Students and Stress

by Dr. Mickey Wircenski

CTE Project Director

 

Stress is a large part of all of our lives…including our students. At a recent conference on Learning and the Brain I came across a wonderful resource entitled Secrets of the Teenage Brain:Research-Based Strategies for Reaching and Teaching Today’s Adolescents by Sheryl Feinstein. It has some wonderful strategies for CTE teachers to use in their classes. Among the most popular are the following: 

1. Assure students that they are not expected to give “all or nothing”. Make comments like “You don’t have to be able to answer every question today correctly,” “It’s okay to review your notes in order to remember what we went over yesterday,” and “I know talking in front of a group isn’t easy.”
2. Use competition carefully: when there is competition, make sure everyone has a chance at some success.
3. Be fair and consistent with evaluation and discipline. Knowing which behaviors are expected and acceptable and believing that equal offenses receive equal consequences reduces stress.
4. Offer academic support outside of the classroom with homework helpers and tutors.
5. Have students rate and chart their personal stress on a scale of one to ten. Quantifying a level of stress can help put it in perspective. Set aside time to journal or talk about the stress in their lives.
6. Encourage students to “play” a favorite song in their heads as a relaxation technique.
7. Have students role-play appropriate behavior for handling future stress. This can act as a cue when they are in a real life anxiety-producing situation.
8. Refer students showing serious signs of stress to a counselor. Students sneed to realize they are not alone and can take advantage of the many services inside and outside the school that provide support and help.
9. Allow some choice in content or process; students want/need to do it their way once in a while.
10. Incorporate writing: Have students write a letter of frustration and then tear it up. They will love the chance to vent.

Source: Feinstein, S. (2009). Secrets of the Teenage Brain:Research-Based Strategies for Reaching and Teaching Today’s Adolescents. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, pp. 92-93.