Title of Lesson: Self-awareness and Self-control for a Safer School

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: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:A1 Develop Career Awareness:
C:A1.3 Develop an awareness of personal abilities, skills, interests and
motivations
C:A1.4 Learn how to interact and work cooperatively in teams
C:A1.6 Learn how to set goals
Personal/Social Development Standard A: Students will acquire the knowledge, attitudes
and interpersonal skills to help them understand and respect self and others.
Competencies:
PS:A1 Acquire Self-knowledge:
PS:A1.1 Develop positive attitudes towards self as a unique and worthy person
PS:A1.4 Understand change is a part of growth
PS:A1.6 Distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behavior
PS:A1.8 Understand the need for self-control and how to practice it
PS:A1.9 Demonstrate cooperative behavior in groups
PS:A2 Acquire Interpersonal Skills
PS:A2.2 Respect alternative points of view
PS:A2.7 Know that communication involves speaking, listening and nonverbal
behavior
PS:A2.8 Learn how to make and keep friends
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:B1.2 Understand consequences of decisions and choices

PS:B1.4 Develop effective coping skills for dealing with problems

New York State Learning Standards:

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 3: 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.
Health, Physical Education, and Family Consumer Science Standard 2: A Safe and
Healthy Environment: Students will acquire the knowledge and ability necessary to
create and maintain a safe and healthy environment.
Learning Objective: Following class discussion, counselor-led instruction of class
exercise, and partner activities, 80% of the students will be able to understand, not only
the meaning, but the feeling of self-control, as well as gain self-awareness and work with
peers to improve self-control.
Materials:
1. Pencils
2. PowerPoint presentation on Self-Control (see attached)
3. Laptop computer
4. SMART Board or overhead projector
5. Radio
6. Self-Assessment questionnaire (see attached)
7. Scenario worksheet (see attached)
8. Self-control/Self-awareness quiz (see attached)
Accommodation: Student with a learning disability: When preparing for the presentation
of this lesson, it is imperative that the professional school counselor provides a worksheet
that includes specific terms and a set of instructions for a student with a learning
disability of delayed information processing speed. In addition to this worksheet, the
student will be allowed to receive extra time to complete the tasks. In more severe cases,
the professional school counselor should assign a paraprofessional to sit with the student
and guide the student through the lesson in a slower pace. In this situation, it would be

advised that the student and paraprofessional sit in the back of the classroom in order to
not become distracted and confused with the faster pace of the classroom discussion.
Developmental Learning Activity:
Introduction: (10 minutes)
The professional school counselor will begin by greeting the class and informing them
that the lesson of the day will focus on the importance of having self-awareness and selfcontrol. The professional school counselor will then read a list of materials that is needed
for the lesson, and will ask the class if they have all the materials. When they confirm
that they do, the professional school counselor will then start the lesson, using a
PowerPoint, with a class discussion asking the students what is self-control, and why is
it important that we utilize it? After recording the students answers to this question, the
counselor will then define the terms self-control and self-awareness, the importance of
the two terms, and how they play a role in school violence. The PowerPoint will be used
throughout the class discussion. Following class discussion, the professional school
counselor will then engage the class in a self-control exercise. To facilitate the students
understanding of self-control, the professional school counselor will ask the class to stand
up with their hands to their sides. They will then be instructed to choose a body part
(hands, arms, legs, or feet) to shake when music begins to play from the classroom radio.
The professional school counselor will tell the class that they must continue shaking the
body part they chose until the music stops. When the music stops, the students must stop
shaking their body part. The students will be instructed to continue doing this exercise
while the radio gets turned on and off. When the exercise is completed, the professional
school counselor will explain to the students the association between the exercise and
self-control, while explaining to the students by stating, When the music started to play,
you all were using your self-control to start moving, and when the music stopped playing,
you were all using your self-control to remain still until you heard the radio again. After
the class discussion and exercise, the professional school counselor will inform the
students about the next step in the lesson by stating Now that you have a good
understanding about self-control, and how it feels to have self-control, we can now
proceed to the following activity of this lesson.
Activity:
1. (5 minutes) Self-Assessment Questionnaire: The professional school
counselor will hand out a questionnaire titled Self-Assessment
Questionnaire to each student. This questionnaire consists of a list of
questions measuring self-regulation in order to access how much self-control
the students have and what they may need to improve on. After handing out
the questionnaire, the professional school counselor will read the instructions
to them, and will then ask if they have any questions before starting the
activity. Following the self-assessment activity, the professional school
counselor will then inform the students that they will complete two pair
activities (listed below). The counselor will inform the students that they will
be paired up randomly to ensure that all end results are equitable. Before

