Coping with stress
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About this resource
Explore stress that may be experienced during transition.
You can download the Classroom Activity in the Attachments as well as work through the learnings in the following pages.
- Build student awareness of ways to cope with stress;
- Build self-reflection skills.
- For student to explore the feelings of uncertainty and anxiety that come with transitions;
- For students to develop strategies for coping with stress; and
- For students to discuss ways to cope with stress.
Students will be able to provide the following evidence:
- understand emotional responses associated with change;
- understand actions that can be taken to help us sit with change and uncertainty; and
- identify support services.
Peer discussion
Student to student conversations to check understanding and build further learning
Self-assessment
Students assessing their own learning, with a rubric or other instructions for guidance
Teacher observation
Teacher observation of student learning, with a simple rubric, tick-box or other protocol to record observations
Teacher questioning
Guided questioning from a teacher intended to prompt thinking related to the topic
Direct instruction
Explicit teaching of knowledge and skills to students. This could be through a variety of formats – lecture, readings, demonstrations, etc. Often used at the beginning of a unit or module to cover basic knowledge and set pathways for learning.
Inquiry and problem-based learning
Inquiry learning is focused on a question or questions that guide the learning goals for a unit or module. Problem-based learning is focused on a problem or problems that guide the learning goals for a unit or module. Questions and problems may be generated by the teacher, the students, or by teacher and students together.
Self-reflection
Student reflection on their own learning. This is often guided or supported by a simple rubric or information on what learning progress looks like in a particular context.
Work in class independently
Students working by themselves in the classroom, with support from the teacher and available learning materials.
Work in teams or pairs
Student working with other students in the classroom, with support from the teacher and available learning materials. Student groups/pairs can be set by the teacher or formed by students themselves, depending on the needs of the learning task.
Work with family members
This activity involves working with a parent and/or carer, or other responsible adult in the student’s home environment.
The topics of change and uncertainty can be explored in many curriculum areas. The sections most relevant to learning about change and uncertainty are:
- Personal and Social Capability (General capabilities);
- Critical and Creative Thinking (General capabilities); and
- Health and Physical Education.
Australian Curriculum links are made available to further support students to develop their skills, knowledge and understandings based upon the ‘Elaborations’. Use the links to provide further activities for students with homework tasks and activities.
Health and Physical Education: Health and Physical Education | The Australian Curriculum
GC: Critical and Creative Thinking
GC: Personal and Social Capability
Elaborations:
- exploring why emotional responses can be unpredictable;
- exploring the emotions associated with feeling unsafe or uncomfortable and how emotions can vary according to different contexts and situations;
- investigating personal, social and cultural factors that influence the way individuals respond emotionally to different situations; and
- recognising and interpreting emotional responses to stressful situations and proposing strategies for managing these response.
- Laptop device or iPad or suitable device for adapting the task to be done online;
- For students with no smart phone or suitable device - butchers paper and markers.
Tips for navigating and using the resources
- This site is designed to be like a smorgasbord. You can use as many or as few resources as you like – choose what is relevant for you.
- Resources are presented as 'books' and consist of a series of pages; use the 'prev page' and 'next page' links located at the top of the page to move through the resource.
- Once complete, choose the 'What's next' prompt at the bottom of the page to move to the next resource.
- Find resources grouped in collections in the footer, for example: classroom activities, introduction to transition.
- Activities can be adapted according to teachers’ preferences and the needs of their students. Downloadable activities are in Word, PDF or PowerPoint so that you can edit them for your own needs.
Teachers may also consider how they want students to “keep” the activities they do in class, so they have them for reference at a later stage (at their secondary school or for future wellbeing reference).