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Submitted to Michael Olpin, Ph.D., CHES Required for Health 3200 - Methods of Health Education

By Mariah Johnston Major:  Health  Promotion  

Weber  State  University  2015  

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Table of Contents

Introduction Overview ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Course Focus ................................................................................................................................ 3

Course Goal & Objectives ............................................................................................................ 3 Target Audience ........................................................................................................................... 4 Target Setting .............................................................................................................................. 4 Lesson Plans ................................................................................................................................. 4 Lesson Plan I Problem Solving Lesson Plan Purpose .......................................................................................................... 5 Lesson Plan Objectives ...................................................................................................... 5

Activity I: ‘Self-Assessment Pretest’ .................................................................................... 5 Activity II: ‘Brain Teasers’ ................................................................................................... 5 Activity III: ‘Jenny’s Dilemma’ ............................................................................................. 6

Activity IV: ‘Solutions Game’ ............................................................................................... 6 Evaluation ........................................................................................................................... 7

Lesson Plan II Goal Setting Lesson Plan Purpose .......................................................................................................... 8 Lesson Plan Objectives ...................................................................................................... 8

Activity I: ‘Letter to the Future’ ........................................................................................... 8 Activity II: ‘SMART Goals’ ................................................................................................... 8 Activity III: ‘Long-Term Goal’ .............................................................................................. 9

Evaluation ........................................................................................................................... 9 Lesson Plan III Time Management Lesson Plan Purpose .......................................................................................................... 10 Lesson Plan Objectives ...................................................................................................... 10

Activity I: ‘Time Journal’ ..................................................................................................... 10 Activity II: ‘Time Management Worksheet’ ........................................................................ 10 Activity III: ‘An Unbalanced Life’ ......................................................................................... 10

Activity IV: ‘Self-Assessment Posttest’ ................................................................................ 10 Evaluation ............................................................................................................................ 11 Conclusion

References and Resources ............................................................................................................ 12 Appendix ...................................................................................................................................... 13

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Introduction

Overview The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry states teens and young adults are more likely to act impulsively, misread social cues, and engage in dangerous behavior. This is likely because the brain hasn’t fully developed where reasoning is controlled. However, they also state “These brain differences don’t mean that young people can’t make good decisions or tell the difference between right and wrong. It also doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be held responsible for their actions.” All the more reasons to teach teens to problem solve. “Adolescents are like compasses, the way they point now, is the way they will point as an adult.” It is extremely important to know how to set and accomplish goals as a teen. Studies have shown teens who make and achieve goals younger are more incline to “self-regulate learning, positive affect in school, adaptive coping with difficulty and failure, and positive well-being.” Teens are now reporting they feel as much stress as adults do. Many suggestions of curbing stress in teens are to get enough sleep, eat well, and exercise. But what happens if a teen feels they are doing those things and still are experiencing high levels of stress?

Course Focus

This unit will focus on three main life skills to give teens the ability to decrease stress, feel more in control, and manage life events more effectively. The unit plan will be split up into three separate days (45 minute segments), each day focusing on an important life skill.

Course Goal & Objectives

The main goal of this unit plan is to teach teens to be self-reliant in the ability to have a productive and balanced life. To do that they will start with a self-assessment to judge which areas they can improve most on. Then, there will be instruction and activities that teach and implement steps to gain an understanding of each life skill. Understanding and applying life management skills as a teen or young adult can set up an individual to have a very successful and stress free life later on when they don’t have they safety net of parents or teachers.

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Target Audience 7th-12th grade students

Target Setting

Classroom-type setting consisting of 20-40 students Lesson Plans

I. Problem Solving II. Goal Setting

III. Time Management

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Lesson I Problem Solving

Purpose To introduce the subject of life balance to students. To give students a skill they can implement on their own and find the best possible outcome for life’s problems.

Objectives

Cognitive: Students will learn different strategies and skills to solve various problems. Affective: Students will feel confident on their ability to solve problems. Behavioral: Students will recognize and practice their new problem solving skills.

