Reduce Student Anxiety


Middle School student anxiety seems to be on the rise.  How can teachers help?  #ideas #tips #teaching #learning


Is it just me or do diagnoses of anxiety seem to be on the rise?  I started to really think about this when I realized just how many of my students and my colleagues' students had this diagnosis.

And then I began to wonder - with so many students with anxiety, what can I do to help?

Well first of all, why are students anxious?  Mainly they are unsure if they are able to do what is expected.  But if they always know what is expected...

And then it hit me - predictable routines and signals!  As it turns out, a lot of people don't realize how important they are to students in fulfilling their basic needs thus thwarting anxiety.

1.  Students need to know what to do immediately.
Left to guess what's going on, students feel anxious.  But what does "immediately" really mean?  For me, this means that every day when students come in, they know that we start with journal writing.  There's a prompt on Monday and we write for 5 minutes Monday-Thursday.  In fact, once the bell rings, I set a timer.  By Friday, the students have to have the page filled and we complete a "Journal Jam" where students display some knowledge about their journals while "jamming out" to an upbeat song.

2.  Students need to know the expectations.
Rules are important so that students feel safe, but it's not just about rules.  This also means that all papers have a home.  A labeled home that will keep their work safe.  Plus there's a home for the pencil sharpener complete with tissues and hand sanitizer and other supplies for students that make students feel like the classroom is a safe place.  There's also book nook with a checkout and tables for centers so that students know we do more than just sit at our desks.

Communicate expectations with an organized class that has a safe "home" for everyone and everything!  #anxietytips #anxietyideas #teaching #learnin


3.  Students need a visual reminder of the day's activities 
Why?  So they don't have to rely on oral directions only.  Sometimes, they're nervous and forget what was said.  This is especially important for students learning English and students with special needs.  This means every day's agenda is on the board complete with due dates even if it is on the computer. 
(Some of us are new at this digital thing.)  

4.  Students need procedures.
Procedures communicate that you are in control and that there is an order to your classroom.  Important facets of procedures are the answers to the following questions:  
  • How does the class enter? (I greet students at the door and they stop by and pick up their notebook on the way to their seat.) 
  • How does the class exit?  (I dismiss by rows and they exit to the rear of the classroom so they can drop off their notebook or papers on the way out.)  
  • How do you get the students' attention?  (I use a verbal and hand countdown from 5.) 
  • And what about the restroom?

Friends, let me share my best anxiety reducing tip:  I don't make going to the restroom a thing.  As long as I am not actively teaching, students put their name on a corner of the board so we can see whose turn it is to go to the restroom, and then when it's a person's turn, he/she signs out on the clipboard.  When he/she comes back, he/she signs in, erases his/her name and tells the next person it's his/her turn.  It's all handled by the students and no one has to worry about when or if their opportunity will come to use the restroom.  Would you believe that some students have told me that my class is the only chance they really get to go to the restroom without pressure all day?  I do believe it and that's not the way I would want to be treated as a student or as an adult.

And in the end, maybe a lot of this (or all of this?) boils down to this very concept:  To treat the students the way you would want to be treated.  Think of the times you were in a class or workshop or professional development and felt that expectations, procedures or the schedule were unclear.  You probably had a hard time taking in whatever was being presented because you were uncomfortable - or anxious.  Sometimes we really do need to walk a mile in someone else's moccasins.


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