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Developing Self-esteem

In A Grade One Classroom

An Action Research Report

By: Lori Gershon, 1998 

Introduction

One of my central concerns as a teacher candidate is developing the self-esteem of children. I have always felt this is a very important part of children's development that is necessary to address in many classrooms.

For my first placement I worked in a very needy school. A lot of the children were from tough environments such as broken homes, government housing, jailed parents, and welfare income. The children in my grade one class were desperate for attention, they always needed a hug, extra encouragement to complete simple tasks, and tons of praise when they had completed a task. The children solved conflicts through physical fights, threats, tattling and swearing. They did not feel a sense of pride for them selves, their work, or their friends. Most of these problems were because the children had a major lack of self-esteem. Because of the diverse backgrounds of the children, the school has set a course of action and implemented lunch and snack programs. Also, due to the nature and amount of school yard fights a peer conflict resolution program was put into effect that included select grade five and six children as the mediators. All of these programs help the children feel comfortable at school and help them in their learning.

To add to the schools course of action, I decided to create a unit that would incorporate self-esteem building activities into the basic structure of my grade one class. My goal was to help the children understand that they are extraordinary individuals with unique talents that make them special. Also, I wanted to see if there would be a difference in the way the children perceived themselves and their friends. I hoped this would help the children to interact more effectively with each other and treat each other with more respect.

I presented my idea to my associate teacher and she was extremely interested and excited about it. She had wanted to do something similar in the class and was anxious to see what I had planned. I devised a series of activities for the children which are described below.

The Activities

1) "Mirror in the Special Box"

With the children sitting in a circle, the question "who do you think is the most special person in the world?" is asked. Allow each child to answer. Then, state to the class that you know who the most special person in the world is and you have the answer in the box you have on your lap. Tell the children that you will allow them to come up and look in the box one at a time but they must keep the answer a secret. They are not even to tell the person beside them. Allow each child to look in the box. Once each child has had a turn ask them again "Now, who is the most special person in the world?" The children should now be answering "I am!" Next, ask each child to tell something special about themselves and talk about how great it is that everyone has something different about themselves that is special.

2) Read the book As fast as a Cricket, by Audery and Don Wood.

During Story time read them the book. After, talk about all the feelings and the interests of the boy. Ask the children to think about their feelings and interests. Are they the same or different as the boyís ? Discuss how everyone is special because they can do something different then the person next to them. Celebrate this thought with the children.

3) "Me Pictures"

"Me Pictures" are life-size outlines of the children that they are responsible for decorating. Have the children, one at a time, lie down on the paper. The teacher draws the outline of the child tracing around the entire body (including fingers, hair, feet, and the flow of the cloths). Next, and in consultation with the child, the teacher draws on facial features, flow of hair, cuffs on cloths, buttons, and any other significant features. The child then chooses a partner and decorates their paper body with crayons. The children should be encouraged to do their best because they are proud of themselves. Tell the children that being proud of ones self shows through their work. Once these are done, allow the children to present their work to the class one at a time. Allow the children to ask questions to the presenter about their work. The presenter should pick who can ask a question. The class should clap after everyoneís presentation (lead by example).

4) "I Can" Mobiles

Before the activity, the teacher needs to cut out 4 different shapes (circle, square, rectangle, triangle) for every child. Also, each child receives a star shape. On these shapes will be printed a sentence by the children followed by a picture drawn to illustrate the meaning of the sentence. On the star, the children will print their name on one side and a photo of their face will go on the other side. The children did one shape per day. The steps are as follows:

• The first shape, circle, required a sentence that started with "I like". The children were asked to complete the sentence with something that they could do. For example, "I like to ride my bike".
• Before doing the second shape read the book Thatís What A Friend Is, by P.K. Hillinan. Discuss what being a good friend is all about. Relate this to the story and then to real life. Then start on the second shape.
• The second shape, square, required a sentence that started with "I caní. The children completed the sentence with something the children could do to make a friend feel happy when they were feeling down. For example, "I can share my toys" or "I can give a smile".
• Before doing the third shape, read the book Proud, by Fred Penner. Discuss what being proud means, how one feels when they are proud and what one can do to show someone else that they are proud of them. Relate this discussion to the story and then to real life. Then start the third shape.
• The third shape, rectangle, started with "I can" and was to end with something the children could do at school that they felt proud of. For example, "I can read a book" or "I can write my friends name".
• Before doing the last shape, read The Hating Book, by Charlotte Zolotow. Discuss what it feels like to be angry at a friend and what it feels like when a friend is angry with you. Talk about how to solve a problem when you feel angry at a friend. Relate the discussion to the story and then too real life. Then start the last shape.
• The last shape, triangle, started with "I can" and was to end with something the children can do when their friend is upset or if they are upset. For example, "I can give a hug" or "I can ask questions".
• Using a coat hanger, hang the shapes at different heights with the star hanging in the centre of the hanger. Hang the mobiles from the ceiling for the children to see.

5) "TEAM" Bulletin Board

Our class made this a winter bulletin board that consisted of snowflakes, pictures of the children individually and working together, and an information card about each child. The bulletin board was arranged around the sentence ëTogether Everyone Accomplishes Moreí and the title TEAM was put at the top of the bulletin board. Each child was responsible for making a snowflake out of paper and filling out an information card that asked 7 questions about themselves. The childrenís individual picture was put on their snowflake along with their information card. Scattered around the board were pictures of the children working together. Wow, it looked great!

