Today, more than ever, our students are experiencing significant amounts of stress at school and home. Whether it is extracurricular activities, classwork, after school jobs, family life, or peer interactions, our boys and girls are loaded down with responsibilities and stress. Sometimes, it’s difficult for kids and teens to dissipate stress which can obviously interfere with their learning and wellbeing in and out of the classroom. Even on those days where it seems impossible to squeeze in one more obligation or standard into our lessons, it’s imperative we teach students stress relievers to help them function and find joy in learning. No matter what level you teach, all students need to find effective ways to manage stress.
Please scroll through the following list of top school stress relievers for students that are relatively simple, appropriate, and adaptable to any grade level:
A healthy way for students to beat stress is to get plenty of exercise. In our classrooms, we can adjust our schedules to include regular movement. This can be as simple as doing stretches and yoga in opening, scheduling enough recess time, taking “brain breaks” with action songs or stretches, implementing a “walking club” before school, or asking administration to build sufficient physical education into daily schedules. In addition, we can encourage students to walk or ride their bikes to school....