​ Kaʻapana ​1

Kaluhi Kaʻapana

Extra Credit Assignment

Rayna Fujii

8 March 2019

Stress Management Reflection

When I first heard about the stress management workshop, I was thinking that the

workshop would talk about how to manage my own stress as a Teacher Candidate. I was

pleasantly surprised to find that the workshop covered both stress management for the student

and the teacher candidates. Dr. Christina Louie presented on how a teacher can help a student

who may be in distress. She first gave an overview on what this may look like in a student. These

students are often those who come from a difficult home life. They could be homeless, come

from an abusive family, substance abuse, etc. Then, she gave points on how to help a student

who is in distress, which I will cover more in depth. She, then, moved to cover how teachers or

teacher candidates can cope with stress. The two points that really stuck with me was how to talk

to a student about getting help and strategies for de-escalating.

There were many interesting points that she made, but one that stuck with me was how to

talk to a student about getting help. I have one student in my placement who has problems with

her mental health. She has an IEP, but her biggest anchor is my mentor teacher. Many times, my

mentor has to talk to her outside of school to motivate her just to show up to school. In her IEP,

she is allowed to go to the counselor for help, but she goes to my MT first. This includes the

child pulling her on the side or talking to her outside in the middle of class when she is feeling

stressed out. This concerned me for my half day solo, because I should tell her to go talk to my
 2

MT or the counselor, but I was concerned about how I should tell her this. I didn’t want it to

seem to her like I don’t care about her feelings, but I know that I am not experienced or

knowledgeable enough--regarding her IEP--to help her. Dr. Louie covered these main steps when

talking to a child about getting help. First, treat it like any other health problem. This made me

think about how I would talk to a child about going to the health room. I, first, find out how bad

it is and what the child is feeling. I could gently ask her, “are you feeling like you need to go talk

to Mrs. Cegler?” The second step was being mindful of judgment and stigma. This means that if

she pulls me aside to tell me that she is irritated with the class, I shouldn’t just brush it off as

“drama.” I am usually good about being open when a child approaches me with a problem, so

this was kind of a no-brainer, but it is something to keep in the back of my mind. The last point

was to show compassion and care. This means that I can kindly offer to call the counselor for her

if she is seeking counseling services. These points were reassuring to me that I would follow the

right steps to make the student feel heard and cared for.

The next point that resonated with me was Dr. Louie’s steps for de-escalating. These

strategies are for calming students who are throwing a fit or just need to take a breath and calm

down. I think these are strategies that all education personnel should know. I work as a PPT,

where some times I am required to keep an eye on a certain SPED student within a class that I

am assigned to. There are times where these students become upset and a little out of control.

The worst thing to do in this situation is to yell at the child or yell “stop it,” as Dr. Louie

mentioned. I found that this makes the child more aggravated. One strategy is for the child to

take deep breaths where they breathe in 4 counts, hold 4 counts, and out 4 counts. I haven’t tried

the 4 counts, but I have tried telling an aggravated child to take deep breaths and it did work, the
 3

child calmed down almost immediately. Another strategy is to have the child focus on the 5

senses, such as telling them to find 5 colors in the room. Dr. Louie says that this calms them

down as their mind is on something else. Another strategy is to have the child take a break. This

means take a walk, listen to music, go drink some water, etc. I actually tried this last month with

a child at work. I sought out advice from my MT on dealing with this student and she

recommended taking a break with the child. The child was upset that he got a red card from the

teacher, this means he lost 5 minutes of his recess. He began to intentionally do things to upset

other children. I told him that he was going to take a walk with me to the water fountain and

when we returned to the class, he needed to be calm. This actually worked and I find myself

doing this frequently now with this child. Lastly, Dr. Louise suggested to have the child squeeze

your hand, then let go as a way to release their aggravation.

Overall, I found that this workshop gave me many strategies to use in field, as well as in

my own work environment. I hope that I can remember some of these strategies in the heat of the

moment, when the stress is high. I think the de-escalating strategies are especially important

because I have seen teachers who yell at students who are aggravated. This only adds fuel to the

fire and makes the child, as well as the teacher more upset. As teachers, it is our job as adults to

remain calm and try to calm the child down, in the most efficient way.