„HOW TO BECOME SELF-CONFIDENT”
- BULDING SELF-ESTEEM
A plan of a class meeting with the form tutor
Aims of the lesson:
1.Continuing and strengthening the process of building students’ self-esteem by realizing their strong points.
Aids:
Coloured slips of paper, big sheets of paper, felt pens, pens.
Activities:
Individual work, group work, whole class work.
Time:
45 minutes
Procedure:
· Introducing the subject
· Exercises
Introducing.
The teacher introduces briefly the subject of the lesson. The level of self-esteem depends on one’s imagination about oneself. It is visible in self-assessment mainly by consideration of one’s image e.g. appearance, abilities, skills, features of character. We assess by comparing ourselves with the ideal person or achievements of other people, and also our own judgement about ourselves with other people’s judgement about us. We can have low, high or adequate level of self-esteem. People can accept or reject themselves emotionally. Self-acceptance makes people self-belief, self-reliance, it encourages them to use their abilities and improve their level of confidence taking constructive criticism.
During this lesson we are going to do the exercises which will help in raising the level of self-esteem.
Exercise 1
“My energy”
- each student draws a circle (60millimetre diameter ) on a sheet of paper,
- presuming the whole circle has 100 per cent of our energy, they mark the amount of energy they possess now,
- then they write down their positive experiences which made their energy positive e.g. getting a very good mark for a Polish essay, meeting a new friend, buying a computer etc.
Exercise 2
“Telling nice things to one another”
- the teacher divides the class into groups of four students,
- students tell one another nice, honest things about them e.g. “I like your hairstyle”, “I like your glasses, they fit you very well”, “”You are every good at English, “You have got a great sense of humour”, etc.
Summing up
To finish the task the teacher asks students:
- What did you feel when you heard something nice about yourselves?
- Is it difficult to say something nice to somebody else?
- What new things did you learn about yourselves?
- How do you feel now?
Exercise 3
“My strong points”
- students sit in a circle with slips of paper and pens,
- then they name things that help them in their lives: eloquence, being well-read, doing sports, fluency at a foreign language, being attractive etc.
- students having such abilities or qualities write them down on slips of paper,
- every student writes down a number of his assets,
- the students with the shortest list of their assets present them to others who help to complete them.
Summing up
Students may compare the numbers of their own points with the ones given by the others, and the points seen by the students in their environment and other close people.
Exercise 4
Self-fulfilling prophecy
- students sit comfortably in order to listen to their teacher reading the prophecy.
At Harvard University an experiment was held. Three groups of students trained three groups of rats in going through the maze. They measured how fast the rats learnt the shortest way to their food. The first group was given so called “genius rats” which were being able to learn extremely quickly. The second one got “average rats” and the third group trained “mentally retarded rats”. During the experiment not only the rats but mainly the students were monitored. It was observed that students training “stupid rats” commented their efforts with such expressions: “Where do you go, you stupid?”, “Come on, sluggard!”, “Thicko”. At the same time the protectors of “genius rats” stroked the animals gently and encouraged them by comments: “Go, Einstein”, “Lightning”, “You are wonderful”.
The results in the three groups were completely different. The fastest to learn were the “genius rats”, then the “average” and the worst were the “stupid” ones.
This experiment should make students aware that their expectations and their self-esteem are very important.
To end the lesson students may be asked to mark the level of their positive energy on the circle.
Prepared by Stanislawa Bajorska
b) Expansion
1. The students give the definition of tolerance (brainstorming). Each suggestion is written down on a large sheet of paper. Possible answers:
tolerance of other people
respect, understanding
consideration for others
respecting others people’s rights
2. The definition from the dictionary of Polish language and other resources are given(attachment no 1)
3. talking different definitions of different authors over (attatchment no 2)
4. ranking. Each student casts his/her vote sticking their __________ near to the definition chosen 5.The students read out from the Polish Language dictionary the definition of:
to tolerate – show tolerance towards someone or something, put up with someone, something
connive someone. To tolerate someone’s behaviour
tolerant - respecting beliefs and feelings of other people which are different from your own beliefs,
forbearing
6. The students are looking for the synonyms in the thesaurus
Tolerance: understanding, leniency, kindness
Tolerant: good, lenient, forbearing, connive, liberal, humanitarian, warm-hearted, friendly
7. Each student is given a copy of an exercise ‘Eurokolej’ (attachment 3)
8. The teacher explains the meaning of ‘prejudice’
prejudice is an unfair and unreasonable opinion or feeling towards a group of people or a person that is different from me. The reason for the prejudice is a stereotype, attributing some features of character to each person from a group that we are prejudiced
9. The students utter:
- what are they private prejudices, against whom and why?
