By the time that I reached the position at elementary school my experiences, both personal and professional, convinced me that a very large part of the problem behaviors of children were rooted in one thing –poor self-esteem. Therefore it seemed that my role needed to not just be therapeutic but also proactive. My role needed to be one in which I didn’t just try to “fix” problems but to prevent them. I believed the answer to that was to bombard all students with positive self-esteem building experiences.
I could actually spend more time than we have here recounting the fun things we did. There are just a few that I will talk about that stand out in my memory. The first thing was to start TAB (Tag a Birthday). I compiled a calendar list of every student’s birthday and my first planned activity every morning was to go to that student, give them a happy birthday pencil, a sucker, and a happy birthday sticker to wear all day. I was shocked and dismayed to see how many times there was a look of utter amazement on their little faces. It was quite obvious that no one had bothered to wish them a happy birthday at home or acknowledge in any way that they were happy that this child had been born.
Another thing we had fun doing was the Student Ambassador Program in which students from each class were selected by their teacher to be trained to be become a special friend to new students hopefully making the transition to a new school much easier.
Information about more fun activities to improve self-esteem is coming soon! Next time.
Biblical Inspiration: Psalm 139: 13,14 – For you formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
Lesson in a Nutshell: Children need discipline but they also need attention and praise. They need to know that they are worthy of being loved.
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