Both you and your students have the potential to experience stress at various times of the year. Sometimes you will notice students experiencing anxiety for major tests or even every test they take. Certainly you and your class can benefit if you learn to avoid or manage stress and test anxiety. Test anxiety refers to a set of reactions some people have in response to exams. These reactions can vary from having butterflies in the stomach to being unable to concentrate or think. Some people experience physical symptoms, such as shaking, nausea, dry mouth, pounding heart or back and neck pain. Others may feel fear or panic. These physical and emotional symptoms can then affect cognition by blocking such functions as memory and concentration. Whatever the symptoms, you can help your students manage test anxiety and stress about exams or school in general. While the school counselor or other professional may offer assistance, there are some simple strategies you can incorporate into your class. These suggestions do not take a lot of time and can easily be part of regular test preparations. Click here to learn about techniques to help your students overcome stress and test anxiety. Now, how about you? While concentrating on helping your students deal with their anxieties and all the other facets of your job, it is easy to forget about managing your own levels of anxiety and stress. Teacher burnout is not a mythical disorder. You will hear many examples of it in almost every educational setting. Teaching, as every important job does, can consume your life. There will always be papers to grade, lessons to plan, parent progress notes to write, background information to read, professional development courses to take, activities to develop, new techniques and strategies to explore, meetings to attend, programs to prepare, bulletin boards to make, reports to complete, problems to tackle, performances to attend, committees to coordinate, and much, much more. No matter how much time and energy you invest, you will always think of something you could be doing to enhance your job or to assist your students. You need to decide how you will organize and prioritize your workload. There are many books and courses that can provide you with lots of good advice and information. For now, if you concentrate on these four areas, you will be helping yourself (and thus your students) to remain a fresh, enthusiastic, professional and healthy teacher. Do you exhibit confidence and calmness in your classroom? How do you handle periods of stress or anxiety? Take the time to learn what you can do to reduce your own stress and anxiety so as to remain a fresh, enthusiastic, professional and healthy teacher.