BY: LeAnn Nickelsen, M.Ed.Maximize Learning, Inc.

www.maximizelearninginc.comlnickelsen@comcast.net

Changing The Stress

From

“UH OH!” to “OH!”

Life is 10% of what happens to you

and

90% of how you respond to it.

1.) What is “stress” and how does it affect our

brain, health, learning and life?

2.) What are the most powerful research-based

strategies to handle life stressors?

3.) What are some of the BEST stress busters for

our students?

W I I F M ? . . .

Write YES or NO next to each question.

1. Would you define your life as CrazyBusy?

2. Do you lose things often?

3. Do you think you are unorganized somewhat?

4. Do you try to do everything yourself?

5. Do you frequently get too little sleep?

6. Do you fail to build time in the day for what you enjoy?

7. Do you fail to set weekly or daily goals of accomplishment?

8. Do you fail to create solutions for the stress that you encounter?

Stress Test:

How Stressed Are You?

Define stress in your

own words.

List 2 stressors in your

life right now (not related

to teaching).

How do you currently

resolve some of your

personal stress?

List 2 of your biggest

stressors this past

school year.

How do you recognize

when you are stressed

out? Symptoms?

How do you currently

resolve some of your

professional stress?

What do you want to

learn about stress? Why

did you attend this

workshop?

What do you know about

stress?

Which stress solutions

do you WISH you would

use and why?

Super Sleuth

Super Sleuth

Topic: The Pond

Son Bus Not

Cat Map Bug

Super SleuthPhonics Fun: Find a friend and brainstorm 2 other words that would be part of

the below word family. A different person for each box.

List 1-2 on-going

themes that you see

within this book. Give

examples to support.

What is the genre of

the book? Prove It.

What feedback would

you give the author of

this book to improve

it?

Why do you think the

author wrote this

book? Give proof.

Who was the main

character in the story?

What was your favorite

part of the book and

why?

Was there a simile,

metaphor, idiom or

onomatopoeia in this

story that made the

text richer in meaning?

Show/Explain

Did you make any

personal connections

within this story?

Where?

What was your favorite

phrase or word choice

from this book? Why?

Super Sleuth

Topic: Narrative

What question(s) do you

have after reading this

passage?

How do you see yourself

using this information in

future situations (family,

friends, school, America)?

What was the main idea of

the passage?

What reading strategies

did you see as helpful

while reading this

passage?

What information had the

biggest impact on your

life?

What did you learn? List

one amazing fact.

Teach a section of what

you read to a student…

(your choice of topic).

Did you have a connection

from this book to share?

What pictures caught your

attention and why?

Super Sleuth

Topic: Reading Non-Fiction

Find someone who has

seen a spiral staircase

before

Find someone who

knows a set of twins

Find someone who has

a zipper on

Find someone who

knows a person by the

name of Watson

Find someone who has

jeans on

Find someone who can

take the first, fifth, and

twentieth letters of the

alphabet and construct

three different words

Find someone who can

name a cell in his or

her body that is

reproducing right now

Find someone who ate

a protein or sugar

today

Find someone who

knows a set of triplets

Super Sleuth

Topic: DNA

Convolute

(kon-vo-loot)

Adj. – To roll one part over

another; to coil

Have you ever been in a

convoluted state? Explain

Imminent

(im e nent)

Adj. – It is about to happen;

esp. about danger or

catastrophe

Can you think of an imminent

event in someone’s (friend or

family) life?

Askew

(E skyoo)

Adj. - To one side; oblique –

slanting

Is there a position in life that

you take on something that is

askew?

Boycott

(boi cot)

V – to refuse to use or buy

Did you ever boycott anything

in your life? Explain.

Coaxing

(ko axe ing)

V – to persuade with flattery

and gentleness; bribery

maybe

Who do you need to coax and

why?

Pungent

(pun jent)

Adj. – sharp to taste or smell;

penetrating

Describe a pungent smell that

you have experienced

recently.

Super Sleuth

VocabularyBOOK: Flipped pp. 117-169.

• Usually negative connotation

• The eye of the beholder

• Can be beneficial

• Discomfort from chronic stress

• Effort of the brain to adapt to a changing environment

• Fear is the root of all stress

What is Stress?

3 - Part Definition of Stress

1. Must be an aroused physiological response to

the stress, and must be measurable by an

outside party.

