Title of Lesson:

RESPECT: What does it mean to you?

Grade Level:

High School, 9-12th grades

Duration:

45 minute class

ASCA/NYSSCA National Standards and Competencies:

Academic Standard A: Students will acquire the attitudes, knowledge and skills that
contribute to effective learning in school and across the life span.
Competencies:
A:A2 Acquire Skills for Improving Learning:
A:A2.1 Apply time-management and task-management skills
A:A3 Achieve School Success:
A:A3.1 Take responsibility for their actions
A:A3.2 Demonstrate the ability to work independently, as well as the ability to
work cooperatively with other students
A:A3.5 Share knowledge
Career Development Standard A: Students will acquire the skills to investigate the world
of work in relation to knowledge of self and to make informed career decisions.
Competencies:
C:A2 Develop Employment Readiness:
C:A2.5 Learn to respect individual uniqueness in the workplace
Personal/Social Development Standard A: Students will acquire the knowledge, attitudes
and inter-personal skills to help them understand and respect self and others.
Competencies:
PS:A1 Acquire Self-knowledge:
PS:A1.6 Distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behavior
PS:A1.7 Recognize personal boundaries, rights and privacy needs
PS:A1.9 Demonstrate cooperative behavior in groups
PS:A2 Acquire Interpersonal Skills:
PS:A2.1 Recognize that everyone has rights and responsibilities
PS:A2.2 Respect alternative points of view
PS:A2.3 Recognize, accept, respect and appreciate individual differences
PS:A2.4 Recognize, accept and appreciate ethnic and cultural diversity
PS:A2.5 Recognize and respect differences in various family configurations
Personal/Social Development Standard B: Students will make decisions, set goals and
take necessary action to achieve goals.
Competencies:
PS:B1 Self-knowledge Application:
PS:B1.7 Demonstrate a respect and appreciation for individual and cultural
differences

New York State Learning Standards and Core Curriculum:

Health, Physical Education, and Family and Consumer Sciences Standard 2: A Safe and
Healthy Environment: Students will acquire the knowledge and ability necessary to
create and maintain a safe and healthy environment.
Career Development and Occupational Studies Standard 2: Integrated Learning: Students
will demonstrate how academic knowledge and skills are applied in the workplace and
other settings.
English Language Arts Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding:
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As
listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships,
concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and
electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written
language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire,
interpret, apply, and transmit information.
English Language Arts Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation:
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As
listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues
presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they
will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English
language to present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on
experiences, ideas, information and issues
English Language Arts Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction: Students will listen,
speak, read, and write for social interaction. Students will use oral and written language
that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for effective social
communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the
social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.
Learning Objective: Building on the skills and knowledge learned from the previous
lessons in this unit that focused on self-awareness and self control as well as community
and team building, this lesson will incorporate the importance of RESPECT within their
school community. After our class presentation and experiential activity, at least 85% of
the participating students will be able to describe what RESPECT means to them in their
own words. They will also have an increased awareness and respect of other cultures.
Furthermore, the students will be able to distinguish between respectful and disrespectful
behavior as well as learn why respectful behavior toward peers and adults is essential in
school and professional settings.

Materials:
Laptop computer
White board for projection of PowerPoint presentation
PowerPoint presentation on RESPECT (see attached) titled RESPECT: Why is it
Important?
2 Sharpie markers for each student that are 2 different colors
1 sheet of white construction paper for each student
1 brown paper bag or envelope
Small squares of paper with each students name written on it
1 handout for each student with end of session homework included
Accommodation: Student with Speech and Language Impairment: In order to properly
accommodate a student with speech and language impairments (i.e., difficulties in
projection, stuttering, stammering and difficulty in articulating particular words or terms),
a school counselor must consider the following:
Depending on impairment, modifications of lesson may include one-to-one
presentation or use of a computer with voice synthesizer
Ask the entire class to provide cues if they wish to speak. For the speechimpaired student, allow opportunities for them to engage including use of a
computer with a voice synthesizer, if needed.
Permit time for the student to speak as well as encourage patience.
The counselor should address student naturally without an assumption that they
cannot hear or comprehend. They should, however, be explicit with all directions
and ask for cues if they need clarification as well as check in for comprehension.
Developmental & Experiential Learning Activity: 45 minutes (in total)
Introduction: (3 minutes)
The professional school counselor begins by greeting the class and asking them if all the
supplies needed for the lesson are found on their desk. The PowerPoint is loaded on the
computer and is being projected on slide #2. The slides can be advanced by pressing the
spacebar or by clicking the mouse. Once the class is settled, the school counselor
states, Every day, we all walk through the doors of Ladders Academy and interact with
lots of people. I interact with teachers and students and you all interact with just as
many people if not more! Those interactions fill up our day, how we feel about it, how
we feel about being here and most importantly, how we feel about each other. If were
going to be honest with each other, not every interaction is going to be great. We may
disagree, we may even argue, but I want to talk about what we can do to make all of
those interactions better even the not so great ones. And, that is through respect.
Today, Id like for us to have an open and honest look at respect, what it means to all of
us and how we show it. It can mean something different to each of us and thats okay.
Today, however, I want us to focus on how it makes us feel to be respected as well as to
give respect. First, we are going to start off with a short exercise. The class will then be
instructed to gather their marker/Sharpie and the white sheet of construction paper.

