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Objective: Please, choose one of the following scenarios and come up with a list of supports you would provide the student to help enrich their classroom environment.

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Below is a list of activities and items that help support students with anxiety. Which activity are you most likely to use in your classroom, and why? Which activity are you least likely to use in your classroom, and why?

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You can use oven bake clay and have the students choose up to three colors that make them feel calm or happy. As they roll the colors into a ball and then gently push their thumb print into it, you can talk to the students about what this stone symbolizes for them; maybe even include a reminder to breathe, a positive thought, or a favorite mantra such as, “I can get through this”. After it is baked it can be kept in their pocket and used in difficult times as a reminder that they are safe an in control.

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You can put some warm water, glitter glue and glitter in a clear plastic bottle or jar and have your students shake it up to watch the glitter slowly float to the bottom. It can be soothing and relaxing to watch.

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Students can decorate a box however they like--with modge podge, glitter, markers, stickers, etc. As they are creating their box, you can explain that the box will be a spot in which they keep their worries when they don’t have the time to think about them. They write their worry on a piece of paper and place it in a box to be addressed at a later time.

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You can add some lavender oil into the slime as an additional bonus to calm them as they play. Just a few minutes of running the slime through their fingers can bring a child’s baseline level of anxiety down.

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Stress balls make for a great fidget for our nervous kids and serve as a great distraction. you can fill a balloon with flour, rice, or play dough.

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Watch the following short video from Mayo Clinic. What other strategies that support students in regulating their anxiety symptoms have you used (or would like to use) in your classroom?

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Scenario A:

Benjamin just moved to New York from Egypt. Benjamin is an English Language Learner. Due to his anxiety, he forgets his thoughts, can't focus when taking exams, and shuts down when asked to collaborate with others.

You, the special education teacher, are co-planning with his social studies and English teacher. What supports (environmental, settings, or routines) would you provide Benjamin to improve his classroom participation and test-taking skills?

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Scenario B:

Alexis is a student who thrives in group discussions. However, when it comes to individual work time, she has difficulty focusing on the assignment.

When she is working on her individual assignment, she often taps the floor and taps her writing utensil on the desk. Her behavior is bothering other students.

As the special education teacher, what environmental techniques or learning accommodations would you provide Alexis to help ease her anxiety and improve independent work time?

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I would most likely use the stress ball in my classroom because it is the least distracting for other students (compared to the "calm down" jars which might make some sound). The stress balls is also something that can help kids in the moment while they are stressed out, while the worry box might be something they have to set aside time for. That is why the worry box is something that I would least likely use. Also, because high school students might find this "childish" and not want to participate.

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I really like the exposure measure for dealing with kid’s anxiety. As I mentioned in one of the previous OP post, my school actually practiced what exactly demonstrated in the video. We started the locker camp for incoming 6th graders 4 years ago and it had been really successful ever since then. It cleared out lots of students’ anxieties and made the first day of school pretty smooth. For situation that sooner or later would be solved, like mastering opening lockers, the exposure method would work the best since it just a matter of time. However, for the scenario that might not be easily resolved, like the social anxiety or math phobia, exposure measure might be one of the useful choices but not all. Some other coping mechanisms like brief physical activities, meditation, break tasks down and adaptive coping strategies could be applied as well.

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My favorite one is Reminder Stone which seems to be a great activity not only for students that suffer from anxieties but also for all students to learn the self-regulation and build confidence. Students take the autonomy to choose their own colors and mantra. The process of making the stone would make students believe in the impact of this stone more. I personally have no least favorite activity since different kids would have totally different feedback on the same activity. I feel everything is worth a try to support kids with anxieties.

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I like the idea of using exposure therapy to help children struggling with anxiety. In my classroom, I have used hill breathing. I have also used strategies that can remove a child from a situation like getting a drink of water or taking a break. At the start of the year, we do a unit on growth mindset and the importance of making mistakes. I think this helps some students who are anxious about getting something wrong because they know from the start that mistakes are expected and celebrated in the classroom.

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I would most likely use the stress ball in my classroom because it is not distracting to others and can be used any time during the school day. I also like that it is small, so students can conceal it in their pocket if they do not want others to see it. I do not think I would use the worry or reminder stones. I work with younger children and I find that when they are anxious, they usually need to do something that will calm both their body and mind. I think the students I teach are a bit too young, but I like the idea for older children.