- where are they come from who are they coping?
- do they think that someone has the right to be wrong?
Discussion
10. The students are given the stereotypes (attachment 4). They have to prepare counter-arguments which would destroy those stereotypes. It is a task quite difficult for the students of junior school and it requires the help of the teacher. The students the most often recall to the closest environment : scool and family.
c) Round up
The students answer the questions:
1. Where does the stereotypes come from?
2. What types of prejudice do you know?
3. Evaluation (attachment 5)
Attachment 1
Tolerance – the stance or behaviour which respects beliefs and feelings of other people, forbearing,
leniency The Dictionary of Polish Language
Tolarance is the way of respecting, accepting, appreciating the variety of our world’s cultures, forms of expressing themselves and lifestyles
Tolerance is a harmony in the variety. It results from knowledge, open-hearting, communication the freedom of thought, conscience, faith.
Tolerance is being yourself without imposing your own beliefs or opinions
Tolerance is not an appeasing or a resingning
Tolerance, above all, is an active approach supporting by the recognision of the universal rights of a human and the fundamental freedom of the others
Attachment 2
Tolerance is not using coersion (J. Locke)
Tolerance is when I do not nothing against , although someone’s opinions or behaviours do not appreciate of or it hurts me. I have strength to obstruct / stop them but I don’t do it because I respect human right to do so (J. Keller)
Enduring patiently what we do not like and do not approve – that is a tolerance ( Z. Szawarski – the author of the book ‘ talks about ethics’
We are tolerant when we do allow someone to do what obstructs/disturbs one of ours aims (T. Kotarbiñski)
Tolerance – a system of statements , rules, principles which areas much as it is possible not discriminating and resistant to suspicion ( R. Legutko)
Tolerance is a rediness to respect ideals of other people as yours own (R.M. Hoare – liberal)
Attachment 3
EUROKOLEJ
You are in the express train to do your one-week long journey from Lisbon to Moscov.
You are travelling in a sleeping car and you have to share the compartment with three other people. Who of below named passengers would you choose ( three of them)? With whom you wouldn’t definitely want to travel (one person)?
1. A Serbian soldier from Bosnia,
2. AnObese Swiss – stockbroker (financial intermediary),
3. An Italian disc jokey who seems to have a lot of Euro.
4. AnAfican girl selling leather goods,
5. A young artist who is HIV positive,
6. A Bohemian from Hungary who has already been discharged from prison,
7. ABasque nationalist who regularly travels to Russia,
8. A German rapper who has very alternative lifestyle,
9. A Blind accordion player from Austria.
10. A Belorussian student who doesn’t want to come back home,
11. A Romanian in the middle age who doesn’t have a visa and is holding a one year old baby in the
arms,
12. A Dutchwoman – zealous and active feminist,
13. A skinhead from Sweden reputedly under the influence of alcohol,
14. A French farmer who speaks only French and has a basket full of spicy cheese,
15 A refugee from Chechnya living in Poland.
Attachment 4
Stereotypes:
1. Men should be the breadwinners.
2. Suffering from AIDS should live in isolation.
3. Redheaded are false.
4. There are few distinguished women.
5. Poland can’t afford to make life and traveling easier to disabled people
6. Fat people are lazy but cheerful
7. The students don’t like teachers.
8. Men drive cars better than women.
9. Throught fault of their own some people are suffering from AIDS.
10. Bald and muscular young people are brut
11. The parents do not understand their children.
12. Women don’t fit to politics.
13. The majority of Poles are drunk.
14. The Black people are worse than we are.
15. The teenagers were better in the past.
16. The most important role of a woman in life is the role of a mother.
17. Only slim girls are attractive.
‘Believe in yourself – building up your self-esteem’
Leeson plan for a tutor’s lesson
Aim of the lesson:
1. To continue and strengthen the prosses of building up the student’s self –esteem through making them aware of their main strengths.
