Doing+what+you+are+supposed+to+do,+when+you+don't+wan+to

Author: Ralph Simpson Posting date: Sunday, May 2, 2010 Date Lesson taught: Friday, April 30, 2010 Lesson: Discipline - Doing what you are supposed to do when you don't want to do it Preparation - Collect enough washers for each student and about 2 feet of sting for each kid. Cut the string into two foot lengths and tie a washer onto the end. Lesson time: Approximately 30 minutes Procedure: Gathering activity - Prior to handing out the washers, let everyone know that they are not toys. Swinging them around can be dangerous. Have the kids hold up the string with the washer in fornt of their eyes, about a foot in front of them. Have them concentrate on the washer and make it become still. Then have them concentrate on the wahser and move the washer from left to right. Kids should be fascinated by how the washer moves by merely willing it to. Ask them to command the washer to become still again. Finally, have them move the washer away and towards them. Have them put the washers away. The purpose of the activity is to get them to think about how p0werful the mind is. Activity - 1) Quiet everyone down and ask them to think about a time when they were asked to do something that they had to do, but didn't want to do. Give them a a minute to think about it. Then ask them to share their experience with a partner or table mates. Give them a few minutes. Ask for volunteers to share with the whole class. Use "talking object" to aid in respectful discussion. 2) After several students have shared, asked them to think about how they felt when this happened. Give them a minute and then tell them to share with a partner or table mate. Repeat the procedure for class wide sharing. 3) End the sharing and review how everyone experiences these situations. What is important is how we handle them 4) Ask them to think about a time when they did what they had to do - what was the situation? Repeat partner sharing and group sharing. 5) Ask them to think about a time when they didn't do what they were supposed to do. What was the situation and what happened? Repeat partner sharing and group sharing. Remind them that they don't have to share all of the corporal punishment details. Conclusion/Debriefing- Write "Discipline" on the board and tell them one definition is doing what you have to do even when you don't want to do it. Use their experiences to show how not doing what we are supposed to do often has negative consequences. We have to learn to do what we have to do, even when we don't want to do it. It is a key part of the "I can" skill of the SEL faceplate.

Reflection: The kids loved the gathering activity. It takes a little bit of time to assemble the washes and strings, but it is worth it. I wound up confiscating five or so by the end of the day. Everyone wanted to keep theirs. It also provided a good segue into the discipline portion - concentrate on what needs to be done and it can get done. The kids loved sharing their not so nice experiences with a lack of discipline. I had to cut off the sharing to fit the time constraint.

I think another activity that could be added is a real time demonstration of being disciplined. Place candy in front of them and tell them they can eat it if they wait quietly for two minutes. If anyone talks, laughs, etc. their candy is taken away.