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Emma has a math test today. She forgot to study, her stomach feels weird, and her hands are shaking. She keeps thinking she’s going to fail.
How can you tell she is stressed.
She’s nervous and worried. This is classic stress. Her stomach is in “knots”. Her hands are shaking which is likely due to her muscles tensing due to anxiety or stress.
Alex dropped his backpack and all his homework papers flew everywhere.
He shouted, "Ugh, this is the worst day ever!" and kicked the backpack.
how does Alex feel. What makes you think that.
It's clear Alex is frustrated — but mostly because he feels overwhelmed and embarrassed.
Liam was excited to be in the school play... until it was time to go on stage.
He froze backstage, his hands shaking, and said, "I don’t want to do this anymore!"
His fear is obvious — classic stage fright!
During a long math lesson, Jake slumped in his chair and started doodling in his notebook instead of paying attention.
He sighed loudly and whispered, "This is soooo boring."
How does he feel?
Very clear boredom — classic signs like doodling and complaining.
Olivia tapped her foot non-stop before a big math test.
She whispered, "What if I fail? What if I forget everything?"
She kept flipping through her notes even when it was time to put them away. How is she feeling?
Clear anxiety — worrying out loud, restless, unable to relax.
Jake is about to go on stage in the school play. He’s smiling and joking with friends, but inside he feels like his heart is jumping. He’s worried he’ll forget his lines.
He might say he’s just “excited,” but really, it’s a kind of stress that hides behind fun. His heart is jumping which could actually be an elevated heart rate. This could happen when a person in engaging in higher rates of physical activity but since he is not doing that it is likely due to feeling of stress of remembering his lines.
During soccer practice, Maya missed an easy goal and threw her water bottle.
She stomped off the field, mumbling, "I’m so bad at everything."
How does she feel
She looks angry, but underneath, she's feeling embarrassed and disappointed in herself — not mad at others.
Sophia was invited to her first sleepover, but when her mom went to drop her off, Sophia said, "I don’t feel good" and asked to go home.
She says she’s sick, but she’s really nervous about sleeping away from home for the first time.
During silent reading time, Mia stared out the window for almost twenty minutes, not touching her book.
When the teacher asked if she was okay, Mia just shrugged and said, "I’m fine."
how does she feel?
Mia’s zoning out looks like maybe she’s tired or sad, but she’s actually just bored with the book.
Before going to overnight camp, Ben packed his suitcase with three flashlights, five sweatshirts, and a dozen snacks.
He kept asking, "What if it gets cold? What if I lose my stuff?"
Ben seems "overprepared," but it's really anxiety about leaving home and facing the unknown.
Lily’s new puppy is super cute, but it chews everything, makes messes, and wakes her up at night. She feels tired and cranky but says she’s “just a little annoyed.”
It’s actually stress, but it might feel like tiredness or frustration instead. When a bunch of “little things” add up it can lead to a bigger feeling. If it was just the waking up at night or messes it could be she is tired or annoyed but the combination of multiple feelings can lead to a larger one.
Jordan's group for a history project wasn’t working well together.
When someone suggested a new idea, Jordan snapped, "Why do you guys never listen to me?"
He slammed his book shut and refused to work.
How does he feel? How do you think his group feels.
It seems like Jordan is just being bossy or angry, but he's actually feeling left out and powerless.
When the class went on a ropes course trip, Tyler loudly joked, "This is for babies!" and refused to put on the harness.
He acts tough and mocks others, but deep down, he’s scared of heights — and covering it up with bravado.
What are we not seeing?
During a museum field trip, Noah kept poking his friends, making jokes, and pretending dinosaur bones were "zombies."
He got in trouble for "acting out."
how does he feel
Noah looks like a troublemaker, but he’s actually bored because he’s not interested in the tour.
When Harper found out she had to present her science project to the whole class, she shrugged and said, "I don’t care if it’s bad. Whatever."
