The How To’s

Yukon Education: Student Support Services

Self Regulation

What do we mean by self-regulation?

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http://youtu.be/QDlN_9fSAis

1.To wake up in the morning, I …

2.When I have to listen at the staff meeting, I …

3.When I need to concentrate, the environment includes…

4. What I like best about my home…

5. When I am feeling stressed out I tend to __________ to help me feel better

Personal Sensory Tools

Yukon Context

We live in a northern harsh climate

Resiliency—darkness (hibernation) and re-emergence

Intergenerational Trauma – black and white thinking; “for” or “against” – look for nuance

We do same (must be in class)

Can’t force but must guide energy (empty arbitrary requests)

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Definition

“Self-regulation is the ability to manage your own energy states, emotions, behaviours and attention, in ways that are socially acceptable and help achieve positive goals, such as maintaining good relationships, learning and maintaining wellbeing.”

Stuart Shanker

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Definition

Recent studies show that children have far too much stress in their lives, because of biological, social, psychological, and/or environmental reasons

How a child responds to a stressor and recovers from the effort

In order to regulate we need to change intensity of stimuli (environment or adult)

Gives lens for understanding child and it empowers the child

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Self Regulation

Recognizing and managing arousal levels Executive functioning: inhibit impulses and

attention Children acquire the ability to self regulate by

first being regulated A newborn has no capacity to self regulate Some kids will need more external regulation

from school due to an inability to internalize regulation techniques

To Co-regulate- we need to be regulated ourselves as well, have relationships + Right Strategy

Self Regulation

All behaviors are regulatory in nature Some impede with social interactions or learning

Arousal levels are adjusted to meet task demands emotions, behaviors, and attention

Everyone has different baselines of arousal & are affected by different stressors and stimuli (two children might expend very different amounts of energy in order to engage in the same activity) Different levels of energy expended to engage in a similar

activity

Energy expended depletes our resources which affects the attention span and ability to keep up with a lesson May lead to anger, withdrawal and/or anxiety

Continuum of Arousal

Range of Optimal

Self-Regulation

CalmCommunicati

veLearning

Hypoactive State

Hyperactive Stateup-

regulatingdown-regulating

GOAL: To Recognize + Manage Arousal

Self Regulation

A child with good self regulation knows:Step 1: What it looks like to be calmly focused and alert in each domain

Breathing/MINDUP

Step 2: How to recognize stressors and how to return to the optimal state of regulation

How do children learn?

Observation: modeling

Collaborative practice: Doing it together

Supported practice:Doing it with guidance

Independent practice

Continuum of support

NEED TO DOWN-REGULATE FOR LEARNINGAdult regulation of environment

Turn down lights, create quiet & calm Adult co-regulation

Modeling down-regulating, doing together Adult support

Reminders, guidance Check-in support

Prompts for self-reflection, make connections, plans

FOCUS ON BIOLOGICAL DOMAIN

5 DOMAINS OF SELF-REGULATION

5 DomainsWhat does Calmly Focused look like?

Biological

Emotion Cognitive

Social Pro-social

Health

Nutrition

Sleep

Exercise

Sensory inputs

Modulate emotions

Sustain & switch attention

Appropriate task and language demands

Perspective

Impact of actions on others

Development of empathy:Doing the “right” thing

Self-Regulation along the 5 Domains:

1. Matching energy level to the demands of a task or situation.

2. Monitoring and managing emotions.

3. Focusing attention and ignore distractions.

4. Understanding and engaging in social interactions.

5. Connecting with and caring about others.

Baumeister & Vohs

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Biological Domain

Refers to activity or the level of energy in the human nervous system.

Levels of energy vary widely from person to person, situation to situation, and across the day.

Levels are influenced by individual personal sensory profile.

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Key Attributes of a Well Regulated Biological

Domain

Physical health.

Sufficient energy across the day; it is finite

Ability to recoup energy after taxing experiences.

Ability to follow healthy daily routines.

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INITIAL STRATEGIES FOR SCHOOLS AND TEACHING STAFF:

Behavioral Domain

IMPLEMENTING SELF-REGULATION

What does Calmly Focused look like?

Self Regulation - Biological Domain(adapted from Stuart Shanker)

Modulate the intensity of stimuli in order to engage & sustain the child’s attention

Reduce visual stimuli Reduce auditory

stimuli Create a safe place Create a class climate

Provide additional external tools and strategies to a student following a referral by the School-Based Team to an occupational therapist and other consultants.