Activity I – Self-Assessment Pretest (10 minutes) Materials Needed: “The Balancing Act Quiz” worksheet Description: Print one quiz for each student, with the quiz on the front side and the ‘calculating your scores’ on the back side. Give each student the worksheet and have them complete it in class. Collect the quizzes after they have totaled their points and save for the end of Lesson 3.

Activity II – Brain Teaser (5 minutes)

Materials Needed: White board, markers Description: Write down these brainteasers on the board. “A boy and a doctor were fishing. The boy is the doctor’s son but the doctor is not the boy’s father. Who is the doctor?” “You have a fox, a chicken and a sack of grain. You must cross a river with only one of them at a time. If you leave the fox with the chicken, he will eat it. If you leave the chicken with the grain, he will eat it. How can you get all three across safely?” Wait 2-3 minutes to see if any of the students can figure out the answer before it’s given. Answers: The doctor is his mother. Take the chicken over first. Go back and bring the grain next, but instead of leaving the chicken with the grain, come back with the chicken. Leave the

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chicken on the first side and take the fox with you. Leave it on the other side with the grain. Finally, go back over and get the chicken and bring it over. Describe to the students brainteasers and riddles are meant to be difficult because one has to think differently than the obvious answer. Sometimes in life we have to be creative to make things work; not every problem is going to have a perfect answer and we may have to work to find the best one just like the river crossing riddle.

Activity III – Jenny’s Dilemma (15 minutes) Materials Needed: White board, markers Description: Read to the students the scenario of Jenny. “Jenny’s parents both have to leave for work before she has to be at school. Jenny lives 2.4 miles from the school and district rules state: students may be bussed if they live 2.5 miles or more from the school’s property line. What are some possible ways to solve Jenny’s problem of how to get to school?” The goal is to get 10 possible outcomes listed on the board as the students say them. If there are only a few answers on the board, give some examples, even if they are completely implausible. The key is to get the ball rolling. Examples: walk, ride her bike, go to school early, ask her parents to change jobs/schedules, teleport, carpool, drop out of school, change the time school starts, move, ask the district to change the rules, have a friend drive her. Ask the students why options like teleporting or dropping out of school wouldn’t work. Point out one wouldn’t work because there are not realistic machines that can successfully teleport human beings and the other would have severe negative consequences. Ask the students why you didn’t write down “complain about not having a ride to school.” Explain that complaining or acting out are reactions and not possible solutions.

Activity IV – Solutions Game (15 minutes)

Materials Needed: Lined paper, writing utensil, 3-4 ‘Smarties’ candies Description: Split the class into groups of 3-4 students. Each group will have one blank piece of paper. Tell the students they need to come up with as many possible solutions for a problem in 5 minutes as a group. The group with the most realistic answers wins! The winners will get ‘Smarties’ candies. However, if another group wrote the same answer, it doesn’t count and needs to be crossed off. Each group will shout out an answer until all answers

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have been vetoed (not realistic) or counted (realistic and no other group used it). Problem: There is a guy in your class who is always mean to you. He always bumps you when he walks by and he calls you names. He knocks stuff out of your hands and makes you feel stupid. You don't think you can take it anymore. What could you do? Problem 2 (optional): You forgot your lunch at home. What could you do?

Evaluation

Students can be evaluated on the cognitive objective if they were paying attention and answered the questions involved in activities 2 and 3. Students can be evaluated on the affective objective if they were straightforward in their answers during the activities or if they weren’t sure of themselves. Students were evaluated on the behavioral objective if they were participating in activity 4 where they were left to solve a problem on their own.

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Lesson II Goal Setting

Purpose To give students the specific steps they need to take in order to set and achieve goals.

Objectives

Cognitive: Students will know the difference between a long-term and short-term goal. Students will learn what a SMART goal is. Affective: Students will feel inspired to make changes by setting goals. Behavioral: Students will get the opportunity to implement a SMART goal.

Activity I – Letter To The Future (10 minutes)

Materials Needed: Paper, envelopes Description: Have each student write a letter to his or her future self. The time frame should be around 10 years from now. Have the students include specifics on where they think they will live, what they will be doing for work, kids or no kids, etc. Then have the students address the envelope with a ‘Do not open until date’ and seal their letters inside.

