In this current educational climate, we are seeing more and more students with extremely high stress levels. In one study, it was determined that teen stress is even rivalling that of adults, and half of all teenagers weren't sure they were doing enough to handle their stress, with many expressing feelings of overwhelm, sadness and exhaustion.


Now I'm a believer in promoting a drive for success and fuelling ambition in students, but making them stressed all the time at such a young age is only going to end badly. With a continual increase in focusing too much on test scores and less on character and emotional intelligence, our students are not going to be emotionally equipped to deal with stress.


There is nothing that saddens me more, and as a teacher, I do all I can every day to equip my students with the tools they need to be able to handle the stresses of school and life. I do this through character building; you can read more about how to teach Character here.


A specific skill within Character education that I teach my students, is Stress Management, and in this article, you will learn the 5 steps in teaching your students how to manage their stress. You will help your students build their confidence and achieve their best, and while you want them to achieve well, they are also more than a test score.


Keep reading to learn how you can support your students in managing their stress, helping them achieve their best in your class and most importantly, feeling proud of their achievements, whatever their "score".

For the past few years, I have been seeing successful results with helping my students develop their personal skills with this Stress Management resource, which I designed out of a desperate need to help my frazzled students. It includes a strategy I came up with to help them tackle their emotions as well as plenty of examples and scenarios to help them determine the best actions to take.

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If you want to help your students with stress management so that they are not only successful academically, but are developing emotionally and mentally too, then you can help them by following this 5 step strategy below:

​1.  Identify what causes them stress:
The first way to manage stress is to help your students identify what triggers often causes it. Ask your students to come up with a list of everything in their life that stresses them out. This of course, will look different for every student as they will have varying levels of resilience, triggers and experiences, but there will be many similarities too that you can pull out and talk about as a class. Finding the commonalities will help them feel less alone, and once they are aware of certain triggers, they will later be able to learn how to prepare for these. Here are just some examples of triggers lifted from the Stress Management PowerPoint:

2. How does stress manifest itself:
Then you want to ask your students to look carefully at what signs of stress they experience mentally, emotionally or physically. This is important so they can learn to recognise stress before it gets out of control and takes over their being. It is also quite shocking how many manifestations there are and how damaging they are to overall health in the long term - there are plenty of examples in the PowerPoint for you to discuss with your students. This definitely gives them a wakeup call that it is something they need to learn how to manage from now, because stress definitely isn't going anywhere!

3. Determine what actions they can control:
Now you want to give your students some power and get them to look for the positive by determining what actions they can control, in preparation for, or once they are feeling stressed. Here students can share what they find helps them and they often have really positive discussions and take away a lot of helpful ideas from one another. Of course, it also provides an opportunity to discuss some less helpful methods that some students use and why some actions might be more harmful than helpful.


4. Explain the history of stress and why it is important:
This is one of my favourite parts of the resource as it brings in a bit of history! If you want it all laid out for you, you're welcome to use the PowerPoint I created, but the general gist centres around the story of why we are designed to respond to stress, going all the way back to caveman times, and discusses the "fight or flight" response which is essential for survival. Of course, our current lives have less physical threats to life, but we still have the instincts to respond to stress, it's just the stress looks different now than it did in caveman times! It's a great section of the resource as it makes your students understand what an important instinct this is for us - we just need to learn how to manage it for modern living.


5. Create a plan of action to deal with stress:
Finally, using their knowledge of triggers and actions and understanding that stress is something they need to manage and not eliminate, they can begin to construct a plan of action and strategies. For example, if they have a trigger of deadlines, they might determine that a good plan of action for the future is to write down all upcoming deadlines in a calendar so they can see them in advance and not get caught out last minute. They might also want to break down everything they have to do for that project into little steps that are manageable, which will all help to control the feelings of anxiety and overwhelm. They can also identify what they can do if they are feeling the effects of stress, such as take deep breaths (there are a few breathing exercises included in the resource too!) or talk with someone they trust. Having a plan in place puts your students in a position of control, ready to manage stress!

​I hope this helps you in your endeavour to teach your students such an important life skill. I wish it was mandatory in the curriculum, but just because it isn't (yet!), doesn't mean it is something that should be ignored. No one else is going to do it, so we need to step up and do what is right for our students!


If you would like the ready made PowerPoint and Printable resources which guide your students through these steps and provide discussions, scenarios and prompts, you can download it below straight from Teachers Resource Force, or click here to download from Teachers Pay Teachers instead.

And, if you're interested in more stress relief / well being / character development materials for your students, you can find a whole collection of resources here, or you can find them over on Teachers Pay Teachers too.


Keep up the great work of being an amazing and inspirational teacher - your students are fortunate to have you!

Teaching teenagers can be really tough. They're not always the most driven, but then on the other side of the coin, sometimes they can put too much pressure on themselves to achieve as well. The best way for your students to be at their best is to keep them balanced enough where they know what they want out of school and life so they are driven to succeed, but also keeping things in proportion whereby 'good grades' is not the be all and end all of their entire existence... It's a tough balance to achieve, but I have something powerful that can help you do this for your students!

