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Students must first know that they are struggling and need to ask for help.

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5 Strategies to Improve Students' Self- Advocacy skills

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5 Strategies to Improve Students' Self- Advocacy skills

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1. Strengthen students’ metacognition- Strategy is to strengthen self-reflection  and metacognitive skills. Have students think about their leaning
2. Help students understand that teachers want to help: Ask students why they think you became a teacher. Pause and reflect.
3. Brainstorm conversation starters: This strategy will help introverts, or shy students who are afraid to ask for help. Role play can build students confidence. word asking for help
4. Create a secure environment: create an environment where students feel safe. Practice risk taking. Use inspiration quotes. Allow students to see that teacher also makes mistakes.
5. . Help students see themselves as capable of success: Students need to believe in their success in order to feel confident in asking for help.

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Activity: Carousel- students have to correct math problems using their strategy. The next student either has to agree and add to the answer, or disagree and show they solved it.

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BUILD A STRONG COMMUNITY

Allows students to feel safe and welcomed.

ENGAGE IN AUTHENTIC CURRICULUM- Use online resources.
SHARE STUDENT VOICES:
Writer's workshop allows students to be heard.

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Digital Programs

Available for Kindergarten through Grade 8
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Kindergarten

__Lesson 18: Apologizing Can Help __

Classroom Kits

Available for Early Learning through Grade 5
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Bullying Prevention Unit

Available for Kindergarten through Grade 5
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Child Protection Unit

Available for Early Learning through Grade 5
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Out-of-School Time

Available for Kindergarten through Grade 5
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Kindergarten-Grade 1

Unit 1, Topic 2: Facing Challenges with Confidence

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Second Step Sample Lessons | Second Step

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Explore social-emotional learning examples and sample lessons for SEL curriculum, bullying prevention, and child protection for PreK through Grade 8.

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Grit Curriculum Lesson: The Perseverance Walk

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A way to promote student voice.

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I'd like to describe some practices that not only address the stress response in the limbic brain areas, but also attend to sensory and motor systems in the brain stem area. Often these systems are compromised because of chronic stress that has neurobiologically reprogrammed how the brain of a child or adolescent responds to adversity.

Brain Breaks

Brain breaks stimulate many areas in the brain that pay attention to novelty and curiosity, sparking the motor and sensory systems while initiating emotional regulation in the more reactive and primitive areas of the brain. Here are a few brain breaks you can try in class.

Funny talk: Have students loosely touch the roof of their mouth with their tongue and begin to speak. Create a class chant to say altogether, or the teacher can address the class, modeling what he or she would like students to say.

Tongue stretch: Have students use clean hands or a Kleenex to stretch their tongue as far as it can go. This relaxes the throat, palate, upper neck, and brain stem. What could you add to this to make it funny?

Hum: There are many ways you can incorporate humming as a break or to begin class. Lead students in Simon Says or Name That Tune, or have them move their arms and legs to someone's humming. This activity releases stress and blockages in the brain stem.

Bilateral scribbles: Have students hold a different color marker in each hand and draw or scribble to the beat of some music for 30 seconds. When they're finished, see if the drawings turned into anything familiar or strange. Have them share with a classmate and then give their art a name.

Name scribbles: Have students write their favorite word four times with their dominant hand and then again with their other hand. Discuss how it felt, which they found more difficult and why, and what happened in their brains when they used their non-dominant hand.

Focused-Attention Practices

Focused-attention practices calm the brain's stress response and stimulate sustained attention and emotional regulation. A regulated and calm brain is a brain that is ready to deeply learn.

When we consciously use sensations, breath, movement, and our body's awareness, we activate those areas in the brain that pay attention to what is happening in this moment, while supporting areas we need for learning, attention, and engagement. I'll share four focused-attention practices here.

Ice cube: Give each student an ice cube and a paper towel or napkin to hold. As they hold the ice cube, ask them to focus on what it feels like in their hands and what the sensation reminds them of. Can they sit still and wait for the ice cube to melt?

Deep breathing: Have students scrunch their toes and cross their legs at the ankles. Then they should cross the left arm over the right arm, clasp their hands together, and-keeping their hands clasped-bring them toward their chest. Have them hold that pose for 30 seconds as they take five deep breaths, and then have them take another 30 seconds to uncurl their toes, uncross their legs, extend and unclasp their hands, and uncross their arms while taking another five deep breaths. How did that feel?

So what? As students close their eyes and sit up nice and tall in their chairs, they should visualize a golden thread that connects their hearts to their stomachs. As they breathe in, have them picture a pulse in the thread moving from their stomachs to their hearts; with each exhale, the pulse travels from the heart back down to the stomach. As the students breathe, have them say, "So what?" to themselves if a negative thought occurs.

Feeling phrases: To begin the day, have students share through a picture or description how their bodies feel. Some example phrases: cold/warm/hot; twitchy/butterflies/soft/stuck; sharp/dull/itchy; shaky/trembly/tingly; jittery/weak; empty/full; relaxed/calm/peaceful; flowing/spreading; strong/tight/tense; dizzy/fuzzy/blurry; numb/prickly/jumpy/tearful/goosebumpy.

Sensations are different than emotions in that they describe the way the body feels physically. Children who struggle with speaking can point to places on their body that hold a sensation. Sensory awareness promotes cognitive growth and self-awareness. When students can begin to identify their sensations, they begin to tap into where the negative feelings and images are. This focused-attention practice can be implemented several times a day after different experiences. Questions to ask as part of this practice:

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Quick Classroom Exercises to Combat Stress

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I'd like to describe some practices that not only address the stress response in the limbic brain areas, but also attend to sensory and motor systems in the brain stem area. Often these systems are compromised because of chronic stress that has neurobiologically reprogrammed how the brain of a child or adolescent responds to adversity.