Personality and Emotional Development

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As you create your own responses, feel free to use some of these ideas to guide you:

A. Describe one (1) strategy for each of the following areas which you might employ as a teacher:

1. Positive self-esteem:
My students bring in heritage artifacts to enhance self image. These "show and tell" objects can be a Mexican flag to show their Hispanic roots, an Irish shamrock to depict their Irish ethnicity, etc. This lesson is linked to Amy Tan's "Two Kinds." Students gain a strong sense of personal pride and increased self esteem from sharing these artifacts.

If you are seeking an elementary education lesson plan, this link offers an example:
http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Social_Studies/Multicultural_Education/MUL0006.html

Another idea is to allow younger students to create an "Okay Book." This tactic is also a neat way to infuse reading, writing, art and self esteem. A sample occurs at http://www.toddparr.com/allen_brook_school.html

Research also shows that using visual arts increases students' self esteem. Research suggests that "When art teachers and classroom teachers collaborate, they gain interdisciplinary understanding from each other. Their students increase their knowledge of concepts, terms, and skills in both the arts and language arts"
( http://www.readingonline.org/newliteracies/lit_index.asp?HREF=guzzetti2/index.html).

2. Sense of security in a classroom setting

Lessons about safety promote a sense of classroom security. It is important for students to feel physically, emotionally, and academically safe.

One strategy to achieve this goal involves the use of picture books. When teachers read about characters of the same age in safe situations, students are more apt to understand the theme. Some interesting books include:

http://www.readwritethink.org/lesson_images/lesson1019/websites.html

Another idea is to have students collaboratively create safety posters. A great handout is found at http://www.readwritethink.org/lesson_images/lesson1019/saftey-tip-poster.pdf.

Students compose safety tips and then illustrate them in groups or teams. They take ownership for their classroom by creating rules about no running, no name calling, etc. ...