Anxious Learners, Steady Classrooms: Practical Strategies that Work

Graduate-Level Credit / Non-Credit Hours
3 Semester Credits or 45 Clock Hours

Early enrollment is now open for the new self-paced course:
Anxious Learners, Steady Classrooms: Practical Strategies that Work

• The course will be available in January 2027.
• You’ll receive an email notification as soon as it’s ready.

Course Description

In today’s classrooms, students face a range of pressures that can affect their ability to focus and engage in learning. This course invites K–12 educators to examine how anxiety, stress, and distraction influence student well-being and academic experiences, while exploring practical ways to create more supportive learning environments. Participants will investigate contributing factors such as constant connectivity, social comparison, reduced unstructured play and independence, and academic pressure, and will consider how these forces shape attention, belonging, behavior, and learning.

Drawing on recent research and frameworks associated with Dr. Denise Pope and colleagues at Challenge Success, Dr. Jorge Verlenden and colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Surgeon General’s advisories on youth mental health, and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), educators will strengthen their ability to recognize signs of student anxiety, respond within professional role boundaries, and design classroom conditions that protect focus and psychological safety without lowering academic expectations. After completing this course, participants will be prepared to implement a personalized, sustainable action plan that strengthens student confidence, calm, and agency in their classroom.

Global Outcomes/Goals of the Course

To deepen and/or apply the content and skills of the teacher’s existing professional knowledge base by meeting the following global goals of the course:

1. Analyze factors contributing to elevated student anxiety, stress, and distraction, and evaluate implications for teaching and learning across K–12 settings.
2. Design classroom and instructional practices that protect attention, reduce overwhelm, and maintain high expectations for diverse learners.
3. Apply research-informed strategies to recognize student anxiety, respond supportively within the educator’s role, and determine when to refer.
4. Create classroom structures that strengthen belonging, peer support, play/independence opportunities, and student agency.
5. Develop practices that support educator well-being, professional boundaries, and sustainable responses to student anxiety.
6. Synthesize course learning into a sustainable classroom or team action plan with clear steps, measures, and communication strategies.

• Self-Paced 1
• Structured 0
• Site Based 0
• Interactive 3