Self-Awareness: Middle School

Identity

Belonging

Agency

Students identify and explore their different social identities, including race, ethnicity, language, gender, and ability. Students begin to explore the concept of intersectionality. Students cultivate a healthy, well-grounded sense of self- confidence based on their strengths.

Students examine and reflect on the underlying causes of emotions. Students recognize the difference between emotions and feelings. Students work to label, with specificity, their feeling states.

Students explore the concept of values: how they are formed, how they reflect our identity and experiences, and how they are applied. Students start to examine how personal perspectives and values can be challenged.

Students begin to identify their prejudices and biases and how those might impact their behaviors toward others related to being inclusive or exclusive.

Students begin to identify what they need from communities they belong to and assess if their needs are being met. Students are aware of the ways they are or are not meeting the needs of others in their learning community.

Students recognize the connection between their thoughts, emotions, and behavior based on brain science. Students recognize how they express their emotions may be influenced by their culture and experiences.

Students develop a sense of personal power and can identify and use their personal, social, and cultural assets in healthy ways.

Students examine and reflect on how beliefs about themselves and about learning intersect (mastery orientation versus performance orientation) and the impact on their optimism and confidence.