Activity 1: (20 minutes) STRENGTHENING SELF-AWARENESS

As a group, read the definitions and quotes about self-awareness:

• “self-focused attention or knowledge” (APA Dictionary)
• “an awareness of one’s own personality or individuality” (Merriam-Webster)
• “Self-awareness involves monitoring our stress, thoughts, emotions, and beliefs.” (Tchiki Davis, Ph.D.)
• “Self-awareness is the ability to see yourself clearly and objectively through reflection and introspection… While it may not be possible to attain total objectivity about oneself (that’s a debate that has continued to rage throughout the history of philosophy), there are certainly degrees of self-awareness. It exists on a spectrum.” (Courtney E. Ackerman, MA.)

Ask teachers to turn to a neighbor and, using the definitions on the screen, create your own definition of self-awareness. Invite several groups to share. 

Read and discuss the quotes:

• “High self-awareness is a solid predictor of good success in life, perhaps because a self-aware person knows when an opportunity is a good fit for them and how to make an appropriate enterprise work well. Quite frankly, most of us are running on ‘autopilot,’ hardly aware of why we succeed or fail, or why we behave as we do. Our minds are so busy with daily chatter that we usually only self-reflect when something goes awfully wrong.” (Tchiki Davis, Ph.D.)
• “​​Self-awareness requires self-examination. Be aware, though, that an honest, non-judgmental self-analysis isn’t easy. We tend to berate ourselves for our failings or fantasize about how great we are, when neither is actually the case. We all have a unique mix of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ traits, but we are largely unaware of them. In order to self-reflect objectively, we need to quiet our minds and open our hearts, forgiving ourselves for our imperfections and offering ourselves kudos, but only where we deserve them.” (Tchiki Davis, Ph.D.)
• There are many proven benefits of having self-awareness. It promotes proactive behavior, learning, and personal growth. With increased self-awareness, we practice better self-control, therefore making better decisions. We also will increase pride in ourselves and our work, improve our self-esteem, and work more creatively and productively. (Courtney E. Ackerman, MA.)

Tips for Strengthening Self-Awareness

• Spend time alone, especially in quiet or outside in nature.
• Set aside digital distractions to focus on yourself.
• Journal your thoughts and stream-of-consciousness ideas.
• Use mindfulness to notice your thoughts and beliefs.
• Share your own opinions, rather than repeating learned ideas.
• Confidently articulate who you are and what you believe.
• Evaluate yourself with compassion, fairness, and objectivity.
• Ask for and listen openly to feedback from others.
• Acknowledge your individual strengths and weaknesses.

Have a discussion:

• How can self-awareness support overall well-being?
• What are some inherent challenges for being self-aware?
• What are the barriers to self-awareness? 
• How can we help our students become more self-aware?

Activity 2: (25 minutes) TED TALK

Watch the video, “Increase Your Self-Awareness With One Simple Fix,” by Tasha Eurich by TEDx. As teachers listen, have them take notes on the difficulties of being self-aware.

Post the WHY to WHAT slide. Ask teachers to work in small groups to rephrase the subconscious “why” questions into enlightening “what” questions that they can ask themselves. Encourage participants to involve real-world situations that they (or people they know) have experienced. One example has been included. With any remaining time, teachers can come up with their own why questions to transform together.

• Why am I the way that I am? (e.g., What specifically makes me feel nervous in social settings?)
• Why did this awful thing happen to me?
• Why did I procrastinate so much today?
• Why do I struggle so much with making new friends?
• Why am I always flooded with negative thoughts?
• Why can’t I move on?

Have a discussion:

• Why does Tasha Eurich believe that “what” questions are better than “why” questions when it comes to introspection and self-awareness? Do you agree or disagree? Why?
• What makes it so difficult to truly know and accurately see ourselves?
• How can we use feedback from others to better understand ourselves?

Activity 3: (20 minutes) STRENGTHS

Pass out a blank paper to each teacher. Instruct them to write their name in large letters at the top of the page. First, let teachers know that their answers will be seen by others. Ask them to describe themselves by writing 2 personal strengths on the front of the page under their name.

