5 strategies to help children self-regulate in the classroom.

Do you feel frustrated at times that your class are too emotionally needy or can’t stay focused for extended periods of time? Do you wish they would take responsibility for their own learning and development? If you do, then it may be time to start incorporating the ideas of the self-regulation theory in your classroom.

To understand how to incorporate it, we need to understand what self-regulation is. Self-regulation is the ability to identify one’s current emotional state. When you can do this, you are then able to identify when you are not in a state of calm and engage in behaviours to help bring yourself back to that calm level.

For example, a child entered my classroom one morning in tears. He told me he was sad about being late. I suggested he take a walk to the water fountain, have a drink of water and return to class. When he returned, he was no longer in tears and was ready to begin the day.

The idea of self-regulation is that an individual can do this independently without intervention. We are not born with these skills; we need to learn them. We learn that the walk to the water fountain allows ourselves to take a few deep breaths and the drink of water helps us stop crying. These behaviours helped that pupil return to a state of calm.

We as teachers are responsible for teaching children these lifelong skills so they can act independently in their own day-to-day existence.

5 Ways to implement self-regulating strategies:

1.)    Mental health ‘check-in’ board.

Each morning, the children arrive at school, enter the classroom and need to ‘check-in’ with how they are feeling in the morning by placing their name or face on an emotion. This act will allow you as the teacher to understand the emotional state each child is in before even beginning the day as well as allow you to get ahead of any potential melt-downs and deal with them in the moment. This repetitive behaviour for the children will help them develop the subconscious habit of identifying their own emotions without someone prompting them.

2.)    Calm down cards

A handy resource to have is a pre-made set of ‘calm me down’ cards.

These are laminated cards with an action on them that a child can pick and execute to help get them back to that calm state. By them choosing the card, they are identifying with a behaviour they need to engage in that will help calm them down, which is the basis of self-regulation. Cards can be found SENspired’s Etsy page.

3.)    Movement breaks

We ask a lot of our pupils to sit in a chair for hours on end and remain at optimum concentration efficiency. By incorporating movement breaks between lessons, children can move their bodies, close the chapter on a completed lesson and then start the next lesson with a refreshed spirit. A pupil randomly picks a card, the class execute the action on that card and then the next lesson can begin.

4.)    Water

A water break can be the saving grace for a pupil who is struggling in the moment. When you see a child is not coping, offer them a chance to go and get a drink of water. It is amazing to see how magical this task can be.

5.)    Emotion check in throughout the day

When you notice a pupil is having a difficult time, ask them to show you the emotion they are feeling. This could be by using an emotions fan or asking them to pick a colour from the self-regulation zones of proximity. Ask them why they are feeling that way and then what they think they could do to get them back to calm (or the green zone).

Another handy resource available on SENspired’s Etsy page.

Any task that you do in class that allows children to identify what they are feeling and pick a behaviour to help remain in a calm state, is the foundation of self-regulation. Give it a go and see the wonders it can produce.