Shepherd Junior High Support Group Lesson:
Educator: Eva Dwight and Netina Bodine
School Site: Shepherd Jr. High
Title: Establishing a Win-Win Environment
Note: This lesson is based on information and suggestions for teachers in Positive
Discipline in the Classroom, by Jane Nelson and Lynn Lott. It is highly
recommended that counselors using this lesson be familiar with the book and with
Positive Discipline philosophy/methodology. It is available online at
www.positivediscipline.com.
Group is set up to model the recommendations for classroom implementation in
Positive Discipline in the Classroom. Each student has a job that helps the group in
some way (recorder, attendance taker, clean-up crew, etc.), to allow each student to
feel a sense of belonging and significance in the Group. Closure activities generally
involve students taking the day’s lesson and using it over the next week in their
classes, and are reviewed at the beginning of each Group session before starting the
next lesson.
Lesson Objective: Students will determine what is needed to establish a win-win
environment in Group and create a Rules/Guidelines poster, which will be posted weekly
during Group meetings.
Grade level: 7 – 9
Time required: 1 class period
ASCA National Standards and Student Competencies supported by this lesson:
Academic Development Domain A: Students will acquire the attitudes,
knowledge and skills that contribute to effective learning in school and across the life
span.
A: A1.1 articulate feelings of competence and confidence as learners
A: A1.5 identify attitudes and behaviors which lead to successful learning
Personal/Social Domain A: Students will acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and
interpersonal skills to help them understand and respect self and others.
PS: A1.6 distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behaviors
PS: A1.9 demonstrate cooperative behavior in groups
PS: A2.1 recognize that everyone has rights and responsibilities
Resources/Materials Used: Learning Targets page, markers, poster board for
rules/guidelines, 3 x 5 notecards (see sample)
Anticipatory Set:
1. Before beginning the lesson, have students copy the objective for the day on their
Learning Targets page. They will keep it in their folder, which is used only for Group.
Learning Target:
Understand:
1. what we need from each other to establish a win-win environment in our Group
meetings
2. how win-win behaviors affect my performance in the regular classroom
Do:
1. Create a rules/guidelines poster.
Instructional Procedure:
We are going to think about what the difference is between a win-lose situation, in which
someone has power over others, and a win-win situation, in which everyone experiences
power. I would like you to imagine a classroom where adults have total (or try to have
total power) over the students. It’s fun to role play this. Either the counselor can be the
teacher with all the power and ask the other students to react as they would to a real
teacher in that situation, or one of the students can play the teacher and have the other
students react as if it were a real classroom.
*What kinds of behaviors do you see from the teacher? From the students?
*What does it feel like to be in that classroom if you’re a student? A teacher?
*What is good or bad about this situation?
(Have a student write what the others say on the board.)
Now I would like you to imagine a classroom where the students have power (or try to
have power) over the teacher. It’s fun to role play this. Either the counselor can be the
teacher with all the power and ask the other students to react as they would to a real
teacher in that situation, or one of the students can play the teacher and have the other
students react as if it were a real classroom.
*What kinds of behaviors do you see from the students? From the teacher?
*What does it feel like to be in that classroom if you’re a student? A teacher?
*What is good or bad about this situation?
(Have a student write what the others say on the board.)
What would a classroom that was respectful to all look like?
*What behaviors would you see from the students? From the teacher?
*What would it feel like to be in that classroom if you’re a student? A teacher?
(Have a student write what the others say on the board.)
Which of these ideas do we need to include in our Group meetings so we have an
environment of mutual respect?
(Have the student who has been writing mark the ones students and the counselor think
need to be included, then write them neatly on the poster board under two headings:
In Group, the students will…
In Group, the counselor will…
Hang the poster where everyone can see it each week. If a student is breaking one of the
rules/guidelines, ask him/her to read the poster and decide: a) which guideline/rule
he/she needs to be following, and b) how he/she can behave differently so he/she is
following the rule/guidelines.
Assessment/Check for Understanding: The counselor will monitor students’
understanding of the subject matter based on the contribution they make to the
discussion.
Closure: Look at the expectations we wrote for students on our Rules/Guidelines poster.
Think about which of those behaviors you could use to be more successful in one of your
classes. Write at least one that you are planning to use more often for the next week on
your 3 x 5 note card.
