Search Results for: positive stress

An Unexpected Strategy to Manage Student Stress

We might be inclined to reassure our anxious students, and advise them to “remain calm.” This research, however, suggests a surprising alternative. Continue reading →



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On the Bright Side: The Science of Good Stress

A Google image search for “stress” makes our culture’s attitude about the concept immediately clear. There are pictures of people pulling their hair, eyes wide and mouth gaping, a word cloud filled with words like “worry” and “depression,” and even



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How to Recognize PTSD in the Classroom… And Why it Matters

I recently watched a Ted Talk1 by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris where she addressed the effects of childhood trauma on health. Her 16 minute talk discussed how trauma leads to higher risks of heart disease, early death, and even lung cancer.



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Test Anxiety: How and When Does It Harm Students?

When our students learn, we naturally want them to show us what they’ve learned. Most schools rely, in varying degrees, on tests. The logic seems simple: if students know something, they can demonstrate their knowledge on this quiz, or test, or exam.



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The Downsides of Desirable Difficulties

For several years now, we’ve been talking about the benefits of “desirable difficulties.” For instance, we know that spreading practice out over time helps students learn more than does doing all the practice at once. Why? Because that schedule creates



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The Rise and Fall and Rise of Growth Mindset

Few theories in education have had a more dramatic story arc than Carol Dweck’s “Mindset.” Based on research she started in the early 1970s, Dweck published her sumptuously-titled book Mindset, The New Psychology of Success: How We Can Learn to



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Gratitude in School, 2020 Edition

Here’s a pre-Thanksgiving question: How much good news can you pack into one psychology study? Lots of psychology research focuses on human difficulties: Why is it hard to learn and develop? Why do people struggle to connect? What happens when



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Revisiting Our San Francisco Conference

I had planned to write a post describing our most recent conference, last weekend in San Francisco (“where every day is cardio day”). However, one of our attendees — Mark Barrett — got there first. I thought he did such



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Welcome to San Francisco!

We can’t wait to see you at our conference this weekend: Educating Anxious Brains. Various reports have found that many children and teens are experiencing significant stress, anxiety, and mental health issues. More than 1 in 20 children ages 6-17



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Take Time for You: Self-Care Action Plans for Educators by Tina H. Boogren

Teaching is an emotionally and cognitively demanding job, a fact that the public does not always appreciate. To cope with these demands and help teachers feel and do their best inside and outside of the classroom Tina Boogren encourages teachers



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