This lesson plan came about from a few influences. I was learning about crowds, relationships, eating disorders, substance use, etc. in my adolescent psychology independent study, and I had noticed that peers have a positive and negative influence on all of these topics. Around the same time, I went to my future student teaching placement and was told that bullying was a large problem there as well. Then it came time to do my final for adolescent psychology. I created this lesson plan with theories of adolescent development and Sheldon's body types, but really I was framing this lesson plan to respond to a perpetuating problem I have seen for years in schools. 

 

Here is how the lesson plan would go:

We will look at the DSM-IV definitions and watch documentaries/ MTV shows about people with eating disorders. By “putting faces to the problem,” we will be able to touch on the guilt aspect and misconceptions that persons with eating disorders face. After that, we will talk about body image in the U.S and how what is seen as a “beautiful” or “ideal” body type changes based on culture. In this section, I would introduce the students to various diets such as vegan, vegetarian, etc. as well as Sheldon’s 1941 theories on body types and the “destinies” behind those body types. This would conclude with a short paper about the students' opinions on Sheldon’s theories and society's views or even contributions to eating disorders. Lastly, throughout this whole unit, I will be giving prompts for students to write in their journals at the beginning of class.

 

These prompts encourage students to journal their thoughts and feelings about food, body image, media, culture, etc. These questions could stem from the topic of that day and would relate to Sheldon’s body types as well as addressing eating disorders. The goal of this lesson plan is to raise awareness of resources so that they can refer a friend or themselves to help. I also hope to show students the realities of eating disorders so that students can see that their words can be hurtful when they comment on someone’s weight. I also want to debunk the myth that it is the person’s fault that they have the disorder and that they have to “just eat” or “just stop throwing up” but rather see it as a societal problem. Through this lesson plan I also hope to be able to find out more about my students who may struggle with eating disorders so that I could help them, but also to encourage my students to create their own opinion about eating disorders and generate their own ideas as to how we (peers/classroom/ school/community/society) might help those who are struggling.

 

What I learned:

I learned I can do all the community building and positive change I want to spread on a school level. I don't have to jump straight up to the state or national Department of Education, but I can focus on my local area or school and make just as much change if not more. Through projects like this, I am working on my own professional development as a facilitator,  community builder, and educational policy influencer, but on a local level that directly impacts my students on a personal level. What else could a teacher ask for? 

While I was student teaching I had the pleasure to attend the annual Maine Counsel for Social Studies conference in Augusta, ME with my mentor teacher. This year’s theme was “Maine’s Bicentennial: Reflecting on Maine’s past as we plan education for Maine’s future”. The one day conference featured a variety of presentations on various social studies topics to help teachers in their classroom! Their conference co-sponsors are The Korean War Legacy Foundation and Social Studies School Service.

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What impacted me most was the workshop I had with Joe Schmidt. In this workshop, we talked about weighted multiple choice questions. I was blown away! I had previously been very against multiple choice questions and this conference changed my perspective. 

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Since this workshop I have attempted to do this weighted multiple choice test. I did this with my U.S Government class for their vocabulary quiz. I consulted with my mentor and realized that one or two of the questions were not weighted correctly, but the others were perfect. I went forward with this quiz and then solicited feedback from the students. 

 

What I learned: 

Through this experience, I learned about  the importance of attending these professional development activities. These activities are so important and impactful on individual teacher growth and development.

 

We as teachers, and humans, are constantly growing and changing and we have to be intentional about that growth. 

The feedback I received was that they didn't understand the weighted grading. Next time I choose to use this assessment technique I will explain it. I realized that when I learn something new, I need to explain it to the students before implementing it. 

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This experience emphasized to me that attending these professional development activities are so important and impactful on individual teacher methods. Every workshop I went to was not beneficial, but the whole experience was very informative.

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I plan to keep myself on email lists through COA alum, COA Community, Maine social studies emails, and my colleagues to ensure that when an opportunity comes up I am aware of it.