Decreasing Anxiety …Increasing Engagement

How to incorporate Social and Emotional Literacy in the classroom to increase student success.

Teachers Learning and Leadership Program (TLLP)

“Our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength.”

~Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Our Team:

Whitefish Valley Public School – 475-3181

Keri Kelly – Grade 2/3 Teacher (keri_kelly@lakehead schools.ca)

Tammy Holmes – Educational Assistant (tammy_holmes@lakeheadschools.ca)

Sherri Lankinen – Grade 5 Teacher (sherri_lankinen@lakeheadschools.ca

Darryl Fawcett – Grade 3/4 Teacher (darryl_fawcett@lakeheadschools.ca)

Goals of this Kit

• be more aware of the characteristics of childhood anxiety;

• identify evidence-based strategies used in the classroom for reducing anxiety;

• have a place to collect information or resources that pertain to Social and Emotional Learning for students and teachers

“If there is anything that we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.”~Carl Jung

“Anxiety … (lowers) our functional I.Q.  Being alarmed affects our ability to focus and to remember.  Anxiety makes it difficult to read the cues and follow directions.  A child simply cannot learn when feeling lost and alarmed.”

~Gabor Mate and Gordon Neufeld Hold Onto Your Kids

Characteristics of Anxiety

• Strong sense of responsibility

• Need to please others

• Oversensitivity to criticism

• Perfectionism

• Overachievement or low achievement

• Tendency to worry

Dr. B. Duncan McKinlay

Key Messages:

Click on the picture above to go to the CPRI website – FAQ about anxiety disorders and other mental health issues facing students

Click CPRI logo to go to a video of Dr. McKinlay

*You are not your disorder.

*Those with the right information, the right attitude, the willingness to educate others, and the support of knowledgeable people around them can be very happy and successful people – no matter HOW severe their symptoms are!

"Of great concern to many researchers is the fact that childhood anxiety often precedes other mental illnesses including depression, substance abuse, obsessive-compulsive disorder and other internalizing conditions.”

~Statistics Canada, 2004; Bienvenu & Ginsburg, 2007; Barrett, Lock & Farrell, 2005.

Alarming Statistics

• Suicide accounts for 24% of all deaths among 15-24 year olds (it is the second leading cause of death for this age group)

• 90% of people who die by suicide have a diagnosable mental illness.

• Half of all lifetime cases of diagnosable mental illness begin before age 14...

• Mental-health problems in children are expected to increase by 50 per cent by 2020.

• Seventy per cent of childhood mental-health problems can be solved through prevention, early diagnosis and intervention.

The Toolkit

Gabor Mate – Creating Empathy and Establishing Attachment

(Rapport)

“What we call “temper” is only an automatic anxiety response. It is the reaction of a person who cannot tolerate the feeling of anxiety. Self-regulation is not the absence of anxiety … but a person’s ability to tolerate (his) her own anxiety.”

~Gabor Mate Scattered Minds

Key Messages

Ross Greene – Developing Positive Communication

Lost at School – Collaborative Problem Solving

Key Messages:

“Kids do well if they can.”

~Dr. Ross Greene

*Click each book to see examples of Collaborative Problem Solving (livesinthebalance.org)

A child is likely to misbehave “when the demands being placed on a kid exceed his capacity to respond adaptively.”

~Dr. Ross Greene

Read Alouds to Increase Emotional Literacy

• The Way I Feel (Primary)

• A Teaspoon of Courage (Junior)

• Hot Stones and Funny Bones (Intermediate)

"Emotional literacy is one of the best predictors of school performance and career success ..."Christine Carter "Introduction: Emotional Literacy and Raising Happy Kids" - Oct. 2007 University of California Berkeley

Key Messages:

Brain Based ExerciseThe Smart Fitness Workout

Key Messages:

Exercise helps the body get rid of excess adrenaline and increases the natural brain chemicals called endorphins. Endorphins help create that feel good feeling and sense of well being.

For example, the exercise “Cross crawl” stimulates movement between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. It helps reduce anxiety and prepares the brain for optimal learning.

Anxiety Interventions

Relaxation Techniques

Research shows that relaxation techniques, like deep breathing, increase energy and focus, heighten problem-solving and boost motivation and productivity.

Social Stories, Bit Strips and Other Programs

• http://www.bitstripsforschools.com/login/

*Click on picture to go to website

We have a board license for this program. Your IST can give your login and password.

1000

- 698

999 +1

-698

“No matter who you are, be different sometimes.”

~Marian Small