Self-awareness, Grade 7: Recent Episodes
Choimirai School
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.
Think of the funniest person you know. Are they confident? In this Lesson Spark, students will learn about the relationship between humor and confidence and then apply that knowledge to their own lives.
In this Lesson Spark, students will describe components of their identities and learn about others' identities.
Who is the most confident and successful person you know? What is their best advice for becoming confident and achieving goals? In this Lesson Spark, students will read an article about three successful, trailblazing leaders and reflect on their advice for achieving success through confidence and self-efficacy.
Did you know about 4 out of 10 Americans meditate at least once per week? Even famous people like LeBron James meditate! The goal of meditation is to focus and quiet your mind in order to achieve calm and balance. This practice applies broadly across subject areas in school and across diverse situations throughout life. In this Lesson Spark, students will read a "how-to" article and create an action plan: How will you bring meditation and mindfulness into your life as a way to reduce stress?
Pause. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. This simple strategy is being used by teachers and students all around the world as a means to reduce stress. When there are stressful situations at school or in life, research indicates that certain mindfulness strategies can help. Students will read an article about how one school uses medication and mindfulness as a coping strategy. Then, they'll practice recognizing their own challenges and developing coping strategies by filling up their own figurative "Stress Buckets."
You've heard the saying, "don't be a sore loser," but have you heard that you should be a "good winner"? A spirited competition can often be enjoyable, but it can be ruined if the person or team that wins is not gracious. In this Lesson Spark, students will learn about expressing emotions by reading about athletes who celebrate too much after a victory. Then, they will play games with their classmates to practice being good sports — win or lose.
Could you describe yourself using just one word? Most people would find that task to be impossible! In this Lesson Spark, students will discover what "intersectionality" is and learn that there are many aspects of identity.
The people who create commercials and advertisements first carefully consider the content and rhetoric that will appeal most to audiences. Often, this includes appealing to people's emotions in order to convince them to support or purchase something. In this Lesson Spark, students will analyze rhetoric and the use of pathos in advertisements, ultimately applying their knowledge to make their own.
Have you ever felt nervous before a big game (or another activity)? Most athletes do, too! Many great athletes use mindfulness strategies to stay calm, react well to challenges during games, and become better at their sports. In this Lesson Spark, students will read about strategies athletes use and then apply those same strategies to their own lives.
Imagine the ways you talk and laugh with your friends when you are hanging out together. Would you behave the same way on an airplane? What about during a parent-teacher conference? In this Lesson Spark, students will define code-switching and discuss why people change their behaviors and expressions based on their situation and identities.
How many times have you read a book with a main character who shares an identity with you? For many students, it is rare to be assigned a class novel with a protagonist who mirrors their lived experiences or identities. In this Lesson Spark, students will learn about an inspiring campaign to bring more diverse books into libraries and then will write a story of their own.
What does it mean to "act like a boy" or "behave like a girl"? In this Lesson Spark, students will learn about gender and gender stereotypes by teaching their peers in a jigsaw activity.
Is there a superhero you identify with or can relate to? In this Lesson Spark, students will consider the representation (and underrepresentation) of diverse identities in film and comic book stories.
Have you ever heard a song come on the radio that made you want to turn up the volume and dance or sing along? Or have you ever watched a movie and felt your heart start beating fast as the scary, ominous music starts playing? This Lesson Spark is all about the connection between music and emotions. Students will read about how music elicits an emotional response and apply what they learn to creating their own music.
Do you feel particularly proud of one part of your identity? Is there one part of your identity that you aren't as comfortable with? In this Lesson Spark, students will read about an athlete named Chris Ruden's personal journey to overcome challenges with his identity and body and pursue his passion: weightlifting.
Does the United States have an official language? While some nations do have a national language, the U.S. is not one of them. According to one study, many citizens consider language to be a very important part of national identity. In this Lesson Spark, students will discover the connection between identity and language.
How many times have you hesitated or kept quiet when you knew the answer to a question? Maybe you didn't want to try because you were afraid of being wrong? Perhaps you haven't had a lot of experience with building your self-confidence! In this Lesson Spark, students will learn key strategies for becoming more self-confident.
Do you focus better when there is total silence, or when there is some kind of noise? For some people, music or sound can help enhance focus and promote calm or happy feelings. In this Lesson Spark, students will learn about a meditative practice called sound bathing and explore sounds and music that make them feel like their best selves.
How do you mentally prepare yourself for a big event, like a game, performance, or presentation? One helpful technique is called visualization. This practice can make your mind strong and help you achieve your goals. In this Lesson Spark, students will read about how athletes visualize themselves succeeding in sporting events with the help of virtual reality. Then, students will prepare for their own upcoming event using visualization.
Are your students aware of the many skills and strengths that they have -- and how each of those strengths may feed and support the others? In this Lesson Spark, students will learn how skills and strengths can often be transferable. Students may feel inspired to learn that Patrick Steeves uses his skills and interest in math to help him succeed at basketball.
If you think you need to channel your inner drill sergeant to force yourself to eat your vegetables and get your homework done, think again. Instead of heavy doses of self-criticism, a healthy dose of self-compassion is actually a better strategy. In this Lesson Spark, students will define and practice self-compassion.
Have you ever thought to yourself, "this is just too hard" or "I don't feel like it" as you studied or did your homework? The thoughts we have about ourselves and the tasks we do have a big impact on how we perform and how we feel. In this activity, students will learn about the power of positive thinking and transform negative thoughts into positive ones.
Have you heard the expression, "a picture is worth a thousand words?" Many find this idea to be particularly true when it comes to expressing emotions. In this Lesson Spark, students will read about using emojis as a tool to express emotions and then craft their own emoji charts.
You post a photo on social media. Ten minutes go by and no one has "liked" it. How does this make you feel? Do you not care? Do you feel anxious? Self-conscious? Studies show that social media can affect how people feel. In this activity, students will learn about the positive and negative emotional effects of social media on its users and then discuss whether social media is ultimately helpful or harmful to emotional health.
Can you tell how someone is feeling just by looking at them? How about by listening to the tone of their voice? Reading body language is just one way to gain insights about someone's emotions. In this Lesson Spark, students will continue to build a strong vocabulary around emotions and practice identifying emotions with their peers.
How are you feeling today? Happy? Sad? Angry? Bored? There are tons of emotions one can experience and these are merely a few. Being able to identify, understand, and communicate these emotions is very important. Doing so allows us to identify and communicate our needs and wants and is the foundation of how we develop relationships with other people. In this Lesson Spark, students will learn about the basic emotions by cultivating a robust emotion vocabulary, and create a shared language as a class.