Helping Classrooms Cope with Stress: Advice for Teachers and Students

Insights by Bettie Bertram

Stress is a common part of the school experience—for both teachers and students. From packed schedules and academic demands to classroom management challenges, the pressures of education can build quickly during the school year.

According to Bettie Bertram, assistant professor of education at Lebanon Valley College, understanding how stress appears in classrooms—and how educators respond to it—can make a meaningful difference for both teachers and learners.

Bertram notes that stress often stems from a mix of internal and external pressures. “Knowing that stress is perceptual, we can feel stress both intrinsically and extrinsically,” she explained. One of the most common sources of stress for teachers involves classroom management, particularly when student behaviors do not align with established expectations or systems.

Teachers may feel overwhelmed when they seek help addressing a classroom challenge but struggle to find solutions. Another major stressor is time management. With many competing responsibilities—from lesson planning and grading to administrative tasks—educators often feel pressure to meet expectations that seem to pile up quickly.

One way to counter that stress, Bertram says, is to prioritize health and well-being—even during busy stretches of the school year. Taking time for movement, social connection, and even play can help restore energy and focus. “While it may seem counterintuitive, we need to prioritize health,” she said. “This includes play. This also includes movement of any kind, brain breaks, and social time with people we enjoy.”

Research on the brain also supports the value of cognitive reframing—shifting how people talk to themselves and others about stressful situations. Teachers who model healthy coping strategies can also help their students develop those same skills.

“Model calm, managed behavior. Model organization. Model good listening skills. Model flexibility when plans change that we weren’t prepared for,” Bertram said. When teachers model these behaviors consistently, they also create opportunities to directly teach students how to manage challenges and regulate their responses to stress.

Students often show clear signals when they are experiencing high levels of stress. Bertram says it can appear as a loss of enthusiasm or energy in the classroom. “Stress creates a lack of joy day to day. It drains energy and we see lethargy,” she said. Teachers may also notice decreased participation, incomplete assignments, reduced creativity, or declining self-confidence.

Recognizing those signs is the first step toward supporting students. Providing emotional support—even simply listening—can have a powerful impact on a student’s sense of value and belonging. Teachers can also help students feel less overwhelmed by breaking large assignments into smaller, manageable steps and encouraging balance between work and rest. “Help students scaffold their assignments and due dates so they don’t feel as overwhelmed,” Bertram advised.

Support systems also play a crucial role in helping both teachers and students manage stress. Social-emotional learning, self-awareness, and peer connections allow individuals to better understand what they are feeling and why. “We, as students or educators, need to know what we feel, why we feel it, how to work through it, and how to celebrate the small steps of success,” Bertram said.

The classroom environment itself can also influence how students experience stress. Bertram emphasizes the importance of creating a space that feels safe, welcoming, and predictable. Clear expectations, written directions for activities and transitions, and consistent routines help students understand what is expected of them and reduce unnecessary anxiety.

Equally important is the way teachers engage with students in everyday interactions. Bertram encourages educators to be fully present when students speak. “We need to ‘whole face listen’ when our students share with us—not grading papers or reading emails while they talk,” she said. Showing that level of attention helps build trust and reinforces that students’ voices matter.

Ultimately, Bertram says, supporting student well-being requires empathy and perspective. “We struggle with stress even as adults, so we need to remember they have fewer natural resources to cope and achieve success,” she said.

By modeling healthy habits, building supportive classroom environments, and remaining attentive to students’ needs, educators can help foster resilience—and create classrooms where both teachers and students are better equipped to thrive.