What are Stress Triggers?

Triggers are thoughts, feelings, or events that cause a person to feel stress. Everyone has stress triggers. It is important to identify the triggers that might affect a student’s academic, social, emotional, and behavioral status at school.

What makes your students feel stressed or anxious? Use the "Identify Your School Triggers" Assessment with your students. This assessment allows students to read each item and then rate each potential trigger on a scale of 1 – 5.
*If the student is not able to self-assess, then ask a parent (or someone who knows the student very well) to complete the form.

Worksheet - "Identify Your School Triggers"

Use the "Identify Your School Triggers" assessment in the following ways:

At the beginning of the school year.
To identify and then teach specific coping strategies to address these triggers.
To aid in the development of IEP objectives.
To share with IEP team at transition meetings.
To help you arrange /adjust / accommodate / modify the environment to best support the student’s needs.

After your students have identified their triggers, they can organize these triggers on any of these scale worksheets:

Volcano Scale – My School Triggers

Directions:
To complete this Volcano Scale, you will need to have your "Identify Your School Triggers" worksheet with you.

Organize your 1’s, 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, and 5’s onto this scale. You do not have to write down all of the items listed on the "Identify Your School Triggers" worksheet. Just write down the items you think are most important to you.

Use the "Volcano Scale – My School Triggers" in the following ways:

To help students assess and label their own anxiety and frustration levels.
To help students accurately identify the events that might correspond with each level on the scale.
To promote group discussions / activities.

Anger & Anxiety Thermometers

Use the Anger Thermometer in the following ways:

To help students assess and label their own anger levels.
To help students accurately identify the events that might correspond with each level on the scale.
To promote group discussions / activities.

Use the Anxiety Thermometer in the following ways:

To help students assess and label their own anxiety levels.
To help students accurately identify the events that might correspond with each level on the scale.
To promote group discussions / activities.