Whole Class Individual

Reduce Visual Stimuli

Limit extraneous visual material on walls

Use natural lighting and lamps

Keep clutter to a minimum curtains over

shelves

Reduce Auditory Stimuli

Arrange your classroom so that noisemaking activities are in one area and quiet activities are in another

Tennis balls on legs of desks/chairs to reduce noise

Reduce unnecessary noises (fans, computers left on, door clacking, bell buzzer vs. music or chime)

Create a Safe Place

Set up a safe space for down-regulation tent pillow pile rocking chair Plants

Whole School Yoga , and active room

and others cheer on Have a “go to” person

for re-regulate (soothing); explicit teaching

Create a Regulated Class

Offer different seating options including yoga ball, cubby hole, standing up at desk, beanbag chair, exercise bike

Tools to Try Supporting our Learners Individual Needs

Enclosure, tent and curtains

The most common ways to maintain attention or refocus ourselves e.g. go for a run/walk, stretching, tapping feet, wiggling leg, position changes.

Back & forth, slow, rhythmical movement = calming

Up and down, fast, un-rhythmical movements = alerting

Movement Tools

Biological Strategies

Build in movement breaks: http://youtu.be/bJj6icP_mQ4: Be Smart Boogie Break

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPvv5HqYc60: Adventure to Fitness

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cNjAj_o0SI Cosmic kids yoga

Build in brain breaks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx9a7sxVeNM&feature=share&list=PLA9680D909A10CDEA slap hand math

http://youtu.be/3OM0pWnxnAA - Rock, paper, scissors

Movement Strategies

"Brain Break" sticks! Each popsicle stick has an activity on it (e.g. like spin 3x, jump rope, Macarena dance, jumping jacks, chair push-ups, seat swap, etc...}.

http://3rd-grade-thoughts.blogspot.com/

In the Classroom - Movement

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HOWEVER…

Motion activities may result in dysregulated state. Follow up with breathing or proprioceptive input

Motion combined with cognitive tasks may reduce dysregulation

Motion combined with deep pressure helps to organize and refocus Chair pushup Wall presses

Daily Practice Whole class

Language

Up-regulation

Down-regulation

Self-control games

Simon Says

Green light, red light

Freeze tag

Martial arts

Following directions, patterns, recipes

Peaceful music

Yoga

Bean-bag chair

Breathing

Reading

Dimmed lights

Movement Breaks

Exercise/boot camp

Brain Gym

Stimulation

Oral stimulationvolume and hydration stations

Tone of voice

Volumne

Pace

Rhythm

Words we use

Introducing the Language of Regulation

Ensure that self-regulation concepts are clearly understood by the students Use age-appropriate vocabulary that develops

a common understanding around self-regulation

Students need to understand the vocabulary terms before they can be expected to use them For example, what do the terms Calm or Excited mean for the age

group/developmental level you are working with? Match language length to comprehension level

Teach the words, model their use, BEFORE expecting the students to use these words

Introducing the Language of Regulation

What do you need vs. what are you doing?

Remember tone of voice and voice levels, pace and rhythm

2 Languages to teach:

Analyze body language: Increase body awareness

Increase emotional language

but WHERE do I start?

.

With yourself

in the BIOLOGICAL DOMAIN

Teacher Wellness

Self-care – helping ourselves first What pushes my buttons & why? Balance our lives– being self aware &

managing

Self-regulation Be aware of biological influences on your

functioning Regulate your biological domain Respond rather than react, being mindful

Contagion Effect Be aware of how the relationships are

affecting you Be aware of how you affect your students

as regulated adults better able to help students achieve optimal regulation

Regulated adults are better able to help kids achieve optimal regulation.

Wait…

How does this work with the social-emotional learning programs like Mind-Up and Zones of Regulation?

The short answer: All of these programs

help to improve self-regulation!

First Steps

Take care of self by recognizing on regulatory needs

Shift the environment: adaptations, visual/auditory stimuli

Self-regulation areas in classrooms (up and down regulated areas)

Scheduled movement and down regulated activities

Use of self-regulation language (what do you need?)

Mornings: integrate: food, sleep, talking circle, and yoga

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Websites

Canadian Self-Regulation Initiative (S. Shanker) http://www.self-regulation.ca (webinar 7, 8, 9 & 11)

Brenda Whittam Neary - series of videos (lesson 3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve1D3U6zM7Y

The Zones of Regulation http://www.socialthinking.com)

Doodles, Dances and Ditties: A Somatosensory Handbook, Mount St. Vincent http://www.msvhome.org)

Thank you!