Teachers coming into a training would be welcomed by soothing music. They will take the Westside Test Anxiety Scale on a device through Google Forms or a paper version. They will hold onto their score for later discussion. Students feel stress from home, standardized testing, and interactions with peers. Many of our students will allow this stress to affect their academic performance. We as educators need to support our students to turn these stressful situations into stories of success and grit. Students with high grit scores are more likely to persevere through difficult tasks to completion. Many of our students lack the emotional regulation to be successful on grueling standardized tests, such as the CAASPP. They become frustrated, overwhelmed, or just plain fatigued. Our job as educators is to supply students with an emotionally empowering toolkit to give them the energy and motivation to be successful when completing difficult tasks. During the Fall, I introduced students to some stress relieving and focusing strategies like taking several deep breaths, going for a quick walk, and taking sips of water. Initially students found these practices to be most helpful in difficult social situations with peers and siblings. In the Spring, I incorporated the Westside Test Anxiety Scale to measure students' stress levels around math tests. For their next math test we did a stress relieving GoNoodle followed by students completing the WTAS. Their scores were marginally lower. Throughout the week I positively reinforce behaviors through ClassDojo. I give points for: helping a struggling classmate, taking deep breaths, teamwork, being on task, participating, and perseverance. My favorite part of the model I've created is the branching Google Form. If a student scores high on the anxiety scale prior to taking a test then they are directed to a calming strategy video from GoNoodle before beginning their test. It's just an extra calming boost to help settle negative nerves. Technology is a powerful tool for education. I found it especially helpful to score and differentiate my student's test anxiety levels. The Google Form helps give instant feedback so teachers can give support where needed. If a student is feeling too tightly wound up then there is no learning happening. While feelings guru is not explicitly in our job description it makes up a huge portion of the day.
3 Comments
Monica Knecht
4/20/2019 06:01:05 pm
Catie,
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Tess Giner
4/21/2019 03:08:17 pm
I would like to know how teachers and administrators scored on the WTAS. We are bombarded constantly with so many responsibilities and changes on a daily basis that I wonder how stressed we all really are. We talk about how to help students through stressful situations, but what can we do for our teachers and principals. A few years ago, I walked in on my principal. He was sobbing at his desk. He was so stressed out, he wanted to quit. As an educational society, we need to do more for our teachers and principals.
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Brandon DeJesus
4/21/2019 04:34:31 pm
Hey Catie,
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Catie GoldsteinInnovative Learning Master's Student. Teacher. Napper. Dog Petter. Archives
June 2019
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