Self Regulation
The How To’s
Yukon Education: Student Support Services
What do we mean by
self-regulation?
http://youtu.be/Q
DlN_9fSAis
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Personal Sensory Tools
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
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
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
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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

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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

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Executive functioning: inhibit impulses and attention
Self Regulation
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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)

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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
Hypoactive
up-regulating
State
Range of
Optimal SelfRegulation
Calm
Communicative
Learning
down-regulating
Hyperactive
State
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 LEARNING
Adult regulation of environment

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Adult co-regulation
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Modeling down-regulating, doing together
Adult support

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Turn down lights, create quiet & calm
Reminders, guidance
Check-in support

Prompts for self-reflection, make connections, plans
5 DOMAINS OF SELF-REGULATION
FOCUS ON BIOLOGICAL DOMAIN
5 Domains
What does Calmly Focused look like?
Biological
Health
Nutrition
Sleep
Exercise
Sensory inputs
Emotion
Modulate
emotions
Cognitive
Sustain &
switch
attention
Social
Perspective
Impact of
actions on
Appropriate others
task and
language
demands
Pro-social
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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What does Calmly Focused look like?
IMPLEMENTING SELF-REGULATION
INITIAL STRATEGIES FOR SCHOOLS AND TEACHING STAFF:
Behavioral Domain
Self Regulation - Biological Domain
(adapted from Stuart Shanker)
Whole Class

Modulate the intensity
of stimuli in order to
engage & sustain the
child’s attention
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Reduce visual stimuli
Reduce auditory stimuli
Create a safe place
Create a class climate
Individual

Provide additional
external tools and
strategies to a student
following a referral by
the School-Based
Team to an
occupational therapist
and other consultants.
Reduce Visual Stimuli

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Limit extraneous visual
material on walls
Use natural lighting
and lamps
Keep clutter to a
minimum

curtains over shelves
Reduce Auditory Stimuli

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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
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tent
pillow pile
rocking chair
Plants
Whole School
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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
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
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=PLA96
80D909A10CDEA 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
Down-regulation Self-control games
Language
Up-regulation
Peaceful music
Tone of voice
Volumne
Pace
Rhythm
Words we use
Simon Says
Green light, red
light
Movement
Breaks
Yoga
Exercise/boot
camp
Breathing
Reading
Martial arts
Brain Gym
Dimmed lights
Following
directions,
patterns, recipes
Bean-bag chair
Stimulation
Oral stimulationvolume and hydration stations
Freeze tag
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
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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?
.
in the BIOLOGICAL DOMAIN
With yourself
Teacher Wellness

Self-care – helping ourselves first
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Self-regulation
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Regulated adults
are better able to
help kids achieve
optimal regulation.
What pushes my buttons & why?
Balance our lives– being self aware & managing
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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
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
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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!