Powerful Classroom Activity to Deepen Relationships and Boost Students' Self Image
Building strong relationships with students and fostering a positive self-image are essential for creating a supportive and effective learning environment. This exercise not only strengthens connections among students but also boosts their self-esteem by providing an opportunity for them to recognize and appreciate their own positive qualities as well as those of their peers. By implementing these activities, educators can help create a positive and uplifting classroom culture that supports students' academic and personal growth.
Powerful Introduction
The powerful introduction activity is a classic Positive Psychology exercise that has been used in many settings with significant results. Students will introduce themselves to their peers by reading a true autobiographical story. This exercise is most effective at the beginning of the year or semester but can also be done throughout the semester by spreading apart student shares over time. Note that this exercise does take time but is definitely worth doing no matter what subject or grade level you teach (as you’ll see from one of my student testimonials below). I provide answers to common concerns or questions that teachers have about this exercise at eqschools.com/resources.
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Provide the following instructions to your students:
Introduce yourself to the class by writing a story about your past, present, and future. Writing this story can help you find meaning and value in your experiences. People who develop empowering stories about their lives tend to experience a greater sense of meaning, which can contribute to personal growth and well-being.
The length of your introductory story needs to be at least 3 minutes and at most 5 minutes.
Note: We are not interested in achievement or performance, but rather in strength of character and what your struggles might be or have been in the past as well as how you’ve overcome them or are currently coping with them.
The Past
Write the story of your past. Be sure to describe challenges you’ve overcome and personal strengths that allowed you to prevail.
The Present
Describe your life and who you are now. How do you differ from your past self? What are your strengths now? What challenges are you facing? (As a reminder, every person on earth faces challenges and the difficult emotions that come with them. I encourage you to write about these without censoring yourself. You do not need to share everything you wrote with the rest of the class, only what you feel comfortable sharing.)
The Future
Write about your ideal future. How will your life be different from what it is now? How will you be different from your present self?
Give your students a week to complete this exercise. Then you can devote two class periods to having everyone share their story one at a time or spread out the stories during the first month of class. Anytime someone shares a story, you should ideally have your students sit in a circle.
Set some guidelines before students start sharing. Examples are:
Listen attentively, quietly, and supportively.
Confidentiality - whatever is said here, stays here.
Allow yourself to feel as vulnerable as you’re willing to be.
This exercise is profound. You will see students open to one another, be willing to show vulnerability, and it will create a deeper sense of emotional resonance and meaning for all of them. As my student, Sean (not his real name) wrote in his journal:
“Every day I sit down in class, and I look around and I see people are so very… human. I see people acting more friendly and tender than I ever expected. I see them put their pride outside and show us really what’s up. I see people trusting one another. For the first time, I’ve shared with a group about my fear of being a less-than-good person and I felt so safe.”
Sean ended up experiencing more meaning, feeling happier, and more at peace. He struggled academically beforehand because he didn’t feel that he belonged at school and was constantly disengaged. After this exercise, he became ‘on fire’ academically. He asked amazing questions, brought up great points during discussions, turned in his assignments on time, and nailed the assessments. This changed the trajectory of his experience at school and in his life.
A final, and crucial point to make is that before starting the powerful introduction exercise, it’s very important for you to remind students that you are a mandated reporter. You must let them know that if they share something involving them being in grave danger of being physically or psychologically hurt by someone else, hurting themselves, or hurting someone else, legally, you must report this to other professionals. This will deepen the trust that students feel because they now understand the rules of the game and they get to decide what they are willing to share.
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️ P. S. Get more of these exercises in my book.