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As the special education teacher working to support Alexis, I would work on finding a replacement behavior for the tapping. Perhaps she could tap on a piece of paper, folder, or a squishy surface that could be attached to her desk. Maybe she could tap her finger instead of her pencil. I would also be sure that Alexis is seated close to the teacher and away from windows, doors, pencil sharpeners, etc. Lastly, I would work with the teacher to help them differentiate the independent work. For example, if Alexis is overwhelmed by the amount of questions on a page, perhaps she can be responsible for responding to fewer questions.

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I was just talking with my mentor teacher about a start-of-lesson activity where H.S. students practice answering questions that they don't know the answer to, because nobody knows the answer to it – something BIG, like "Does life exist on other planets?" Then I watched this video and read through the comments, and what do you know, I learned that this is an example of exposure therapy! Our goal in this activity is to have kids get comfortable with taking risks with participation. They are often hesitate because they're afraid to be "wrong." We want to show them that we, teachers, accept their ideas non-judgamentally.

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I might use a variation of the worry box for a M.S. biology class. I might have two jars: one "producers" (organisms that take in sunlight to fuel the  food web) and one "decomposers" (organisms that break down dead organisms/waste to fuel the food web). Students get one marble a day (one unit of energy) to place in a jar. If they want to share their positive energy, they can place their marble in the "producer" jar. If they want to break down their negative energy, they can place their marble in the "decomposer" jar. Both are important and necessary parts of the food web, and I hope a daily community activity like this at the start or end of class would help create a community of support, acceptance, and awareness for others' anxious days.

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I don't know if the purpose was specifically to lessen anxiety, but back when I was in high school and middle school, we had something called WEB in middle school and LINK in highschool. WEB (where everyone belongs) leaders were 8th grade students who led orientation for the incoming 6th graders. While LINK leaders were juniors and seniors who were responsible for welcoming incoming freshmen. It took place the week before school, and each leader was responsible for welcoming a small group of students, giving them a tour of the school, going over the school rules, and leading various bonding activities and icebreakers. This orientation helps incoming students familiarize themselves with the school and gives them an opportunity to talk to an older more experienced student about what middle school/high school is like, which can help lessen anxiety, especially for the first day at new school.

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One that would be difficult to use in my class would be the worry stones. I think it would be difficult in a middle school or high school science classroom to make these because they involve baking. One that I might adapt as a science  activity would be the calm down jars. It could be really cool in a unit on density or viscosity or even diffusion to put different kinds of fluids in a jar (syrup, water, etc) and some food dye and watch the liquids form layers in the jar, then flip them around and watch them reform as a calming activity.

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I agree with many of the other classmates who have commented here. I am mostly likely to use stress balls, because I think they tend to be the least distracting and can be useful and developmentally appropriate across a wide age range. I think I would be least likely to use a worry box, because I have mostly taught and am interesting in teaching the secondary grades. I'm not sure how much students in middle and high school would buy into worry boxes or feel comfortable expressing their concerns to others. I do like worry boxes for the younger grades,
though!

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I really like the idea of thinking about and naming what you are thankful for (how class was started the other day). I like this idea, because it feels like negative attitudes or worries are instantly ameliorated by appreciating and recognizing what is working. I think this exercise could also be a good way for teachers and fellow students to get to know each other in school. Naming what you are thankful for can reveal a lot about the individual, as well!  I have not used any explicit supports, so I am excited to try the aforementioned.

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As a special education for Alexis, there are many intervention methods to help her through the day without distacting her classmates. Giving her a soft object to fidget with, such as a stress ball, or add pencil grips the the pencils, this will minimal any noise associated with her fidgeting. Maybe give her more open access to alternative seating as well, sometimes standing up or moving to the back to the classroom can help ease anxiety. Lastly, for independant work time, I would scaffold my lesson to give her choices on how she wants to complete her assignment, along with using a postive reinforcement system everytime she successfully work independantly.

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I would most likely use the Worry Box as it can be implemented across the entire class without assigning to a specific student- we all experience anxiety and worries in some way, shape or form! A worry box further instills this idea that it is acceptable to have worries and that everyone has them. Inserting a worry a day would be a great way for students to release any tension or emotions that they otherwise might not have had the chance to let out during the school day.

