Empowered Decision Making

1

Renee Gainer

“Decision Making- Be Smart, Make the Right Choice!”

Descriptive Information

Skill Emphasis (NHES): Decision making

Grade Level: Middle School -6th grade

Content Area: Mental Health

Content Descriptor & Sub-Descriptor(s):

Positive Self-Image

1.1 personal assets and strengths

1.3 how to develop and demonstrate a sense of power (empowerment)

Interpersonal Relationships and Communication

3.4 characteristics of nonverbal communication

3.6 how to resist peer pressure

Title of Lesson: Decision Making- Be Smart, Make the Right Choice!

PA Standard (Health & PE)

10.1.6 D- Explain factors that influence childhood and adolescent drug use

10.2.6 D- Describe and apply the steps of a decision-making process to health and safety issues.

Curricular Connections: Reading and writing

Adolescent Risk Behavior: N/A

Teaching with the End in Mind

At the end of the lesson, students will have the knowledge of the strategies that will help them deal with peer pressure and be able to follow the steps to making responsible decisions and resisting peer pressure.

Key Concept(s) to be covered in today’s Lesson

· Decision making Model/Steps

· Decision Making Styles

· Resistance Skills

· Resistance Skills Model/Steps

Behavioral Objectives

Cognitive:

The students will be able to recall the steps to the decision making process and resistance skills on a decision making situation worksheet done in class.

Affective:

In small groups, students will be bale to share with their fellow students their personal thoughts on the different scenarios while making a good decision.

Skill:

During the role-play activity, students will be able to make responsible decisions by analyzing the situation and using proper resistance skills and the empowered decision making steps.

Introduction to the Lesson (Set Induction):

· Good morning class! Today I am going to teach you about making responsible decisions and how to resist bad influences. How many of you have ever had to make a difficult decision? How many of you think that you might not have always made the right decision? Well today we are going to learn how to make the right decisions because it is important that we do so in some situations because a good or bad decision can significantly affect our lives. Were you ever faced with a situation where you had to decide whether or not to break a law such as stealing for one of your peers? You could end up serving time in jail if you make the wrong decision.

Bell Ringer (Instant Activity):

Please fill out the instant activity worksheet and read the instructions carefully. You are simply unscrambling the words; you can use pages 223 and 280 in your book for help. We will go over the answers quickly after everyone has completed the worksheet.

Content, Learning & Instructional Strategies:

Content Outline:

Empowered Decisions (Lecture/Brainstorming: Can anyone tell me what empowered means?)

· To be empowered means to be inspired because you feel some sense of control over your behavior and decisions.

· How to gain a feeling of empowerment: you must take responsibility for your decisions

· Whether or not you take responsibility for your decisions is based on your type of decision making style.

Decision-Making Styles- (Lecture)

- 3 types of decision making styles:

o Inactive

o Reactive

o Proactive

- Inactive decision making style: This is a style in which you fail to make choices, and this failure will determine what happens. You may not know what you want to do and put off making difficult decisions. This will cause you to end up having to deal with what may happen and you will not gain the confidence and therefore do not become empowered.

- Reactive decision-making style: This is a style that allows others to make your decisions. These kinds of teens can be easily influenced by what others think, meaning they lack the self-confidence and have the need to be liked by others. These kinds of teens are not empowered such as those who are inactive.

- Proactive decision-making styles: This style is where you decide the decision that needs to be made and identify and evaluate the consequences and then choose an action. These students use the decision making style in order to make responsible decisions.

Q&A: Does everyone feel that they fit into one of these three categories? Does anyone feel that they may have their own style for making decisions?

The Responsible Decision making Model (lecture/ Q&A: Has anyone heard of the decision making model before today? How many people feel that they use the decision making model when they have to make difficult decisions? )

- The decision making model is just a series of steps that lead to making responsible decisions that promote safety, shows respect for others and yourself, and obey the laws.