Activity II – SMART Goals (20 minutes) Materials Needed: “SMART Goals” handout, 5 poster boards (or large pieces of paper), markers Description: Print “SMART Goals” handout on cardstock and hole punch. Give each student a copy and briefly describe each section. Tell the students this handout is for them to keep and you highly recommend they put in somewhere (like in their class binder) they will see often and have easy access to. (5 min) Next, split the class into 5 groups. Each group will be assigned a step in the SMART goal. Tell the class their main goal is “To get best attendance record for the grade.” The students will then brainstorm and come up with their portion of the main goal and write it on their poster board. (10 min) Example: Specific will be “Every student will come to class and on time all quarter.” Measurable, “The goal will be kept track of with the daily roll taken at the beginning of class.” Attainable, “Each student will try his or her hardest to come to class on time unless sick or have an excused absence.”

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Reason, “Having a higher rate of attendance gives students a higher chance of success in the class and they won’t fall behind in class work.” Time-based, “At the end of each week there will be a chart posted of how many absences and tardies to see where they compare during the quarter.” Each group will present their poster and describe how they came to that conclusion. If any of the groups didn’t quite have a grasp of the correct answer, gently steer them with other suggestions. Hang each poster on the wall for all to see and tell them this is their goal until the end of the quarter. A prize will be given if they beat all other classes. (5 min)

Activity III – Long-Term Goal (15 minutes)

Materials Needed: Lined paper, writing utensil Description: Tell the students to think back to what they wrote in the ‘future letter’. Tell them to pick one thing they wrote down for themselves and make a SMART Goal for it. Discuss there are long-term and short-term goals. The attendance goal was more of a short-term goal, but now they will be writing steps to attain their long-term goal. Explain it is important to split up the long-term goals into shorter goals and make specific SMART goals for each of those. The target is to split their long-term goal into 3-4 separate short-term goals and then write a SMART goal that corresponds with each. Walk around the room and give help and encouragement as needed.

Evaluation Students can be evaluated on the cognitive objective by how well they listened and participated in the group activity. Students can be evaluated on the affective objective by how they acted during each activity and if they seemed to feel comfortable with the subject and working in groups and on their own. Students can be evaluated on the behavioral objective by watching how they participated in each activity and looking over their individual ‘SMART goal’ paper.

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Lesson III Time Management

Purpose To teach students better time management strategies.

Objectives

Cognitive: Students will understand the importance of time management. Affective: Students will feel confident in making schedules and managing other responsibilities. Behavioral: Students will implement their time management skills by making their own scheduled lists.

Activity I – Time Journal (5 minutes)

Materials Needed: The day before class, assign each student to write down everything they do and how long they do it for and bring it back to class the next day. Description: With the ‘time journal’ have each student write down which activity they did from longest time to shortest time. Ask them if they were surprised by what they discovered. Point out even the action of writing down what we do makes us more conscious and we may cut down the our TV time and increase our study time purely because we don’t want to look bad on paper.

Activity II – Time Management Worksheet (15 minutes) Materials Needed: “Time Management” worksheet, “Time Journal” Description: Now that the students know where they spend most of their time, have each student take his or her ‘time journal’ and use it to fill out the ‘Time Management’ worksheet.

Activity III – An Unbalanced Life (15 minutes) Materials Needed: “An Unbalanced Life” Worksheet Description: Have the students work in teams of 2-3 and complete the “An Unbalanced Life” worksheet.

Activity IV – Self-Assessment Posttest (10 minutes) Materials Needed: “The Balancing Act Quiz” worksheet Description: Print one quiz for each student, with the quiz on the front side and the ‘calculating your scores’ on the back side. Give each student the

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worksheet and have them complete it in class. Collect the quiz to be compared with their pretest scores. Open the class up for discussion and ask if they feel more equipped to handle situations on their own. Ask them if they do anything else that hasn’t already been discussed in order to stay on top of their responsibilities.

