Running

head: TEACHING PROJECT

Pregnant and Parenting Adolescents Teaching Project: Bottle Mouth and Dental Health
Kaylee Blankenship
California State University, Stanislaus

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Pregnant and Parenting Adolescents Teaching Project: Bottle Mouth and Dental Health
Teenage pregnancy has been on the rise over the last couple of years in Merced County.
According to The California Department of Public Health, The age-specific birth rate to
adolescents, aged 15 to 19 years, in Merced County from 2010 to 2012 was 41.6 per 1,000
females or approximately one birth for every 24 adolescent females (2012) Due to the high rate
of teen pregnancies, Merced County ranks 50th out of 58 counties in California (California
Department of Public Health, 2012). Teen moms face many difficulties in life due to the fact
that they have to take on the great responsibility at such a young age. Some of these difficulties
include going to school while parenting, working to support their child, health care costs,
childcare costs, and lack of knowledge regarding childcare. Of particular importance in this case
is the lack of knowledge that pregnant and parenting adolescents have regarding child health care
practices. The focus of this teaching project is to provide education to pregnant and parenting
adolescents on bottle mouth and general dental health of children. The teaching took place at
East
The topics this teaching project were selected by the teacher and assigned to each student
in the class, so we werent able to select a subject of personal interest. However, I was okay with
this, because I actually really enjoyed the idea of being able to teach pregnant and parenting
adolescents about a healthcare subject that they may not have known much about previously. I
was assigned the topic of bottle mouth and dental health, which I really didnt know much about
prior to this project. I did have experience with children and knew the importance of oral hygiene
and some basics about bottle mouth; however, this project was a learning experience for me as
well. Trough this project I was able to build off of my existing knowledge in order to create a fun
and informative teaching plan for adolescent mothers.

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In order to assess the students knowledge and attitudes on the class subject prior to the
teaching and evaluate what they learned after the teaching a pre and post-test and survey were
used. Before the teaching began, each student received a pre-test with five true or false questions
about bottle mouth and dental health subject matter. They also received a pre-survey that had
five survey questions that gauged how the students felt and thought about the teaching subject.
Then, after the actual teaching took place the students were given a post-test with the same five
true or false questions in order to evaluate if knowledge was gained from the experience. The
students were also given a post-survey with the same five survey questions to see if the thoughts
and feelings they had towards the subject matter changed at all. Throughout the presentation, the
students were also asked questions periodically to gauge their prior knowledge on the subject
matter before actually discussing it.
It is always important to choose teaching strategies based on the characteristics of the
learners. In this case, the learners were parenting adolescent students at a local high school in
Merced County. Todays high school generation is very into technology and communication, so
teachers need to incorporate these elements into their lectures in order to promote the most
educational gain. According to Ronald A. Berk the net generation, is linked directly to the
(Inter)net and the emerging digital technology of the 1990s with which this generation grew up.
They never knew a world without computers (2009). The high school students that were a part
of this teaching plan qualify as the net generation, which has implications for the teaching
strategies that needed to be used. Berk listed twenty characteristics of the net generation that help
to identify what teaching strategies work best for these types of students from which I chose a
few to use in my own teaching plan. One strategy that was used was being technologically savvy.
I created a PowerPoint with intriguing pictures that illustrated what I was talking about and made

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it interesting for the students. This also made the lecture visually literate since it did include
graphics, image and visual representations of the topic of the presentation. During the lecture,
face-to-face interaction was encouraged as well as the strategy of being emotionally open. I
wanted to foster an understand learning environment in which the students felt free to express
their own experiences and felt safe to ask questions without judgment. Allowing opportunities
for student to interact in class or in small groups is important to this age group since they are
really focused on peer interaction (Berk, 2009). Question and answer discussion time was
provided before and after each new piece of content was discussed allowing for an optimal
learning experience for the students.

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Resources

Akpabio, A., Klausner, C.P., Inglehart, M.R. (2008). Mothers/guardians knowledge about
promoting childrens oral health. Journal of Dental Hygiene, 82(1). Retrieved from
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.csustan.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid
=1a05e526-8e28-4fd8-8b28-a594493b60b7%40sessionmgr4005&vid=11&hid=4201
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2010). A Pediatric Guide to Childrens Oral Health.
Retrieved from http://www2.aap.org/oralhealth/docs/oralhealthfcpagesf2_2_1.pdf
Berk, R. (2009). Teaching strategies for the net generation. Transformative Dialogues: Teaching
&Learning Journal, 3(2). Retrieved from
http://www.kpu.ca/sites/default/files/Teaching%20and%20Learning/TD.3.2_Berk_Teach
ing_Strategies_for_Net_Generation.pdf
California Department of Health Services and Childrens Medical Services. (1994). You Can
Prevent Baby Bottle Tooth Decay. Los Angeles County Child Health and Disability
Prevention Program.
California Department of Public Health. (2012). Vital Statistics Query System. Retrieved from
http://www.apps.cdph.ca.gov/vsq/Default.asp
Gaffney, K.F., Farrar-Simpson, M.A., Claure, D., Davilla, G. (2004). Prolonged baby bottle
feeding: A health risk factor. Pediatric Nursing, 30(3). Retrieved from
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.csustan.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid
=1a05e526-8e28-4fd8-8b28-a594493b60b7%40sessionmgr4005&vid=4&hid=4201
Wiener, R.C., Crout, R.J.,Wiener, M.A. (2009). Toothpaste use by children, oral hygiene, and
nutritional education: An assessment of parental performance. The Journal of Dental
Hygiene, 83(3), 141-145. Retrieved from

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http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.csustan.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid
=1a05e526-8e28-4fd8-8b28-a594493b60b7%40sessionmgr4005&vid=7&hid=4201

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CSUS SCHOOL OF NURSING
N4410 Group Teaching Assignment
TEACHING PROJECT EVALUATION

NURSING STUDENT EVALUATION OF THEIR OWN TEACH AND

PERFORMANCE.
Name of Student: Kaylee Blankenship
Date of Teach:

10/30/14

Location of Teach: ECEC/YHS parenting class

Time and Length of Teach: Arrived at 10:20, teach lasted from 10:37-11:19
What were the strengths of your teach?
One of the strengths of my teach was that I came prepared and organize. I had a PowerPoint,
brochures, and some visual props so that the teaching would have a greater impact. I also made
sure that I greet the students, made them feel comfortable, and had them introduce themselves as
well. Before each new slide section on the PowerPoint I asked the students what they knew
about that topic in order to assess their prior knowledge and to get them involved. I also made
sure I included more pictures in my PowerPoint than words so that the student were intrigued by
the picture and focused on what I was saying rather than having them just read through a
paragraph on the slides.
What ideas do you have to make it even better?
I wish I could have brought toothbrushes for the students and some actual models of teeth,
however, I could not find any without having to spend a lot of money. Fortunately the teacher of
this class actually had toothbrushes and tooth paste to hand out so I didnt have to worry about it.
I could have med the font on the PowerPoint a little bigger as well.
What were the strengths of your performance?
I felt very comfortable and confident speaking in front of the group of students. I tried to make
the teach fun and interesting as well. So those aspects in combination with the confidence that I
had helped keep the students attention and I think they really learned something from the teach
as evidenced by their post-test scores.
How can you improve your group teaching ability for future presentations?
For future group teaching projects I would like to create some sort of activity for the students to
interact while learning new information. Group activities are a great way for students to
collaborate, do something creative, and gain knowledge at the same time.