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I agree with other classmates that I would be most likely to use stress balls given their discreet nature in a classroom, but also because they provide a physical release for students who might benefit from touching/squeezing an object to release their feelings of anxiety. I would be least likely to use the worry box because I am not fond of the idea of "dealing with worries later," as this could cause a build up of worries for a student, which may never get addressed. I think it's important to handle worries appropriately, but if a worry is simply placed in a box, I think it would still consume the student and inhibit him/her from working productively and positively.

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I liked this clip! I appreciated the exposure activity and naming things we're thankful for. This reminds me of the free write I make my Creative Writing students do in November, as I have them show gratitude through their words. Some students choose to do a letter to a friend/parent/teacher while others list things they are thankful and explain why. I also think the program BrainPower that we use in my current school is utilized to lessen student anxiety.

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I like the idea of allowing students to interact with new people and new environments before the students "enter" into relationships with these people and spaces. I remember last winter, on the last day of the semester when most of the school day was devoted to parties and games, a few teachers and I led a group of students around the building to meet their new teachers for the coming semester. I think this helped the students reduce their anxiety for these new scenarios (new subject, new teacher), and it also allowed them to begin their relationship well with the new teacher (i.e This was a neutral introduction to this student for the teacher: no other students in this class around, no grades involved, etc.)

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I really like the naming what you are Thankful for and think it is important to point out that this can be adapted for different populations. For example, with my students who are all nonverbal, I have created sentence stems and choice boards for them to select what they are thankful for from a list of options.

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I am most likely to use the stress ball. My students really benefit from sensory input when they are feeling anxious. I have some students who will request hand squeezes. I love the idea of having students have a stress ball to squeeze so they are less reliant on an adult coming over to give them hand squeezes. I personally ma least likely to use the worry box. While I think it is a great tool for different populations, I do not think that my students would understand the concept of the worry box, thus making it less useful.

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I would definitely use the stress ball as a way of relaxing my students I think stress balls can be so useful in a classroom. You can even have the students make them just like in the video, I think that will be a fun activity from them to engage in. The stress ball might also be beneficial for students that like to have something in their hands at all times.

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I would most likely use the clay because of the words that the clay has engraved in them. I think having a constant reminder of positivity and calmness is a great skill to teach our kids to prepare them for the future.
One thing I wouldn't use in my class is slime. I think slime is cool even as an adult but it's definitely messy and it catches everything around so it wouldn't be sanitary in my perspective.

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Benjamin just moved to New York from Egypt. Benjamin is an English Language Learner. Due to his anxiety, he forgets his thoughts, can't focus when taking exams, and shuts down when asked to collaborate with others.

You, the special education teacher, are co-planning with his social studies and English teacher. What supports (environmental, settings, or routines) would you provide Benjamin to improve his classroom participation and test-taking skills?

For this student I would find students that speak the same language or another teacher that might be able to talk to him. This can alleviate the frustration of working with other students.
To improve his participation having him write in his notes first and having his partner share for him and little by little have him participate.
For the exams having keywords in his language, so he understands the main idea, but also practice reading English at the same time

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Stress balls seem like an easy to create means of coping with anxiety.  They've also been a part of pop culture for so long that the use of such an object would probably not attract the attention of other teachers or students; it could be used in many classes and would less likely to be desired by other students, as it is fairly common.

I'm not sure what slime is made out of; I would imagine some teachers might object to it if it has the capacity to damage classroom equipment. A stress ball may also cause damage if it were to break, but I wonder if this would require as much effort as slime. I also always wonder about the capacity of these tools for distracting other students (students who do not need these tools to regulate their anxiety). A substance like slime might have a greater capacity to do this, as it can be turned and bent and moved in ways something like a stress ball could not.

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I really like the idea of using exposure therapy to help students get ready to transition into a new school or new grade. The only When it comes to transitions like moving from lower school to middle school or middle to high school, these types of activities can be especially helpful. Taking students to see the new school, experience opening lockers, talk through some things that might be stressful, and providing students with resources and adults they can comfortably go talk to if they have any questions or concerns are all great strategies. This video got me thinking, however, about how to help students who are individually moving to a new school (because they are moving to a new location or for many other reasons.) These same, large scale intervention would not necessarily work for just one student who is making the transition. Perhaps teachers at schools could be trained in smaller-scale interventions to help new students coming into a classroom. For example, if a teacher knows a new student will be joining the class, they might have they come in early one day or come in on a weekend to see the school, open their locker, meet with the teacher about concerns, and maybe even meet a few outgoing classmate volunteers. I think that could be a great way to relieve an individual's stress about coming into a new place alone.

