Abstract
Self-esteem is a set of beliefs in oneself that has both external and internal loci (Tuttle & Tuttle, 2004). It is important for an individual who is blind or visually impaired to develop positive self-esteem so that they can adjust appropriately to life’s ups and downs. There are many ways to assist a student in the development of positive self-esteem. This article describes an activity that showed a student her positive traits.
Personal Experience
I had the same teacher for the visually impaired for my entire educational career in a Midwestern state. After I graduated from high school, the teacher returned to graduate school to obtain her doctorate. In one of her classes, she wrote a paper describing an activity she did with me when I was in middle school.
One day, during our time together, the teacher wrote each trait that I thought of as negative on a strip of paper and placed it on the left side of a table. After all of the traits were written on strips of paper, the teacher explained how each trait was actually a positive for me. As she explained each trait’s positivity, the strip of paper was moved to the right side of the table. This activity was similar to the activity described by Tuttle and Tuttle (2004).
Self-Esteem Board Description
During the last summer before I received my bachelor’s degree in psychology, I was asked to mentor a student with low vision in my hometown. During the summer, I worked with the student on ways to improve her self-esteem. Before I describe the way in which a tool was implemented with the student, I will describe the way that this tool can be used with students in general.
As Tuttle and Tuttle (2004) stated, many activities can be used to improve an individual’s self-esteem. One activity that was described is an activity in which individuals are asked to list positive traits. This activity may also be considered a part of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), which was developed by Aaron Beck (Seligman, 2014). The most relevant part of CBT to my activity was cognitive restructuring. Cognitive restructuring is defined as replacing negative thoughts with more positive thoughts (Seligman, 2014).
Showing an individual their positive traits helps them to understand their strengths. This activity is beneficial in this regard, as it allows the individual to see their strengths in a visual or tactile form.
In creating this tool, I considered various names for the activity. I settled on “self-esteem board” because the name described what I hope to convey with this activity. The board was a simple wooden board that was approximately the same size as a piece of 8.5 by 11 inch paper. The board was made out of dark wood, as the information displayed on it was printed on white paper (Figure). The high contrast enabled a person with low vision to see the presented information.
In order to develop the activity, the student completed a worksheet with the following items:
What I like about myself
My strengths
My hobbies
What others like about me
The information was placed in a blank document or in an existing document underneath the items listed above. Once the responses were provided, the document was reformatted using the student’s preferred font and size. The document was formatted with enough space for each response to be cut into a strip for use on the board. In order to keep the printed material in good condition, this information was laminated using laminating paper that was of good quality.
The board was prepared by placing four pieces of Velcro on the board, with the soft side facing up. Each trait had a rough piece of Velcro placed on the back of the laminated paper. All of the traits were placed in a small bag or container for ease of storage in between lessons.
The student chose four traits at the beginning of the lesson to place on the board. After the student chose the specified number of traits, the teacher and the student discussed how each trait was a positive trait in the student’s life. The board was set up for the entirety of the lesson.
This board could easily be adapted for individuals who are braille readers. The student could respond to the same items described above on a piece of braille paper. The preparation of the board would be similar to that described above. When preparing the traits for use with this student, the teacher could use standard braille paper. If the teacher would like the activity to be used over a long period of time, paper such as microcapsule paper could be used.
Application of the Self-Esteem Board
In the summer of 2003, I worked with a nine-year-old with low vision. Alli grew up in a small town in a Midwestern state. I was asked to mentor her for eight weeks, from June to August. During this time frame, I worked with Alli on a variety of skills, such as telling time, social skills, and career exploration. The focus of this article is the activity that was developed to help Alli improve her self-esteem.
In the beginning of the summer, I carefully considered what I could do to assist Alli in improving her self-esteem. I consulted friends who were teachers and counselors to find out what other people did in their work. During the consultation phase of my work, I talked with my former teacher for the visually impaired. During this discussion, she described the activity we did when I was in middle school. In considering all of the suggestions that I was given, I settled on this activity as the best way to work with Alli. I carefully considered how to implement an activity that was similar to what the teacher had described. It was during this phase that I developed the idea for the self-esteem board.
Once I settled on this idea, I began preparing to create this board. I developed the list of items described in the previous section and had Alli complete this worksheet during a lesson. I took all of the information that she provided and typed it into Microsoft Word, using Arial font at the 18 point size. I printed the document and had it laminated before cutting each trait into a unique shape. For example, I had the word swimming cut into the shape of a fish.
After these preparations were completed, my great Uncle Homer, who was a carpenter, built a board for use in this activity. The board that my great Uncle Homer built was made of wood, and it was the size of a standard piece of paper. It was varnished to a smooth texture. He then placed a hanger on the back so that the board could be hung on a wall if desired.
After all preparations were completed, I introduced the board to Alli at the beginning of one of our lessons. At the beginning of each lesson, Alli removed four traits from the bag. We discussed how each trait that she chose was a positive in her life. After we discussed each trait, Alli placed it on the board. The board was visible during the entire lesson as we worked at the desk or the table.
During the lesson, when Alli learned a new skill, I pointed to the board and explained how the new skill was related to the trait. For instance, when Alli learned a new math skill, I explained that she was clever for now being able to tell time by using an analog clock. She slowly began to understand the strengths that she possessed.
As the summer progressed, it became more obvious that Alli’s belief in herself was becoming more positive. Alli was sharing more things that she could do, rather than sharing things that she was unable to do.
At the conclusion of the summer, I had Alli complete the worksheet again. Answers to the same questions were much more intrinsic, such as intelligent, motivated, or a good friend, rather than extrinsic, such as beautiful eyes, likes to color, or good swimmer. Alli’s mother also reported that her child was much less likely to say that she could not perform a given task. It is clear that regular exposure to positive traits and a teacher believing in her helped Alli begin to improve her self-esteem.
The improvement of self-esteem is a concept that is important to infuse into lessons and activities in order to help individuals with blindness or visual impairment develop a positive self-image. The self-esteem board is just one of many activities that teachers can use to work on this skill. The self-esteem board is an activity that helps students recognize their strengths and positive traits.