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Go over definitions of “intention,” “impact,” and “intention-impact gap” with your students (see slide #3)

Role play the following scenario with another teacher or student in the class (discuss the scene in advance with the “actors”). One person stands still and the 2nd person walks up behind them quickly, knocking into them as they go by.

Ask the class:
Has anything like this happened to you?

• If you were the one who was bumped into, what was the impact on you of being bumped?
• If you were the one who bumped into someone else, what was the impact on you of being bumped?
• If you are ever in the situation of accidentally bumping into someone in the hallway, what can you do to possibly fill in the gap between your intention (to do no harm, you were rushing) and the impact (ouch! That hurt!)?

Have the actors re-do the role play acting out the solutions students offer to fill the intention-impact gap.

Go over definition of “suspending judgment” with your students (see slide #4

Ask the class:

• When you saw someone being bumped, did you have any judgments about the person who ran into them? What were your judgments?
• In this case, or in related situations, was your judgment right…or wrong?
• Have you ever decided to suspend your judgment and learn more about the person’s intention?
• What happened as a result?

Materials/Notes

PowerPoint slides #3 and #4

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Play short film at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XA0bB79oGc

Materials/Notes

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Have students Pair-share in response to prompts on slide #5:

• At the beginning of the video, what do you think the boy intended to communicate by dropping the dog on the ground?
• What impact do you think the boy's action had on the dog?
• When you saw the boy drop the dog, did you judge the boy for this action or suspend your judgment? Share with your partner why you did or did not suspend your judgment of the boy.
• When you learned more about the boy by the end of the film, did it change your understanding of his intention, of why he might have dropped the dog?
• How do you think the quote by Maya Angelou, "At the end of the day, people won't remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel" relates to our conversations today about intent, impact, and suspending judgment?

Materials/Notes

PowerPoint slide #5

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Finish by sharing out with the whole class. See slide #6 for prompts:

• Did anyone want to share any a-ha moments they had during your conversations?
• Was there anything that struck you or that you'll continue to think about after this class?

Materials/Notes

PowerPoint slide #6

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Intent versus Impact scenarios

As a whole class or in small groups, read and discuss the following scenarios:

Scenario 1: Jasmine and Jessica are walking down the hallway, having a conversation about their weekend plans. Not paying attention, Jasmine accidentally runs into Miguel, stepping on his foot and causing him to drop some of his things. When Miguel loudly tells Jasmine she really hurt his foot she responds by saying she didn't do it on purpose, it's not a big deal, and tells him to stop yelling at her. How could Jasmine respond to better acknowledge her intent and impact? Would it have been helpful in this scenario to suspend judgment?

Scenario 2: Destiny is playing soccer in gym class and scores a goal for her team. One of her teammates, Michael, congratulates her on the goal, and says she's a pretty good soccer player…. for a girl. Destiny knows she's a great soccer player regardless of her gender and assumes Michael was trying to hurt her feelings. She insults Michael and tells him to shut up. He tells her he was just trying to compliment her and to stop overreacting. How could Michael respond to better acknowledge his intent and his impact? Would it have been helpful in this scenario to suspend judgment?

Materials/Notes

Handout

Optional: to make this activity more interactive, students can roleplay these scenarios and roleplay how they would better acknowledge intent and impact.

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When finished with the provided scenarios, ask students if they can think of their own scenarios (made up or from their own experience) they would like to share.

Discuss how intent and impact could be addressed in each scenario.

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To wrap up the activity pose the following question. Students can share their answers if they would like but it isn't necessary:

"Next time you do something hurtful even though you had good intent, how do you want to respond? How can you work on suspending judgment?

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