Connections

Anxiety and worry! Emotions influence our behavior, our thoughts, and ultimately, our success. Negative emotions can stop us in our tracks. Research shows that negative emotions hinder us in many ways including our ability to think with mental clarity! Consider the following researchon worry and anxiety as reported in the book Emotional Intelligence.

“Anxiety sabotages academic performance of all kinds: 126 different studies of more than 36,000 people found that the more prone to worries a person is, the poorer their academic performance …” (Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman; page 83)

“The number of worries that people report while taking a test directly predicts how poorly they will do on it. The mental resources expended on one cognitive task – the worrying – simply detract from the resources available for processing other information; if we are preoccupied by worries that we’re going to flunk the test we’re taking, we have that much less attention to expend on figuring out the answers. Our worries become self-fulfilling prophecies, propelling us toward the very disaster they predict. (Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman; page 84)

Simply stated, worry and anxiety take brain capacity, distracting from the brain capacity needed to take the test!

Part of our ministry – our mission statement – is to help students become “emotionally-balanced;” to help them overcome negative emotions and the impact they have on the students lives. We see a large percentage of students who exhibit a significant level of anxiety over class work and tests, especially during their first few months in the program. As teachers, we should be mindful of this so that we are better prepared to help our students deal with their negative emotions. We must acknowledge and work to help them to manage their worry and anxiety because these negative emotions have a significant impact on the students performance in the classroom and in the program.

If a student is  struggling with any negative emotions, we often expect them to just “suck-it-up” and get the work done. But research shows that negative emotions, and positive emotions as well, have a definite impact on many areas of our life, including the learning process. As we help our students to develop optimism, hope, and other positive emotions, we will see their learning abilities develop.

We know and have experienced that the most important step in finding release from the control of negative emotions is making “peace with God”. Once the sin and accompanying guilt and conviction are surrendered to God, we see a spiritual, emotional, and even physical transformation. But we know that is not the end of all negative emotions. Continued growth and discipleship is needed. We can help them with this process. Here are a few initial ideas. Some will take more work and preparation than others.

1. Get the student to acknowledge their emotions. Name it and own it.
2. Get the students to consider the source of the emotion. What is causing it?
3. Research shows that taking a few moments to relax and breathe, and in our case, praying, before a test actually improves clarity of thought and test scores.
4. As a teacher build a creative environment that peaks student interest and curiosity and interest in learning.
5. Also, be sure and add a dose of humor, this reduces the stress and helps people to let down their guards quickly.
6. For learning to be engaging it must be challenging, but not so challenging that it is frustrating. Balance! Trying to find the right amount of challenge for each student can be a “challenge.” The PSNC classroom is designed to facilitate creating contracts that challenge the students on their level.
7. Encouragement and compassion go a long way. Letting the student know that you are there to help them through the learning curve will go a long way in helping them with their anxiety. Let them know that your goal is for them to learn, grow, and succeed – not to see them fail. You are here to help.
8. Provide resources (including older students or volunteers) that help them with study and memory work.

Think about it -

• What can be done to implement the ideas listed above?
• What other things can you do to help your students overcome negative emotions?
• In addition to the classroom, where else can you apply these information and principles?