Lesson Plan

HabitWise Lesson #4

  • Students will be able to recognize the impact that technology and other distractions have on our ability to pay attention to important tasks.
  • Students will be able to chunk large assignments into smaller tasks and develop a strategy for working and taking breaks.

Students learn how they can use the habit loop to strengthen their attention and avoid procrastination.

VAR.7 – Create and track sustainable and desirable habits

VAR.5 – Practice and demonstrate self-awareness of thought processes and behavior

Key vocabulary:

  • Instant gratification: Doing what is fun or easy to get an immediate reward.
  • Delays gratification: Postponing an instant reward to work toward a better long-term reward.

What to look and listen for:

  • Are students constructing knowledge around habit formation, and integrating techniques to support their habits?
  • Are students connecting the lessons in this unit and building on their conversations with each other?

Lesson:

Engage (10-15 minutes):

Give your students time in small groups to reflect on procrastination, and situations where it may impact their productivity.

 

Suggested Questions:

  • What are some situations/tasks where you find you are most likely to procrastinate?
  • Are there times where you spend too much time on your phone or computer? When? Why?
  • What negative side effects do you experience by procrastinating?

 

Show Video #4: How Habits Can Help Us Be Productive and, as a class, discuss the strategies shown in the video.

 

Suggested Questions:

  • There were several methods introduced in the video that can help us tackle large projects and papers in addition to helping us manage our time better. Have you tried any of these methods before? What has worked for you?
  • Both “chunking” large assignments into smaller steps with due dates, and working in sprints with small breaks were mentioned. Why do you think these methods work? What would you like to try?
  • What are the cues you will look for that let you know when you need to implement a healthy behavior that can support your productivity?

 

Apply (15 minutes):

Share with your students that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children ages 3-18 get no more than two hours of total screen time per day because it can lead to weight gain (due to inactivity), trouble sleeping, and diminished social skills (from not interacting with people face-to-face as much).

 

Suggested Questions:

  • Do you agree with this recommendation? Why or why not?
  • Do you think it’s possible in today’s society to limit screen time?
  • Does screen time have a negative effect on your ability to develop and sustain healthy habits? If so, how? If not, why? What limits do you set for yourself?

 

Have your students complete the “Connect IT To Your Life” worksheet.

 

Reflect (15 minutes):

Give students time to share their responses on the “Connect It To Your Life” worksheet and discuss. After discussion, provide time to read about and explore the tomato timer tool and the supporting article on why it works.

 

Suggested Questions:

  • In what ways do you think developing healthy habits can support your productivity?
  • Reflect back on the habits you have been nurturing. Would you like to modify or add a habit that would help support your productivity or study habits?
  • Take a look at the tomato timer and commit to trying it this week when you study. Try to resist checking your phone during short breaks and putting your phone away at the end of a long break. Working in these “sprints” has been shown to improve effectiveness and productivity for many.

Differentiation:

Review the parts of the habit loop learned in lesson 3 of this unit.

Review how to use this timer, which follows the pomodoro method of breaking study time into sprints of 25-minute increments with breaks.

Optional extensions:

Have students use the weekly habit recap sheet as a resource to use in between lessons (this is introduced in lesson 5 of this unit).

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