Reducing stress
We know that chronic stress is harmful, especially when coupled with a feeling of having no control over what is causing the stress.
We know that chronic stress is especially harmful to growing minds and bodies. (Bear in mind that this phase encompasses birth to around 20 years of age.)
We also know that for many kids, school is a chronically stressful place. This is especially true in the last few years of school.
So, perhaps it’s worth considering what causes stress for your learners.
Go through your roll and see if you can list the causes for each kid. Think about when you’ve seen them shrink a little bit, perhaps out of fear or anxiety, avoidance or incompletion.
Once you’ve made that list, see if there are some changes you can make to what you do that might help reduce the stress. Is the scheduling too tight and fast-paced? Do you need to use language differently? Can you give them more control over their learning?
Because it occurs to me that if we want learning that sticks, which only happens when a brain is open and not chronically stressed, we must minimise the stress our kids experience.