Overview For Teachers

DISCIPLINE: The ability to follow the chain of command; demonstrate good character; to be even tempered; behave appropriately; accept unavoidable interruptions and pressure; the ability to pay attention to details; display a high level of concentration even when assigned an unpleasant task; the ability to demonstrate grit and resilience.

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PURPOSE:
Upon completion of this module, the student will understand the importance of being self-disciplined in the classroom and the workplace. In addition, the objectives listed below should be met.

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OBJECTIVES:
 Ability to recognize the importance of being disciplined in all aspects of life

 Ability to understand the importance of grit, resilience and perseverance

 Ability to demonstrate self-discipline in different situations

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OVERVIEW:
This module concentrates on teaching students to recognize and display self-discipline and how it affects their home, school and work life. The key to being disciplined is to understand what’s important, know the steps to take to complete certain tasks, as well as how to keep going when you want to give up. In addition, students will have an opportunity to gain an understanding of the importance of discipline by participating in various activities designed to stimulate thought and discussion.

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TEACHERS: WHAT ARE YOU OBSERVING?
What does discipline look like in the classroom or in school in general? A great way to answer this and get things going is through engagement with the students. Ask your students these questions:

1. What does discipline look like in class?

2. How does discipline affect other students? Example: Student activities or sports or hallway/lunchroom interactions

3. What does discipline look like within your learning?

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RELEVANCY OF DISCIPLINE: Why is this important to your students?
Discipline is important to both personal and professional development and goals. Employers say that discipline is a very important attribute in employees and is considered a leadership trait in most organizations.

 

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LESSON:

What is Discipline?
Time Allocation: 20 minutes
Materials/Resources: computers/tablets/smartphones (students - optional), pens/pencils, Self-Discipline Worksheet , whiteboard, markers, paper

 

WATCH THE VIDEO:

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ANTICIPATORY SET IDEA:

Ask the class the following question and have them respond by raising their hand.

    o Think about your favorite athlete. If they were given the choice to eat either a Big Mac or a salad, which one do you think they 

       would choose and why?

 Have a few students elaborate on their answers before moving on to the class discussion about discipline.

DIRECT INSTRUCTION:

 Ask students, when you think of the word discipline what comes to mind?

    o Write down the student responses on the whiteboard. They could say things like: eating healthy, parents disciplining kids, school discipline, working out, etc.

 What is self-discipline? How would you define self-discipline?

    o Self-discipline: the ability to control one’s feelings, the ability to pursue what one thinks is right despite temptations, to have strong willpower.

 Why is self-discipline important?

 In what areas of your life is self-discipline important?

GUIDED ACTIVITY:

 Give each student a copy of the Self-Discipline Worksheet  and read the directions aloud to make sure students understand what they are to do.

 Students have the option to complete the worksheet individually or with a partner. If they work with a partner, they still must fill out their own copy of the worksheet.

 When finished, have students volunteer to share what they wrote down on their worksheet for each area of their life.

 Lastly, ask the class the following question: o Is self-discipline something that comes easy to most people or is it a difficult task for most?

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING:

 Technology Use: Survey: Create a short survey with Survey Monkey to check for understanding with the students that they will complete before they leave for the day.

 Non-Technology: Circle, Triangle, Square: Students will associate different shapes will different aspects of the lesson. A circle will be something the student is still pondering about from the lesson, a triangle will represent something that stood out in their mind about the lesson, and a square will represent something that “Squared” or agreed with the student’s thinking about the lesson. Each student will draw these three shapes on a piece of paper and write inside of them what they represent from the lesson.

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ETHICAL SCENARIO--Optional (if not using, skip  to "review and closing")

The Ethical Choice Scenarios have been developed to provide teachers with the ability to make the material applicable to real-life and relevant to the students. Within this guide, directions and prompts for the teacher will be in BLUE for ease of facilitation.

 

READ THE FOLLOWING SCENARIO OUT LOUD TO THE STUDENTS: You and Mari have been best friends since kindergarten and you do everything together. You are both in the same clubs at school, play the same sports , and even live in the same neighborhood. You would never do anything to jeopardize your friendship with Mari. One day after school, Mari’s older brother Trevor, whom you’ve had a crush on ever since you were little, asks you out on a date. He wants to take you out on Friday night to go to dinner and then bowling. Mari made you promise years ago that you’d never date Trevor because it would ruin the friendship that you two have , but you’ve been wanting to go out with him for so long! Trevor knows all about the promise you made to Mari but he says that he’s liked you for such a long time and he thinks that Mari will forgive you eventually. If you say yes to the date , you risk losing your lifelong best friend but you could end up falling in love with Trevor. If you say no, there will be no harm to your friendship, but you will be heartbroken about Trevor , and you could be running the opportunity for a great relationship . What do you do?

ASK THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: (display them to the class if necessary)

1. How many of you have already been faced with this scenario in real life?

2. What are the possible positive outcomes to saying yes? Saying no?

3. What are possible negative outcomes to saying yes? Saying no?

GUIDED DISCUSSION: ASK STUDENTS TO SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS ON THE SITUATION AND HOW THEY
ANSWERED THE QUESTIONS.

NOTE 1 : To help facilitate discussion, share any personal experiences you may have encountered with this same sort of issue.

NOTE 2 : Another option to foster further critical thinking is to then ask students , “ Do you believe it is fair for Mari to put you in this situation ?” “What about Trevor and the situation he has put you in?”

NOTE 3 : Another option to foster further critical thinking is to then ask students , “ What values do you think are in tension here, why is it an ethical dilemma?”

CLOSING DISCUSSION: ASK THE STUDENTS, , “ WHAT IMPACTS COULD YOUR DECISION HAVE ON YOUR ABILITY TO KEEP OTHER KINDS OF PROMISES ?”

REVIEW AND CLOSING:

To close out the lesson, remind student how important good discipline is to their future success in life. Have the class come up with a list of important things to remember about “Discipline.” The students should then narrow down their ideas to 4-6 of the most important concepts. They will then create a poster to hang in the classroom to have as a daily reminder on what they learned about discipline and why it’s important.

 

CORRELATION TO OBSERVATION TOOL: The Frequency Observation Tool (FOT) has a category where students will be observed and rated on their self-discipline. This lesson will give students the opportunity to define what self-discipline is and also realize how it can be applied to their everyday lives to help them reach their goals.

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION IDEAS
-Visual: Visual learners will benefit from having the printed copy of the worksheet.

-Auditory: Auditory learners will benefit from having the directions read aloud as well as the class discussions.

-Kinesthetic: Kinesthetic learners will benefit from using real-world examples from their life to fill in the table on the worksheet. They could also have the option of creating a web or diagram in response to the table instead of just filling in the empty boxes.

-ESL: ESL students will benefit from having the option to work with a partner on the worksheet in cases they have questions or need clarification.

-At-risk: At-risk students will benefit from having the option to work with a partner on the worksheet to help keep them engaged and on-task.

-Advanced: Advanced learners could assist students whose current level of understanding is on a low level.

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