2. The stressor must be perceived as aversive. (If

you had the ability to turn down the severity of

this experience or avoid it, would you?)

3. The person must not feel in control of the

stressor.

Researchers identified 5 distinct groups of fears in

children and teens:

1. Fear of failure and criticism from adults

2. Fear of the unknown

3. Fear of injury and small animals

4. Fear of danger and death

5. Medical fears

The Research

• Researchers assessed burnout levels of 17

teachers grades 4-7. They assessed levels of

the stress hormone cortisol in their students

(saliva samples – 400 students).

• RESULT: Teachers who experienced higher

levels of burnout reported more stress in their

lives. Their students had much higher levels of

cortisol.

Burned Out?Social Science & Medicine, Vol. 159, June 2016, pages 30-37

Even imagining a

stressful event will

cause the body to

react to the perceived

threat as if it really

happened.

“I have been through some terrible

things in my life, some of which

actually happened.” Mark Twain

Stress can cause a

brain to “downshift”

or to be “emotionally

hijacked” so that

higher level cognition

is shut down.

One of the greatest

predictors of

performance in

school is the

emotional stability of

the home.

• Stress can decrease the amount of gray matter in

the brain and make it more difficult for people to

manage stressful situations in the future. Stress

can shrink the brain cells (Sahlberg, 2012).

•

• Anything that leads to a reduction of connections

among brain cells hurts the brain’s ability to store

information and respond quickly to environmental

needs. (Compas, 2012). Vanderbilt University

Ca

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200

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• Stress (on/off)is healthy for us!

• Distress (chronic) is toxic to our brain and body!

• Reality: Poor children are exposed to: 1) more intense and longer lasting stressors and 2) have fewer coping skills than their higher SES counterparts.

Evans, G.W., Kim P. (2007) Childhood

poverty and health: cumulative risk

exposure and stress dysregulation.

Chronic Stress Effects… T or F?

1. Are much worse in the poor (T or F)(Evans GW, & Kim P. 2012)

2. Foster emotional issues (T or F)(Shonkoff JP & Garner AS, 2012)

3. Can suppress IQ & reading scores (T or F)(Delaney-Black, et al. 2002)

4. Increases Memory loss (T or F)(Lupien, et al. 2001)

5. Causes neuron death (T or F)(De Bellis, et al. 2001)

6. Foster inappropriate attachments (T or F)(Schore, A. 2002)

Shonkoff

JP &

Garn

er

AS;

(2012).

The lifelo

ng e

ffects

of earl

y c

hildhood a

dvers

ity a

nd t

oxic

str

ess. Com

mitte

e o

n P

sychosocia

l Aspects

of

Child

and F

am

ily H

ealth;

Com

mitte

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n E

arl

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hildhood, Adoption, and D

ependent

Care

; Section o

n D

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ehavio

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Pedia

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232-4

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It.

Sources of Chronic Stress1) Experiencing neglect, abuse or trauma

2) Being told what to do, but not HOW to do it

3) Economic, social and health insecurity

4) Being labeled a “minority” or the “out group”

5) Staff that is unwilling to be culturally

responsive with others different than

themselves

6) Micro-aggressions: being judged by skin

color, spoken language or neighborhood

Arnsten AF. (2010) Stress signaling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function

Under High

Stress, Brains

Engage in

Bottom-Up

Decision-

Making

for a More

Reflexive

Strategy

“What were you

thinking?”

Low SES Predicts

Smaller Hippocampus

(in yellow) Using MRIsHanson JL, Chandra A, Wolfe BL, Pollak SD (2011) Association

between Income and the Hippocampus. PLoS ONE 6(5): e18712.

How Your

Brain’s 2

Filters

Choose

Stress

Challenged

or Excited

Greater

Stress

Zola

dz,

P.R

., P

ark

, C.R

. and D

iam

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D.M

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011)

Neuro

bio

logic

al Basis

of

the c

om

ple

x e

ffects

of

str

ess o

n

mem

ory

and s

ynaptic p

lasticity. In

: H

andbook o

n S

tress:

Neuro

psycholo

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of

Str

ess o

n t

he B

rain

, ed.

C.D

.

Conra

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Wiley-B

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ell, 157-1

78.

What Does This Mean?

Stress is always

generated within

you.. It’s never “out

there” (ever)!

Strengthen coping

skills and foster a

sense of control at

work every day or

there’s little chance

of success.

“Is this is the

most important

message of the

program?”

