The School Counseling Files
  • Program Planning
  • Counseling Activities
    • Activities for Kids on the Autism Spectrum
    • Anger Management Activities
    • Activities for Anxious Kids
    • Girl Power
    • Zones of Regulation/Emotional Regulation Activities
    • Social Superheroes
    • Individual Counseling
    • General Counseling Activities
    • Mindfulness Activities
  • DATA COLLECTION
  • Communicate
  • Share/Connect
  • Blog

Self-Assessment for Elementary Students

When my old elementary school became a Mass DESE innovation school and I offered to create a set of social-emotional benchmarks, it occurred to me that it would be really interesting to ask kids how they see their own strengths and weaknesses.

My friend Jen Aldrich and I came up with this self-assessment, with skill categories based on ones used in Collaborative Problem-Solving: emotional regulation, social skills, cognitive flexibility, executive functioning, and receptive and expressive language.  We also added problem-solving and acting responsibly just to get a bit more information.

I have used this tool in individual sessions to start discussions with students about what what they need help with and---equally importantly---what they are already good at.  We compare how I see their strengths and weaknesses with how they see them, and use this information to come up with a plan of action.  This really helps focus our efforts and gives them hope.  Very few kids aren't interested in learning more about themselves or aren't motivated to do better.

To use: have the child rate him/herself on a scale of 0-4 on each statement.  Add the numbers in each vertical column.  Since there is absolutely no mathematical correlation between scores across columns, we just look at which categories have high scores and which have lower scores.

Download the self-assessment here.

What My Customers Have to Say

You are kind, smart, and consitorit.
Kaitlyn T., Grade 1
When I leave this school I'm going to get you fired and tell my new school to hire you.
Ryan D., Grade 2
​

© 2013-2018    Laurie P. Mendoza   The School Counseling Files
  • Program Planning
  • Counseling Activities
    • Activities for Kids on the Autism Spectrum
    • Anger Management Activities
    • Activities for Anxious Kids
    • Girl Power
    • Zones of Regulation/Emotional Regulation Activities
    • Social Superheroes
    • Individual Counseling
    • General Counseling Activities
    • Mindfulness Activities
  • DATA COLLECTION
  • Communicate
  • Share/Connect
  • Blog