Evaluation Students can be evaluated on the cognitive objective by how well they do on the worksheets. Students can be evaluated on the affective objective by how they answered their questions during the follow up discussion and their attitude toward solving problems. Students can be evaluated on the behavioral objective by comparing the self-assessment pre and post scores.

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References & Resources

“101 Activities for Teaching Creativity and Problem Solving” by Arthur B VanGundy “101 Strategies to Teach Any Subject” by Mel Silberman Bad behavior and why it’s related to a lack of problem solving skills

http://www.empoweringparents.com/the-surprising-reason-for-bad-child-behavior.php Decision making/Problem solving with Teens

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/pdf/5301.pdf “Discovery Focus on Your Values and Accomplish Your Goals” by Franklin Quest “Early adolescents’ achievement goals, social status, and attitudes towards cooperation with

peers” http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:SPOE.0000018547.08294.b6#page-1

Facts about teens’ brains and development

https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/The-Teen-Brain-Behavior-Problem-Solving-and-Decision-Making-095.aspx

Problem solving scenarios

http://www.home-speech-home.com/problem-solving-scenarios.html Riddles

https://riddlesbrainteasers.com/fox-chicken-sack-grain/ SMART Goal handout

http://indulgy.com/post/mpSHIKIJE3/back-to-school-with-your-favorite-books-smar “Stress Management for Life” by Michael Olpin and Margie Hessen Teens are just as stressed as adults

http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/02/teen-stress.aspx Time management and stress

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/11/stress-teens-psychological/5266739/

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Appendix

Lesson 1, Activity 1 & Lesson 3, Activity 4 ‘The Balancing Act Quiz’ ............................................................................. 14 Lesson 2, Activity 2 ‘SMART Goals’ handout .............................................................................. 16 Lesson 3, Activity 2 ‘Time Management’ worksheet .................................................................. 17 Lesson 3, Activity 3 ‘An Unbalanced Life’ worksheet ................................................................. 19

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Name:  _______________________                                                                                    Date:  ___________________    

The Balancing act quiz     Always   Sometimes Never 1.   I  am  stressed.  

  ___ ___ ___ 2.   I  am  organized.  

___ ___ ___ 3.   I  feel  most  of  my  life  is  

out  of  my  hands.  

___ ___ ___

4.   I  feel  like  I  am  a  productive  person.  

___ ___ ___

5.   I  am  easily  frustrated  if  I  don’t  get  my  way.  

___ ___ ___

6.   I  can  balance  my  responsibilities.  

___ ___ ___

7. I  complain  about  negative  situations.  

___ ___ ___

8. I  try  to  solve  others’  problems.  

___ ___ ___

9. I  don’t  set  goals.   ___ ___ ___

10. I  make  To-­‐Do  lists  daily.   ___ ___ ___

11. I  don’t  finish  my  To-­‐Do  lists.  

___ ___ ___

12. I  attain  most  of  the  goals  I  set.  

___ ___ ___

13. I  watch  TV  every  day.   ___ ___ ___

14. I  set  time  aside  to  do  something  I  WANT  to  do.

___ ___ ___

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Calculating  Your  Score    

Even  numbered  questions:  Always  =  3  Sometimes  =  2  Never  =  1  

 Odd  numbered  questions:  

Always  =  1  Sometimes  =  2  Never  =  3    

   

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Name:  _________________________    

Time Management ABC123 Priority List This  time  management  method  focuses  on  WHAT  more  than  WHEN.  This  method  is  essentially  a  beefed-­‐up  To-­‐Do  list.  To  use  this  method:  

1. List  all  the  tasks  you  would  like  to  accomplish.  Remember  to  keep  in  mind  all  of  your  roles  (student,  friend,  athlete,  sister/brother,  etc.  to  help  remind  you  what  your  responsibilities  are).  

2. Prioritize  this  ‘To-­‐Do”  list  by  writing  an  “A”  (for  very  important  tasks  that  MUST  be  accomplished  today-­‐  urgent!)  next  to  the  task,  a  “B”  (for  tasks  that  would  be  nice  if  they  were  accomplished  today-­‐  semi  urgent),  or  a  “C”  (for  tasks  that  can  be  accomplished  once  everything  else  is  done).  

