Managing

Stress in the Workplace

Teacher Name: Mandy Farrow

Number of Students: 22
Miscellaneous Information (special considerations for instruction): This is an interdisciplinary lesson
combining Health and Business Management.
Lesson Date and Time: May 28, 2016, 1:35 PM

Instructional Context:
What do I know about my students that will inform this lesson?
My students are in Senior High, grades 11-12. As we are nearing the end of the year, they face
compounding sources of stress in their home and school lives. The high-achievers may be struggling
to keep up with their personal expectations for academic achievement, as well as perceived and
sometimes very really pressure from family and teachers to maintain high achievement. Students
who are currently struggling to complete required coursework may be concerned about moving to
the next grade level. The seniors are likely to be facing stress regarding the transition from high
school to the next life stage.

How does this lesson connect with and build on previous lesson(s) or learning?
This lesson is designed to follow a Human Resources Management (HRM) lesson, which taught the
effects that various HRM policies can have on the workplace. Of particular importance for this lesson
is understanding how company policies can be linked to workplace culture and norms.

How do you expect to build on this lesson in subsequent lessons?
This could lead into a lesson on management styles and how they relate to employee health,
engagement, motivation, and productivity.

Materials and Resources: PowerPoint software (loaded on computers in the classroom),
whiteboard/markers, YouTube video Better Off Ted clip, smartboard, group assignment with rubric,
reflection questions, oversized post-its, markers, charged Chromebooks (responsibility of each student)

What is the lesson objective?
(What will the students learn and/or demonstrate?)
1. Students will learn the possible negative effects of excessive stress.
2. Students will recognize factors that tend to foster stress.
3. Students will recognize factors that tend to mitigate stress.
4. Students will learn methods of minimizing the negative effects of stress (stress management
techniques).

Standards addressed and expectations of students:
(MN State or National Standards)
National Heath Education Standards and Minnesota Benchmarks, Grade 10:
7. Students will demonstrate the ability to practice health-enhancing behaviors and avoid or reduce
health risks, 1. The student will research and evaluate strategies to manage stress in individuals and
groups in school, work and/or social situations.
National Standards for Business Education, Management:
VI. Human Resource Management, G. Labor relations, Level 3, Explain the role of management in
labor relations.
Anticipatory Set:
(The hook - something to excite the students about the subject matter)
YouTube video will comically introduce stress management techniques that can be used in the
workplace. Although it is short, we can pull at least four distinct stress management techniques from
this video not all of them positive, which will be discussed.

Academic Language/Language Function Objectives:
(Vocabulary that essential for you as a teacher to include in this lesson and for the students to
understand and use)
Stressor- an environment, event, situation, or other force that causes stress
Stress management- techniques which can alleviate or control stress to improve health

Teaching/Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks (procedures and timelines):
(Teacher talk/Input, modeling, and checking for understanding)

Time Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks Purpose
8 min. Create a word cloud using worditout.com Focus students on the topic of stress. (Obj. 2)
-or-
Create a quick poster using oversized post-its
and marker
That answers the question, What stresses
you out?

(Note: The question will be posted on the
smart-board in large colorful typeface. This
will get the students thinking about stressors
that theyre currently facing as soon as they
enter the room, which will prepare them for
an opening project.)
5 min. Form a circle toward the front of the class. Introduce the word stressor as we review
Quickly review the individual projects on projects. (Obj. 2)
stressors. Follow-up question for group Help students recognize how stress might be
discussion: What are some consequences of impacting their lives. (Obj. 1)
stress that you experience? Ask a student to
record bullet points on whiteboard under the
heading Effects of Stress.
3 min. Transition Question: Do you imagine your Help students make the connection between
stress will increase or decrease as you enter current stressors and possible future stressor.
the workforce? Do you imagine facing (Obj. 2)
similar stressors? New stressors?
3 min. Introduce and watch video clip from Better Show some possible ways to deal with stress
Off Ted in the workplace in this clip from a comedy
based on a corporate business environment
positive and negative methods shown. (Obj.
3)
5 min. Discussion on what they saw in the clip re- Introduce possible stress management
watch if necessary. Four stress management techniques.
 techniques which I want them to identify Introduce positive vs negative reactions to
from the video: stress. (Obj. 3)
Change the environment (Positive)
Exercise (Positive)
Hobbies/Refocus energy (Positive)
Melt down at another (Negative)
Hopefully, students will make additional
interpretations. Ask a student to record bullet
points on whiteboard under the heading
Stress Management Techniques.
6 min. Introduce group assignment. Ask a student to Ensure that the class retained previous
read through the assignment scenario. Briefly learning regarding HRMs role in labor
review HRMs role in policy creation and relations and policy creation. Ensure the class
labor relations. understands the assignment.
30 min. Begin group assignment. The class will divide Give the students a chance to research stress
into four groups of three students (student in the workplace and stress management
choice). They will be asked to create a techniques and policies.
PowerPoint presentation from the Encourages critical thinking through the
perspective of an HRM team that is creation of possible policy corrections and
presenting excessive employee stress as a additions. (Obj. 1, 2, 3, 4)
root cause of current labor problems. The
presentation will also suggest possible
solutions. The scenario and rubric follow this
lesson plan.
20 min. Projects are presented to the class, allowing Learn from peers perspectives. (Obj. 1, 2, 3,
five minutes per team to set-up, present, 4)
field questions, and return to seats. Students
are encouraged to jot down ideas that piqued
their interest from classmates presentations,
which will be of use during the journal writing
assignment.
Peer grading rubric will be filled out. Each
team will be assigned a different teams
presentation to grade based on the provided
rubric.
10 min. Students will answer questions in an e- Integrate new ideas into their work.
journal, which is electronically shared with Connect possible stress management
me, regarding the lesson and assignment. techniques in the workplace to their current
This journal will be homework, if the lesson situations. (Obj. 1, 2, 3, 4)
runs long. The journal questions are listed
after the PowerPoint assignment.
90 min. (Estimated total time)



Guided practice and monitoring and assessments:
(Monitor orally individually or together; monitor via written language or via a task performance; monitor
via group sampling or visual answers, e.g. thumbs. Monitor to know if the students are learning the
lesson and the objectives are being met).
Assessment for the opening project and discussions will be informal. I will walk around the room as the
introductory project is being completed to make sure that everyone understands what we are doing.
During the full group discussion that follows I will informally evaluate student engagement and learning,
steering the conversation as needed.

