Week 4/20-4/24

Welcome Back to Distance Learning!

I hope you had a relaxing spring break--you are in the home stretch and it looks like we will finish this year out with distance learning. Unfortunately, this means that I will not get to see you in person until Fall 2020. Remember, I am here for you--email, call, text, etc., and I will respond! I miss all of you so much and I hope that you are taking care of yourself and family, staying up to date on assignments, eating healthy, and exercising!
Mental Health Focus: Anxiety
1. Preventing and Reducing the Recurrence of Anxiety

• Examine thoughts and decide whether worries are realistic or unrealistic
• Engage in flexible thinking
• Practice responding to anxiety-inducing situations
• Model adaptive way of coping with anxiety

2. Responding When Anxious Behaviors Occur

• Teach tolerance and acceptance of anxious feelings
• Encourage solutions to solve problems
• Teach the connection between anxiety and physical symptoms
• Teach self-monitoring and strategies to manage symptoms

3. Classroom/Home Activities

• Use journaling activities
• Build on strengths
• Facilitate discussions about mental health and coping
• Encourage collaborative exercises
• Incorporate positive coping strategies, or mindfulness, into class activities

Click here for more information regarding anxiety. In addition, please watch "4 Ways to Cope with Anxiety"  which discusses anxiety and gives children and parents 4 tips to cope with anxiety below: 

App Spotlight: Mindshift CBT

In addition, grounding techniques are really popular to cope with stress, anxiety, and other difficult and/or overwhelming emotional states and experiences. Click here to read the article, "Grounding: How to Use Our Senses to Calm Stress and Stay Present-Focused." My favorite is the 5-4-3-2-1!