Students with Anxiety by Emily Essick https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw What are some strategies teachers can use to help ease student anxiety? en-us 2020-11-02 16:26:59 UTC 2020-11-16 05:04:05 UTC hello@padlet.com Jessica Avalos https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/900647128 I think it is important for us to normalize anxiety. We have to remind students that we all feel anxiety, even as adults; It shouldn't be something that gets in the way of a healthy school experience. 
A few of the strategies that I liked were keeping a journal, completing breathing exercises as a class, and having a designated anxiety area.  
All students have different ways of coping with their anxiety/stressors. I think keeping a journal allows students to keep their experiences personal, but being able to work through their experience on paper. 
Completing breathing exercises as a class normalizes anxiety by allowing all students to work on relaxing together. Having a designated anxiety area works great for at the moment anxiety. If it suddenly hits a student, they should be allowed to visit the area for a few minutes to either complete a mindfulness exercise or interact with anxiety tools, such as stress balls, beads, etc. ]]> 2020-11-08 01:03:09 UTC https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/900647128 Alisha Broce https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/900797527 I really liked the advice to "be the logic" for students. Sometimes students need someone to help them think outside the box and break things down to make them more manageable. The same article talked about how "avoidance is a brain-based reaction to stress" (Helping Ease Student Anxiety). I have a son that definitely faces stress this way. When he was in the 6th grade, he seized up during a Math EOG test. He didn't know how to work out the answer so he just stopped working. The teacher clocked him on one problem for 1 hour and 15 min -- helpless to suggest to him that he just move on. How did he not know that if you don't know how to work a particular problem, you skip ahead and circle back?! Somehow he missed that concept. Yet, here we are again. This same son has not done well with remote learning. A month into the semester, I logged into PowerSchool and realized that he hadn't turned in a single assignment in any of his classes for two solid weeks. After some discussion, we found out that he'd been overwhelmed by a math unit and so he just stopped -- everything. I wish I'd realized that this could very well be anxiety-based.]]> 2020-11-08 04:39:07 UTC https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/900797527 Jamie Lewis jamie1lewis https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/902014052 We have to be strong support system to our students and even those with anxiety without prior knowledge. I recently have diagnosed myself with anxiety. Yes, I said diagnose myself. I realized I am them and they are me, in connection with my students. I feel their stressors when end up having candid conversations outside of instructions. I think it is needs to be normalized in the school and staff. Some may brush it off something doesn't exist but it needs to cared for like any other diagnosis in my opinion. I do believe if students use their organizers given to them at the beginning of the year can help from being overwhelmed and stressed about assignments. One thing that helps is to not be so structured or planned day each and every minute of class time. Have the time to take a deep breath or explore student interests to lessen the burden on students and get rid of that energy ]]> 2020-11-08 19:00:09 UTC https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/902014052 Hudson Fuller https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/902100252 Teachers can and should model stress reduction and resiliency.  Teaching is a stressful job. I know many teachers who wake up stressed out and are stressed out the rest of the day.  I can’t help but think that there is likely a “trickle-down” effect where this spills over to the students.  All of us need to be mindful of our own stress levels and model managing our own stress and resiliency (and model “embracing the suck.”) 

Teachers can also be mindful of not adding to the stress level of students.  There is a fine balance between having high expectations for students and holding them accountable, and exacerbating their stress and anxiety.  I don’t know where that line is but getting to know students is the key to knowing where it lies for each student.  

One of the articles mentioned don’t use words like “calm down,” as the student may not have the skills to do that. I also think it is fairly insulting to say that to someone especially since we don’t know what the other person is experiencing.  I think what is better is to say something like “I can see you are anxious/angry/nervous/upset but I can’t help unless I understand what you are saying so how about taking a few minutes to breathe deeply and then we can figure this out.”

Teachers can use active listening and then reflection for e.g.  “I can see this is causing you a great deal of stress.  Is there a way that we can figure out how to do this so it doesn’t feel so scary?”  Don't try to convince them that it is not scary (because it is to them) but instead offer a helping hand to get through it (and then hopefully the next time won't be so tough, and the time after that will be even easier). 

