About This Lesson
When we notice and name each other's strengths, the whole community benefits from improved relationships.
Explore the intersection of positive psychology and autism intervention by teaching your students how to Strength Spot, a positive intervention about naming and noticing character strengths in others!
This comprehensive bundle includes everything you need to leverage Strength Spotting in the classroom: teaching slides, a teacher's guide, printables for each activity, and supplementary resources.
Learning Objectives
- Students learn to identify each of their top five Signature Strengths, and two behaviors they demonstrate for each.
- Students learn to identify Character Strengths in familiar books, movie characters, or famous people.
- Students learn to identify Character Strengths in action in their community members (classmates, teachers, family members, friends).
Here’s what you’ll get:
An entire Strength Spotting unit, including,
- Student instruction in Google slides format
- Teacher's guide in speaker notes and also available in Google Slides
- Printable worksheets and materials for students
Begin teaching Strength Spotting!
- Activity 1: Identification of Signature Strengths
- Activity 2: Strength Spotting Across the Day
- Activity 3: Strength Spotting in Familiar People/Characters
- Activity 4: Strength Spotting in Our Classroom
- Activity 5: Strength Spotting Family Tree
- Activity 6: Strength Spotting Day-to-Day Reflection
Integration into Current Instruction
- Incorporate Strength Spotting into transitions in and out of the classroom (e.g., have students sign in with their name and a signature strength they have used that day, or when signing out to use the restroom, have students include a strength they will use to transition independently).
- Encourage teachers and/or paraprofessionals to leave “Strength Spotting Shoutouts” on a student’s desk when they are out of the room. Create a space in the classroom to post the shoutouts.
- If your student has a school/home communication log, include a space for Strength Spotting. Encourage parents/guardians to communicate about strengths they are seeing at home.
Why you’ll love this unit study:
*The lessons and activities are easy to read and implement.
* You can use each lesson as a standalone activity or as part of a comprehensive, science-based unit study.* The Strength Spotting unit comes with activities, downloadable worksheets, and even IEP and BIP recommendations tailored specifically to students with autism
Ways to Use
- Use it as an SEL curriculum
- Integrate into small groups and/or individual counseling sessions
- Families can use this at home, too!
What is Strength Spotting?
Humans have a biological need to be seen and appreciated for who we are at our core — in other words, our Signature Strengths. Positive Psychology researchers Martin Seligman and Christopher Peterson created the Values in Action Survey or The VIA. This 96-item VIA survey identifies your capacity to exhibit each of 24 Character Strengths. These 24 strengths were identified as being valued by humans across many cultures and holding value throughout history.
Strength Spotting builds on the skill of Character Strengths, moving you from simply becoming AWARE of your strengths to EXPLORING and APPLYING them more intentionally. Strength Spotting is the skill of noticing, describing, and appreciating the Character Strengths in yourself and those around you. This skill encourages you to see people as an orchestra of strengths by shining the light on what is best with the people around you and in your community. This practice not only benefits you—it also helps others, including students with autism, increase their capacity to put their strengths into action in beneficial ways. Let's shine a light on what is RIGHT with us and those around us so we might all flourish together.
The Science of Strength Spotting
The evidence is clear — knowing and using your strengths positively impacts your life. If you keep your strengths top of mind and live them each day, you're significantly more likely to thrive. People who know their strengths and utilize the practice of Strength Spotting experience:
- Enhanced overall wellbeing and life satisfaction
- Greater happiness and less depression
- Greater relationship satisfaction
- Less stress and reduced anxiety
- Higher levels of positive work experiences
- Increased intrinsic motivation and engagement
Looking for more Strength Spotting resources?
* Explore the free Strength Spotting Unit Study, which comes with teaching slides, additional worksheets and activities, and even IEP and BIP recommendations tailored specifically to students with autism.
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★Bonus access to full lesson plans and unit studies on the skills of happiness at our Skill Center
