Strengthening relationships and independence Zones Champions Myth busting

Strengthening relationships and independence.

Zones Champions

Myth busting What zones isn’t A teaching opportunity A self regulation tool A visual reference A form of consistency A skill to practise A cross curriculum tool A personalised framework A behaviour management tool A dogmatic ‘doing to’ A simplified set of emotions Only KS 1 vibes A ‘fix’ to all regulatory issues A ‘one off’ lesson A one size fits all approach

Emotional Regulation and Sam Leggett, Speech and Language Therapist All Zones of Regulation resources copyrighted 2011, Think Social Publishing

Adult coping strategies

Discussion: Adult Coping Strategies • What are our coping strategies for being: – Tired or Demotivated – Worried – Frustrated or Angry • What events trigger these feelings? • How did we learn these strategies?

Steps to Successfully Managing Difficult Emotions 1. Recognise difficult emotions – – Link to physical feelings emotional vocabulary 2. Do something that makes us feel better – e. g. making a list when we get overwhelmed – Trial and error for most of us 3. Think about triggers and patterns – Can we change the situation to avoid the triggers in the future?

Jargon = ‘Emotional Regulation’ • • “Ways of coping with life. ” “How we try to control emotions. ” “Ways of calming down. ” “Self control” • Different strategies work at different times for us all.

We know the link to learning

Talking about emotions is difficult • Observed Circle Time in Year 1 class with goal on sharing how everyone was feeling • Teacher model: – “I am worried because can’t remember all your names. ” • About 40% of children didn’t feel able to say anything • Some reported on past feelings – “Angry ’cos a child punch me” [in play centre over holidays, weeks ago] • Many children copied others e. g. ‘excited’ • Stock response was ‘happy’ – What they think we want to hear? • Only 5 out of 30 children were able to share their own ideas – “I am feeling … because …”

Emotional vocabulary tricky • Might not be same for all people – What does ‘angry’ feel like for you? • Lots of words to learn – e. g. 75% of 11 -12 year olds are reported to understand 300 emotion words • Language skills most fragile when we are experiencing strong emotions – Best to minimise language load at these times

Be careful with some words e. g. 11 -12 year 4 -6 years old 7 -8 year olds 9 -10 year olds Anxious 6% 37% 72% 81% Frustrated 6% 53% 56% 90% Impatient 43% 61% 100% 90% Jealous 47% 76% 81% 93%

Blue zone is used to describe a low state of alertness. ‘Moving slowly’ zone Green zone is used to describe an ideal state of alertness: ‘Ready to learn’ zone Yellow zone is used to describe a heightened state of alertness: ‘Losing control’ zone Red zone is the ‘Out of control’ zone

Zones: Impact on other people • Children may not understand that their behaviour has impact on others • The Zones programme tries to teach this explicitly • ‘Expected’ and ‘Unexpected’ behaviour – Shared vocabulary from ‘Social Thinking’ approach – Expected behaviour makes others feel happy, safe etc. – Unexpected behaviour makes others feel sad …

Not judging • Blue, Yellow and Red zones are not “wrong” • Being in the ‘yellow zone’ in a party is positive • Sometimes being in the ‘Red Zone’ gets things done • Green zone is more helpful for most classroom learning • Many are subjective and personal!

Adult feedback important “I can see you are in the green zone because you are focused on your work. ”

Adult modelling “I can see you are in the green zone. ” “That makes me feel proud. ”

Adult coaching “What can you do to move to the green zone, so that you’re ready to learn? ”

Possible Tools for the Yellow Zone • Sensory – Trampoline – Walk • Calming – Deep breathing exercises – Counting to 10 • Thinking – calming image or memory – Talking to an adult – Positive self talk • Distraction – Drink of water – Change seats

SENAS Trafford

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