During the first lesson planned for my groups Interactive Learning Design assignment, our students will be asked to watch the YouTube video, Fight Flight Freeze – Anxiety Explained For Teens (2019). This video explains the basic concept of anxiety, why we experience it, and how it effects the body. After watching this video, it would be beneficial for the students to complete an activity to ensure their understanding and encourage further exploration of the subject.
One activity students could participate in after watching the assigned video is a think-pair-share activity. Students would create small groups of 4-6 members and discuss the video. In this discussion, students would be encouraged to discuss the following questions:
- How has anxiety manifested in your life? Try to think of both positive and negative examples of anxiety within your own life and experiences.
- What physical symptoms do you experience when you are feeling anxious?
- What are some strategies you use to deal with your own anxiety and anxiety-related symptoms?
After completing the small group discussions, the class would discuss common themes seen within their groups.
Participating in this activity requires students to engage with the material in multiple forms. First, students must engage in individual thought about the video and their own answers to the provided questions. Then students must participate in small group discussions about their answers to the questions. At this time, students may begin to see a theme and feel more understood by their peers. Finally, students would share the common themes they found with the class. In this class discussion, the students would see the normality in anxiety and how everyone experiences differently.
While this activity would be best in an in-person classroom environment, it is also possible for it to take place online in an asynchronous format. This would require students to form groups with their peers in an online discussion forum. Students would be given an amount of time to complete their small group discussions before one student shares their common themes in a discussion forum containing all class members.
Feedback for the online version of this activity would include comments from the instructor on both the small group and class discussion forums. The instructor would create a list of the most common themes found in the class and post this on the discussion forum for students to see.
While this activity does not require a large amount of work from the students, it is beneficial for them to participate in group discussions as it allows them to build rapport with their peers and find commonalities amongst themselves. Despite being a low-effort activity, students would leave feeling better understood and more at ease within the class.
References
Anxiety Canada. (2019). Fight Flight Freeze – Anxiety Explained For Teens [Video]. YouTube.
Hi Danae! I thought you did an excellent job at highlighting how students could interact with both this learning material (video) and their peers using a relatively straightforward activity. I especially liked that you pointed out that enabling students to share their experiences with anxiety may foster more understanding for one another. Additionally, I appreciate your idea of the instructor compiling the most common themes to share with the class. Thank you for your thoughts!