continuing on to the next activity, the professional school counselor will ask
the class if they have any questions.
2. (5 minutes) Setting up: The professional school counselor will then break the
class into pairs, which would be done randomly. They will be instructed to sit
with their partner and briefly introduce themselves to each other if they do not
know each other. The professional school counselor will explain to the
students that they will participate in pair therapy. The counselor will inform
the students that the each pair will have 15 minutes for the pair therapy
activity and then an additional 5 minutes to complete a scenario activity with
their partner.
3. (Total of 20 minutes) Two pair activities: The pair therapy activity (activity
#1) is an altered version of an experiment done by Nakkula (2009). In this
study, Nakkula (2009) found that pair therapy could help improve self-control
through a self-transforming style by sharing experiences and perspectives in
order to avoid conflict. According to Nakkula (2009), when interactions are
planned or anticipated, there is an expectation that others will follow ones
lead either by desire or through coercion (p. 37), which is why it is important
that each student work with a partner to share what they feel would be an
appropriate way to behave in specific situations.
a. (15 minutes) Pair Therapy: Activity #1: For this activity, the students
will pair up with their assigned partner. After introducing themselves
to one another, the students are instructed to disclose specific
experiences with their partner of a time when they found it difficult to
have self-control. They must explain how they felt in that moment, and
how they reacted in that moment. When the student has shared their
experience, the students partner, as the listener, is required to reflect
on that experience by sharing their perspective on it. The listener
should share how he/she would have felt in that particular situation,
and how he/she would have behaved in that particular situation. From
there, the two students would brainstorm ways in which they could
have behaved differently and had more self-control in that situation.
They would be encouraged to exercise certain relaxation strategies
such as breathing and thinking of consequences in order to improve
their self-control for the future. Following this, the student will then
switch roles of being the listener and the other student will explain
their experience. The same procedure would follow and apply to the
other student. This activity would be completed in 15 minutes. During
the activity, the professional school counselor will be walking around
the class making sure every student is cooperating and following the
lesson.
b. (5 minutes) Scenario Worksheet Activity: Activity 2: After students
have completed the pair therapy activity of the lesson, the professional
school counselor will hand each pair a scenario, in which they will
respond to. The scenarios handed out will all be different and will all
focus on the area of self-control. The professional school counselor
will also inform the class that they will have only 5 minutes to work

with their partner to respond to the following scenario. While the pairs
are working on their scenario, the professional school counselor will
walk around the classroom to make sure the pairs understand the
activity, and that they are working cooperatively together. Once the
activity is completed, the professional school counselor will inform the
students that they will be participating in a 10-minute class discussion
to share what they learned, their feelings towards the pair therapy, and
their scenario responses.
4. (10 minutes) Discussion: The professional school counselor will then ask the
students to go back to their seats for a classroom discussion. When guiding
this discussion, the counselor will ask the class to explain what it means to
have self-control. Each student will need to participate when responding to
this. From there, the professional school counselor will ask the students to
share their thoughts and feelings towards the pair therapy to find out whether
they enjoyed it, whether they find it to be helpful for them, and whether they
believe they will use this therapy again. To close this discussion, each pair
will share their scenario responses with the class.
Conclusion: (5 minutes) The professional school counselor will then recap the lesson by
explaining that the lesson began with a class discussion on what is self-control/selfawareness, and the importance utilizing it. Returning to what they learned from the class
discussion and pair therapy exercise, the professional school counselor will hand out a
quiz to test the students knowledge on self-control and self-awareness. The professional
school counselor will inform the students that they have 5 minutes to complete the quiz.
The counselor will then score the quizzes and use the information gathered from the
opening class discussion on the question what is self-control and why is it important that
we utilize it? to analyze the change in responses and how much they have learned. The
professional school counselor will then encourage the students to use what they have
learned about self-control to behave appropriately towards students and staff. With this
knowledge, students will gain respect for themselves and others, and successfully use
conflict resolution techniques to decrease school violence.
Assessment/Evaluation:
1. Students successfully learn and understand self-control/self-awareness and the
importance of utilizing it in their daily lives. The professional school
counselor will analyze the responses recorded throughout both class
discussions, the responses to the scenarios and quiz to determine how well the
pair therapy helped the students perspectives on self-control and selfawareness. If at least 85% of the students showed a significant improvement
between the responses before the pair therapy and after the pair therapy, and
are able to define/display self-control, then the learning objective has been
met.
2. Following this guidance lesson of self-control and self-awareness, a guidance
lesson on respect will be presented to the class. Before this lesson is
presented, the professional school counselor must access the following data:
(a) the number of students that can explain the importance of self-control,

based on responses during discussion and the quiz (b) the number of students
that demonstrate appropriate behaviors of self-control in the responses to the
scenarios, and (c) the number of students that scored higher than 80% on their
quiz. This data will be analyzed to determine the effectiveness of pair therapy
on students self-control and self-awareness. Therefore, it is imperative that
the data from this lesson be shared with significant stakeholders, which
consist of administration, supervisors, teachers, students, parents/guardians,
and community leaders.
Follow-Up: In the following lesson titled RESPECT: What Does It Mean To You?, the
professional school counselor will ask students to reflect back on their previous
knowledge learned from this lesson, along with one previous lesson on community and
team building titled Teamwork: Individual Commitment to a Group Effort. In the
following lesson, the students will be required to use their knowledge from all two
previous lessons in order to work with their peers in developmental and experimental
learning activities. This will then help students understand and promote respect within the
school, evidently contributing to a decrease in school violence.