RESEARCH: Those who led low-stress lives and those who led high-stress lives (but didn’t think the stress was bad for them) had almost identical mortality rates.

Those in the third category (high stress with belief that it’s harmful), had a 43% higher risk of dying.

Conclusion: Attitudes and belief systems about the stress appear to be more significant than the actual stressors themselves. By changing your thoughts about stress, you can change your body’s response to this stress.

Good News About Stress

• Crazy 8

• Leg Cross

• Ear to Nose

• Elbow to Knee

• Stayin’ Alive

• LeAnn Loop

Quick Cross Laterals

F O R

Directions:

1. Place on firm surface.

2. Follow directions provided in circle.

3. Repeat until you are anti-stressed or unconscious.

Anti-Stress Kit

Bang Head Here

1. 2.

3. 4. ABCD’s of Stress

A = Activating

B = Beliefs

C = Consequences

D = Dispute the Belief

5. 6.

LeAnn’s Stress Toolbox

Zebras don’t get ulcers because once

the lion is gone, they immediately go

back to their normal lives without even

thinking about the lion.

Source: Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers

By: Robert Sapolsky

The Zebra

• Find your passion!

• When wrapped up into something that is easy

and enjoyable, your inner dialogue switches off

(Daniel Goleman)

• Take time to enjoy life EVERY day!

• Take time to laugh EVERY day.

Find Your Passion

• Anything you commit to paper gets “off-loaded” from your working memory and frees it up to think about other items.

• For six months following an experiment with college students, those who wrote about traumatic events visited the campus health center less often, and used a pain reliever less frequently, than those who wrote about inconsequential matters.

Write About It

(Harvard Medical School: Pennebaker, 2011)

ABCDs of Stress

A = Activating (stressor)

B = Beliefs (perceptions)

C = Consequences (results)

D = Dispute the Belief (change)

Adults:• I must volunteer because nobody else will.

• I must stay up late because I don’t want it to become a

pile.

Students:• To be liked, I better do it.

• I’ll never get into a college if I don’t get an A on this test.

Beliefs that Cause Stress

Is the stressor really a 10? What is a 10? A 10 is

defined differently throughout life’s phases.

Is It a 10?

Visualize yourself using successful strategies or

feeling calm amidst the stressful situation.

Visualize & Breathe

1. 2.

3. 4

5. 6.

Stress Toolbox

Relaxation Techniques

• Deep Breathing

• Stretching or Yoga

• Meditation – 8 weeks of meditation, participants’ brains associated with compassion and self-awareness grew, and parts associated with stress shrank. (Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, January, 2010)

Solutions for Stress

• Song: Weightless

• www.inc.com – whole list of songs

Neuroscience Says Listening to

This Song Reduces Anxiety by

Up to 65 Percent

• Sleeps helps our body recover from the day and

repair itself; helps us focus and be more productive

• Sleep deprivation hits the hippocampus harder than

the amygdala. Results: sleep deprived people fail

to recall pleasant memories yet recall gloomy

memories well.

• Lavender can make you sleep more soundly and

help you feel more energetic the next morning.

• Calcium/Magnesium (2:1 ratio) – natural muscle

relaxer helps you sleep better

• Cherries – natural melatonin

Get Enough Sleep

April 2017

Regular exercise is one of the best stress

busters!

• Exercise dramatically improves the immune function.

• Exercise helps you respond to stress in more positive manners

because of the right mix of neurotransmitters in your system.

• The effect of exercise can last up to 3 days!

• (McEwen, 2002) Japan study – asked several participants to jog

for 30 minutes three days a week. At the end of 12 weeks,

joggers scored 30% higher than the sedentary group on tests of

working memory (the ability to hold information transiently in the

mind). Less physical activity exacerbates the stress response.

Solutions for Stress

3:1

Train Your Thoughts –

Be Positive

Until you have your

thoughts and attitudes

under control, no amount of

knowledge, skill or

medication can help you to

truly detox your ANTs. You

will need courage,

perseverance, and

strategies to confront and

control your thoughts.

1. Parents – practice empathy! “How would I

want my children to describe my attempts to

help them deal with their fears and anxieties?

How would they actually describe me?”

2. Children must feel parents can help them –

they need hope! Optimism is the best antidote

for worry.

Help Children

“Whenever I think (negative thought):

________________________________,

I will stop and think (positive thought):

________________________________.”

Example: “Whenever I think that nobody likes me, I will

stop and think how much my parents love me by reflecting

on the games that we play together.”