Teaching aids:
Colourful sheets of paper, big sheets of paper ,crayons, highlighters, pens
Form of work:
Individual work, group work, pair work and work in a circle
Time :
45 minutes
Stages of the lesson:
1. Organising activities
2. Main part of the lesson:
Introduction:
The teachers introduces the subject of the lesson to the students in a few words. Self –esteem depends on what attitude towards ourselves we have. It is expressed in self evaluation, mainly through estimating different aspects of your own picture for example of general appearance , abilities, features of character. We evaluate by comparing ourselves to the ideal, to other people’s success, achievements and our opinion about ourselves to other’s opinion about us. Our self – evaluation could be lowered, higher or adequate, positive or negative. We could accept ourselves the way we are or not. When we accept ourselves we could do much more as we trust and believe in our strengths, it makes us use our abilities. When we do not accept the way we are we couldn’t see chance to change anything.
During that lesson we would do some exercises which, hopefully, strengthen our self –esteem.
Exercise 1
‘ My energy’
- each student on a piece of paper draws a circle with 6 cm diameter
- providing that the whole circle is 100% of our energy , highlight the part of a circle that would be the energy that we have right now
- then the students write their positive experience which had created that energy, for example:
a good mark, making friends with someone, buying a computer etc.
Exercise 2
‘ Saying something nice’
The teacher divides the class into groups consisting of 4 people – in those groups the students are supposed to say sth honest and nice to three other people from the group eg.
I like your hair style today. I like your glasses and they fit you. You are very good at English. Ilike your sense of humour.
Disscussion
To end the exercise the teacher ask the students following questions:
What have you felt while listening to something nice about yourself?
Is it difficult to say something nice to the second person, to your colleague?
What new have you know about yourself ?
How do you feel now?
Exercise 3
‘ My assets’
- the students sit in a circle with a sheet of paper and a pen
- one by one they say something that helps them in their life eg. eloquence, playing sport, reading, knowing foreign language, being attractive etc.
- the students who realizes that a particular thing helps them in life write it down on the paper
- next, each students writes down the number of theirs assests
- the students who have the shortest lists try to fill in them with the help of classmates
Round up:
The students can compare what good they see in themselves and what How much more good things other people can see in us
Exercise 4
‘Self fulfilling forecast’
The students sit down and listen carefully to the teacher who is reading the text of forecast:
At a university of Harvard there was an experiment conducted. Three groups of students were training three groups of rats to go through the maze. It was measured how fast the rats were learning to find the shortest way to food. The first grouop of the students was given the group of rats witch was called ‘genious’. They were supposed to have the best abilities to learn. The second groupof the students received the ‘average’ rats, the third ‘half –wit’. During the experiment not only the rats were observed but also the students who trains the rats. It was discovered that the students who have taught ‘stupid’ rats comment the rats in the way such as: ‘move on’ , ‘ come on , slow-coach’ , ‘ where are you going, idiot’, ‘what a twit’. Whereas guardians of ‘genious” rats were sleeking them and encouraging be saying ‘ quick as lighting’, ‘Einstein’, ‘you are great’
The results in those three groups were fairly different. The quickest learners were the ‘genious’ rats then those normal – ‘average’ and the last ones were those ‘stupid’
- Is there anything special in that? Is it suprising?
- The fact is that the rats in those three groups were the same. Only the students thought that those rats have different abilities. The only one difference was the treating and expectations of the rats’ trainers.
That exercise should make the participants aware oh the fact how important is how do you treat yourself and what do you expect from yourself
In the end of the lesson the teacher could ask the students to highlight on the circle the amount of energy hat they have at the moment.
Prepared by St. Bajorska