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May is National Teen Self-Esteem Month

In celebration of Teen Self-Esteem Month, we've gathered a thoughtful collection of resources to help you nurture your students’ confidence and the development of a positive self-image! From engaging lesson plans and discussion guides to inspirational videos and simulations, these materials provide supportive ways to help teens recognize their unique strengths, develop resilience, and build healthy relationships with themselves and others. Explore these resources to create an affirming classroom environment where every student can thrive!

Grades K-12

Life Skills- SEL Standards

Looking to boost social-emotional learning (SEL) in your classroom? This website offers teacher-friendly resources for all grade levels, including the "Be Good People" curriculum. Find tools to help your students build self-awareness, empathy, and more.

Grades 9-12

iThrive Sim- Digital Simulation Games

iThrive Sim uses digital simulations to engage students and enhance civic and social-emotional learning. The simulations are designed to support student-driven learning, and the storyline is determined by the actions students take together.

Grades 6-9

My Social Media Life

This lesson provides resources to help middle-school students learn about the role social media plays in their lives, especially its effect on their relationships and themselves. The lesson has student handouts, slides, and standards.

Grades K-12

Overcoming Obstacles K-12 Curriculum

Overcoming Obstacles is a free curriculum that shares hundreds of lessons based on a foundation of thirty life skills, which include effective communication, making informed decisions, setting goals, and respecting one another.

Grades 6-12

Along

Ask your students a question to check in on student wellness and encourage them to make connections. Students can choose to share their responses using video, audio, or text, and the teacher views their reflections within the Along dashboard.

Grades K-12

WellCheq

Try out this digital application that can provide a daily wellness check-in for students. Students log in each day and answer two questions: “How are you feeling today?” and “How are you doing overall?” Teachers can view responses immediately.

Grades 5-12

SpeakUp!

SpeakUp! is a nonprofit organization that provides resources that support teens in developing positive relationships with adults. Their programs focus on encouraging teens to have supportive conversations that help them deal with issues and challenges.

Grades K-12

CASEL Program Guide

CASEL provides support and a variety of tools, including high-quality information on social-emotional learning. This guide provides a framework for evaluating social-emotional programs in preschool, elementary, and middle school.

Grades 2-12

Education for the Real World

EVERFI provides free digital curricula in real-world skills. Some of the interactive, game-based lessons would be useful for teen mental health, such as “Understanding Mental Wellness” and “Character Playbook - Healthy Relationships.”

Grades K-8

Big Ideas, Big Conversations

Search this collection of videos and activities to help your students achieve healthy social-emotional development. Topics include conundrums, growth mindset, empathy, perseverance, gratitude, mindfulness, moods and attitudes, respect, and more.

This Week at TeachersFirst

We cordially invite you to join our OK2Ask virtual workshop this Tuesday. We also encourage you to check out our highlighted blog post and our collection of self-care resources for teachers!