TEXANS BUILDING CHARACTER

Lesson Plan: Respect
Six Pillar Shuffle

Time in session: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Evaluation time: 5 minutes

Goal: To present the Respect pillar from Character Counts!sm to participants and discuss what is character education.

Objective 1: To increase participant understanding of "What is Character Education" from the Character Counts!sm program. (15-20 minutes) Section:  "What is Character Education? from the "Character Counts!sm curriculum Overheads 1 - 10 Outcome: Each participant will report an increased knowledge of character education and a new behavior they plan to begin.

Presenter says:
Character education happens every day in nearly every situation that each of us is involved in. As adults we are educating the people around us through the ways that we act and react in a variety of situations. Those ways of acting show our character. Our character is a part of who we are from the day we are born. Our character is also shaped by the people and environment that we experience as we grow and develop

Overheads 1-4, 7-10

Presenter says:
It is important that we are clear about what is character education and what is not. Let's talk about the difference between values clarification and character education:

Overheads 6 and 5

Presenter says:
Education provides individuals with the opportunities to learn new information and build skills that help them live a healthy, productive life. Values clarification has a role in helping an individual understand their own set of values. Character education provides children, youth and adults the opportunity to learn about character and build their skills in practicing character. Let's talk about the second pillar of Character Counts!sm: respect.

Objective 2:To increase participant understanding of the Respect pillar in the Character Counts!sm curriculum. (25-35 minutes) Section:  Character Counts!sm Six Pillars: Respect Overheads 1 - 24 Outcome: Each participant will report an increased understanding of the Respect pillar from the Character Counts!sm curriculum.

Presenter says:
The second pillar in the Character Counts!sm education program is Respect. The pillar respect describes the most basic of human needs: the need to be valued as a person of worth. I sometimes think that people really hunger to be respected. Before we talk about how the Character Counts!sm program discusses the pillar of respect, let's talk about what respect means to each of us.

Activity:
In small groups of 3-6 people, ask participants to go around in a circle and talk briefly about "what is respect and how do you know when you have it!". If that seems to stump the participants, have them share when they feel "disrespect". You can also do both aspects of this exercise. At the end take another minute to have people share a few examples of respect so that you have some material to use during the rest of the presentation. 
(8-10 minutes)

Presenter says:
Feeling the respect of others is a wonderful experience. Small children and senior citizens and everyone in-between can benefit from feeling respected. Every model of character education that is being used in our local programs would benefit from including the character pillar respect. As we walk through the overheads, I would like you to think about how you will share the pillar of respect as a professional and on a personal basis with others.

Overheads 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7

Activity:
Have people review some of the key ideas that have just been shared. Ask the group to share some ways that people in their community communicate respect for each other. Or if people are getting tired, you can select Overhead 7Value.... and ask the group how their local audience would benefit from this information. Summarize their ideas. (5-7 minutes)

Presenter says:
Every culture values respect. There are some important do's and don'ts that our society holds about respect that may not be as important to other societies. Let's spend some time talking about how people within our own country view disrespectful behavior:

Overheads 8, 9, 11, 12, and 13

Activity:
Ask the group to come up with several ideas of how they would turn a disrespectful behavior into a behavior that included respect. Consider how the activity would need to be adapted to fit different ages, cohorts and cultures.
(3-5 minutes)

Presenter says:
We have just talked about disrespectful behavior. Now let's talk about respectful behavior. Be thinking about activities you would use to make the following points more real to your audience.

Overheads 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 23, and 24

Presenter says:
In this session on respect, we have shared many of the same thoughts about what is respectful and what is not respectful behavior. From childhood on, each of us has learned from our family, teachers, ministers and other important adults and our peers what kinds of behaviors are respectful and what behaviors are not ok. Let's spend some time considering how we might model for the children and youth that we work with what is respectful behavior.

Objective 3: To increase experience of counties and groups in using and developing activities to promote six pillars. (20 minutes) Sources: Select stories from the Resources section of notebook for discussion. Outcome: Each participant will participate in activities that TAEX team shares with group. Participants will share other ideas for promoting character activities.

Presenter says:
There are many ways we can enhance our programs with the pillar of respect. Your challenge as an educator is to consider the cultural beliefs of your audience and how you can shape your program to present the pillar of respect in a respectful way!

Activity:
Choose from the two sources above to build this section of the presentation.

This is a wonderful time for group involvement and discussion. Here are some suggestions for activities:

1. Distribute copies of overheads and ask small groups or county groups to develop activities that will highlight the pillar of respect.
    
2. Ask county groups to identify types of behavior that are considered disrespectful in their community and have them develop an activity that will help increase respectful behavior.
   
    
3. Ask small groups to consider how the different racial groups or ethnic groups in their community would benefit from participating in activities that emphasize respectful behavior.

Presenter:
Please allow five minutes at the end to have the group complete the evaluation of your session.

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Page last updated: August 7, 2007