Once you have some insight into how your students feel about themselves, you can develop ways to improve their self esteem.

Here are two examples of self esteem worksheets that I used successfully in my classroom.

The first example is a list of true or false questions that will measure student self esteem.

The more questions a student answers "true" to, the higher their self esteem. The "false" answers indicate areas your students may choose to concentrate on:

1. I can admit a mistake.

2. I can make newcomers feel welcome.

3. I maintain my values even when others don't approve of them.

4. I can accept a compliment without feeling uncomfortable.

5. I can be myself around other people.

6. I accept myself with all my faults and weaknesses.

7. I can tell you my strengths.

8. I can feel joy for someone else's achievements.

9. I do not feel compelled to compare myself with others.

10. I am generally a happy person.

11. I believe I am unique.

12. I can play like a child without worrying about others will think.

13. I accept differences in others without judging them.

14. I openly express my love for others.

15. I love myself.

16. I understand and accept all of my feelings.

17. I enjoy my own company.

18. I am comfortable being alone.

The second example of a self esteem worksheet and my favourite back to school worksheet is the "Personal Coat of Arms".

Only if you feel comfortable with this as I do, do you show your students your sample of your personal coat of arms and perhaps display it.

Your students will view you in a different light - a positive one and also see you as a human being with thoughts and feelings.

This is HUGE and believe me that you will gain a lot of respect and admiration from your students when you share.

Your kids have to be honest with themselves. Many may not want to share their coat of arms with the rest of the class and that's OK.

On one side of the page there are 6 questions for them to answer:

1. What do you think is your greatest personal achievement so far?

2. What is something you are striving to become?

3. What are 3 things that other people can do to make you happy?

4. What do you think is your greatest personal failure so far?

5. What 3 things are you good at?

6. What 3 things would you most like to be said of you by your friends?

On the opposite side of the page is a large design of a coat of arms or shield which is divided into 6 sections.

One line divides the design in half (north to south) and then 2 lines (east to west) to divide the coat of arms into 6 good size sections to draw the pictures. Each picture will represent the answer to the above questions except for #6 which will have 3 printed words.