I cannot emphasize enough how much parents need to be a part of this discussion. If parents are not coaching and monitoring their student's technology usage at home, it can create a plethora of problems at school. Middle school and high school students are still learning self-regulation and without the help of their parents, they may never see the line of when we need a break from technology and connectivity. In my opinion, parents are too relaxed on their children's usage of their phones at home and this is building a strong unhealthy reliance on cell phone use.

How do we facilitate this effectively on both a large scale (with companies like google and apple) but also on a local scale within our districts?

This comment points towards to fact that just using technology in the classroom is not enough. We need teachers to be using (and teaching students how to use) technology in a way that supports "academic and social-emotional growth" (Kolb, 2019). This includes topics like digital literacy, social media and digital communication. In the article "Integrating Technology in the Classroom: It Takes More Than Just Having Computers" by Linda Starr, Starr unpacks that "Technology has become part of the educational process, but too often it is separate and not integrated into the learning experience" (Starr, 2016) She also makes the point that "For many teachers, a lack of personal experience with technology presents an additional challenge". (Starr, 2016)

I saw Ursula's comment above and it made me think about the population of administration and school leaders who are not as technologically savvy or full of enthusiasm about technology as the modern world of education might need them to be. Our conversation and annotations have often pointed towards how we train and support teachers with technology, but how do we do the same with leadership and administration?

I believe that this is one of the most important points mentioned in this article. Without "teacher ownership" (Culatta, 2019) implementing anything new, technology or not, is likely to be unsuccessful, or an uphill battle at best. This is why it's imperative for leaders to be intentional about rolling out new plans, and find ways to get their teachers (or team) on board with new changes.

This is a key point that shows the importance of leadership around change. Even something that may seem minor, like a technological upgrade, can need careful planning and guidance. My father, who was a principal at a middle school in the lower mainland, once shared a story about how every classroom at his school had been upgraded and had a 'smartboard' installed. As time went on, he realized that many teachers had no idea what a 'smartboard' was, or what they had the capability of doing with it (lots of interactive, useful teaching features). He was horrified to find out that teachers were using their 'smartboard' the same way they that they would before, as a projector, and nothing else.

I think that using technology to close equity gaps is an admirable and feasible goal. However, at the same time, I am skeptical as to how it can be done strategically. As higher economic areas get increasing access to brand new technologies consistently (as technology rapidly changes from year to year), schools and areas that cannot afford to keep up with the rate of change, will tend to fall behind in their technology department, thus creating another gap. As a TOC I saw a noticeable difference around the lower mainland between schools and districts with schools that had access to newer technologies, and others that did not. I continue to inquire about how much this affects one student with access to technology against another without.

Within our IEP's, I see a lot of adaptations for students where they get to avoid doing certain types of assignments and have a reduced workload. I wonder how much this is an effective strategy for these students, and how often this might be having a negative effect on the student's ability to deal with anxiety. What are some other strategies we can use in education other than avoidance-based approaches?

Because "there is clear evidence that school staff are primary providers of mental health services for children" (Green et al., 2017), I wonder how we can communicate more effectively to parents about what their child might be experiencing at school. I also wonder if perhaps this is from a lack of understanding or education for parents. How can we provide more information to parents about their kids so that they can provide better supports at home?

As an educator, I'm aware that anxiety is prevalent, however I don't always think about how much it affects or interferes with a student's ability to function and succeed academically. This article shows pretty clearly that anxiety is affecting students consistently and that what we consider 'work habits', or organization, may just be a symptom of anxiety.

It's no surprise that "anxious children have poorer social skills" however, I think it's up to us as a community (not just educators, but peers, parents, strangers etc), to create an atmosphere where anxious kids can feel more comfortable. If not, the cycle that Green speaks to here will continue to spiral. Because of their lack of social skills and general rejection from society, these children will have "less opportunities to engage in a practice interpersonal interactions" thus giving them less practice at building social skills.