One of the articles mentioned that students who are experiencing anxiety might ask to go to the bathroom a lot.  This resonated with me because this is something my son did in 5th grade.  I did not know this was going on until a parent-teacher conference when the teacher told me that I needed to tell my son not to ask to go to the bathroom so much. When I talked to my son, he told me that she would not allow anyone to go to the bathroom and that they could only use the bathroom at recess.  This made him even more stressed out because he was sure that he would have an accident and be humiliated. She had no examples that he had ever actually misbehaved in the hallway or the bathroom or lied about having to go - she was just “tired of him asking all the time.” I had to actually get a doctor’s note and fight to get him an "accommodation" so he could go to the bathroom if he asked.  And guess what?  Once he knew he could go if he needed to, he rarely ever needed to go again during class.  I am still kind of angry about this. Empathy would have gone a long way here. 


]]> 2020-11-08 20:05:57 UTC https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/902100252 Jessica Shermer shermerj https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/902495033 In one of the articles I read, one of the strategies was to talk openly about anxiety. I feel this is important for our students to understand that every individual experiences anxiety on some level at some point. I also agree we must be mindful of how we model our own anxiety in the classroom, "Embrace the suck". Maybe ask our students what they need from me to help alleviate their anxiety. I believe we should incorporate strategies that student's can use to help with anxiety/stress. My son's Chemistry teacher this semester has a section on her Canvas page that is a virtual classroom page that is labeled "Mind Break", it is a page that they can access multiple different websites when they need a mind break. Some of which include, breathing exercises, getting up to move videos, stretching videos, mind puzzles, etc. I saw this the other day when I was helping him with an assignment  and how brilliant is that for our students to have access to different methods they can use during this strange time for education/learning. 

]]> 2020-11-09 01:25:44 UTC https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/902495033 Megan Pleasant https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/911218372 I thought the breathing techniques mentioned in one of the articles was a great idea. With school days being so hectic, taking just a few minutes to recenter and relax is a great way to let students have a "me" moment. They can take the concept and do it on their own when they need it to calm down. I also liked the idea of being open and talking about anxiety. Letting kids know that they aren't alone, that their peers and even their teachers experience anxiety, can bring about a sense of relief. It lets them know that it's OK to ask for help if they need it. Lastly, giving students time to exercise or even take a walk helps raise their endorphins and gives them an opportunity to clear their heads. Just having a few minutes to take a break can make all the difference. 

]]> 2020-11-11 01:56:36 UTC https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/911218372 Steven Meier meiersc https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/912908822 I liked the small breaks in class and the “walk and talk” ideas the best. I have had issues with anxiety all of my life. To my detriment, I was one of those kids who tried to hide it. Breaks for the whole class to unwind and take the focus off a stressful situation would be helpful. Taking walks and talking about stressors with the teacher or counselor sounds amazing. I think that would have worked for me. The idea of individual accommodations in extreme cases is also important. Not all students respond the same to stressors and may need additional help. It is up to us as educators to know the signs so we can get proper intervention for the student. The other idea of educating the students about what anxiety is and its manifestations would be really helpful, because some students may not understand why they feel the way do. Anxiety is a tough subject for me, but at least I know many of the signs and how it affects students.]]> 2020-11-11 14:29:27 UTC https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/912908822 Chandler Grindstaff https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/918755946 The first thing I feel we have to do for our students dealing with anxiety is to put ourselves in their shoes. I thought the video we watched for the Flipgrid did a good job of getting us to somewhat see this and try to realize exactly what is causing a student to feel anxious by making us think back to things that used to build up anxiety in our lives when we were their age. 

The first thing from these readings that I really appreciated was taking a breath and taking a break. Sometimes helping students who are dealing with anxiety can be as simple as giving them a 5 or 10 minute break from working on an assignment to be able to give their brains a rest. 

