Anxious (How Teachers Can Help Today's Stressed, Lonely, Disengaged Kids to Flourish)

Practical strategies that K–12 teachers and instructional coaches can use to address the crisis of student anxiety.

In Anxious, educational psychologist Michele Borba, a leading expert in youth mental health, offers concerned K–12 classroom teachers and instructional coaches research-based solutions tailored to the needs of stressed out, risk-averse, disengaged, and lonely students. Drawing on decades of research and hundreds of student interviews, Borba details seven essential elements of well-being to incorporate into daily teaching routines: safety, security, regulation, belonging, positivity, confidence, and purpose. Each chapter spotlights a single element, discusses the urgency of developing it, and offers clear ways to do so.

What You'll Get: A range of tools and practices designed to

• Increase students' sense of safety and connection.
• Reduce student anxiety in the classroom.
• Improve anxious students' behavior, executive functioning, and classroom engagement.

These strategies work with large groups, small groups, and individual students across all grades and demographics.

Anxious is a book of hope, a reminder that resilience is teachable and that one caring adult can change a child's trajectory forever. Use the practical strategies here to help the troubled students in your school or classroom handle adversity and move forward with more confidence and agency.