3. After  each  task  belongs  to  a  lettered  category,  look  at  all  the  tasks  in  the  “A”  priority  list  and  assign  them  a  numerical  value  starting  with  1  being  the  most  important.  Do  this  with  the  remaining  lettered  categories.      

Example Your Turn   • Feed  dog      

  • Basketball  practice         • Email  Grandparents      

  • Clean  room         • Finish  English  paper      

  • Start  History  project         • Catch  up  on  The  Walking  

Dead      

  • Get  hair  cut         • Buy  new  shorts    

 

   

A1   Finish  English  paper      A2   Feed  dog      A3   Basketball  practice      B1   Clean  room      B2   Get  hair  cute      C1   Start  History  project  (due  in  3  wks)      C2   Email  Grandparents      C3     Watch  The  Walking  Dead      C4   Buy  new  B-­‐ball  shorts              

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Calendar/Schedule Now  that  you  have  a  prioritized  list  of  tasks,  it’s  time  to  make  sure  you  have  time  for  them  during  the  day.      

Daily Priorities Date:

   

Priorities (ABC123 List) Schedule     7:00  

      8:00  

      9:00  

      10:00  

      11:00  

      12:00  

      1:00  

      2:00  

      3:00  

      4:00  

 

Tomorrow’s Priorities     5:00    

    6:00    

  7:00    

    8:00    

    9:00    

    10:00    

   

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Name(s):____________________  ______________________________  ______________________________  

An Unbalanced Life

Instructions:  With  a  partner  or  small  group,  read  the  story  about  Sean  and  answer  the  following  questions.  Remember:  problem-­‐solving,  goal  setting  and  time  management  steps.   Story:  Sean  is  15  years  old.  He  is  on  the  track  team  and  has  practice  every  Monday  and  Wednesday  afternoon  with  meets  on  Saturday.  Today  is  Wednesday  and  Sean  is  exhausted  because  he  stayed  up  playing  video  games  until  midnight  last  night.    Sean  doesn’t  do  well  during  practice  so  his  coach  tells  him  to  practice  on  his  own  Thursday  after  school  so  he  can  be  ready  for  their  meet  on  Saturday.  Sean  says  he  will  and  leaves  to  go  home.      On  his  way  home,  Sean  walks  by  the  elementary  school  to  pick  up  his  little  sister  and  walks  with  her  the  rest  of  the  way  home.  Sean’s  little  sister  is  very  excited  and  chatty  about  something  today  but  Sean  isn’t  paying  attention.  He  is  upset  about  doing  so  poorly  at  practice.    When  Sean  gets  home  he  throws  his  backpack  on  the  floor  and  sits  on  the  couch.  He  is  still  really  tired  from  staying  up  so  late.  Sean  dozes  off  while  his  sister  turns  on  cartoons.  An  hour  later,  Sean  wakes  up  by  his  mother  asking  if  he  fed  the  dog  and  did  his  homework.  Sean  snaps  at  his  mom  for  interrupting  his  nap.  He  then  remembers  he  has  a  big  history  project  due  on  Friday  and  runs  up  to  his  room  to  start  it.      Ten  minutes  later  Sean’s  mom  hollers  for  him  to  come  to  dinner  and  he  gets  upset  because  he  feels  like  his  mom  doesn’t  care  about  his  homework  load.  They  begin  to  argue  about  his  ability  to  do  all  that  he  has  on  his  plate  and  his  mom  threatens  to  make  Sean  quit  the  track  team. Questions:  

1. Why  is  Sean  having  such  a  hard  time?  What  is  the  main  problem?        

2. What  are  some  steps  Sean  should  take  be  more  productive?      

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3. Write  three  SMART  goals  that  can  help  Sean  be  more  productive.  1.          2.          3.          

4.  Make  a  prioritized  schedule  for  Sean  for  what  his  Thursday  and  Friday  will  look  like.  Include  homework  assignments,  steps  to  attain  his  SMART  goals,  and  ways  to  be  happier  and  more  productive.