Purpose Statement
Many students do not make a connection between their
emotional and physical health and their performance in school. This activity
begins to make this connection, and prepares for a personal visit from someone
from the Student Health Services office.
Description of
Activity
Because English 100 is a writing class, I introduced the
concept of student wellness by initiating a group brainstorm activity. I asked
students to help generate a list on the board, providing ideas related to
student health and wellness. After we had a long list, we broke them into two
larger categories: physical and mental (or spiritual) health.
I then asked them to do a freewrite (write continuously) for twelve minutes
about areas of stress, or areas to improve, in terms of their physical and/or
mental (or spiritual) health.
I collected these one-page writings, and made a list of student concerns, which
I passed on to Allyson Zimmerman before she visited the class.
Finally, Allyson visited the class, making a presentation about the Health
Services Office, focusing especially on the opportunity to see a personal
counselor. She also lead the class in a guided relaxation activity. Since
"stress" was an area many students had raised and written about, this
technique was especially relevant. (Several students told me they used the
technique later on their own to help them overcome anxiety before writing a
paper.)
In our follow-up discussion, we talked about how emotional and physical
problems can get in the way of performing well in school in general, and of
writing well in particular, because it is especially difficult to write if one
is distracted by personal problems or issues.
Materials Needed
This activity does not require any handouts. As described in
number 2 above, you simply lead the students in discussion, and they provide
their own paper for their free write. You do need to set up a classroom visit
by calling Student Health Services. You may ask for your visit to be as long or
short as you like. If you only have five minutes, skip the guided relaxation
technique and simply have Allyson (or another representative) talk about the
services. It is great for students to be able to connect a face to a service
that they still feel a little uncomfortable about.
Application
The amount of time you spend preparing students for a
classroom visit is up to you. I liked spending about ten to fifteen minutes on
the brainstorm, ten to fifteen minutes on the freewrite, and ten to fifteen
minutes on our follow-up discussion. Then, Allyson's visit (on another day)
took about 30 minutes. Because these activities also modeled elements of the
writing process, they reinforced the larger goals of the course. Depending upon
your discipline, you may or may not be able to figure out a way to explore the
issue of student wellness while reinforcing methods of inquiry or analysis that
apply to your class.
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and modified on 6/9/99 at 5:15:30 PM