Two Sources on Hope

Martin Seligman, Ph.D Carol Dweck, Ph.D

• “I am not stuck the way I have been.”

• “Brains can and do change with experience.”

• “If I change my experiences, I can change my

brain.”

• “How I do is more a function of attitude, effort

and strategy than IQ.”

• “I can learn new things and become a better

learner.”

• “As long as I keep learning from my mistakes, I’ll

get smarter.”

Growth Mindset Scripts

• Gratitude is a chosen attitude (Dr. Emmons – UC David Scientist, author of Thanks!)

• Emmons says that we must be willing to recognize and acknowledge our blessings.

• The more grateful we are, we should see more joy and less stress.

• Emmons found that those who kept a consistent gratitude journal were actually able to raise their level of happiness over time.

• Students who were in better moods received better grades and scored higher on achievement tests.

Attitude of Gratitude

“When we don’t consume the right mix of brain-boosting

nutrients, our brain cells (all 100 billion of them) don’t

function optimally and can even die. The results show

up as a memory loss, reduced ability to think clearly and

quickly, poor concentration, acceleration of the age-

related changes in the brain tissue, reduced ability to

learn and reason, leading to a lowered IQ, and a

dwindling desire to learn.”

Jean Carper – Your Miracle Brain

FOODS Broken Down into Nutrients Create Neurotransmitters Affect the Following:

Digested Such As: Such as: memory

fatty acids serotonin sleep

sugars acetylcholine stress

amino acids dopamine moods

vitamins norepinephrine learning

minerals endorphins disease/sickness

antioxidants glutamate age

energy

These affect which foods you consume.

Blo

od

-Bra

in-B

arr

ier

Nutrient Neurotransmitter State Cycle

How Foods Affect Behavior

Eat proper foods to reduce your stress

• Eat low-fat, complex carbohydrates without a lot of protein

(whole wheat bread with jelly, cereals, granola bar,

oatmeal, etc.)

• Cut back on colas, sugar, and caffeine.

• Take your vitamins and minerals – especially the B

Vitamins.

• Eat more fiber! It keeps

digestive tract happy and

helps absorb toxins and

bacteria and ameliorates

mood swings.

Solutions For Stress

A person feels stressed

Cortisol is excreted from

the adrenal gland

NYP levels increase,

while serotonin level decrease

A person craves and consumes

more carbohydrate rich foods

Serotonin levels rise

Source: Elizabeth Somer: Food and Mood

From Mood to Food and

Back to Mood:

A person feels calm

Soda Stresses the Body

• Yogurt• Colorful berries• Avocados• Bananas• Tea• Swiss chard• Fatty fish• Whole wheat pretzels• Nuts - almonds• Carrots & celery• Milk

Top Foods to Eat

To Decrease Stress Effects

• “What you eat can make things worse or better. A lot of sweets and processed foods with chemicals like trans-fats – anything that increases the load of toxins in your body – can stress the body.”

• Alcohol, caffeine and salt increase stress.

• Eat crunchy foods such as sugar snap peas, nuts and fresh fruit – chewing can help work out aggression.

Certified nutritionist, Kathryn Freidman

Stress & Food

When really stressed, go color and only think

about the coloring!

Other Activities:Peeling potatoes

Mowing the grass

Pulling weeds

Dusting

Playing a game

Just Color!

Unplug!

• In a 2013 study (Rettner; LiveScience), people

who surfed the web or sent a text message

within two hours of going to bed reported

higher levels of stress than those who didn't

engage in these behaviors. Technology before

bed disrupted sleep too.

Solutions to Stress

Get outside in nature!

• Serotonin increases

• Reduces pain and illnesses

• Speeds recovery time

• Scent of grass can calm

• Fresh air is 75% less polluted than indoor air

• Improves working memory

Solutions to Stress

• Provides antioxidants

• Reduces cholesterol and blood pressure

• Improves insulin sensitivity

• Improves mood and pleasure

Eat Dark Chocolate!

It Increases Serotonin And

Endorphin Levels.

Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you

respond to it.

• Visualize your life the way you want it to look. Visualize it often.

• How can you change your view of the stress response?

• What is keeping you from reaching that way of life?

• What can you cut out?

• How can you use your time better so that you have time to do those special things?

• What strategy did you place in

your toolbox?

Oxytocin Release Moment