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I would be most likely to use the slime and stones explained here. I think the stones are a great way to give the students something tangible to remind them to relax, breathe, count to 5, or whatever else might help them in a time of stress. When I was younger, my school did something similar and it did help me having something to hold onto to remind me to take a moment when I was feeling overwhelmed. I think slime is a great, fun thing for students to make and use to relieve stress and tension. I have in the past and plan to use slime in future classrooms, when appropriate. It is definitely important to keep in mind, though, that some students really don't like the feeling of making a touching slime and could be provided an alternative activity!
I would say that I am least likely to use the feelings box because it can be hard for young students especially to express their feelings when they are overwhelmed or sad and I wouldn't want to encourage putting those feelings away, rather than talking about them. I'm sure, however, that these boxes are helpful in lots of situations, perhaps for older students who could really understand how to use them productively.

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Exposure therapy is a good way to teach kids that what they are anxious about can be manageable. The important first step is someone listening to their anxieties and making an effort to help them deal with it. This pre-middle school class sounds great! Teachers should also be cognizant of their students' anxieties and can use some of these strategies to help them deal with them.

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I believe exposure therapy is a great way to help students navigate their anxiety by slowing introducing them to a situation or context that they might be worried about and helping them see that it is not as frightening, intimidating or concerning as they think. I think we use this at my school very much even if I haven't labeled it or considered it as "exposure therapy". Our routines, schedules and rules in the classroom help create a sense of familiarity that helps students know better what to expect and prepare for it. We have also used social stories as extra support for students who might need more visuals of a situation they feel anxious about navigating, seeing themselves in the story and understanding that they are able to go through it. Stress balls are also great to handle anxiety DURING a stressful situation, because even though we might be prepared by knowing what to expect, there can be a lot of anxiety still present and these tools can help better navigate those instances.

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I would most likely use a "worry box" even though it is something I have never implemented in my classroom before but I am really looking forward to try. I teach early childhood, and though my students my not be able to write feelings or concerns, this is still great practice for them to pause, acknowledge their current emotions, and try to identify what is making them feel that way. They could then place in the box a word if writing skills are present, a drawing or something that can symbolize what they are experiencing. I would least likely use slime. Though we do use it in the classroom, it is embedded during choice-time and that can serve as a sensory tool for students needing to regulate their feelings of anxiety. But providing it individually to a student who might need it at another time can be messy and distracting both for that student and for the rest of the class.

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I like the use of the stress ball! I remember when I was younger some of my classmates had stress balls and it seemed to really take their mind off of things. It's very easy to carry around making it that much easier for students to decompress in a quick minute if need be. Adding on, personally talking to the guidance counselor when I was in school made me feel even more anxious and uncomfortable. That's why perhaps including time for students to socialize with their peers before classes start could be a good way for them to talk about anything they want with people they feel comfortable with.

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I like the idea of exposure therapy. Growing up, my school prepared us for middle school with things like this and even for high school. I think a lot of anxiety comes with the unknown or "the worst possible outcome," so I think knowing what to expect and given strategies this will reduce anxiety in kids.

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I love using calm down jars, especially in all situations (not just for anxiety). I have made these myself and you can also buy nicer ones. I also like how you can put a variety of things in the calming jar, so this will still spark "interest" in a calming technique. I don't think I would provide slime, just because it tends to be distracting to others and messy. Slime could be effective if regulated or something.

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As adults, it's interesting to note some of the concerns that animate the lives of children. It's especially interesting that something as routine and seemingly inconsequential as opening a lock is an event that, for some children, might induce anxiety. Seeing this video serves as a reminder of the need to be patient and understanding when comes to much of the experiences that children might have. In other words, just because a teacher can't personally imagine the anxiety-inducing nature of opening lockers does not mean that he/she is absolved of the need to understand and appreciate this from the perspective of a grade-schooler. This concern might even transfer over to other areas of concern.