This post originally appeared on our ParentSquare Learning Network blog on January 21, 2020.
Guest Post by Laura Steinbrink — Instructional Technology Coach, Communications Director, Webmaster, Yearbook Adviser and High School English/Spanish Teacher for Plato R-V School District.
It’s that time of year when the winter blues hit, sunlight is not always a constant presence, and the days seem longer and drearier. Coming back from the winter break can be tough for some students,
and keeping their momentum going for attending school and keeping up with their classwork can be a challenge.
There are a lot of layers involved too, as some students will be busy with sports, jobs, clubs, friends, significant others, family and the demands of teachers, bosses, and parents. As the pressures mount, what can we, as educators and parents, do to help students navigate them successfully?
Whether you are a parent, an educator, or both, here are some tips you can share with students and families to assist students during the winter months.
1. Prioritized Task Lists
This is a life skill that benefits everyone. Whether you like to have a grocery list, to do list, or weekly goals, we make lists. Smartphones make this really easy too, and can even include the checkboxes so that we can check things off as we go.
There’s brain science at work behind this as we
ll. As humans, we’re wired for closure. We need it, even if we don’t always realize it consciously. Creating lists then checking off what we accomplish releases dopamine in the brain, making us feel good. Tasks that go unfinished can cause anxiety, though working on a plan to get those finished can again reduce the stress of that unfinished task, according to two Wake Forest professors, Masicampo and Baumeister (2011).
That’s where these lists come into play. Unfinished tasks cause anxiety, so for students who already struggle with anxiety, leaving school with piles of homework, projects, and tests to prepare for can overwhelm them.
The first thing I do with students who are struggling is to get them to create a list of all the things they need to work on, and then I have them prioritize it by what needs to be completed in order of importance by deadline or effect on their grade. Just that simple act helps them focus and become more efficient.
2. Gratitude Practice
Gratitude practice is a well established as a way to create positivity in our lives. By looking for and expressing our feelings about things we are grateful for, we can train our brains to begin seeing more positives around us than negatives. Complaining has a lot of negative effects on our lives, so to combat that, we need to practice gratitude together with our students and our own children.
There are many ways to do that daily, and one easy way is to share something you are grateful for when the family gathers for dinner, on car trips, or whenever you can find time to be together.
When challenges arrive, take those opportunities to look for the silver lining amidst the clouds. It may be hard to see, but if we look intentionally for that flash of silver, we should be able to find something to be grateful for when the storm clouds gather.
Volunteering as a family, doing service projects at school with clubs and organizations, and finding ways to give back to others can help us practice gratitude as well.
3. Water & Exercise
Self-care is very important, and adults struggle with getting enough water and exercise to stay healthy, so we know our children can struggle with that as well. I have taken informal polls of my high school students throughout the years, and the lack of water intake daily by the majority of them is staggering. Caffeine and sugar have taken over what we drink, and yet our brain and body need water.
If we set daily water goals for ourselves, model drinking water, and encourage students and our children to do the same, we can restore some balance in our health, both mental and physical.
As we work to increase our daily water intake we should not forget exercise. If our children aren’t active in sports at school, or if they are in the off-season of their sport, we need to model daily exercise and ensure they get fresh air and movement daily too. Exercise and movement help both the body and the brain, which will help our mental and physical health. It doesn’t have to be a lot, but doing even a little exercise together can pay big dividends in our students.
4. Sniff Citrus!
I know what you may be thinking, but this isn’t exactly new science. Aromatherapy has become a booming business, and there is some research behind a lot of scents. This is a simple way to help our students and children that is natural and can serve a dual purpose.
According to an article by the National Sleep Foundation, “…lemons, oranges, and grapefruits aren’t just delicious and nutritious—the smell of the fruits can boost your body’s production of serotonin, a hormone that makes you feel happy. They also reduce levels of the stress hormone norepinephrine, so you’ll wake up but still feel calm.” The article goes on to state that lemon might be the most powerful of the citrus smells—it’s been shown that smelling it can increase mental stimulation.”
These scents come from everyday foods, so it should be easy to find ways to incorporate them into the daily lives of our students and children. Smoothies to start off the day, adding a lemon slice to water, eating a grapefruit or orange as a snack are just a few of the ways we can tap into the power of these fruit. Afternoon snacks at school could include oranges as well right before taking big tests.
While there are no quick fixes, and not every strategy works every time with every student, consistently implementing some of these can help beat back the dreary winter months!