What Works: Anxiety Approaches from Your Peers
By ISCA School Counselors | December 2019
At Central Elementary in Beech Grove, we use a variety of mindfulness interventions. Our most
important mindfulness intervention is that every homeroom teacher leads three mindfulness
practices a day. We use a program called Calm Classroom. The teachers use focusing chimes
and lead a practice from the manual with each rotation of students. We also have a
Mindful Moment Room (MMR). Last school year we saw a 30 percent decrease in office referrals and a 51 percent decrease in suspensions. In addition, 82 percent of the teachers reported last school year that students seemed calmer and 96 percent of the teachers perceived that their students were more engaged in learning after a mindfulness practice. This approach also had benefits for the teachers: 100 percent reported that they have been able to manage their own level of stress more effectively with the mindfulness practices.
Trudi Wolfe, Central Elementary, Beech Grove
I start all my lessons with a mindful moment where we practice breathing and stretches, so the students all know how to use the space effectively. I keep a record of all visits with name, time of day, and we use the Zones of Regulation to indicate affect before and after the visit, so I have great data to show its effectiveness. Taking a mindful moment has become part of the culture of our building and many of my teachers have created a mindful corner in their classrooms for convenience. One of my teachers got some troubling news in the middle of the day last week and she opted to use the mindful space to regulate herself. We will be remodeling our building next year and the first question from many of my staff was, “Where will the mindful space be?”
Laura Samide, Maple Elementary, Avon
As a school, we are engaging in a 15-minute circle time meeting during first period advisory on Monday mornings where each person shares something positive that has happened or that they are excited about. This has helped students feel more confident and relaxed about starting their week. During our classroom lessons, we also go over different breathing and relaxation techniques to help our students prepare for tests and help with anxiety. We practice the techniques in the classroom and will play a Kahoot game at the end of the lesson to check for understanding. We also conduct pre- and post-tests.
Lydia McNeiley, Scott Middle School, Hammond
In our annual needs assessment, our counseling department identifies areas where students are struggling and gaps in our counseling programs. Of the 450 respondents to last year’s survey, 63 percent said that they needed help dealing with anxiety and 72 percent said that they need help dealing with stress. We developed Wellness Wednesday to address this need.
Every Wednesday, the counseling department hosts an activity during the enrichment/remediation period that all students can sign up to attend. We choose the activities to help our students develop skills to manage stress and anxiety. The goal is to improve the well-being of our students by giving them positive strategies to cope with stress and anxiety. Wellness Wednesday activities include: deep breathing, visualization exercises, aromatherapy, progressive muscle relaxation, coloring books, make your own stress ball, make your own calm-down jar, jigsaw puzzles, collages/scrapbooking, make your own worry stone, journaling, yoga, painting, play-doh and using sensory objects.
We distributed a survey via Google forms after each Wellness Wednesday event. Student feedback and findings included:
important mindfulness intervention is that every homeroom teacher leads three mindfulness
practices a day. We use a program called Calm Classroom. The teachers use focusing chimes
and lead a practice from the manual with each rotation of students. We also have a
Mindful Moment Room (MMR). Last school year we saw a 30 percent decrease in office referrals and a 51 percent decrease in suspensions. In addition, 82 percent of the teachers reported last school year that students seemed calmer and 96 percent of the teachers perceived that their students were more engaged in learning after a mindfulness practice. This approach also had benefits for the teachers: 100 percent reported that they have been able to manage their own level of stress more effectively with the mindfulness practices.
Trudi Wolfe, Central Elementary, Beech Grove
I start all my lessons with a mindful moment where we practice breathing and stretches, so the students all know how to use the space effectively. I keep a record of all visits with name, time of day, and we use the Zones of Regulation to indicate affect before and after the visit, so I have great data to show its effectiveness. Taking a mindful moment has become part of the culture of our building and many of my teachers have created a mindful corner in their classrooms for convenience. One of my teachers got some troubling news in the middle of the day last week and she opted to use the mindful space to regulate herself. We will be remodeling our building next year and the first question from many of my staff was, “Where will the mindful space be?”
Laura Samide, Maple Elementary, Avon
As a school, we are engaging in a 15-minute circle time meeting during first period advisory on Monday mornings where each person shares something positive that has happened or that they are excited about. This has helped students feel more confident and relaxed about starting their week. During our classroom lessons, we also go over different breathing and relaxation techniques to help our students prepare for tests and help with anxiety. We practice the techniques in the classroom and will play a Kahoot game at the end of the lesson to check for understanding. We also conduct pre- and post-tests.
Lydia McNeiley, Scott Middle School, Hammond
In our annual needs assessment, our counseling department identifies areas where students are struggling and gaps in our counseling programs. Of the 450 respondents to last year’s survey, 63 percent said that they needed help dealing with anxiety and 72 percent said that they need help dealing with stress. We developed Wellness Wednesday to address this need.
Every Wednesday, the counseling department hosts an activity during the enrichment/remediation period that all students can sign up to attend. We choose the activities to help our students develop skills to manage stress and anxiety. The goal is to improve the well-being of our students by giving them positive strategies to cope with stress and anxiety. Wellness Wednesday activities include: deep breathing, visualization exercises, aromatherapy, progressive muscle relaxation, coloring books, make your own stress ball, make your own calm-down jar, jigsaw puzzles, collages/scrapbooking, make your own worry stone, journaling, yoga, painting, play-doh and using sensory objects.
We distributed a survey via Google forms after each Wellness Wednesday event. Student feedback and findings included:
- 75 percent of participants said that participating in the activity helped them to reduce their stress level.
- 76 percent of participants said that they learned something new
- “How to relax and reduce my stress and anxiety level using progressive muscle relaxation.”
- “I should take close my eyes and take deep breaths more often to release some stress and my anxiety.”
- “Gardening can release endorphins which make you feel good.”
- “Don't worry about every little thing when you should focus on the bigger picture.”