(Total of 4 minutes): RESPECT in your own words

1. The school counselor asks each student to write the word RESPECT in the center
of the sheet of white construction paper. They will state, Surrounding the word
RESPECT, quickly write down the first things that come to mind when you think
about what the term RESPECT means to you. The school counselor will allow
approximately 4 minutes for this exercise while walking around the room to see if
anyone needs assistance or has questions. They will remind them that there are no
right or wrong answers. The presentation will be on slide #3
2. After 4 minutes, the school counselor will ask the students to hold on to their sheets
and that they will be using them again later in the lesson
(Total of 20 minutes): Experiential activity in pairs
1. (5 minutes) Setup: The counselor will state, Now that you all started thinking about
what RESPECT means to you personally, Id like for you to share your thoughts with
each other. At this time, the counselor will walk around the room with a small
brown paper bag or envelope filled with small squares of white paper with each
students name written on it. Each student will be asked to randomly pick one name
for a partner to work with. After each student has their partner, they will be asked to
sit with them.
2. (15 minutes) Experiential Activity: This will be slightly modified from an
experiential activity highlighted by Roaten & Schmidt (2009). Their lesson involved
students dialoging with another student, whom they do not know, on the topic of
respect. This beginning activity offers a good start in helping students build a
community of respect and encourages them to talk about sexism, racism, and other
issues (Roaten & Schmidt, 2009, p. 312).
a. Once the students are with their partner, they should be given the following
instructions, If you do not know the person youre paired with, please take a
few seconds to introduce yourself. Once youre settled, for the next 15
minutes, I would like for you to talk to the person youre paired with on the
topic of RESPECT. There will be some thought starters on the board (SLIDE
#4) in front of the room, but Id like you to focus on what respect means to
you, how you show respect to other classmates and teachers. I also will like
for you to talk a little bit about your culture and how you show respect to
those not like you. The last thing Id like for you to think about is disrespect.
When have you felt disrespected? Talk freely and you can spend more time
on some topics than others, but try to cover most. In about 10 minutes, Ill
check in and let you know that we have 5 minutes remaining so you can wrap
up your conversation.
b. While students are partnered, the counselor will walk around the room and
observe as well as check in to see how the conversations are progressing. The
counselor will also help students by asking questions to move their
conversations along, when necessary, while monitoring behavior. About 10
minutes into the activity, the school counselor will alert the students that they
have 5 minutes remaining.

(Total of 13 minutes): PowerPoint presentation and group discussion

After the work in pairs is over, the school counselor will direct the class to focus their
attention to the white board, which is on SLIDE #5. The remainder of this presentation
will be used to have a group discussion that is open and honest. The counselor should
remind the students once again at the beginning of this activity that there are not any
wrong or right answers. The most important thing is an honest discussion about they
feel. Also, they should be encouraged throughout the discussion to share what they
learned from each other in the earlier pairings.
The presentation will discuss the following:
What does respect mean to you?
Who should respect be shown to?
Who should show YOU respect? How does it feel to be respected?
Why is showing and feeling respect important, especially at school?
Why is showing and feeling respect important outside of school (i.e., community
and career)?
1. (3 minutes) The school counselor will read the definitions of RESPECT that other
high school students have provided found on SLIDE #6. They will state, When
other high school students were asked to define RESPECT this is what they said.
They will then ask the class for their thoughts about these definitions from their
conversations with each other paying close attention to what they think is missing
from this list or not being covered.
2. (6 minutes) The school counselor will ask, now that weve all defined what
RESPECT means in our own words, who are the types of people in a school setting
that these definitions could relate to? Please note there is an animation on SLIDE #7
and the answers should be revealed after a brief discussion with the class. It is
strongly recommended to customize this board based on your schools organizational
structure. The school counselor should also ask if there was anyone on the diagram
that didnt come up in their conversation earlier with their partner and if any of the
people listed surprised them? Also, it should be brought to the classs attention that
the word YOU is in the middle and respecting yourself is just as important through
taking care of your body and mind as well as surrounding yourself with positive
friends (may reference the prior lesson on self-awareness/self-control). To wrap up
the discussion on this slide, the school counselor should present the class with the
question How about an actual place? Can you show RESPECT to a place? then
click once and a bubble should appear labeled, SCHOOL. This should begin a
short discussion on how to be respectful of an actual place, such as, not littering or
defacing property.
3. (4 minutes) The school counselor will discuss the importance of showing RESPECT
and feeling RESPECTED with fellow classmates as well as teachers and school staff.

