Unit Learning Goal

Students will develop habits of reflection through examination of others, external dilemmas, and personal reflection prompts. 

Lesson Goal

Students will explore two dilemmas to look at various pathways and choose among options by weighing the implications that different courses of action may have for various stakeholders.

Assessment

Students’ “You Be the Judge” worksheets will indicate their ability to weigh implications of different courses of action. Classroom conversations can be observed and evaluated for understanding. The Exit Ticket will demonstrate whether students can apply concepts from this lesson to their lives.

portfolio documentation

Resources

  • Whiteboard

Total TIME

45 minutes

Instructions

1. Opener: Briefly review the terminology you will be using with the class in today’s activities [5 minutes].

  • Short-term goal: something you hope to achieve in the next month.

  • Career goal: your long-term hopes for your career (i.e. how you’ll know when you’ve achieved success).

  • Obstacles or challenges: things that get in the way of you achieving your goals.

  • Strategies: methods or tools that you use to overcome obstacles.

  • Outcomes: consequences as the result of decisions made.

2. Present students with the “You Be the Judge” handout and introduce the activity [30 minutes]. 

  • Have all students read one and/or two of the dilemmas on the handout quietly at their desks.

  • Break students into groups of 3-4 people.

  • Have the students fill out the comics for Jonah and/or Felicia in their groups. [10 minutes]

  • Have the students answer questions 3, 4, and 5 on the Handout. [10 minutes]

  • Come together as a class and compare each group’s answers to questions 3 and 4.

  • As a class, further discuss using the Discussion questions below. [10 minutes]

    Discussion Questions: 

  • What factors did Jonah and/or Felicia have to take into consideration when making a decision? How would their decisions result in different outcomes? 

  • What are the major considerations when you judge a decision or an action? Do you have criteria to use? How do these criteria depend upon who the people are—their roles, responsibilities, and goals? 

  • What are your own goals? How much do they drive your decisions and actions? How present are they in your everyday life—at school, at home, at work, etc.? 

  • Add the “You be the Judge” activity sheet to students’ Good Work portfolios.

  • “One of my students asked, "Is this Harvard?". My class content this semester for my Heritage Speaker Spanish class is divided into English, Spanish, and The Good Project. The student was pleasantly surprised to be able to draw emojis, etc. as part of the reflection.”

3. Exit Ticket [10 minutes]. 

  • Have students consider the following: 

    • What is one short term or long term goal you have (in this class, in school as a student, in an activity you do)? 

    • What is one obstacle you might face in achieving this goal? 

    • How might you handle it?

Potential Enrichment

  • Have students pick a “This I Believe” essay from NPR or a story from the World Wisdom Map wherein the narrator describes a challenge or dilemma they encountered and what they did about it. 

    • Students should create a narrative describing that figure’s short term goals, career goals (if applicable), obstacles and challenges, strategies they might take or did take to overcome their challenges, and what outcomes resulted (or could result). 

    • Consider allowing various options for the format of this narrative—e.g., written format, song, PowerPoint presentation, graphic organizer, etc. 

    • Add this narrative to students’ Good Work portfolio. 

  • “I set as an assignment a short speech based on the online texts "I believe in" to make it more attractive to students.”