You Think You've Got Worries?

     As Back To School time approaches, there isn't a teacher out there that won't tell you HORROR STORIES about the Back To School nightmares he or she is having. (These nightmares usually involve students literally climbing walls; rooms with no supplies, walls, or humans, but lots of goats and chickens; and my favorite, the one where the bell rings and you know the students have been in there for a good 20 minutes, but the hallway just keeps getting longer and longer and you just can't get to the room!) But as unnerving as these "wake you up in a cold sweat" terrors can be for us teachers, we know in our hearts that everything is going to be fine when we go back to school, and goats and chickens would never pass the dress code policy anyway.....

But....

     Try Being A Kid Today! The things kids have on their plates to worry about today far surpass what we EVER had to worry about as kids! (Take this picture for instance...these girls had no idea their teacher would be asking them to do MANUAL LABOR when they got to school and clean the guts out of a pumpkin!!! As you can tell by the first picture, this firstie was not letting this project go by without me knowing how she felt about being asked to do this!) But seriously....
     I teach in a district where many of my students come to school with very heavy burdens to carry. On top of the day to day kid stuff of sibling rivalry, cellphones, video games, snapchat, and the likes, in our district the poverty level is very high as is unemployment. Many of our students realize the trickle-down effects of those situations, and come to school hungry, tired, and still in the clothes from the day before. With class sizes as large as 30 and sometimes more, as much as I would love to be able to do it, it is very difficult to address all the worries and fears that the students carry in with them each morning. (We begin each day with Morning Meeting, but not all worries and fears are meant to be shared publicly.)
   Now I know that when I have a worry or a concern about something at the forefront of my mind, it doesn't really matter WHAT is being said/taught/introduced by the person standing in the front of the room...I am going to keep worrying about my worry! So you can bet that little kids are going to do the same thing! Until you help them take care of that worry, it won't matter if you teach the BEST LESSON IN THE WORLD...they aren't going to get one word of it!!!
     That is why I started something in my classroom called...

THE WORRY JAR!

   The Worry Jar is one of my FAVORITE things in my classroom! I explained to the children that I know how they feel when they come to school with a worry in their heart or head that they just can't stop thinking about, because it happens to me too! So I made this jar for them to put their worries in! The pages to put their worries on look like this...

I allow them to go to the jar at any time during the day if they are feeling like they need to put a worry in the jar. (Even if it is during a lesson, I allow them to get the paper started and then if I need to, I ask them to wait to finish the worry page, but that usually doesn't happen.) I tell them that putting their name on the worries is optional and that I do empty the jar each night. I keep an eye on who uses the jar and if they look particularly upset about something I check in with them immediately or check the jar early. Most of the time though, just putting their worry down on paper is enough for them to begin to feel better!
These are some of the worries that I have found in the jar....

Remember....

I keep this sign by my desk to help me to be mindful of what may be going on with my firsties!

Click here to get this FREEBIE!

If you think this is something that your students could benefit from, then maybe your classroom needs

Click here to purchase The Worry Jar from my TPT Store!

Before you leave... what is your recurring Back To School nightmare? I know you have one!