For most educators residing in North America, the 2014 school year is about to end. Often, this time of the year brings about transformation and not so good changes with students. For some reason or another, the upward fluctuation of their anxiety levels towards the end of the school year result to higher incidences of both physical and verbal confrontations.
Around this time of year educators begin to ask questions such as, “What in the world is going on?” Due to students acting out, it can also make the teacher ponder on what to do to assist with remedying this problem. Just this past Thursday on my radio segment of The Cooks and Books Show, I had the privilege of speaking with trusted online adviser for teens Author Annie Fox. Despite of her making me jealous due to providing the beautiful weather forecast in California, I gained a tremendous amount of insight on the issue of “Student Anger.”
From the upbringing of a student in regards to their normalcy, to the overwhelming incidences of students exhibiting inappropriate behavior, the valid points that Fox addressed hit the nail directly with the hammer. Agreeing that today’s youth should have the opportunity to address their issues and concerns or be trained appropriately to do so, what stuck out the most during the twenty-two minute interview with her was the one simple suggestion she provided on breathing. Her reasoning behind the suggested tip statistically states that taking five minutes or more per day to breathe prior to starting your day results to one reacting in a calmer fashion.
Guiding me briefly on the practice of breathing, and relaxation during the segment resulted to me having an “Aha Moment.” Perhaps allowing students to stand up and breathe for a few minutes daily prior to starting the school day off in the classroom may be exactly what they all need in order to have a productive day. I myself do plan on implementing the practice tomorrow morning with my youngsters. Although I hated to see our interview come to an end, I definitely plan on interviewing her in the nearer future. Fox’s latest book, Teaching Kids to be Good People may be found on her website at http://www.anniefox.com
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