Stress Management
Stress is an enemy of learning. People experiencing trauma and stress can actually suffer short-term memory loss and have difficulty with long-term memory retrieval. In addition to encouraging students to use stress-reducing techniques on their own, such as getting enough sleep, or simply building stretch time to break up long stretches of video gaming, scrolling, reading assignments or more, here are practices you can use.
Quick activities that can reduce stress in the classroom
- Stretching or any kind of movement, arm swings, neck rolls, anything …
- Ask students to listen closely to a sound or observe an image for a minute
- Write, Crumple, Toss:
- Ask students to write for two minutes, physically with a pen or pencil on a loose sheet of paper, to get down all the stuff they’re worried about,
- then ask them to dramatically crumple it up and,
- with you holding the recycle bin in front of the room, ask them to stand and toss the paper in.
Some will hit you in the head and everyone will laugh. It’s a simple exercise that accomplishes multiple things: writing it all out is grounding and centering, it’s very physical, and laughter naturally reduces cortisol.
- Freewriting: Ask students to write continuously, without stopping to fix grammar, spelling, etc., for a predetermined amount of time, around two to three minutes. Prompts can be based on a specific question unrelated to course content, more general or by asking students to incorporate a specific word.
Activities that can reduce stress while connecting to course content
- Freewriting: Same as above but prompts connect to the discussion, activity, reading, etc.
- Journaling: Ask students to write (usually a paragraph or two) from a first-person perspective. Students sometimes benefit from more structured experience; for example, using their journal to address a specific prompt.
- Read a short text out loud in class. After the reading, ask students to contemplate – rather than think about – it, letting the words float in their minds. Then read the same text again. Ask students to write or draw a response or reflection. You can, if you want, read the text a third time, slowly and out loud, followed by silent sitting.
Some additional information to provide to students
How to: Time Management (managing time effectively can reduce stress)
The Perils of Multitasking (avoiding multitasking will reduce stress)
Activities students can do on their own
- Sit in a supportive chair, feet on the ground, and breathe in for a count of 5 and then out for a count of 8.
- Sit and just listen to sounds in the room (encourage them to set a timer)
- Journaling: There are many ways for students to approach this, but basically it’s writing down one’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences. They can try freewriting whatever comes to mind, or write using a specific prompt (some examples of prompts here).
- Encourage students to engage in any kind of physical activity, especially exercise. It’s a known stress reducer and actually contributes to better memory! Exercise done a short time after a learning activity promotes deeper learning and memory.