotionally.
Get student input on behavior contracts. Customized behavior contracts help keep some students on track. Rather than a long laundry list, contracts consist of just two to three goals that the students help to identify. If a student is an English Language Learner or receives special education services, we also get input from the educators in that department.
Teach social and emotional skills. Students have a 20-minute advisory period class each day after third period. Weekly lessons center on learning social and emotional skills, such as friendship, bullying, and conflict resolution and academic skills, such as organizing and good study habits. Each month, the lessons highlight a theme: one month, respect; the next month, responsibility; and the next, caring. During the other four days of advisory period, students can sign out and go see another teacher for extra help or work on their own work during that class period.
Work through minor incidents. Teachers are taught the difference between what warrants an MIR (minor incident report) and what warrants an automatic referral. When a student misbehaves, we file an MIR and follow a series of steps to address the issue. The first time a student doesn’t follow the code of Redland Respect, the teacher gives the student a warning and records the incident in MyMCPS, a web-based data tool that’s a one-stop portal for staff. The second time the teacher might have lunch with the student and perhaps notify the parents, as well as documenting the incident in MyMCPS. The third step is the same as the second. If there’s a fourth incident, the student is referred to our office administrators who meet with the student and phone home. If needed, we make mental health services referrals for students and parents.
Teachers | Professional Resources Links verified 9/7/2018
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Intervention has become an important tool for servicing students who struggle academically particularly in reading and/or math. School intervention programs are very popular in elementary schools, but what about middle school and high school? The truth is that the older the student is, the more difficult it becomes to get a student who is behind back on grade level. That doesn’t mean that schools shouldn’t have intervention programs in place for their middle school and high school students. However, these programs should embrace the middle school/high school culture where motivating students becomes half the battle. Motivating students will lead to improvement and growth in all areas of academics.
It is important to understand that what works for one school may not work in another. Each school has its own culture shaped by many external factors. Principals and teachers need to work together to figure out what aspects of a program are applicable to their school’s unique situation. With that in mind, we explore two different middle school/high school intervention programs. They were designed to motivate students to succeed academically to give those struggling students some much needed extra assistance
8th Hour/Saturday School
Premise: Most students do not want to spend extra time at school. This program is aimed at two primary groups of students:
This intervention program has been designed with several strategies to help these students. Those include:
The intervention program should be run by a reading specialist or certified teacher and could be held during an '8th hour,' or an immediate extension of the school day running every day. Students could also participate in this intervention by serving a Saturday School. This is not intended as student discipline but as an academic aid to success. Each of the four components is broken down below:
Requiring students to complete incomplete assignments or missing assignments
Providing students with extra assistance on assignments
Providing extra time to complete assignments when a student has been absent
Building reading and math skills so as to prepare a student for state testing
Fast FridayIntervention Period Middle School Schedule
Premise: Students like to get out of school early. This program provides an incentive for students who maintain at least a 70% in all subject areas.
The Fast Friday intervention has been designed to motivate students to keep their grades above a 70% and to provide extra assistance for those students who have grades below a 70%.
Interventions For High School StudentsMiddle Period Of History
Fast Fridays would occur on a bi-weekly basis. On Fast Friday our daily class schedule would be shortened from the traditional school schedule to accommodate an early dismissal following lunch. This privilege would be extended only to students maintaining grades of 70% or above.
Students who have only one class in which they are below a 70% would be required to stay after lunch only for a short time, during which they will receive extra assistance in the class which they are struggling. Students who have two or more classes in which they have below a 70% would be required to stay until the normal dismissal time, during which they will receive extra assistance in each class they are struggling.
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