As we all wrestle with how to support students dealing with trauma during this pandemic, one of the challenges is how to do so virtually. Following is a guest post by Meredith Murray, Director of Development & Communications at Princeton-Blairstown Center (where I am currently Board Chair). At the bottom of this post, you will find additional resources to support SEL.
Teaching Respect and Self-Respect in a Virtual Classroom
As we all adjust to connecting with our students virtually, the need to provide meaningful and engaging academic content in a new format can overshadow the personal connections we strive to have with our students when we are all in the same classroom. The social and emotional learning skills of self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness are crucial for everyone, but especially for young people learning how to navigate this new world. And just because we are teaching from behind a screen doesn’t mean we can’t find ways to incorporate lessons to teach these skills.
Along with other nonprofit organizations, the Princeton-Blairstown Center (PBC) has cancelled all in-person programming in our effort to help flatten the curve of the COVID-19 virus. For an organization whose mission is to empower young people, primarily from under-resourced communities, to strengthen their social-emotional skills through experiential, environmental, and adventure-based programming, we have had to quickly readjust how we deliver content.
With that in mind, we are pleased to share with you a sampling of items you can use during a Zoom or Google Hangout class during the weeks ahead. These activities revolve around the concepts of Respect and Self-Respect. You can mix and match activities to suit your time needs or deliver the entire lesson which will take about an hour.
Materials:
- Set up several Padlet.com sites for brainstorming (or the brainstorming site of your choice)
- A recording of Aretha Franklin’s song, “Respect” (available on YouTube)
Activity 1: What’s the Definition of “Respect”?
(Skills: Self-Awareness/Social Awareness)
Suggested for: Advisory Group Leaders
Time allotted: 5-10 minutes
“Today we’re going to start by considering the meaning of the word ‘respect.’ People often say they want respect or they deserve respect, but what do they really mean? Let’s see what ‘respect’ means to different people.” Ask your students to share their definition of the word “respect” through Padlet (or another brainstorming site) or set up a Google Sheets document to organize each student’s answer (see this blog post for more information about how to set this up).
At the same time, select a student volunteer to look up and share the definition of “respect” using Dictionary.com. Challenge the students to consider the dictionary definition in light of their own definition and make adjustments as they see fit. Discuss with your group.
Activity 2: Who is Worthy of Respect?
(Skills: Self-Awareness/Social Awareness)
Suggested for: Advisory Group Leaders
Time allotted: 20 minutes
“Aretha Franklin wrote a famous song about respect. Let’s listen to it, and think about these questions.” Play the song “Respect” by Aretha Franklin. Have R-E-S-P-E-C-T written on Padlet and share it on the screen so that it is visible to all of the students. Under the word RESPECT write the following questions:
- Who is worthy of respect?
- Why are they worthy of it?
- List people you think are worthy of your respect. (These can be people they know such as friends, family members, and community members or people they don’t know personally such as people in the news, etc.)
After playing the song, give students 5-10 minutes to answer the questions; they can write them privately or on Google Classroom where you will be able to see them. Ask students to share their answers if they feel comfortable. After students have shared their lists, engage the group in a brief discussion of why the people on their list might warrant their respect.
Activity Three: What’s Best About Me?
(Skills: Self-Awareness/Social Awareness)
Suggested for: Advisory Group Leaders
Time allotted: 20 minutes.
“The weird thing about respect is that sometimes people respect OTHER people but don’t respect THEMSELVES. So, let’s think about this: Would you put YOURSELF on the list of people you respect? Why or why not?” Students may suggest that this would be bragging, or some might make jokes. Explain to the students that they deserve a chance to earn respect from everyone, especially themselves. Point out that each student has special qualities, just like the people they listed.
Write Self-Respect on a separate Padlet.
Ask your students to consider the respect-worthy qualities of other people they discussed earlier and list those qualities on Padlet. Then ask them to list a few of those qualities that apply to themselves on a sheet of paper. Then, ask them to think about an instance in which they demonstrated one of those qualities.
Have students break into pairs in breakout rooms and share that instance with their partner. How did these actions make the student feel? If necessary, prompt students with the following examples:
- Standing up for a friend or family member
- Winning an audition
- Getting a job
- Studying hard to pass a difficult exam
As each student speaks, ask his or her partner to take notes, describing the tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language of the speaker. Have partners switch roles so each student can share their experience.
Next, ask students to briefly share with their partner a moment that they would be happy to forget. Again, ask the partners to take notes on the tone of voice, facial expressions and body language of the speakers.
Once all of the students have had the opportunity to share and record both positive and negative experiences with their partner, ask the group to come back together. Have students report on what they noticed about their partner’s behavior.
Processing Questions
- “Did you notice a difference in your partner’s tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language when he or she described a positive event as opposed to a negative one?” (Most students are likely to report that the partner’s tone of voice, facial expressions and body language were far more confident when describing a pride-filled moment rather than one of embarrassment that included things like:
- a lively tone of voice
- good eye contact
- laughter
- upright posture
- positive facial expressions
- “When a person displays confidence are you more or less likely to want to interact with and/or be a friend to them?” (Self-confidence – the outward sign of self-respect – empowers us to function effectively in the world because it draws others to focus on our best qualities.)
Writing Prompts
(Skills: Self-Awareness/Social Awareness)
Suggested for: Advisory Group Leaders
Time allotted: 10 minutes
Describe a time that someone blatantly disrespected you.
- How did you handle it?
- What would you do differently?
- What would you do the same?
- Did it affect your self-confidence?
For more information on Princeton-Blairstown Center and resources like this one, check out our website where you can see our middle school curriculum. We have curated online resources at the following two links:
You can also follow PBC on Facebook, where we post video and live lessons for students.
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Among the many challenges of teaching online is the need to build community in our virtual classrooms. In the spring when we went remote, we already knew our students and had built strong relationships with them in person. This fall, we didn’t have that advantage.
