#drawing shery drew a smile on me face

[yuuugay]

everyday is shery/ayla day 

[vdeenenblogging-blog]

“Self esteem is the mainspring that slates every child for success or failure as a human being”- Sherie Newman

As you may be able to tell from the title, today’s activity was all about building self-esteem early on in the developmental stages of children. Today In Mrs. Brown’s class I set up an activity that is titled “What makes me feel like a star?” 

In reading about the importance of self-esteem, Sherie Newman says that the basic psychological needs for children to develop healthy self-esteem are to feel lovable and capable, as well as being given freedom and plenty of encouragement in order to grow.

It is for this reason that I asked students to tell me what makes them feel like a star. This was during the unit where the students were actually learning all about stars, and especially about the uniqueness of them. This helped me to explain what I wanted from them, which was something that made them feel unique and good about themselves. Next I provided them with paper stars that were already cut-out in the interest of time, and asked them to draw their unique abilities/qualities. Some were quick to identify what they wanted to draw, while some needed some assistance. 

One young girl drew her beautiful blue eyes without having to think, which showed that she has already established a good self-esteem, making me extremely happy. The next student told me that she was really good at horse back riding and that it made her feel happy, so I encouraged her to go ahead and draw it. 

Finally it was the young girl who speaks Russian with little English who needed the most encouragement. I do not personally think that she is behind developmentally, I believe the language barrier is the main factor in her difficulty to understand the activity. By trying to use facial expressions and simple words that I know she understands, I tried to explain to her what I wanted. She ended up drawing a fish on the star, which I don’t personally think is what makes her feel special. I don’t think I was able to make her comprehend the task, but I encouraged her to draw alongside the other girls and asked for a big high-five after she was done. By doing what they were, she felt included, which is important for building self-confidence and worth.The smile on her face was all I needed to tell me that she felt good about herself, which was all that mattered in the end.