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Keep reading to learn how you can help your students effectively evaluate their life and desires to set appropriate goals for their school career and personal life. Doing this will give them the intrinsic desire to achieve their very best without getting swallowed up by the external pressures of feeling like they must achieve good grades or their life is over, which unfortunately is all too common in this day and age...

Too often, students feel that they need to get high grades or their whole future is over. This just leaves them stressed out and feeling empty inside. In a recent poll of tens of thousands of high schoolers, over 45% of them said they're stressed "all the time". All the time?! They're kids, it's not right that school is giving them this much anxiety. As teachers, we can help and it all comes down to effective goal setting.


Why goal setting?
If done correctly, goal setting can help students feel more intrinsically motivated, make them more successful and make you the inspiring teacher they will always remember. It can be really difficult for most teachers to know how to guide them as the process can be overwhelming and let's be honest, no one ever teaches us how to do this stuff!

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After a quick "goal setting" search, you'll probably notice that most resources focus on "smart targets", which is great for actual goal setting, but how do we get our students to decide on the right goals they should be setting in the first place? In my experience, that's the real challenge we're facing, and is what I am going to teach you in this blog post!
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​How to set effective goals:
Let's break down the process of how you can guide your students to determine the best goals for them:


1) Look back at the previous year
Looking back on how the previous year has gone for them, will provide your students with the opportunity to reflect on what went well that they can continue with and what has not gone as well as anticipated and perhaps might need to change next year. There are some specific questions that tease out this information, which is included in the Goal Setting Journal and PowerPoint resource - I'll show you more that of later.


2) List everything they want to achieve in school and life outside / beyond school
You want your students to be well-rounded individuals. It's not healthy to have such an obsession with grades only, but then academic achievement is also not something that should be ignored either. It can be a delicate balance to encouraging your students to be well-rounded people, but I can provide you with specific support and guidance with how you can help your students do this later on in this post.


3) Vision Board
Where the mind goes, the body follows. The best way for your students to be on the right path is to know what that path looks like and where the road is actually going. Too often, most people just go through life seeing where they'll end up rather than making a decision about what they really want and going for it. By creating a vision board of their life goals, it will help them visualise and imprint these dreams into their minds.


​4) List the benefits, obstacles, and resources needed
Now it's time to get serious about the goals and look at what they will need for the journey to ensure they actually achieve these goals. What obstacles are they likely to come across? In anticipating these, they will be much less likely to crumble and fall at the first sign of adversity (because, boy, will obstacles come!). They also need to know what or who they might need support from along the way so they can gather the most appropriate resources to get them to reach their goals. And of course, as with any decisions they make, they need to determine why they want these goals. This "why" is what is going to keep them going when times get rough.


5) Plan of action
Now it's time to knuckle down and plan the route. Your students have to decide exactly how they are going to achieve their goals. It's the "smart" targets bit, if you will (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound). This is where most resources for goal setting begin! Your students need guidance here on how to come up with strategies for what they have to actually do. Again, I have support material for you later on in this post!


6) Set a deadline
In order for your students to keep on schedule and not just forget about these goals once they have been set (…!), they will need regular deadlines for achieving these plans of action. 


7) Reflect and review regularly
The 3 Rs! Most teachers who do goal setting with their students forget this crucial step. It's not enough to just set goals and then be done with them until the end of the year when you pull them out again and say "oh yeah, these things!". In order for goals to be achieved, they must always be at the forefront of your students' minds. They need to reflect and review their progress on these goals regularly. They might find that they need to steer course, that their original plan needs altering, maybe their goals need redefining too! It's all a natural part of the process but when the reflection phase is neglected, students are left feeling like failures for not being able to stick to their goals.  But not with you by their side! Your students are lucky enough to have such a caring teacher who is taking time out of their day to learn how they can help their students be winners!

If you think this goal setting process sounds like something your students will benefit from but feel it might be a bit overwhelming to remember it all and guide them the right way, I have taken all the labour and pain of this away for you by creating a ready made Goal Setting Journal with guided PowerPoint! This resource will help you take students through this journey outlined above step by step in a neat and organised fashion ensuring all your students can succeed at setting and achieving their goals to be well-rounded, passionate and engaged people!
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You can be one of the rare teachers who help their students succeed in all areas of their lives!

You will help your students develop an intrinsic motivation to succeed in your class, and be that inspiring teacher who really makes a difference.
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Students will receive a printable journal to record their goal setting journey to keep forever.

The front page of the journal starts your students off with an inspirational quote colouring page cover to relax and inspire them to dream big. It is also littered with inspirational quotes throughout the journal to inspire and motivate along the way too!
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The journal contains 21 attractive pages ready to just print. You have the flexibility to have some pages printed numerous times if needed, or you can always omit some if you don't feel they're suitable for your students, for whatever reason.