- Decision Making Steps:

o Identify the decision to be made

o Identify the option and possible consequences.

o State the decision clearly

o Evaluate and reflect on the decision.

Resistance Skills: (Lecture/ Brainstorming/Q&A: Can anyone tell me some ways to resist peer pressure?)

Peer Pressure

- It is the influence of other people of either similar age or status that encourages others to make decisions that may or may not make them behave responsibly.

- Peer Pressure can be either negative or positive because you friends are not always going to encourage you to do the right or wrong thing.

Model for using Resistance Skills

- This is how you may resist bad behaviors influenced by your peers.

o Say no

o Gives reasons for why you say no

o Use nonverbal behaviors to emphasize your verbal behavior

§ Body movement

§ Facial expression

§ Gesture

§ Tone of voice

§ Posture & Gait

° Practice scenario where I, as the teacher, presents a situation to the class and they respond with a way to say no to the situation.

Situation: “A fellow peer asks you to stay out past your curfew to come to a party downtown.” Then let the class give one or two examples as to how to say no to the situation.

Learning Activity

Group Worksheet Activity:

-Students will work in groups of 4 or 5 and complete the decision making situation activity worksheet. Each group will be provided with one worksheet, designating one person as the recorder. Each group will then share their situation and their decisions at the end of the activity with the rest of the class.

Role-Play

- In the same groups, students will create a role-play where a student is being encouraged to make a bad decision and then they must show the outcomes if they choose the wrong decision and the right decision. Students will be given up to 10 minutes to create a skit and then they must present in front of the class. This will show the students understanding of the decision making process.

Final Thoughts/Conclusions to the Lesson/ Discussion Points:

- Ask the class which decision making style they should always use when they have to make a difficult decision. (Proactive)

Classroom Management & Materials

§ Classroom Materials

o Handouts: 10 Instant Activity Vocabulary Worksheets and Decision Making Situation Worksheet

o Other Materials: pencil, worksheets, chalkboard, PowerPoint

§ Classroom Management

o Students will be sitting in their original seats.

o Groups of 4 or 5 will be decided upon the class and students who will be sitting nearby each other will be used.

Performance-Task Project Description

Performance-Task Assessment Criteria: The number of students making bad choices as to whether or not steal, smoke, or do drugs is increasing due to peer pressure. Children are lacking the ability to say no, communicate well with others and having a positive self image on oneself which includes accepting yourself as an individual. This is where we are going to start. After successfully completing the decision-making worksheet, you and a small group of 4 or 5 are going to present four scenarios to the rest of the class. The first scenario will consist of your group demonstrating a bad situation where one or more of the others group members make a bad decision. The second scenario will be the same except the decisions will be the responsible decision. The third scenario will be the consequence that comes from making the wrong decision and the forth decision will demonstrate what happens after making a responsible situation.

1. Core Concepts (Key Criteria):

Decision making model

Resistance Skills model

Decision making styles: inactive, reactive, and proactive

Dealing with peer pressure

Steps to make responsible decisions

Steps to resist bad behaviors

2. Skill (Cues): Decision Making

Demonstrates the steps to the decisions making process

Identify the decision

Identify the options and consequences

State the decision to be made

Evaluate and reflect on the decision

3. Additional Criteria: Students scenarios should be creative but classroom

appropriate. Scenarios should be between 1-2 minutes each, no longer than a total of 8 minutes per group to allow time for every group to present.

Content References

Bolen, Mark. "Empowered Decision making."(2008). Lesson Plan Page. Retrieved September 14, 2008 from <http://www.lessonplanapge.com

Pally, Regina. "A primary Role for Nonverbal Communication in Psychoanalysis." Retrieved September 17, 2008 from http://www.reginapally.com.

Activity Reference:

Bolen, Mark. "Empowered Decision making." (2008) Lesson Plan Page. Retrieved September 14, 2008 from <http://www.lessonplanapge.com.