Have you ever been in a situation where you are afraid that you will be singled out from the crowd? Or sitting in class so worried that the teacher is going to call on you at any moment that you can’t even hear, let alone understand, what they are teaching? Students with anxiety may attribute these fears to lack of learning or showing understanding.
“Sometimes kids will do perfectly well on tests and homework, but when they’re called on in class, teachers hit a wall...They might have been paying attention to the lesson and they might even know the answer, but when they’re called on their anxiety level becomes so heightened that they can’t respond,” (Child Mind Institute, 2019).
So how can teachers help these students? One resource I have found beneficial for students is EdPuzzle. EdPuzzle is an interactive video lesson. Students listen to a video created by the teacher, or another educator, and periodically answer questions during the video lesson. The assigning teacher is able to see individual student answers thus ensuring all students have understanding of the topic. Through using EdPuzzle students can focus on the lesson without the fear of being called on or singled out. Teachers are able to obtain accurate data of students' understanding. To learn more about using EdPuzzle to help support students with anxiety, check out my screencast or visit EdPuzzle to get started.
Transcript: "EdPuzzle is an interactive video lesson website. Teachers can take an already created video or create one of their own and imbed questions periodically to check for students' understanding. Here is an example of a lesson from PBS Kids show Word Girl teaching about Similies. The students watch the video and when it pauses they answer a question. Students get immediate feedback showing if they have correctly answered the question. The teacher receives data showing students results thus allowing a teacher to determine if students understand concepts being taught. This is a beneficial tool to use in a classroom and could especially help students with anxiety. Students with anxiety may struggle with answering questions on the spot or worry during an entire lesson that they will be called on. EdPuzzle could remove some of that fear. The disadvantages of using EdPuzzle to teach a concept is the potential elimination of natural discussions that occur during live lessons. As a teacher I would not use this technology exclusively but in my classroom I have found it beneficial when I have already taught a concept and students are still struggling or when students are absent I can supplement missed lessons with a video while they work from home."
Works Cited
Mazzone, L., Ducci, F., Scoto, M., Passaniti, E., D’Arrigo, V., & Vitiello, B. (2007, December). The role of anxiety symptoms in school performance in a community sample of children and adolescents. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2228292/
Trouble Answering Questions in Class. (2019). Child Mind Institute. https://childmind.org/guide/a-teachers-guide-to-anxiety-in-the-classroom/trouble-answering-questions-in-class/
Waters, A. M., Bradley, B. P., & Mogg, K. (2014). Biased attention to threat in paediatric anxiety disorders (generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, specific phobia, separation anxiety disorder) as a function of ‘distress’ versus ‘fear’ diagnostic categorization. Psychological Medicine, 44(3), 607–616. https://www-cambridge-org.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/core/journals/psychological-medicine/article/biased-attention-to-threat-in-paediatric-anxiety-disorders-generalized-anxiety-disorder-social-phobia-specific-phobia-separation-anxiety-disorder-as-a-function-of-distress-versus-fear-diagnostic-categorization/7E59BB441CC843939546739DB9CDFB1F
PBS Kids. (2015, May 29). Word Girl Similies EdPuzzle. EdPuzzle. https://edpuzzle.com/media/60366b2910e11b4254c7f631
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