*Have students go around the table sharing what they wrote.
*Students who return next week with at least three examples of when they used
that behavior in class (which day and which class) will receive three Dwight Dollars or
Bodine Bucks. (Dwight Dollars and Bodine Bucks can be used to purchase items from
the “store.”)
A win-win behavior I’m going to use in class this week is
______________________________________________
A win-win behavior I’m going to use in class this week is
______________________________________________
I need to use this behavior most in (which classes?)
______________________________________________
I need to use this behavior most in (which classes?)
______________________________________________
Wed.___ Thurs.___ Fri.___ Mon.___ Tues.___
Wed.___ Thurs.___ Fri.___ Mon.___ Tues.___
Keep a record on this card of when you use this behavior.
Just make note of the day and the class you used the
behavior in. If you can return to Group next week with
at least three instances of when you used this behavior,
you will earn three Dwight Dollars.
Keep a record on this card of when you use this behavior.
Just make note of the day and the class you used the
behavior in. If you can return to Group next week with
at least three instances of when you used this behavior,
you will earn three Dwight Dollars.
A win-win behavior I’m going to use in class this week is
______________________________________________
A win-win behavior I’m going to use in class this week is
______________________________________________
I need to use this behavior most in (which classes?)
______________________________________________
I need to use this behavior most in (which classes?)
______________________________________________
Wed.___ Thurs.___ Fri.___ Mon.___ Tues.___
Wed.___ Thurs.___ Fri.___ Mon.___ Tues.___
Keep a record on this card of when you use this behavior.
Just make note of the day and the class you used the
behavior in. If you can return to Group next week with
at least three instances of when you used this behavior,
you will earn three Dwight Dollars.
Keep a record on this card of when you use this behavior.
Just make note of the day and the class you used the
behavior in. If you can return to Group next week with
at least three instances of when you used this behavior,
you will earn three Dwight Dollars.
A win-win behavior I’m going to use in class this week is
______________________________________________
A win-win behavior I’m going to use in class this week is
______________________________________________
I need to use this behavior most in (which classes?)
______________________________________________
I need to use this behavior most in (which classes?)
______________________________________________
Wed.___ Thurs.___ Fri.___ Mon.___ Tues.___
Wed.___ Thurs.___ Fri.___ Mon.___ Tues.___
Keep a record on this card of when you use this behavior.
Just make note of the day and the class you used the
behavior in. If you can return to Group next week with
at least three instances of when you used this behavior,
you will earn three Dwight Dollars.
Keep a record on this card of when you use this behavior.
Just make note of the day and the class you used the
behavior in. If you can return to Group next week with
at least three instances of when you used this behavior,
you will earn three Dwight Dollars.
A win-win behavior I’m going to use in class this week is
______________________________________________
A win-win behavior I’m going to use in class this week is
______________________________________________
I need to use this behavior most in (which classes?)
______________________________________________
I need to use this behavior most in (which classes?)
______________________________________________
Wed.___ Thurs.___ Fri.___ Mon.___ Tues.___
Wed.___ Thurs.___ Fri.___ Mon.___ Tues.___
Keep a record on this card of when you use this behavior.
Just make note of the day and the class you used the
behavior in. If you can return to Group next week with
at least three instances of when you used this behavior,
you will earn three Dwight Dollars.
Keep a record on this card of when you use this behavior.
Just make note of the day and the class you used the
behavior in. If you can return to Group next week with
at least three instances of when you used this behavior,
you will earn three Dwight Dollars.
Name______________________________
Date_________________
Creating a Win-Win Environment
1. Imagine a classroom where adults have total power (or TRY to have total power)
over the students.
What kinds of behavior do you see from the teacher in this class?
What kinds of behavior do you see from the students in this class?
What is good or bad about this situation?
2. Now imagine a classroom where the students have total power (or TRY to have
total power) over the teacher.
What kinds of behavior do you see from the students in this class?
What kinds of behavior do you see from the teacher in this class?
What is good or bad about this situation?
3. Now imagine a classroom that is RESPECTFUL TO ALL (both to the teacher
and to the students).
What kinds of behavior would you see from the teacher?
What kinds of behavior would you see from the students?
What is good or bad about this situation?