Anxiety among teenage girls is extremely evident. As an educator, I see this everyday. I cannot help but think that this is closely related to the social media phenomenon that has taken over this generation's teenage culture. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America released an article regarding technology use and anxiety. Sarah Fader writes "It seems that the more technology we acquire, the more stressed out we become." (Fader, 2018) Between the constant need to be connected and trying to compare to the "perfection" that they find online, it's no wonder that girls are struggling with mental health more than ever. AC

On the Anxiety Canada website, there were a few links and phrases that stated that anxiety was "harmless", I mentioned in some of my annotations that I found this to be untrue based on research found in this article. It is also important to note that academic and social functioning (and success) are incredibly important in the adolescent and developing years.

This is a daunting reminder that teachers (most definitely including myself) need to be educated and practiced on how to teach and deal with a variety of students with anxiety disorders. Personally, I believe that there are links to technology and social media that are spiking anxiety rates of the next generation, however, in addition to finding solutions on a grand scale, we also need to know how to deal with students on an individual basis.

It worries me to think about how often this might be true within our school system. Even with the new curriculum, there are many teachers and educators using old and outdated practices that are not evidence based. This applies both in regular teaching scenarios, but also when dealing with kids with anxiety. Because it seems like such a new phenomenon, teachers are struggling to stay current on modern research and practices on how to deal with these struggling students.

Test Annotation. Hope this is working!

I am curious to see the data and validity of this statement. In my experience, many teenagers tell their parents nothing or very little about their feelings. However, if this statement is true, it is crucial that parents get relevant information about how to help their children. I also wonder how we address the fact that "there is clear evidence that school staff are primary providers of mental health services for children (Burns et al., 1995; Leaf et al., 1996; Merikangas et al., 2011)" (Green et al., 2017) If parents are the ones students rely on the most, but school staff are the number number one supports, than we need to find a way to shift the responsibilities over to the parents.

I am curious to know if this is something that could be incorporated into the curriculum. A sample "I" statement from the Critical Thinking page on the curriculum specifies "I can reflect on and evaluate my thinking, products, and actions." (Ministry of Education, 2018) I believe that this touches on a related idea, but I wonder if learning to deal with anxiety should be a life skill that we are teaching in schools, and at what age?

As an educator, I have seen many IEP's which do exactly this. The IEP asks teachers to give students alternative assignments which allow them to do projects, assignments and presentations in a less "scary" way. I understand that it is challenging to figure out what strategies are best for each individual student, however, I wonder how many students we could be pushing a little bit more and teaching them to overcome difficult situations more often.

I would argue that anxiety isn't actually harmless. Green et al. states that "anxiety can cause interference that is cognitive (e.g., concentration problems, worry), behavioral (e.g., restlessness, low participation), and physiological (e.g., nausea, rapid heart rate; Huberty, 2008)" (Green et al. 2017). Anxiety also "has the potential to negatively affect academic success." (Green et al. 2017) As much as it might be reassuring to a child to tell them that anxiety is harmless, I think that it is far from the truth.

I have seen this time and again at the high school(s) that I work at. There are students who seem to have no issues or learning disabilities, but can then be paralyzed by a simple social situation or doing something in front of peers. I struggle as an educator when to push a student who just needs a little more experience and practice and when to allow a student alternatives when the activity would seem to make the anxiety worsen. Green et al. reported that "School-based situations in which children reported the greatest anxiety were speaking in front of the class and taking tests." (Green et al., 2017)

This is something that I was not aware of. Whenever I hear the term PTSD, I usually think about Military Veterans or a more violent scenario. Though it is logical, I never thought that a car accident (which are extremely common) could cause PTSD and that it is common in children.

Unfortunately, this is getting increasingly more difficult to measure as the rate of anxiety increases with each generation of children, currently "More than 30% of children and adolescents meet criteria for an anxiety disorder before the age of 18 (Kessler et al., 2012; Merikangas et al., 2010)" (Green et al., 2017). I also wonder if kids feel less anxious at home (because they are more comfortable) and that because of this, parents might not see the more anxious side of them. This could make it challenging for a parent to recognize a symptom of anxiety in their child.

Test Annotation #2! Can you see this?