Are you looking for ways to support students who suffer from anxiety? If so, keep reading.
1. Praise those students in the classroom who demonstrate appropriate behavior.
2. Stop situations in which peers contribute to the student’s nervous behaviors.
3. Assess the degree of task difficulty to ascertain whether the student will require additional information, time, assistance, etc., to avoid becoming frustrated and engaging in nervous habits.
4. Talk with the student to explain(a) what they are doing wrong (e.g., chewing on pencil, nail-biting, twirling objects, etc.) and (b) what they must be doing (e.g., practicing self-control, working on the task, performing duties, etc.).
5. Teach the student ways to gain self-control (e.g., count to 10, walk away, talk with someone, etc.).
6. Take the student away from the learning experience when they engage in nervous habits.
7. Give the student a high interest learning experience they prefer.
8. Talk regularly with the student to keep their involvement in class tasks.
9. Urge the student to take part in quiet, calming learning activities (e.g., listen to music, read, etc.) when feeling restless and engaging in nervous behaviors.
10. Urge the student to avoid ingesting any substance (e.g., drugs, alcohol, cold remedies, etc.) that might further alter their capacity and ability to keep self-control.
11. Give the student many chances for social and academic success.
12. Show the student the need to create self-monitoring skills to decrease nervous habits.
13. Urge the student to lessen nervous behaviors such as nail-biting, knuckle-cracking, or chewing their lip/cheek by replacing them with a competing behavior (e.g., clench their fists together to avoid cracking their knuckles, suck on hard candy instead of chewing their lip/cheek, etc.).
14. Move out of their surroundings any object that may be used by the student to take part in nervous habits (e.g., pencils, pens, rubber bands, paper clips, etc.).
15. Give the student a predetermined signal when they engage in nervous habits.
16. Consider using an adaptive behavior management app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
17. Click here to learn about six bonus strategies for challenging problem behaviors and mastering classroom management.
18. Consider using a socio-emotional learning app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
19. Consider using an emotional intelligence app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
20. Consider using a school counseling app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.