The school counselor will talk to the whole class about what they learned from each
other in their pairs making especially sure to cover the topics of how it feels to be
respected by classmates and peers and why showing and feeling respect is important,
especially at school.

Conclusion: (5 minutes)
The school counselor will explain that the lesson opened with a question of what
RESPECT meant to them in their own words. Returning to the original white sheet of
paper they started the class with, the school counselor will instruct the class to take a
different color Sharpie/Marker and write down two new things they learned about
RESPECT today. The counselor should tell them that these new things could include
ways to show respect, why its important while always thinking about different cultures
and their school environment.
To close the session, the school counselor should pose the question, How do we
show respect outside of these school walls? The school counselor should ask
them to think about their community as well as in the work place. After a brief
discussion, the school counselor should share the stat that (SLIDE #10): only 1
out every 5 of 15-year-olds living in the United States reported having positive
and meaningful relationships with adults outside their family (Scales,
Roehlkepartain, & Benson, 2010) then ask them if this stat surprises them? The
school counselor will close the lesson by challenging students to think of what
needs to be done by students AND adults to increase that number in regards to
what theyve learned today. (This is also a lead into the end-of-session homework
below.)
Based on the lessons objective, the students should now be able to describe what
respect means to them in their own words. They should also have an increased
awareness and respect of other cultures from their paired work. Furthermore, the
students will be able to distinguish between respectful and disrespectful behavior
as well as learn why respectful behavior toward peers and adults is essential in
school and professional settings.
End of Session Homework:
Each student will be asked to fill out a double-sided worksheet with 5 short answer
questions recapping the conversation they had in class today with their partner as well as
the group discussion. They will receive a handout with the assignment, which will
include the topics they spoke about in their pairs.
Question One: Name one thing about RESPECT or an experience that your
partner shared with you that you found the most interesting.
Question Two: Thinking about your own cultural background, what is one thing
you would like your classmates and teachers to understand better? Did your
partner share anything today that surprised you?

Question Three: Do you feel respected at school? Why or why not? Briefly
discuss why RESPECT is important at school?
Question Four: How can you show respect outside of school? In your
community and in places of work?
Question Five: What can both students and adults do to build respect with each
other? Briefly discuss why this is important?

Assessment/Evaluation:
1. The learning objective is accomplished by the initial RESPECT exercise sheet,
paired experiential activity, group discussion, presentation and end-of-session
short answer assignment.
a. The school counselor will examine responses given by students
throughout the entire lesson as well as the written follow-up assignment.
b. If at least 85% of the participating students will be able to describe what
respect means to them in their own words, provide responses to the endof-session short answer assignment that show an increased awareness and
respect of other cultures as well as why respectful behavior toward peers
and adults is essential as discussed in class, then the learning objective
would have been achieved.
2. After this lesson, the fifth and final lesson in this unit on problem solving and
conflict resolution will be presented. To prepare for their lesson, the professional
school counselor will have access to the following data: (1) how many of students
can define what RESPECT means to them in their own words and what new ways
they learned from class; (2) what information the students have learned from the
lesson shown by the responses provided by their end of session short answer
assignment; (3) how many of them retained more than 50% of it. This data will be
used to see how effective the fourth lesson was and ways to improve the fifth. All
data collected and analyzed will be shared with possible stakeholders, such as the
administration, teachers, supervisors, parents/guardians, students and the
community.
Follow Up:
The previous student lessons of this unit focused on building self-awareness and self
control as well as community and team building. The objective of this particular lesson
was to build on those previous skills and knowledge and incorporate the importance of
RESPECT within their school community. The following lesson on conflict resolution
will require students to use knowledge from all three of these lessons as well as require
the professional school counselor to recall the skills they shared with other school
professionals in the initial lesson in developing multicultural awareness. The next and

final lesson in this unit will incorporate role-plays that will give the student the
opportunity to put the skills they have learned throughout into action.

Slide #1:

Slide #2:

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Slide #4

Slide #5

Slide #6

Slide #7

Slide #8

Slide #9

Slide #10

End-Of-Session Short Answer Assignment:

Front of Sheet:

End-Of-Session Short Answer Assignment:

Back of Sheet: