HeartMath

Introduction

With the area of working with student with anxiety at the focus, the aim of my Boundary Object Project is to work with this population to extend my learning while solving a community problem. This topic arose as an area of interest for my project because of a number of students in Beiseker Community School that I worked with during Field Experience 600. These students exhibited generalized anxiety disorder, both diagnosed and undiagnosed. I proposed to implement the use of the HeartMath program with these students. HeartMath is a self regulatory tool which allows individuals to improve learning, manage stress, and strengthen relationships, through the use of biofeedback relaxation techniques (Institute of HeartMath, 2014).

In partnership with Beiseker Community School I will work one on one with a number of students, instructing them on the HeartMath process. Although I had initially planned on working specifically with student with generalized anxiety, I ended up working with ten students, all with varying diagnoses. During my time, I designed a professional development session for teachers and support staff to instruct them on the process to ensure that the maximum number of students will benefit from the program. The program combines a couple self-regulation techniques that the student will learn to do on their own with a number of games on a computer program. The computer programs are a fun way for students to regulate their heart rate while reducing stress. Prior to using the computer programs, students must demonstrate their ability to master the self-regulation techniques. The Learning Support Teacher at Beiseker Community School had begun introducing the computer programs to the students before I began my...

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