anxiety Archives - Whimsy Workshop Teaching

Books That Teach Friendship and Social Skills

September 17, 2017 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching Leave a Comment

Our class spends a LOT of time learning social skills, problem solving, friendship and conflict resolution. This helps to create a peaceful environment where learning can thrive, and we do not have to spend the majority of our time solving interpersonal conflicts. We use interactive lessons from The Kindness Classroom SEL curriculum, along with many of the books listed below to reinforce concepts.

Click on any cover to see details of the story.

Llama Llama Time To Share by Anna Dewdney

Franklin Plays the [Read More…]

Strategies for Teaching New Concepts To Anxious Students

September 11, 2015 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching 12 Comments

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 [Read More…]

Time Tested Early Literacy Strategies

July 1, 2015 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching Leave a Comment

Does your early literacy time sound like this:

Teacher, how to you spell….?
“What does this word say?

When early readers hear the answer “Just sound it out”, do they really know what you are talking about?

Do they know what that means?

How can we support them further with the risk-taking involved in early reading strategies?

So many students feel anxiety when left on their own to read, and as we know, this anxiety greatly impedes their ability to process information and focus.

Over the last [Read More…]