To conclude this course, we shifted our focus on how to teach students to become positive individuals who are encouraged to “develop healthy attitudes and become engaged in productive, life-enhancing activities” (McMahan and Thomas, 2015). This is known as positive youth development. As I discussed in the previous module, it is very common for adolescents to experience different problems such as depression or drug abuse. However, this topic on resiliency helped me understand how I can help students overcome these problems. Many problems will cause an individual to become stressed. Luckily, there are infinite coping methods I can both teach and use myself when I feel a stressful event coming on. Problem and emotional focused coping, self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, self-regulation, and positive self-regard are all factors that can contribute to minimizing stress. Having a large support system of friends, family, teachers, mentors, and coaches are typically all positive people to associate with. It is important for students to understand that they should not feel ashamed when seeking advice. Everyone goes through difficult times throughout their lives and it should not be something to be embarrassed of. Knowing where to find help, or simply learning techniques to deal with stress are something I want to incorporate into my future teaching.

In the final interactive lecture, Stephanie had us participate in a self-regulating exercise that focused on deep breathing. We were guided by a recorded audio that had us begin by relaxing all our muscles, and then focused our attention on breathing deeply. After opening my eyes 5 minutes later, I felt as if I could fall asleep! I was very relaxed and my mind was content. As a sufferer of anxiety, I was shocked that I never tried self-regulation before. It was so eye opening and having such a positive experience has motivated me to research other ways to self-regulate, along with eventually purchasing recorded audios to use in my future practice. One thing I definitely wish I had while I was growing up in school was the opportunity or the flexibility to participate in self-regulation. Classrooms were so structured, students were even penalized when they asked to leave the classroom to get a drink of water. I have full intentions of creating the complete opposite of that. While there needs to still be rules and order set in place, understanding each student’s individual needs is so critical. Maybe that student asking to get a drink of water really just needed a minute to clear his head. I believe in giving students the autonomy to make healthy decisions, and should not penalize students for simply coping with stress.

I have gathered some resources for my future practice in helping students cope with stress and building their intrinsic motivation. BC Council for Families provides links to books that can be purchased at a small price for various topics such as self-esteem workbooks, sticking up for yourself, how to feel good, boosting confidence, and so much more. Although I do not have direct access to these books, overtime I may need to resort back to this site to purchase a book in an area that I am struggling to deal with in my classroom. Another website I found provides links to other sites that offer self-regulation activities for high school students, how to set up a “whole-brain” classroom, how to talk to parents about self-regulation, anger management skills, and lots more. It is always useful to have a hub of information, rather than reading through pages on pages of material. This SlideShare was created for teachers in helping students set goals, become organized, and self-regulate for academic success. It is a very well put together presentation and would encourage others to watch it. The Center for Teaching provides explanations on the different types of motivation, strategies for motivating students, and the effect motivation has on different learning styles. On top of that, the side bar provides other teaching guides such as flipping the classroom, difficult situations, classroom management – the list goes on! It is an extremely resourceful website that will be bookmarked for sure! The last resource I found is an article produced by TeachHub that addresses 12 ways to increase student participation. It is easy for students to become disengaged in a classroom that is dull and boring. It is important to be reflective teachers, constantly adapting our teaching methods. The article suggests allowing anonymous questions, flexible groupings, let students teach each other, and so on.