Social Awareness

Students employ interpersonal and social skills and traits (e.g., empathy, sensitivity to the feelings and needs of others, the ability to communicate, etc.) to guide appropriate behavior and create positive relationships and meaningful connections to family members, classmates, peers, teachers, and others.

Key Beliefs:

• I know how to show concern for others’ well-being.
• I can act compassionately and with empathy.
• I am willing to show mercy and forgiveness.
• I realize that my reputation is on display when I interact with others.

Activities:

• Explain and model appropriate social interactions for different situations.
• Use fictional characters or celebrities to analyze positive and negative relationships.
• Role-play scenarios to demonstrate and practice positive interactions that may occur within a setting dealing with adults in social situations or workplace environments.
• Journal as to the difference between reputation and good character and their impact upon interactions you might have when dealing with others.

Quotations:

Quotations are great writing and discussion prompts.

• “If the way you’ve been treating me is a mark of fondness, maybe you’d better take a fresh look at your interpersonal communication skills.” – Susan Elizabeth Phillips
• “Communication is an art form that is crafted throughout our lives.” – Asa Don Brown
• “Empathy and social skills are social intelligence, the interpersonal part of emotional intelligence. That’s why they look alike.” – Daniel Goleman
• “Here is just the beginning of a list of skills that exam results cannot possibly hope to reflect: interpersonal skills, the ability to entertain, how articulate we are as speakers, our ability to work as part of a team, the ability to deal with challenges and invention.” – Alexandra Adornetto
• “Need to listen well so that I hear what is not said.” – Thuli Madonsela
• “Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.” – Buddha
• “Good words are worth much, and cost little.” – George Herbert
• “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” – C.S. Lewis
• “The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them.” – Ralph G. Nichols

Helpful Articles:

• Top ten social skills students need to succeed https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2007/09/27/top-10-social-skills-students-need-to-succeed-58465/

Videos:

• Lessons on social skills in the classroom, with peers and adults https://www.cccoe.net/social/skillslist.htm
• The Big Bang Theory – Chess Clock Conversation

Social Awareness – Educational Outcomes:

• Empathy
• Effective Communication
• Remorse
• Consequences for Words and Actions