SLIDE 1

What%is%Self,Control?%
Restraint*exercised*over*ones*own*
impulses,*emo7ons*or*desires*
*

Merriam:Webster**

SLIDE 2

What%is%Self,Awareness?%
Knowledge*and*awareness*of*your*own*
personality*or*character*
*

Merriam9Webster**

SLIDE 3

Why$is$self*control$and$self*awareness$
so$important$to$us?$
Helps&us&to&resist&tempta.on&
Helps&us&follow&direc.ons&
Helps&us&to&make&good&choices&and&be&successful&
But&most&importantly,&it&helps&us&to&STAY&SAFE!&

SLIDE 4

Self%control+and+School+Violence+
Lack%of%self+control%contributes%to%students%
ac3ng%on%impulse%%
It%is%important%to%be%self+aware,%and%recognize%
what%makes%us%react%violently%
Par3cipa3ng%in%self+control%ac3vi3es%can%then%
increase%ones%self+awareness,%and%ones%self+
control%

SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: _____________________________

Date: _________________________

Rate how true each statement is on a scale of 1-5, 1-strongly agree to 5-strongly disagree. Circle
the answer that most applies to you.

1. I have a difficult time controlling my temper.

1---------------------2-------------------3-----------------4--------------------5
Strongly
Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly
Disagree

2. When I get mad, I yell at people.

1---------------------2-------------------3-----------------4--------------------5
Strongly
Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly
Disagree

3. Sometimes, I feel the only way to get what I want is by physically fighting.
1---------------------2-------------------3-----------------4--------------------5
Strongly
Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly
Disagree

4. I do whatever I feel like doing most of the time.

1---------------------2-------------------3-----------------4--------------------5
Strongly
Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly
Disagree

5. I try to think things over before speaking.

1---------------------2-------------------3-----------------4--------------------5
Strongly
Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly
Disagree

6. I tend to take my frustrations out on others.

1---------------------2-------------------3-----------------4--------------------5
Strongly
Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly
Disagree

Scenario Activity
Names: ____________________

Date: _________________

A student in school is teasing you and making fun of your how you dressed to school. All
of your friends are telling you to punch the student in the face to teach him a lesson.
What do you do?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Names: ____________________

Date: _________________

While you are in school, you notice that a student stole your phone from your book bag.
You confront the student to give it back, but they refuse to give it back, even after
admitting to you that it is your phone. You want your phone back but you do not know
what to do to get it back. What would you do?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Names: ____________________

Date: _________________

You have an important question to ask your teacher during class. She is very busy
attending to other students and does not see your hand is up. You begin to get frustrated
because you believe she is ignoring you. You feel that raising your hand is not enough
and the only way to get her attention is to yell at her for her attention. What would you do
in this situation?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Names: ____________________

Date: _________________

A student in school keeps bullying and making fun of you. You usually try to ignore the
student and try to make them believe it does not bother you. But it bothers you very
much, and you find that ignoring the student is not doing any good. You feel that the only
way to stop this student from bullying you is to become physically violent with them.
What do you do?

Self-Control/Self-Awareness Quiz
Name: _____________________

Date: ___________________

1. Why is self-control so important for us in our daily lives?

(a) Helps us to resist temptation
(b) Helps us to follow directions
(c) Helps us to safe
(d) Only A &B
(e) All of the above
2. In what way is self-control and school violence related?

3. How can we use self-awareness to decrease the rate of school

violence?

4. List some ways in which you could demonstrate self-control and selfawareness in school.

5. What is the goal for Pair Therapy?

Self-Control/Self-Awareness Quiz

ANSWER SHEET
1. Why is self-control so important for us in our daily lives?
(a) Helps us to resist temptation
(b) Helps us to follow directions
(c) Helps us to safe
(d) Only A &B
(e) All of the above
ANSWER: E
2. In what way is self-control and school violence related?
A LACK OF SELF-CONTROL CONTRIBUTES TO STUDENTS
ACTING ON IMPULSE

3. How can we use self-awareness to decrease the rate of school

violence?
WE CAN USE SELF-AWARENESS TO RECOGNIZE WHAT
MAKES US REACT VIOLENTLY
4. List some ways in which you could demonstrate self-control and selfawareness in school.

RAISING YOUR HAND AND WAITING TO SPEAK

KEEPING YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF
NO TALKING DURING CLASS
STAYING FOCUSED ON CLASSWORK
THINKING BEFORE SPEAKING

5. What is the goal for Pair Therapy?

TO IMPROVE SELF-CONTROL AND SELF-AWARENESS THROUGH
PEER RELATIONSHIPS