From Stress to Success: Helping Students Master Anxiety

Stress and anxiety affect students in different ways, and as tutors, we can play a key role in helping them feel calm and confident. School anxiety has increased significantly since COVID, making our support more crucial than ever. This month, we're focusing on understanding the spectrum of stress and finding that perfect balance where students can learn and thrive.

The Window of Tolerance

All of us have a window of tolerance. When students are within this window, they are in a state of social engagement, ready to absorb new information and interact positively. But sometimes, they might feel too stressed or too disconnected, placing them outside of their window.

Teaching Stress Resilience

It's important to help students widen their window of tolerance. Stress resilience, much like strengthening a muscle, is built by introducing manageable stressors to gradually enhance their capacity to cope. This can only be achieved on a firm foundation of safety, where students feel engaged, curious, connected, and grounded in lessons.

Good Stress vs Bad Stress

Good stress, or "eustress," motivates and energises students, helping them focus and perform better. Bad stress, or "distress," overwhelms them, leading to anxiety and difficulty concentrating. Students perform best when they have learned to harness good stress and minimise bad stress.

Activating Healthy Stress

Sometimes, a bit of stress can be beneficial, helping students to focus and perform better. Here are some tricks we use to activate healthy stress:

Quizzes: Short quizzes help students stay engaged and test their knowledge.
Testing their knowledge: Encourage students to recall information and apply it in different contexts.
5-min break: Short breaks can refresh and reset focus.
Questions: Asking about their opinions makes the material more relatable.
Link to their interests: Connect lessons to topics they are passionate about.
Stretch: Physical movement can help increase alertness.
Interleaving: Mixing different topics can keep the brain engaged and improve retention.

Deactivating Unhealthy Stress

When students feel overwhelmed, it's essential to help them calm down and return to their window of tolerance. Here are some powerful examples of de-stress tools:

Breathing (longer exhales): Deep breathing with a focus on longer exhales.
Encouragement: Positive reinforcement boosts confidence.
Remind them of a former success: Highlight past achievements to build self-assurance.
Change posture: Physical movement can help release tension.
Break it down: Divide tasks into smaller, manageable steps.
Sit with it: Allow the student to work through the challenge and build familiarity with the process.

Managing Test-Taking Anxiety

Test-taking is particularly stressful for many students. Here are some strategies we recommend to help:

Mock exam situations: Set up a realistic exam-style situation, using a similar setting and timing system.
Timed assessments: This helps students to get used to working within time limits.
Box breathing: An equalising breathing technique where students breathe in, hold, breathe out, and hold each for 4 seconds.
Self-reassurance: Encourage positive self-talk.
Skip the tough questions: Teach students to move past difficult questions and return to them later.
Familiarity: Ensure students are well-prepared and know what to expect.

By understanding and applying these strategies, we equip students to self-manage their stress and anxiety. Thank you for reading and working with us to create the optimal learning environment!