Improving Student Morale

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Program Title (as applicable):

  Finance

  Course Title:

  Introduction to Finance

  Course Number:

  8540350

  Career Cluster:

  Finance

  CIP Number:

  148540350M

  Course Type:

  Orientation/Exploratory

• Unit Outline

  
  

  This lesson is designed to be used with the case study, “A Peer Review Committee Accepts a Challenging Task.” See CPALMS resource ID# 209282.

• Career Connection

  
  

  In this lesson students will develop career building skills of leadership, decision-making, communication, and relationship skills for use in a workplace setting.

• Learning Objectives

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • Demonstrate responsibilities of organizational leaders.
  • Act as part of a committee to discuss solutions for improving morale in an educational organization.
  • Use effective communication skills in discussing appropriate solutions for a challenging task.

• Prior Knowledge

  
  

  Students should be familiar with or able to:

  • Collaborate with a partner.
  • Communicate orally.
  • The roles of school administrators and counselors.

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • What are the characteristics and responsibilities of various educational leaders in an organization?
  • How can the committee present effective communication for improving student morale?

• Procedure

  
  
  1. To introduce the lesson, have students work in small groups. Each group will collaborate, and students will write the word morale and circle it on a piece of paper. Then, students will write words and phrases that describe morale. Using the following guided questions to get them started: How do you define morale? What makes good morale?
     • Have students use their brainstorming for defining morale in context.
     • Have each group share their responses to the class.
     • Assist the students with obtaining a clear definition of morale before moving on with the rest of the lesson.
  2. Distribute a copy of the case study, “A Peer Review Committee Accepts a Challenging Task,” (see CPALMS resource ID# 209282).
     • Give each student a hard copy of the case study to read silently to themselves or post a copy for them to access electronically (allow 5-10 minutes – set a timer).
     • Ask students what they think of the overall morale of the students given the details noted in the case study.
  3. Provide students with a copy of the Role Descriptions handout (see attachments). Each student should now have the case study and handout to proceed with the lesson.
  4. Group members will use role-play to make the discussion more engaging. The roles are: Assistant Principal, Dean, Guidance Counselors. The discussion should include details about the following questions:
     • Why is the administration team (assistant principal, dean, guidance counselor) concerned about the student morale on campus?
     • Are their concerns valid?
     • What are some of the specific behavior concerns happening amongst the students?
     • How could student morale be improved?
  5. During the role-play, workable solutions should be written down using bullet points.
     • Have groups narrow down the suggestions to one solution.
  6. Circulate the room while students are engaging in role-play listening for creativity in delivering the details of the case and workable solutions.
     • Redirect and provide input as needed.
  7. To bring the lesson to a close, instruct students to organize their thoughts into an oral response (using notes from their role-play) summarizing the overall process and procedures they used to arrive at a solution for improving student morale. If time permits, have students share their proposed solutions with the class.
     • Exit ticket: Post a reply on the electronic discussion board giving one example of a real-life situation that may benefit from a Peer Review Committee.

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • A whiteboard or chart paper can be used for students to create their brainstorming.
  • Groups of three work best for the role-play scenario.
  • During share out time, students can also respond orally to the exit ticket assignment instead of providing a written response.

• Optional

  
  

  Extension Ideas:

  • Have students write an outcome to the case study which identifies the communication, solutions and leadership responsibilities demonstrated in the role-plays.