The journal pages guide students through steps listed above in a neat and orderly fashion, helping promote independence and accuracy while undertaking these activities.
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​The journal can be bound and used regularly for morning or afternoon meeting activities to keep them focused on their goals at regular intervals throughout the year.
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You will also receive a thorough 42 slide PowerPoint to present to your students while teaching them how to use the journal and set goals. This is great because it means there is no prior experience from you required, and no research or prep is needed either as the PowerPoint explains the how and the why clearly to them, which is reiterated in their journal to help remind them of what you taught them as they go through the journal.


It also includes some discussion prompts to get students talking with their peers and reflecting on significance and impact of effective goal setting.


If you're interested in doing this activity with your students and want to cut out 30+ hours of prep time :) then feel free to download the Goal Setting Journal and PowerPoint today and use it for generations to come! You can download it here from TpT or click the link below to download it right from my site (ideal if you're more of a PayPal kinda teacher or prefer the GBP option!)
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​I wish you and your students a fantastic fresh start, whenever you choose to set goals! (P.S. no one said goal setting is only for January!) Only a truly dedicated and passionate teacher will take the time to teach their students how to set goals effectively to help them live their best life, not just achieve academically for a short time. Your students are lucky to have you!

Download the Goal Setting Journal and PowerPoint  here from TpT or  here from TRF!
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It has been suggested that the concentration span of an average student is about 10-15 minutes... yet our lessons last on average 40-60 minutes! It's no wonder one of our biggest struggles in the classroom is to maintain our students' attention and behaviour. Fortunately, there are some tips and tricks we can use to maintain concentration all lesson long, and one of the best tools I've found to do this, is to use countdown timers!

There are a variety of countdown timers available to you, check out this post on awesome countdown timers for the classroom to see some of the options. In this post however, you're going to learn some fun ways you can use countdown timers to get the most out of your students' concentration all lesson long:


1) Rotation Station
Rotation Stations are excellent ways of getting all your students up and moving and involved in their learning. It can also encourage excellent collaboration too as students are working together to discuss the work you set in each rotation.

However, they can go belly up if you don't have some kind of time management tool in place. With the use of countdown timers, you can manage the rotation station activity in a couple of ways: for younger students who might need a more controlled environment, you can give students a certain amount of time in each station. ​The use of a countdown with some kind of noise or signal at the end can be great for alerting students that the time is up - it helps them learn time management and also means that there's much less input from you required too, which is great! 

For your older students, they might benefit from less control from you which will help them learn time management skills independently. As I teach teens, I like to issue 20 minutes for my rotation station activities and then tell them they need to work at their own pace to self manage their time to ensure they get round to each station. This works really well in my classroom as my students will take ownership to check the timer on the board and work out when they need to be moving on to the next station!

Below are some resources that will help you set up your own Rotation Stations for any subject and age group. You can use these editable and printable resources to put into the Tolsby IKEA frames (as seen pictured below) or any photo frames really, and have them by each station to help students navigate the room. You can read more about how to set up your own rotation stations here.

The other resource is a set of countdown timers that are downloadable for you to embed into your own PowerPoint if you choose, or they can be used alone. These have the added benefit of not requiring internet access and there are no pesky ads to worry about either:

2) Tidying Up
Another great use for countdown timers is when it comes to tidying up! Parkinson's Law has a well known adage that states that "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion". In other words, if you start tidying up 10 minutes before the bell but don't set and enforce a time limit, your students will take right up until the end of lesson bell to tidy up, which is not ideal if you want to fit in a reflection activity.

But, if you tell them they only have 2 minutes, you best believe they will do it in 2 minutes and seeing a visual like the countdown timer for PowerPoint resource listed above, will mean that students can see the bar decreasing and will be able to manage time more effectively to get your classroom spick and span quickly!


3) Public Speaking
Here you can use Parkinson's Law in an opposite way than the previous example! Sometimes when you get students up to speak in front of the class and practice their public speaking skills, you probably notice that some manage to get up and back in their seat before you've even had a chance to get your pen poised!

Well, if we know the work expands to fill the time available, then surely if we have a 2 minute timer in the background and tell them they need to fill that time then they'll have something further to add, right?! Right. It's a great tool for encouraging all students to be really thorough and explain their thoughts in more detail, especially because public speaking can mean fear kicks in and students might not get a chance to say everything they're thinking.


I hope these have given you some fun ways to use countdown timers in your classroom. Timers not only help your students, but they will help you too especially if time management is something you're always trying to work on! I know from being a mentor to new teachers, time management is often an area of focus and these timers will really help you keep on track and maintain pace in your lessons too.

Finally, remember Parkinson's Law: the work expands to fill the time available. If you want your students to remain focused and make outstanding progress in your lesson, then start using countdown timers and watch the magic happen! Remember, you can download these ready made countdown timers for use in your own PowerPoints right here!
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