Another thing I found helpful was making sure that students know they can openly speak about their anxieties with you whenever they need to. The hardest thing for me dealing with anxiety was always trying to deal with things on my own and never asking for help or talking to someone about what was stressing me out. Open conversations used as an outlet can be a great way to fight the stresses that follow anxiety. ]]> 2020-11-12 22:53:58 UTC https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/918755946 Shannon Burroughs https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/919232392 Anxiety is ever present in young adolescents. My favorite piece of advice that the articles gave was that we need to teach students how to deal with their anxiety and find ways to cope with the stressors in their life. I think this is an important life skill that will benefit all students in the long run. Teaching students about anxiety and giving them the ability to name the emotion is a powerful tool. Also being honest with students about our own fears and anxieties can normalize this emotion and allow students to not feel so alienated in their struggles. That being said, we need to be positive role models for students when doing so. CBT and mindfulness are other great ways to teach students how to cope. I really liked the idea of incorporating movement and mental breaks into students' daily routines to allow for them to have a break from their stressors. I also appreciated the importance of giving students perspective. How can students turn a stressor into something more positive, or how can we help a student work through anxiety to realize that the reality of what can happen isn’t nearly as bad as what we can imagine? As educators we n]]> 2020-11-13 03:47:06 UTC https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/919232392 Jordan Justice justicej11 https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/923112227 As a high school math teacher, I see anxiety often in my classroom and some of the strategies mentioned in these articles would be of great help for my students. The article by Karen Nelson, "10 ways to Help Students Who Struggle with Anxiety" mentioned that we should make discussing anxiety a normal practice in our classroom. Many of the classes I teach have high-stakes testing and this is a source of a lot of anxiety for many of my students. I think that talking with students about how anxiety is a natural response to stress and uncomfortable situations. I also think that we have to allow space for students to cope with anxiety in our classrooms. In the article by Nelson, she also mentioned getting students breathing deeply and moving actually helps to calm their brain processes, allowing them to better cope with anxious thoughts. I think that ultimately, teacher must be aware of their students behaviors and look for signs that a student may be struggling with anxiety, and then teachers must then address it and help our students be successful in the classroom. ]]> 2020-11-14 18:41:44 UTC https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/923112227 Greg Horesovsky horesovskygj https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/924875410 I often see anxiety in my students (and in myself).   I have learned some breathing techniques that alleviate anxiety and are really pretty easy to employ in the classroom, particularly before an exam.  The ability for students to get up and move about the room also helps-  I am working on creating different reading areas in my classroom to accomodate this.
I also am very open about my anxiety and that seems to help students understand that there is nothing "wrong" with them, and that one can develop strong coping mechanisms.]]> 2020-11-15 18:04:25 UTC https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/924875410 Brandon Joyner mr_joyner1 https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/925224284 There are many ways to ease anxiety. The main thing is finding what works for that individual student. In order to do that you sometimes have to try multiple techniques. I teach high school. For older students, they need more individualized accommodations.  Some kids don't test well due to stress. In order to help with this you should accommodate to their needs to create a fair and equitable testing situation. Also the gratitude journal sounds like a great activity to keep kids positive. Ending the day on a good note can help adapt and handle stress. ]]> 2020-11-15 22:07:50 UTC https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/925224284 Laura Phillips https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/925519329 One of the articles mentioned that when you experience a moment of anxiety your IQ drops by 13-20 points. In school, a moment of anxiety over not being able to convey your thoughts or remember how to solve a problem is going to be made much worse by this drop in cognitive ability. As such, my favorite suggestion made for easing student anxiety was to give them cognitive activities such as a sudoku to complete in order to boost confidence, take a break, and align their thoughts. 
In high school, I had a teacher (Mr. Fitzsimmons) and before a test he would make us all do deep breathing exercises. He would also pay attention to the behavior of the class during the test and if he noticed that a lot of us seemed stressed out, he would stop us and take a moment to distract us, let us take a break, and then get back on track. I think that making students aware of and being aware of their body language ourselves, and teaching these self-regulating methods can also help ease student anxiety.]]> 2020-11-16 02:05:36 UTC https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/925519329 Kricia Diaz hhhnfxrhv8 https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/925765962 I believe starting the day out in a relaxed, comforting way can help. Our students come in the morning and breakfast is served in the classrooms. They have a chance to eat and relax and start the day off not in a rush.
Going slow and being understanding can also help with the technology we're using in classrooms now. One day, I saw a child with tears, and she isn't normally so emotional. Her iPad wouldn't load her specials class, and she just lost it. Even after getting her logged in, she was still tearful and it took a trip down the hallway and back to reset her mind. She came back in several minutes refreshed and ready to work.
So yes, taking that break, or getting exercise, preferably outside, can shift the focus onto something other than themselves and whatever pressure they feel in the classroom. 
Also, being understanding when they've forgotten their book bag, or didn't have their folder signed, goes a long ways in promoting a feeling of safety.]]> 2020-11-16 04:56:10 UTC https://padlet.com/essickep/n0fvq5jdpnhf3wxw/wish/925765962