The How To’s

1. Self Regulation The How To’s Yukon Education: Student Support Services

2. What do we mean by self-regulation? • http://youtu.be/QDlN_9fSAis 2

3. Personal Sensory Tools • To wake up in the morning, I … • When I have to listen at the staff meeting, I … • 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

4. 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) 4

5. 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 5

6. 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 6

7. 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

8. 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

9. Continuum of Arousal up-regulating down-regulating GOAL: To Recognize +Manage Arousal

10. 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

11. How do children learn?

12. Continuum of support NEED TO DOWN-REGULATE FOR LEARNING Adult 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

13. 5 DOMAINS OF SELF-REGULATION FOCUS ON BIOLOGICAL DOMAIN

14. 5 DomainsWhat does Calmly Focused look like?

15. Self-Regulation along the 5 Domains: • Matching energy level to the demands of a task or situation. • Monitoring and managing emotions. • Focusing attention and ignore distractions. • Understanding and engaging in social interactions. • Connecting with and caring about others. Baumeister & Vohs 15

16. 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. 16

17. 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. 17

18. What does Calmly Focused look like? IMPLEMENTING SELF-REGULATION INITIAL STRATEGIES FOR SCHOOLS AND TEACHING STAFF: Behavioral Domain

19. Self Regulation - Biological Domain(adapted from Stuart Shanker) Whole Class Individual • 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.

20. Reduce Visual Stimuli • Limit extraneous visual material on walls • Use natural lighting and lamps • Keep clutter to a minimum • curtains over shelves

21. 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)

24. 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

25. Create a Regulated Class • Offer different seating options including yoga ball, cubby hole, standing up at desk, beanbag chair, exercise bike

27. Tools to TrySupporting our Learners Individual Needs Enclosure, tent and curtains

28. Movement Tools • 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

29. 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=PLA9680D909A10CDEAslap hand math • http://youtu.be/3OM0pWnxnAA - Rock, paper, scissors

30. 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/

31. In the Classroom - Movement 32

32. 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

33. Daily Practice Whole class Simon Says Green light, red light Freeze tag Martial arts Following directions, patterns, recipes • Peaceful music • Yoga • Bean-bag chair • Breathing • Reading • Dimmed lights Tone of voice Volumne Pace Rhythm Words we use Movement Breaks Exercise/boot camp Brain Gym Stimulation Oral stimulationvolumeand hydration stations

34. 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

35. 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

36. but WHERE do I start? .

37. in the BIOLOGICAL DOMAIN With yourself

38. 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.

39. 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!

40. 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 40

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

43. Thank you!