Importance of Self Awareness

Written By: Isabelle Saunders

It’s easy to pick out someone’s characteristics when you’re watching them through your own eyes. You know your friend is a natural leader, or a pessimist, or can’t take anything seriously, and so on. But it’s harder to tell when it’s YOU. For some reason, it just proves more difficult to categorize our strengths, weaknesses, values, etc., because they’re the only ones we're used to having. 

This is what makes self-awareness a challenge. Self awareness, to put it simply, is knowing yourself- being conscious of your own thoughts, feelings, strengths, and limitations. It’s an asset in communicating with others and pinpointing how you think. Clearly, it’s a pretty important attribute to have in a school setting, but it’s also invaluable for life in general. 

“To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.”

-Socrates 

The importance of self-awareness

Here’s a scenario: you’re in a lecture-style class, meaning the teacher is primarily talking. No matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to make the information stick. That “the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell” goes in one ear and right out the other. That’s because you’re not an auditory learner- you can’t easily retain information just by hearing it said. This is one of many possible examples that goes to show why academic self-awareness is necessary. If you don’t know these things about yourself, you’ll wonder what’s wrong when you have trouble in a setting outside of your strengths. With self-awareness in your inventory, you’ll be able to set yourself up for success by utilizing your unique skill set in a problem. You’ll be able to pick out where you want to see improvements, empowering you to meet your goals and grow as a student and individual. Self-awareness isn’t just something students need. It’s a universal human necessity.

So...how? 

Gaining self-awareness is about listening to yourself. Let yourself think coherently, and pay attention to the tone of your inner voice. 

Pay attention to others. Other people see you, just like you see them. When with your peers, try to analyze their unique personalities. It will help to familiarize you with the concept of every person as having distinct habits and complexities. 

Personality tests. Yes, really. Tests such as the enneagram and MBTI are a treasure trove of personal insight. The questions will help you analyze yourself as a complex person. They put into words your social-emotional makeup, and warn you of limitations you possibly haven’t yet taken mind of. 

MBTI: https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test

Enneagram:

https://cloverleaf.me/enneagram?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=enneagram&gclid=CjwKCAjwu5CDBhB9EiwA0w6sLThubaU-DH4oxUR4vYVqumVHN5DWNIkh4lEg8968RY5hCJ-B74MG2BoCDe0QAvD_BwE

Be receptive to constructive criticism 

When someone offers you (well-meaning) constructive criticism, don’t just dismiss it. Try to see where they’re coming from, use it to better understand yourself and your weaknesses, and step towards growth. 

Benefits

Social: A huge part of school is communicating with other people. This goes on to benefit things such as job interviews and presentations as well. When you are knowledgeable of yourself as a person, you have some insight as to how you come off to others. Maybe what you intended to be strong leadership can be seen as bossy. In any case, you’ll become more aware of how others interact with you, and you can use this sensitivity and empathy to strengthen your relationships with your peers. 

Academic: As aforementioned, you’ll know how you best learn, and how you tend to manage work. If you know you tend to procrastinate, you can work to combat it. If you know you tend to bite off more extra-curriculars than you can chew, you can find a way to regulate it. 

Personal: It’s so important to understand your emotions. It’s essential to your emotional maturity that you learn not to repress what you feel, but to be able to grasp and analyze it. You can master what you’re good at, work on what you struggle with, and understand your limits. 

Check out the sites below for more information! 

https://nickwignall.com/self-awareness/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.understood.org/en/friends-feelings/empowering-your-child/self-awareness/the-importance-of-self-awareness

Parent-Teacher Communication

Written by: Isabelle Saunders

During the school week, a child will spend an equal amount of their day at school and at home. This leads, in many ways, to a dual tutelage of the child, a partnership of upbringing between teachers and parents. How important, then, is proper cooperation between these key figures in a child’s life? 

Teachers and parents each have their own domain: consecutively, school and home/outside of school. It is essential to a flourishing academic life that the gap between the two domains is bridged in a healthy and productive way. During this season of long-distance learning, this bridge is more important than ever before. 

This begs the question: how? 

How parents can reach out 

While parents may find themselves scratching their heads when asked by their child for help with homework, they’re still able to play an active role in their education. 

• Schedule a parent-teacher conference for a proactive method of head-on conversation. Ask teachers how you can get involved, be it helping your child get more sleep to improve attentiveness or quizzing them before tests. If a student is struggling, they are also encouraged to attend to provide personal input and talk through what would work best for them. 

• Talk to your child. Ask them what would edify them, taking into consideration their unique method of learning and working. Their points will give you a foundation on which to build your discussion with their teacher.

• Help your child’s teacher set goals for them. It’s helpful for a student to have something concrete and attainable that they can work towards. 

• Engage multiple teachers. For students who have a different teacher for each subject, it’s a good idea to have them discuss how best to instruct your child. Say, for example, your child loves art class, but is less enthusiastic about math. Those two teachers will likely see different behavior and levels of engagement from your child, and the math teacher could discuss with the art teacher which techniques to use to best assist your child. Teachers learn from each other, just like parents. 

