Self Awareness

Self awareness is about finding your identity, identifying emotions, a growth mindset and having a sense of purpose.
With my little readers, I try to instill in them those three main things.  First, littles have a hard time identifying their feelings so that alone is a teaching moment as things arise.  As for reading, obviously the littles are coming to me because they haven't quite mastered the code of reading, but I try to instill that I am so excited to have them and together we watch them "grow" to be great readers, while giving them a sense of purpose - and making sure they feel loved, and worthy.  

How do you get students to start thinking about their actions, behaviors, thoughts, feelings, etc.? The first step, and perhaps the most important one, is awareness. It’s about being aware of who you are, what you value, what your strengths and weaknesses are, what your goals are, and how your mind and thoughts work.
Self-awareness is the awareness of one's emotions, thoughts, behaviors, values, preferences, goals, strengths, challenges, attitudes, mindsets, etc. and how these aspects affect behavior and choices. I would encourage self-awareness in my classroom by first explaining what it means and how it helps them be successful in school. I used to send out a Google Form during the pandemic asking the following questions: How am I feeling? What am I thinking? What do I need? Students would take time and think about things. I have not used this form in a long time, but I would like to start incorporating reflective questions into my weekly lesson plans.

A person has to know themselves before they can they can fully develop social awareness.  We need to know how we feel, what we value and what is important to us before we can build strong, positive human connections.

One way I am encouraging self-awareness in my sessions is by asking my students to think about their feelings as well as their peers. To do this, I start off my groups by asking everyone how they feel. Students then select a colored wristband that corresponds to that feeling. For example, orange- anxious, yellow-happy, blue-sad. We talk about our  feelings and wear the wristband throughout the session. Wearing the wristbands increases our awareness of our feelings as well as those of others.  If someone is wearing a blue wristband we may try to encourage that student or give them an extra compliment. If they are wearing an orange band, we may speak slower and calmly,  if they are wearing yellow, we may celebrate their feeling of happiness. At the end of the session, everyone removes the wristband and take turns saying something positive based on their feeling and those of others. 

Self-awareness means understanding how we feel, think, and act. It helps students see what they’re good at, what they need to work on, and how their emotions affect their choices. One way I teach self-awareness in my classroom is by taking "reflection breaks." After a lesson or activity, I ask students to stop and think about what they learned, what was hard, and how they felt. They can write it down or talk about it with a friend. This helps them understand themselves better and grow.

Self-awareness characterizes a healthy sense of who we are. It comes from understanding our culture, our thoughts, feelings, and what we're capable of. One specific way I promote self-awareness is through encouraging self-evaluation and reflective writing. Recently my students had to prepare an oral presentation for English class. To prepare for the presentation, I had students write a reflective piece about what they would say. Then, I had students practice presenting in front of the classroom. I gave them feedback on what went well in the presentation and what they could improve.

A key idea about Self-Awareness is that it helps students to recognize their feelings, strengths and challenges.  By understanding their emotions, students can make better choices and handle situations more calmly.

A way to encourage this is to use daily “check-ins”.  I used this every day in a google form during COVID when we were online.  They have lots of these already made in google forms.

Self-awareness means understanding the qualities that shape you as a unique individual, including your strengths, growth areas, and emotions. In my classroom, I foster self-awareness by discussing each student’s strengths and areas for improvement. When students feel unsure about their math skills, I encourage them to give it a try and offer support until they gain the confidence to work independently. My goal is for this confidence and self-awareness to extend beyond math and benefit other aspects of their lives.

A key learning about self-awareness is the recognition and understanding of one's own thoughts, feelings, strengths, weaknesses, and values. It involves the ability to reflect on one's experiences, behaviors, and motivations, leading to greater insight and personal growth. 

In my math classroom, I encourage self-awareness through regular reflection activities. One specific way I do this is by incorporating reflective journaling sessions into our routine.  After completing a challenging problem-solving task or participating in a group activity,  I allocate time for students to journal about their experiences.  I provide prompts such as "What strategies did you use to solve the problem?" or "How did you feel when working with your peers?"  This encourages students to pause, reflect, and articulate their thoughts and emotions, fostering self-awareness.  By engaging in reflective journaling, students develop a deeper understanding of their problem-solving approaches, collaboration skills, and emotional responses, ultimately enhancing their self-awareness and metacognitive abilities.

Self-awareness is how we understand ourselves, our thoughts, beliefs, and values.  It is important to know our sense of purpose and what matters to us.  I encourage self-awareness during classwork time.  I can walk around the classroom and interact with students individually or within a group of students encouraging them.  If they are struggling I can point out things they are doing correctly, giving them the confidence to keep trying and they will succeed.  I strongly believe that students who work through difficult problems will help them understand who they are and what steps they need to take to succeed in life.  

Growth Mindset: I have a bulletin board in my classroom with statements from a fixed mindset point of view vs. a growth mindset point of view. I try to instill the idea that students of their age have the potential to strengthen their brains when they pursue challenging tasks and that by persevering through material that they find difficult, they can find strategies to help them master the material. Several students claim they "can't" do something, and I try to pose it as an opportunity to train their brains to learn something new.