OT 6389: School-Based Fieldwork

Positive Mental Health Assignment

Occupational Therapy Group Activity Report

Be sure to see resources on www.everymomentcounts.org and www.casel.org

1) Proposed goal of group. Define 1-2 overall goals and 1-2 objectives for this
activity. (5 pts)
1. Goal: Students will strengthen positive relationships and increase positive
experiences by expressing gratitude behavior towards self and others.
a. Objective: Students will identify 3 individuals for whom they are grateful
b. Objective: Students write one short note to one person for whom they
are grateful

2) Group composition (why each student was selected): Provide 1-2 words defining
the social participation strengths and limitations of each member. (5)
a. Student 1
i. Social participation strengths: joyous, outgoing
ii. Social participation limitations: immature, reactive
b. Student 2
i. Social participation strengths: mature, thoughtful
ii. Social participation limitations: sullen, reserved

3) Expected group activity preparation. Describe how you prepared the group
members (and others) for this activity. (5)
a. The week before I implemented the positive mental health intervention
session, I introduced the idea of gratitude and thankfulness to these
students at the end of our session together. I told them I wanted them to
think about what they are thankful for in their lives, and to be prepared to
share this with me next week. I also prepared my FWEd by sharing my
plan with her and asking for feedback/advice.

4) Detailed plan for activities: Explain how you will use 1) occupation-based
activities, 2) social emotional learning, and 3) positive behavioral supports. (10)
a. Students will create a Thanksgiving-themed “Tree of Thanks” describing
the people and things for which they feel thankful. This activity required a
variety of skills and occupation-based activities, including coloring leaves,
writing words on the leaves, cutting out the leaves, and pasting the leaves
to the tree. It also includes writing a short note to an individual for whom
they are grateful. At the beginning of the treatment session, we will
discuss the meaning of gratitude and thankfulness, the things for which we
are grateful/thankful, and the positive effect gratitude has on the way that
we feel. We will discuss things that upset us, and we will discuss how
using gratitude can act as a coping mechanism during challenging
 moments. I will provide positive behavioral supports by clearly describing
the activity and its expectations and by offering opportunities for the
students to collaborate and help one another. I will also use positive
phrasing to encourage participation.

*Obtain FWEd approval for above before you run the group*

5) Outcomes. What happened? Describe participation. (10)

a. The students were motivated, engaged, and cooperative throughout the
session. They were excited to make their trees and write their notes and
were clearly quite pleased with the outcomes, as they both asked to have
their work posted on the “Star Board.” The two students paired quite nicely
together for this group, as they are both diagnosed with an Intellectual
Disability, yet they have opposite strengths/weaknesses socially. This
fostered an environment for learning from one another.

6) Reflection. Lessons learned. Evaluation of the group, including social interaction.

(10)
a. Student 1’s joyous, outgoing nature promoted conversation and positive
social interaction with Student 2. Student 2’s polite and quiet nature
promoted reflection within Student 1. During the social-emotional
component, they required more prompting than I had anticipated. They
also worked at very different speeds, with Student 1 taking much longer to
color/cut/paste the leaves than Student 2. Because of this, I had to
quickly adapt my technique to multi-task and attend to both students
during different tasks. From my observations, Student 1 left the session
feeling happy yet calm, and Student 2 left feeling composed and joyful.

7) What will you do differently next time? What is an optimal next activity for this
group of students? (5)
a. Next time, I will incorporate a tangible activity reinforcer to encourage and
support appropriate behavior. An optimal next activity for this group of
students would include Zones of Regulation and utilizing thankfulness and
gratitude behavior to regulate emotions and foster positive relationships.