1 Strategy to Manage Frustration

Do you have students that are frequently frustrated, or irritable? How does this energy affect you? How does it affect your classroom?

The truth is, frustration and irritability happen to the best of us.

In the classroom, frustration and irritability can show up as a result of a student having high expectations for performance, or not seeing the progress that they would like to, or even when they are experiencing social pressures that carry into class time. Left unresolved, these feelings can lead to heightened anxiety, confidence challenges, or even a negative attitude towards learning over time.

The trick is what we do with the feelings. As educators, we can share and role model strategies to help students cope and move through frustration and irritability to access calm and patience.

Counting Breath is a trauma-informed strategy to support students in moving through frustration.

Instructions:

1. Begin by sitting up tall.
2. Show student(s) your fingers that you’ll use to countdown the breath from 5.
3. The student may use their fingers to keep count along with you or place their hands on their sides to feel the breath.
4. Breathing in, Breathing out. 5. [showing five fingers]
5. Breathe in, Breathe out. 4. [showing four fingers]
6. In, Out. 3. [showing three fingers]
7. In, Out. 2. [showing two fingers]
8. In, Out. 1. [showing one finger]

Remember