Designers

• Kathryn Blewis
• Michelle Brown
• Beth Conley
• Jamie Donnelly
• Patrick Dorsey
• Ellen Doyle
• Chris Fleming
• Nancy Herb
• Johanna Hoelzle
• Kate Nelson
• Theresa Nurek
• Theresa Ponte
• Eileen Stec
• Doug Stofflet

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Chill Out Without Acting Out

Designer: Kathryn Blewis

This lesson plan is an anger management tool intended to be serviceable to a population of special needs adolescents, aged approximately 14 through 18. I have had 5 years experience working with this population and found that poor anger management was prevalent in almost all cases. When I discuss "special needs" students, I am referring to those students who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities affecting their neurological development, existing in conjunction with behavioral, emotional, and psychological impairments. The grade levels most of these students fall into is a range of 2nd through 9th grade. Additionally, these diagnoses have resulted in low motivation, and decreased self-esteem and self-confidence. I have taken these things into consideration in the planning of this lesson and have developed a very basic model of an anger management lesson. In implementation of this lesson, the educator must assess the lesson to ensure it meets the learner needs of the classroom. The lesson could certainly be modified to gear it toward a higher or lower educational range.

Target Population

• Special needs adolescents

Teaching Standards

• In relation to state standards, I will be meeting needs to address IEP goals. Special needs students all possess an IEP (individualized educational plan). These IEPs address specific educational needs in areas of math, reading, sciences, and social studies. In addition to the core curriculum, especially in behaviorally problematic students, there exists areas containing long and short term goals in the area of behavior management. By having this type of lesson introduced into the classroom, it would satisfy the needs and assist students in reaching their long and short-term goals.

Teaching & Learning Theory

• The teaching/learning theory that was most involved in the project is that of a behavioral model. Prime focus is on a behavioral perspective with attention to student behavior and external environments' influence on it. My plan is to encourage and enable through a basic behavioral model of antecedents, behavior, and consequences. By using this behavioral model, I will invoke the process of "shaping". With shaping, I will be able to adjust my contingencies and encourage my students to behave in socially appropriate ways when confronted with stressful situations.

Products

• Teaching Tool (PowerPoint document - PowerPoint must be installed on your local computer to view this file)
• Sample of final product (html file)
• Teacher Notes (pdf file - Adobe Acrobat viewer must be installed in order to view this file. Click here to download the viewer)
• Assessment Rubric (pdf file. Download Acrobat Viewer )
• Student Self-evaluation (pdf file. Download Acrobat Viewer )

Multimedia Design Tools

• PowerPoint
• MS Word
• Microsoft clip art