6) "All About Me And My Feelings" Books

The children each made a book to bring home as a holiday gift for their parents. Each page of the book was done on a different day and required the children to complete a sentence about a feeling and to draw a picture to illustrate their sentence. On the first page of the book were the title and a picture of the child. The second page was a ëToí and ëFromí page. The following pages were ëI feel happy whení, ëI feel sad whení, ëI feel proud whení, ëI feel angry whení, ëI feel loved whení, ëI feel scared whení, and ëIím glad to be me becauseí. The children were given the first part of each sentence and had to complete the sentence with their own feeling. The teacher should go over some ideas first.

I found the following books to be helpful in teaching the children about their feelings. I read them before assigning some of the sentences to put the children in the right frame of mind.

• Before assigning the children the sentence ëI feel sad whení, Read The Hating Book, by Charlotte Zolotow. This book will help guide the children toward appropriate answers by having them identify with the characters feelings in the story.
• Before assigning the sentence ëI feel proud whení, read the book Proud, by Fred Penner. This book is excellent for helping children to understand the concept behind the word Proud.
• Before assigning the sentence ëI feel angry whení, read the book Andrewís Angry Words, by Dorothea Lachner. This book is helpful in guiding the children to identify feelings of anger.

Discuss each book before putting the children to task. Have examples on chart paper for the children to look at or copy. Let the children try to come up with their own examples but, make sure they are relevant. Once the childrenís books are completed try to have them bound or something similar. The children really like this and they feel extremely proud of their work.

7) Presentations of ëAll About Me And My Feelingsí books.

The final step before the children left for the holidays and I left to come back to university, was presenting the books. Each child was given a chance to come up to the front of the class and read their completed book to the group. The children show the pictures as they read being careful to let everyone see their work. Then the group asks questions to the presenter. Allow the presenter to pick who can ask a question. Once the presentation is done everyone claps (using their best audience skills).

The Results

The change in the children was not immediate or shocking. Rather, the change in the children was slow but steady. In order to document the results of this change, I mostly relied on observation of the childrenís actions and behaviours. Throughout the program I documented points about their presentation ability, ability to solve conflict, and confidence while doing work. I also compared the ideas that the children were able to produce about themselves from the first exercise to the last. By the time my stay in the class was over, the children had shown advancements in the way they perceived themselves and their peers. This showed through behaviours shown in the class.

1. The children had more confidence in their work. They required less approval from the teacher during work. Instead of asking the teacher to ëlook at thisí or ësee what I didí five or six times when writing their journals, the would ask only once or twice. Quite a difference! Also, the children found it easier to talk about themselves positively and to come up with points about the feelings they had. This showed in the ease the children had in completing the sentences for their 'All About Me And My Feelings' books, compared to the difficulty the children had at the beginning of the mobile exercise. 

2. The children felt more comfortable standing in front of the class to present work. They no longer bowed their heads, showed their work only to the teacher, and mumbled quietly. The children stood proudly at the front of the class, head up, spoke clearly, selected friends to answer questions, and tried their best. This became most apparent when the children presented their ëAll About Me And My Feelingsí books as compared to their presentations of the ëMe Picturesí. During the ëMe Picturesí presentations I was pulling teeth to get the children to talk to the group but, during the books presentations I did not have to say a thing!

3. The interactions between the children involved less physical fighting and more talking. The children began to voice their concerns and feelings to their friends or tell the teacher of the problem. At first, we had a problem with tattle tailing. My associate teacher and I implemented a discussion about when to tell the teacher a problem and when not to, as well as trying to work through problems before telling the teacher. The children caught on and slowly this glitch began to fade. The children turned to compromise when there was an argument over a toy during play time instead of punching one another. 

Conclusion

Creating this unit on developing self-esteem helped me to incorporate one of my central concerns as a teacher into my practice. I wanted to see if there would be a difference in the way the children perceived themselves and their friends. There was! I wanted to help the children understand that they are extraordinary individuals with unique talents that make them special. They began to realize this! Also, I hoped this unit would help the children to interact more effectively with each other and treat each other with more respect. They started to do this! It was amazing to see these young children process this information and apply it to their actions!

There are some things that I would alter if I were to repeat this unit. For example, I would incorporate some group initiatives into the unit, I would add in a spelling list of applicable words, I would shorten the mobile activity, and I would create some type of activity centre for during free time. In complete, I learned a lot about the children in my class and about my ability. Taking action over this unit was a very important step in my development as a teacher. I could not ask for a more positive teaching experience.

Bibliography

Borba, Michele and Craig. Self-esteem:A Classroom Affair. HarperSanFrancisco. 1978. Vol.1

Hillinan, P.K. Thatís What A Friend Is. Hambelton-Hill. Nashville, TN. 1990.

Lachner, Dorothea. Andrewís Angry Words. North-South Books. Switzerland. 1995.

Penner, Fred. Proud. Longstreet Press, Inc. Marietta, Georgia. 1997.

Wood, Audery and Don. As Quick as a Cricket. Childís Play Int. Auburn, ME. Nov., 1989.

Zolotow, Charlotte. The Hating Book. HarperCollins Childrenís Books. New York. 1969.