The small group project will be graded based on the rubric provided below. Although I will have students
complete a peer evaluation of the rubric for another team, I will complete the final evaluation. My hope
is that by completing the evaluation, students will be more engaged in each others work and gain a
deeper understanding of the material. As students are completing this project, I will walk around and
make sure that everyone understands the requirements and is finding the information needed.

The journal assignment will be scored based on simply providing an answer to each question - not the
responses given. This is a chance for the students to explore how the lesson can be related to their lives.
There is no right or wrong answer, as long as it relates (however indirectly) to the lesson and the
questions posed. Because this is quiet reflection time for the students, I will not walk around the
classroom, unless a student signals that they have a question or need help.

Independent Practice/Assignment:
(This can be a question or problem for students to ponder on their own or in small groups or pairs. The
aim is to reinforce and extend the learning beyond the lesson and ideally into real world settings.)
Our opening project and large group discussion will introduce students to the ideas of stress and stress
management. In the small group assignment, students will explore stress management in the workplace
in more detail. They will be applying knowledge from a previous lesson in HRM to the health topic of
stress.

Closure:
(Statements or actions by you that help students make sense out of what has just been taught, to help
form a coherent picture, to eliminate confusion and frustration, and to reinforce major points to be
learned)
The closing assignment will encourage the students to relate what theyve learned about stress
management their own lives. In particular, I will let the students know that I will consider implementing
their ideas from the final question if they are feasible and likely to help the entire class reduce stress.

Differentiation (Accommodations/Modifications):
Students: This will be an interdisciplinary lesson combining Health and Business Management skills. The
lesson uses a variety of learning techniques in an attempt to engage every student. The opening project
allows students to express themselves either through technology or drawing. The large group discussion
will give students a chance to learn through discussion. The small group project will give students a
chance to research the topic and the ability to discuss and interpret their research collectively within
their teams, which will give the students a deeper understanding of the material. The journal
assignment will give the students quiet time to work independently.


Reflection:
(What worked and didnt work for whom and why? What are instructional next steps abased on the
data from this plan?)
After the lesson is complete, I will assess the completed journal responses and PowerPoint
presentations to determine whether the objectives were met. I will also review the flow of the lesson
from beginning to end and note the aspects that went well, the aspects that went poorly, and any
changes that were made during the lesson to keep students on target. I will use these notes to revise
the lesson plan for future use. If certain parts of the class went particularly well, I will brainstorm ideas
to incorporate similar strategies into other classes.


Group Assignment Policies to Address Stress Management

Scenario:
Imagine you are a team of HR specialists. Your organization has recently
experienced an increase in employee absences (sick leave, personal days),
coupled with a decrease in employee productivity and employee retention. Upper
management has tasked your team with determining the root cause of these
labor relations issues, as well as proposing possible solutions.

After an analysis of the situation, you feel that excessive employee stress is a root
cause to each of these issues. Create a presentation in PowerPoint, which is
intended for upper management, that shows why stress is the likely root cause
and possible solutions. Your presentation should include the following five slides:
Introduction to stress definition
Negative effects of excessive stress from an organizational perspective (at
least 4)
Stress management techniques from a personal or organizational
perspective (at least 5)
Proposed policy changes (3)
o This will require some imagination. First, you will need to create 3 policies
that foster stress in the workplace, which are currently part of your
companys policies. Then, suggest changes to these policies that will lessen
the stress on employees.
Proposed new policies (3)
o Create new policies, which are intended to reduce or alleviate stress.

Some search terms that could help you get started: organizational stress, stress
management techniques, stress management in the workplace, policy to reduce
stress. As always, this is not a complete list, only a place to start.


Peer Grading Rubric
Group Assignment Policies to Address Stress Management
Each team will fill out this rubric for another team, as assigned by your teacher.


Prepared for Team #_________ Prepared by Team #_________

Category Criteria Points Awarded

Overall (5) Consistent formatting/easily understood

Slide 1 (2) Definition

Slide 2 (4) Negative effects organizational perspective

Slide 3 (5) Stress management techniques

Slide 4 (3) Stress inducing policies
(3) Stress reducing policy corrections

Slide 5 (3) Stress reducing new policies

Total 25 Possible

Suggestions_________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________
Journal Questions Managing Stress in the Workplace
12 possible points. 3 points for each answered question.

1) Name one thing you learned about stress that you didnt know before?





2) List three positive stress management techniques that you currently use or
could see yourself using to alleviate stress in the future.





3) After watching your classmates presentations, name one stress management
policy or technique that you would like to add to your presentation.





4) Think about the stress that you face at school. Name one stress management
policy (from your presentation or one of your classmates presentations) that
could be adapted to this classroom or the entire school to help alleviate the
stress faced by you and your classmates. Be sure to specify whether your
policy is intended for this classroom or the entire school.