  How teachers can reach out

• Don’t be afraid to contact a parent just for the sake of good news. Any parent loves to hear that their child is an asset to class discussions, or really gave it their all on a recent project. Sharing a student’s progress with their parents is an easy way to boost their confidence. 

• Regular feedback: when trying to help a student through a difficult patch in their studies, it’s crucial to update their parents. Tell them how they can meet their child where they are, and how they can help at home. 

• Talk to school administrators about hosting school events. Fun, easygoing activities at school can help foster positive relationships between staff and guardians. To adhere to social distancing rules, try hosting events over video conferencing or in the form of a drive-in. 

• Utilize multiple methods of contact. Communication isn’t a glove perfectly shaped to fit one way. Apart from face-to-face meetings, consider practices such as handwritten notes, emails, and phone calls. 

• Ask about a child’s personal interests. If you’re a math teacher who can’t seem to get through to a child, and their parents say they’re artistic, consider using visual or artistic teaching methods with that child as a form of personalization. A tailor-made education will always be more helpful than a “one size fits all” education. 

Benefits 

No child wants to see school as a tempest they have to weather, struggling to keep their head above the water. Especially in the wake of distance learning, many students feel that they’re in danger of being plowed over due to the subsequent lack of direct contact and all it entails. By exercising the strategies detailed above, educators and parents can work together to help students feel more engaged in their own academic life. In the end, the student doesn’t just memorize a bare concept of subjects they’ll forget after a test; they can fully grasp and understand the subject, further growing a well-rounded and truly useful education. 

For more information on parent-teacher relationships, check out the links below: 

https://www.readingrockets.org/article/building-parent-teacher-relationships

https://www.pbisrewards.com/blog/improving-parent-teacher-communication/

How Social Media Impacts Youth

As a parent or educator in today’s society, it seems everyone is glued to their phones especially teenagers. With so many different social media platforms, teens use this is as a way to communicate. Ever wonder what effect this is having on our youth?

Indirect Communication

Teens are great at keeping themselves busy while doing homework or staying up way past their bedtime occupying themselves with social media. Before everyone had an Instagram account, teens kept themselves occupied in a very different way. They were communicating by talking over the phone or meeting up with their friends at the mall. It could seem that there was a lot of wasted time walking around a mall but teens were learning how to interact with people in real time. Teens today are missing out on reading body language and facial expressions that help develop social skills. Instead, they are fixated on a screen and relying on social media to make connections. 

How to Make Friends

Learning how to make a friend is a huge part of growing up. Friendship requires risk taking with both parties whether that is with making a new friend or maintaining a friendship. When meeting  friends face to face it is easier to let your guard down and allow yourself to be who you really are. While texting, it is easier to keep your guard up and protect yourself because there is not someone looking at you and letting you know by their body language that it is a safe place to share your feelings or that their words are affecting you. When there is a disagreement in a friendship, without talking it through in real time it allows the other person to formulate a response rather than telling the person how they really feel.

Cyberbullying 

Unfortunately, this is the world we live in today and cyberbullying occurs more frequently than we would like to admit. Teens texts things they would never say to someone constantly. We hope that we have taught our teens to disagree in a healthy manner while being in the presence of the other person. 

Peer acceptance is huge for teens and using social media to see the latest fashion trends, music etc puts an added pressure. Especially girls who are scrolling through their feeds waiting to see how many people like their posts. Who wouldn't want to make themselves look cooler if that resulted in more likes on Instagram? As a result, teens spend hours updating their online images to fit in and fight for attention. 

We as a society need to do better, as adults set and example for our youth and show how to have a genuine connection with someone in real time.

Disagreements During COVID 19

Our “new normal” has moved from school, work and exercise class schedule to spending the majority of our time indoors. We are trying to find new ways to balance work, play and study. During this time, we are trying to navigate everyone working from home. Ultimately, this is going to lead to disagreements. Although no one likes disagreements, this may be a way for us to use our communication skills and become closer with each other. 

Aim for Win-Win

During a disagreement try not to focus on “winning” the conversation and look at a solution for everyone involved. In order to have a win-win situation, avoid harsh words or using someone’s sensitivities against them. When being caught up in the moment this can be easy to do. Everyone needs to be heard and that their thoughts and opinions matter. 

Have a Conversation about Roles in the House

Things have been shifting in all aspects of the world lately and that may include responsibilities inside the home. Chores that may have once been done by someone is now being completed by another person. Resentment and anger can arise when we feel someone is not pulling their weight in the home. To ensure clear roles, have a conversation with everyone.  Allow the children to have an input in what chores they would like to do. By reworking the responsibilities, it will allow structure in the home. 

Use I Statements 

When having a conversation about someone’s feelings using I statements can be very helpful. If a child is telling you that they are upset you can encourage them to say “I feel hurt because…” Using these statements reduces defensiveness from the other party and allows for better understanding. While this may seem simple, changing your language can reduce unnecessary tension. 

Options

Giving children options encourages the behavior you want but allows them to have a sense of control. This will show your child value and to choose responsibly in the future. Recently, their access to several choices has been limited due to the outside world. However, that gives us the chance to continue to give them choices. Consistency with choices is crucial and the key is to give your child multiple “correct” options to choose from. Thus, overriding the self-determination gene that tends to kick in during adolescence.