Week 6: Anxiety in Middle School

     This week’s topic was anxiety in middle school. This was an interesting read because I typically do not associate anxiety/panic disorders with middle school. I am not totally wrong because the article said that they are more common in high school/college, but they are increasing amongst all students (I would be interested to know if this article was posted before the pandemic). This was why the video was particularly eye opening to me. The filmmakers did an excellent job of capturing the stress of being a middle school student today. Just watching it made me anxious, although I think that was the point. I am going to be spending a lot more time in a middle school setting during the fall semester, and so I am glad to now have a better look at what the students might be experiencing. 

    The tips about working with students who suffer from anxiety/panic disorders were helpful. Before reading, if a student had had a panic attack in class my first instinct would be to tell them that everything was going to be okay. It seems like it would be comforting right? According to the online reading it is one of the worst things you can say to a student who is having a panic/anxiety attack. This is something I will need to keep in mind in the future. I liked that it mentioned teaching students’ techniques they can use if they start to feel anxious. It was interesting to learn about different methods that I had not heard of before, and it was reassuring to know that some of things I might suggest, like deep breathing, are actually effective. The portion of the video that focused on meditation was also intriguing. I have heard of teachers having students meditate in class, but I am on the fence about whether I would do something like it in my future classroom.