When introducing a new topic of learning, especially in math, I notice the anxiety levels in some students rise significantly. The more anxious students in my class begin to fidget and look uncomfortable when they see something unfamiliar because it falls outside of their comfort zone for known success.
These students are afraid to try and fail; since school is all about introducing new concepts and embracing the learning process, this is quite a problem. Here are some strategies I use in class to help with anxious students:
Use the phrase “What do you notice?”
Sometimes I project images of a new math concept on the board, and simply ask students to tell me what they notice. There is no wrong answer, and it promotes a very close study of the information. Sometimes we are silly and pretend that the teacher isn’t here to explain what to do, so we have to figure it all out on our own; we use this discussion as a fun puzzle that we are all decoding together for fun.
We celebrate success once we’ve figured out what to do! I also let students know that it is alright to say “pass” when called on if they don’t feel comfortable answering; I still remember being in high school and paying very little attention to the lessons because I knew I’d be called on unexpectedly to read aloud, and I was anxious!
Talk about mistakes as no big deal
At the beginning of the year I recount stories of times when I’ve made mistakes, how I dealt with it, and my attitude towards making mistakes. I invite students to tell me about mistakes they’ve made, and how it felt, so we can all find common ground and realize everyone experiences similar feelings.
At the end of the discussion, we make a deal: I won’t be upset when they make mistakes, so long as they won’t be upset with me when I make mistakes. They find this amusing and it’s very powerful.
Talk about the process of tackling new things
I like to tell my students about when I bought a new electronic gadget and felt overwhelmed when I first looked at the manual! We talk about how when we see something new and unfamiliar, our brains might “freak out a bit” and our tummies might feel funny, but that’s normal and perfectly okay.
The important part is: that’s not the end of the story! We just let those feelings pass, and then move on. Ask ourselves “What do I notice? Can I just look at one small part first to start? Are there examples? Does it remind me of something I’ve seen before? Can I take a guess at it?”
Incorporate mindfulness lessons
Our staff was trained in Mindfulness Strategies several years ago, and we use the Mind Up program founded by Goldie Hawn. There are many programs out there, and most allow students to be introduced to and practice mindful breathing, self awareness, and strategies to reduce their anxiety and focus on lessons.
The program we use is directly tied to research in cognitive neuroscience, and allows students the opportunity to regulate their own physiology. It happens to be great for the teacher as well!
Provide time to collaborate in small groups
Working with a small group or partner can be a big relief for anxious students. They often need time to watch others begin the process before they feel comfortable contributing. It is worth putting some thought into the makeup of the group as well, and keep that grouping for more than one session.
Having said that, I also like to provide time each day for quiet solitary work, usually with some quiet music playing. Students seem to really enjoy this time, and I can honestly say it’s one of my favorite times of the day as well!
Low Stress Assessment
Even though this isn’t technically introducing a new concept, testing can also be very stressful when students are afraid of making mistakes. If I am introducing new text during Guided Reading lessons, or other individual testing such as sight words, I try to find unique ways to lower stress.
One of the most effective strategies is to not hover over students. We all know how it feels to have someone watch every word they decode and that stressful silence when they aren’t sure of the word.
In those cases, I pretend that I’m barely paying attention. I look through some papers as they read and inconspicuously take a running record.
Another way I lower stress is to read along and make lots of comments, jokes or questions as we read along, so they are engaged by the conversation and distracted from that “testing” feeling.
A third way is to really think outside of the box and make testing interactive, such as hopping along a path of sight words to read.
I hope these ideas will be of help to you when introducing new ideas and working with anxious students. I’d love to hear your strategies as well!
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I use class puppets that try things out on the board before we do our lessons. I ask the students to help the puppets by being kind with comments if they make a mistake. I ask the kids to help the puppets think of a way for the puppets to fix their mistakes. I also always make sure they know I do not get mad at mistakes and remind them that mistakes just show me what I need to teach better so they understand more.
So important that they know not to be afraid of mistakes! Thank you!
Check out Roy leightons learning line- all about supporting children in recognising the emotion in learning and how to deal with it. Is fantastic for dialogue in the classroom with all children but particularly with anxious learners, or children who give up easily
I will check it out for sure – thank you!
It’s a wonderful concept, filled with amazing ideas and lots of creativity. Thanks.
Thank you – I hope it helps!
This is a great post!!!! I am a bit of a nail biter too, so I would have loved to have been in your classroom.
I remind kids that we all were babies once & didn’t know how to walk. We pulled ourselves up, tried a step, then, BAM! Down on the Pampers! But we kept trying. They think that’s hilarious! 🙃
That’s wonderful! Humor is so good for anxiety. : )
Hi, I’m an accidental home schooling Mum of a very anxious child, so much so he had to be taken out of school at 5yrs. My husband and I have had the job of rebuilding him after some horrendous school experiences. I found I first had to teach him to draw – sounds weird right! I reintroduced shapes and got him to look at the world around him in shapes and he found the confidence to draw again and from this I know I could rebuild him. I am a holistic teacher (previously taught in TAFE) so we integrate assessment pieces eg draw a picture (he was only interested in science; as this was the only area not sabotaged at school) and label it!
Maths – Collect, sort, count and group in eg 4 leaves, rocks, flowers, seed pods etc – so we collect 100 items and then sort them x characteristics, count these and then group them again, eg if there is 12 then sort 10+2, 6+6, 2×6, 4×3 etc
For sight words – the thing we struggle most with (this & reading was where he was abused), we do sight word pop! I get packing air pillows and I write the sight words on he most struggles with – usually pick 4 he struggles with, 2 he is not confident on and 4 he knows well and when he gets them correct he can pop them. We are now moving to me spelling, him writing and he says the word and pops it. If he cannot get the word we work on ways to remember it – if we can sound it or not etc. Then he pops it – but he has to work to pop it. Hide and seek words is fun too; hide words on paper.
We also make a spinning wheel and he flicks the paperclip and has to say the word – we are now writing again after 6mths of total disengagement.
Reading – he would not even let me open a book so I had to leave books alone for 3 months but when he wanted to know something I would pull out a book and find the “answer” Soon I could read to him, then he read one word per page, one sentence, alternate reading of sentences and now he is back on track, in fact ahead 🙂 Unfortunately I can still hear the chocking inside when he reads to me.
Build, support and reward verbally and consistently is the key, make it fun, teach holistically and we too, often use pets, puppets and visitors to lighten the atmosphere of schooling. He is now 6 1/2yrs and I can finally say after nearly 14months, I think I’m getting somewhere. I have to say too, we couldn’t play music – he used to like music, and in the last month we stumbled on ….Buddhist meditation music – works amazingly well to calm him. We have also tried underwater sounds of dolphins and whales was liked but didn’t work and delta tones sleep music would, to a degree, calm him so he could undertake a task.
Anxiety often turns to frustration and anger so we try very hard to provide an environment in which he is not frustrated reiterating we love him and are here to support and help him. We make a bigger deal when we make a mistake to show him we are not perfect. Kids love it when you make a mistake and take the micky out of yourself or pull a funny face!
I love your post thank you…sorry for the essay, I don’t expect you to publish, just wanted to share.
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences! It is so very hard to see our children suffer and you’ve done an amazing job finding new ways and resources to help your child. I think mindfulness is a great way to go, and I love the idea of the music and dolphin sounds. I will remember all of this when I am working with my anxious students. Thank you for such dedication and sharing your insight – your ideas here may help many people who are drawn to this post. Best wishes!