Have teachers stand up, leaving their paper behind at their seat. For the next 10–15 minutes, teachers will circulate the room, visiting as many papers as they can. They can choose one of the following activities for each paper:

1. Add a new strength that is not listed yet (e.g., kind).
2. Write an example, supporting a strength that is already written (e.g., Juan is kind because he made extra copies for me last week.).

If you are doing this online, use the Google Slides template and give everyone a slide. 

Educators can reference the list of positive traits from the Berkeley Well-Being Instituteposted on the slides for ideas.

After sufficient time, invite everyone to return to their seats and review the notes written on their paper. Ask teachers to take a few minutes and journal about their experience of reflecting on their own strengths and the strengths of their colleagues. 

Activity 4: (20 minutes) PERSONALITIES

Watch the video, “Self-Awareness Is Essential in Comedy and in Life,” by Jim Gaffigan by Big Think. As teachers listen, have them reflect on how Jim Gaffigan’s message applies to teachers and leaders. 

Have a discussion:

• How can perception from others affect how others respond to us?
• Can we control how others perceive us? If so, to what extent?
• How can you use honest self-awareness to better connect with those that you teach and lead?

Read the following quotes and discuss how they can be applied to leadership, teachers, and students in schools: 

• “Any of us, whatever our temperamental makeup, can be effective leaders, provided that we come to understand our own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of our followers, and provided that we show our appreciation whenever we note our followers contributing their intelligence to our mutual enterprise.” (David Keirsey, Please Understand Me II: Temperament, Character, Intelligence)
• “We are all experts at teaching people who learn exactly the way we do. The simplicity of this notion ends when we have to teach students who learn differently from the way we do.” (George D. Nelson, Breaking the Learning Barrier for Underachieving Students)

Invite educators to find a partner with whom to discuss the following questions:

• Think of a teacher who influenced you the most.  
  • What did they do to reach you, to connect with you? 
  • Why were they the most influential?
• Think of the student YOU influenced the most.
  • What did you do to reach them, to connect with them?  
  • Why were you their most influential teacher?

Explain that the following activity will involve a personality test. Even though these tests may not always be completely accurate, they still can shed light on our self-awareness and bring to light some ideas about ourselves that we may not have thought of before. 

Quickly read a brief history of temperament theory and models (think: personality tests). 

Activity 5: (20 minutes) PERSONALITY PROFILE

We recommend the 4 Lenses Personality Profile which can be purchased from Shipley. https://fourlenses.com/assessments/

Explain that the more we know about ourselves and others, the more skilled we will become in accomplishing what matters in life… and in the classroom. 

Activity 6: (30 minutes) SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES

Invite teachers to share their insights based on the personality profile given. Invite teachers to get into groups based on similar temperaments or personalities. Invite each group to design a poster representing their group temperament. 

Invite each group to share their poster with insights, and consistent characteristics. Each group should also share how they might be slightly different from the rest of the group. 

Activity 7: SELF AWARENESS AND TEACHING

Sometimes we teach what we know rather than what students need. We all want the things we are learning to have meaning in our lives. We want learning to be relevant to our existence and to compel us to understand and gain increased mastery of skills and knowledge.  We long to be engaged, to have our minds entertained and held captive by new ideas, concepts, and meaning. 

We tend to give others what we think they need, based on our own evaluation of what we would need in the situation. 

We tend to teach our students based on what we think they need based on our own evaluation of how we would learn in that situation. 

One size does not fit all! The goal is to teach in the nexus. To teach in a balanced way to reach all of our students. We can teach in the nexus by doing the following: 

• Do the unexpected. 
• Engage the values of the learner. 
• Provide students with choice. 
• Celebrate the humor of life. 
• Elevate thoughts and ideas. 

Share the following quote: Real learning compels an individual to action, and it engenders a lasting change of thought and direction. Real learning goes beyond facts and figures. It measures its success by an individual’s actual ability to use knowledge in real-life situations and applications that reach far beyond the classroom. 

Have a discussion: 

• How does this help you and your students? 

When we see ourselves and strengthen ourselves, we are in a better position to lift and serve others. 

We can see our propensity for compassion fatigue, burnout, frustration. 

We can see our possibilities for growth (personal & professional). 

We can create opportunities to connect with our colleagues and our students.Review the InTASC standardsor the teaching standard in your state. How does understanding your personality profile help you become a better teacher?