Emotional Regulation in the Classroom Jennifer Rodecki, M.Ed., BCBA (RYT-200 Sept 2017)

Developmental Trauma Multiple types of trauma Events occur during key times for brain development Impacts nervous system, heart rate variability, and brain development

What Counts As “Trauma” Abuse (emotional, verbal, sexual, physical) Witnessing trauma Divorce Abandonment Accidents etc…

What Happens to the Brain Sympathetic Nervous System vs Parasympathetic Nervous System Heart Rate Varialility Difficulty controlling the “fear” response

In the Classroom: ADHD Oppositional Defiant Disorder Mood Disorders Aggression Attachment Issues Deficits in Academics (specifically reading comprehension)

Breathwork, Mindfulness, & Relaxation Strategies Using mindfulness in the classroom can decrease problem behaviors and increase student engagement Brings students’ attention to their personal behavior Increases student responsibility for their behavior Promotes better social and emotional development Students acknowledge and understand emotions as they are occurring, which enables them to make a better decision on how to handle those emotions. Themes can include: anger, compassion, kindness, relaxation, sadness, etc. Rodecki 2017

Belly Breathing Have students put their hand on their belly or use a “belly buddy” Tell them to breathe deep into their belly and watch their hand or belly buddy rise and fall You can use a couple of students to model Belly Buddy Examples: rocks, Beanie Babies, stuffed animals, puppets Rodecki 2017

Lion’s Breath Used to release energy and emotions in the body Brings down anxiety, anger, etc. Can be good for a calm down corner or for the entire class How it works: Deep breath in through your nose Stick out your tongue Force all of the air out of your mouth

Bumble Bee Breath Used to decrease anxiety by lengthening exhales Great for calming an entire class How it works: Inhale through the nose Exhale by “humming” through the mouth, making a buzzing noise

Calm Down Jars Students shake the jar when they are feeling angry or upset. They watch the jar and take deep breaths until the glitter settles back down to the bottom. This provides visual sensory input and helps the mind calm down. Rodecki 2017

How to Make Calm Down Jars What you’ll need: Container (plastic works best for little ones) Glitter Glue Loose Glitter Hot Water Hot Glue Gun Add glitter glue to the hot water and shake Add loose glitter to mixture and shake Hot glue the lid closed Rodecki 2017

Feather Breath Use a fluffy craft feather Have students breathe in through their nose to “smell” the feather Have students breathe out through their nose and watch the feather dance Rodecki 2017

Focus 5 Tell students to give you their “Focus 5” Students touch thumb to pinky and breathe in and out Students touch thumb to ring finger and breathe in and out Students touch thumb to middle finger and breathe in and out Students touch thumb to pointer finger and breathe in and out Students give a thumbs up and breathe in and out to show that they are ready Rodecki 2017

The Incredible 5-Point Scale Breaks down behaviors into five concrete parts Helps students identify their emotions and how those emotions can lead to negative behaviors Can be used to target any behavior Provides students with visual reminders of more appropriate behaviors Gives a variety of replacement behaviors and calming techniques that the student can use instead of engaging in negative behaviors Rodecki 2017

Implementing the 5 Point Scale Choose the target behavior Can be used for behaviors, anxiety, or emotions Work with the student to determine the what each level means and how it will be represented visually Have the student help come up with a list of appropriate behaviors for each level Practice Rodecki 2017

Examples Rodecki 2017

Examples

Examples Rodecki 2017

The Key To Success Pre-teaching Using whole group Consistency Redirection before explosion

Questions? jennifer.rodecki@cherokee1.org 864-206-6024 (Office at CTC)