Zones of Regulation

What are the Zones of Regulation?

For the past couple of weeks, Ms. Erickson (Learning Support Teacher) and I have been teaching our students about the Zones of Regulation. 

"The Zones is a systematic, cognitive behavior approach used to teach self-regulation by categorizing all the different ways we feel and states of alertness we experience into four concrete zones.  The Zones curriculum provides strategies to teach students to become more aware of, and independent in controlling their emotions and impulses, managing their sensory needs, and improving their ability to problem solve conflicts." (www.zonesofregulation.com)

Right now we are working on understanding what the different zones are, and what different feelings go into each category. Later on, we will begin to look at the different strategies for understanding and controlling their emotions. 

So far, it's been very empowering for the students to start recognizing their different emotions and understanding that it's ok to feel all of them at different times. At the beginning of each day, for example, we start with identifying what zones we are in. This is a powerful tool to check in with how they are feeling and seeing how it affects their learning through the day. 

(on our Zones chart we have sorted different feelings out, and written situations that have made us go into different zones)

(one of our boys explaining some situations that have made him go into the different zones)