Professional Inquiry Project

Anxiety in Grade 9
I have been presented an incredible learning opportunity at the Grande Prairie Composite High School. Grade 9
students have not been in this school for over twenty years, and the grade 9 students are from different feeder
schools throughout the city. Many of my students come into the classroom with self-diagnosed and medicallydiagnosed anxiety. The transition from junior high to high school can be challenging and overwhelming. I am
creating six separate mini-lesson plans to teach students about anxiety and how to cope with the stresses they will
encounter during their high school careers. This particular project has a focus on the grade 9 students coming into
a new school, but can be applied to any grade level. These lesson plans can be incorporated into any discipline.
Before the new school year started, I was fortunate enough to attend a professional development session about
the manifestation of anxiety in high school. GPCHS is making strides in providing students with the appropriate
mental health care, and educating staff members about the signs of anxiety within their school district. This session
was led by Dr. Lynn Miller and provided learning strategies for students to better understand and address anxiety.
As well, Dr. Miller informed teachers how to detect possible anxious students and not to make intervention steps
for anxiety-ridden students.
This project is not meant to serve as a diagnostic tool or to replace professional intervention. Instead, this project is
to inform students of the realities of anxiety in their education careers and teaching basic coping methods.

Timeline
The tentative timeline for this project is as follows:
Lesson 1: Introduction to anxiety lesson
Lesson 2: Physiological effects of anxiety
Lesson 3: Red-green statements
Lesson 4: Bubble blowing
Lesson 5: Anxiety breakout sessions
Lesson 6: Student self-reflections on anxiety/celebration

All resources, lesson plans, and student exemplars will be collected and turned into a hard copy unit as well as an
electronic unit.