Making Students aware of how to recognize stress in themselves and in others will help them handle the situations much better.

Recognize the student’s effort by either giving them a grade for their effort or providing extra points. This encourages students to take risks and persevere.

Developing a positive student/teacher relationship is critical for reducing stress. For children at-risk they need someone that has a calming and empathetic presence that they can go to when in need, such as a homeroom teacher, the school psychologist, the school nurse or resource teacher.

When people are organized, they have less stress.

Allow students to have flexible due dates on assignments. This will lower their anxiety about due dates as well as keep them motivated and on top of their work.

Just like our need for food and shelter, humans have the need to form relationships and to connect to other human beings (Matthew Lieberman, social psychologist and neuroscientist, in his book, Social: Why Our Brains are Wired to Connect). Hence there is an imperative need to develop loving relationships, fit into a school. Developing a classroom culture of “All for one, and one for all,” benefits the entire group as well as each of the individuals within that group.

Teachers need to keep this in mind when developing their lesson plans. Feeling socially connected, in a safe environment, helps build relationships. Having good social relationships increases morale and actually reduces stress. Face to face relationships are the best.

Developing moment-to-moment awareness of one’s surrounding environment will help the student focus on the current activity as well as reduce anxiety and help improve their coping experiences in the future.

A good laugh has many effects. Not only does it “lighten your load mentally,” but it also affects your body. It activates and then cools down your stress response, thus giving you a relaxed feeling. Laughter releases dopamine which reduces stress and increases memory.

Students love to hear personal stories pertaining to things that happened to their teachers when they were students. This also strengthens the bond between them.

For especially high-anxiety situations for some students, reduce the tension. If a child doesn’t like reading orally, only call on them when they know the passage and are well prepared.

To help with test anxiety, have an adult (teacher or aide) help those students that prefer to have the questions read to them.

Nothing could be worse for child development, without physical activity.Not only is the human body developing during childhood and therefore needs this type of activity, stress can be greatly decreased with physical movement.

A Yoga class, might help during eLearning sessions. Physical activity exercises, for a little time, between the classes, will bring optimal results.

Students could reduce stress and increase their memory by taking a sheet of paper and writing the most important items, formulas, procedures, vocabulary, etc. as a review, right well before the exams. If Teachers could cultivate this habit right from the beginning, this will be most resourceful to the students.

Mental visualization activates critical brain networks. Not only does this activity reduce stress, it increases confidence and “preheats” the memory circuits learners want to access. Teachers must develop a habit of having their students visualize how great they’re going to do on the test… have them picture how they’re going to remember important facts and answers making the experience a very successful activity.