But later, she sat alone, biting her nails and refusing to practice.
Harper acts like she doesn’t care — but she’s anxious about public speaking and afraid of embarrassing herself.
Ella loved soccer, art club, and piano lessons.
But one week, everything seemed to pile up — soccer practice, a piano recital, and a big art project!
Ella rushed from one thing to another, feeling like she could barely catch her breath.
She started to snap at her friends and even forgot her lunch one day.
It’s okay to feel overwhelmed sometimes. Maybe you can choose to focus on just one or two things this week."
Ella decided to skip art club for a week and felt so much better — she even had time to paint a picture just for fun!
Stress hides under tiredness, anger, or silence.
It’s less obvious and needs reflection or gentle questioning to uncover.
At lunch, Emma sat with a new group of friends.
When no one laughed at her joke, she crossed her arms, rolled her eyes, and didn’t talk the rest of lunch.
Later, when asked, she said, "Whatever, I don’t even care."
How is she feeling? How do you think the person she is talking to feels?
Emma looks annoyed or "too cool," but really she’s feeling rejected and hurt — her anger is a mask for sadness.
Th person sh is talking to probably is feeling a little hurt or unimportant. They all may be a little confused once they do not know that Emma is angry or why she is angry.
Ava was supposed to give a big class presentation.
Instead of practicing normally, she stayed up all night rewriting her speech over and over and kept changing her poster.
She said, "It’s just not perfect yet!"
How is she feeling?
Her perfectionism is hiding major fear — fear of messing up or being embarrassed in front of others.
Layla usually loved soccer, but during a lopsided game where her team was way ahead, she barely moved.
She half-heartedly kicked the ball and didn’t chase it much.
When asked later, she said, "I just wasn’t into it today."
wht is she feeling?
Her low energy isn’t because she’s tired or upset — it’s boredom from not feeling challenged.
Luke kept asking to go to the nurse before math class every day.
He complained of a stomachache but didn’t have a fever or any other symptoms.
When the nurse asked if anything was bothering him, he said, "No, I’m fine."
Physical symptoms (like stomachaches) can hide anxiety — Luke is anxious about math but doesn’t know how to say it.
Zoe had always been pretty patient — until this month.
Suddenly, every little thing made her snap: her little brother humming, her homework taking too long, even dropping her spoon at lunch.
When her friend asked, "Why are you so mad all the time?" Zoe didn’t know what to say.
Later, her counselor explained that stress sometimes hides as anger.
Zoe realized she wasn’t angry at all those little things — she was stressed about a family move coming up. Sometimes we are stressed about stuff no one can see. It is important that listen to what our bodies are telling us and talk about it with others because sometime its hard for us to even tell ourselves.
After getting a low grade on his math test, Dylan crumpled it up and threw it away without looking at anyone.
When the teacher asked if he wanted to talk about it, he snapped, "No! It’s fine!" and walked out.
Dylan’s anger is very convincing — but deep down, he’s ashamed, embarrassed, and scared he’s "not smart enough."
Sometimes our emotions come out different than how we are feeling.
When Diego’s basketball team made it to the finals, he suddenly stopped showing up for practice.
When teammates texted him, he said, "I’m just busy," and made up excuses.
why might he not be showing up?
He seems disinterested or lazy, but underneath, Diego is scared of the pressure and of letting his team down.
Ryan worked hard at the beginning of his big science project.
But halfway through, he kept jumping between new ideas, never finishing anything.
When his partner asked why, Ryan shrugged, "I don’t know, I guess I’m just bad at projects."
Ryan thinks he’s just bad at finishing things, but really, he’s bored — he lost interest once the project got repetitive.
Emma joined three clubs, volunteered for extra homework, and started tutoring younger kids at lunch.
At first it seemed like she was just super motivated — but she was always tense, snapping at friends, and never smiling.
Emma’s over-busyness is actually anxiety — she’s scared of slowing down and feeling not "good enough."