Self-awareness, Grade 7

Research has shown that having high levels of self-awareness — recognizing both how you see yourself and how others see you — can lead to more rewarding relationships with friends, more success at work, and more resilience in life. But there is a problem. Most people tend to struggle with self-awareness. In fact, psychologist Tasha Eurich says that most days, 80 percent of us "are lying to ourselves about whether we're lying to ourselves."

Self-awareness involves understanding one's own emotions, personal goals, and values. Understanding our emotions and identities can help enhance our well-being as individuals and set the foundation for how we build cognitive skills to be successful.

This Unit builds foundational cognitive and emotional skills by starting with recognizing how our thoughts, feelings and actions are interconnected. While each Topic provides content and activities to teach specific concepts and skills, be sure to return to the Unit's guiding questions and social-emotional frameworks to emphasize for students the broader concepts of self-awareness.