Strengths and Weaknesses Teaching Resources

Are you teaching students to identify their strengths and weaknesses (or maybe you call them strengths and challenges?) this school year? Explore SEL activities, worksheets and more teacher resources created by teachers to help you prepare your students to be more self-reflective and set goals that are realistic.

This collection of teacher resources has been designed to build upon the self awareness competency in the SEL curriculum, providing your students with skills they'll need to take ownership of their learning journey in the classroom and beyond.

Teaching this section of social emotional learning for the first time this school year, or maybe you're just looking for fresh ideas? Read on for a primer from our teacher team, including strengths and weaknesses examples to use with your students.

Why Do We Teach Strengths and Weaknesses?

Teaching our students to be able to identify their own strengths and weaknesses is an important part of helping kids to develop their emotional intelligence and build their self-confidence.

Consider what happens when a child recognizes that they're doing well at something. It's a powerful motivator for our students, helping them gain confidence to tackle more challenges.

On the other hand, recognizing areas where they need to work to improve can also be motivating as it gives kids the ability to set goals and work toward them.

This self awareness will have long-term benefits for all students!

How to Teach Kids to Identify Their Own Strengths and Weaknesses

We've pretty well established it's important ... but how do you actually teach this? In addition to the teacher resources you'll find in this collection, our teacher team has put together this guide to help you plan your lessons!

Use Self-Assessment Tools — You'll notice this collection has age-appropriate self-assessment tools that we've created to help students evaluate their own progress. That's
Provide Opportunities for Self Reflection — Learning to reflect is something that takes a lot of practice. Make a point of providing those opportunities in your classroom. You may ask your students direct questions when working with them individually — such as "What did you do well in this activity, and why?" — or provide thought-provoking prompts for students to answer in their journals.
Celebrate Strengths as a Whole Class — It's important for students to see strengths not just in themselves but in their peers. Encourage your students to not just identify but also celebrate each other's strengths! In this type of positive and supportive classroom environment, students often to learn from and inspire one another.
Explore Multiple Intelligences — We all have our own individual strengths and challenges, and our students should learn that is absolutely normal and OK! Introduce the concept of multiple intelligences to your students and explain that people have different strengths in various areas. One student may be a whiz at mental math. Another student may excel on the football field or in art class. Talking about different people's different strengths can help your students understand that they don't have to be the best at everything. It is also a good way to help them see that being good at one thing doesn't mean they can't excel in other domains.
Make Sure Your Feedback is Constructive — This may sound obvious, but providing constructive feedback to our students about their work, emphasizing both their strengths and areas for improvement, is a way for kids to learn that feedback is an opportunity for growth.

What Are Examples of Strengths and Weaknesses in a Student?

Of course, presenting the concept of "strengths" and "weaknesses" to a classroom full of kids can have its own challenges. No one likes being labeled as "weak," including elementary and middle school students!

It can be especially fraught for high-achieving students who get easily frustrated when they face challenges they aren't accustomed to facing. Likewise, struggling learners may find discussing their challenges to be yet another reminder that they're not doing exactly what their peers are doing.

We've found it's helpful to brainstorm examples of each as a class to help kids start to see that these terms are not nearly as loaded as they might sound. It can also be a helpful way to explore the diversity of strengths and weaknesses that we all have — so students understand that this is not simply about the numbers on their report cards.

Starting that discussion in your classroom? Here are some examples of strengths and weaknesses that are common for children and that can help kick-start your classroom brainstorm!