Classroom Guidance
Mrs. Koerner provides classroom guidance once a month in every classroom. Classroom guidance is an opportunity for all students to receive structured lessons that teach The Zones of Regulation. This curriculum is designed by Leah Kupers, licensed occupational therapist, to help children gain skills in the area of self-regulation. The goal of the curriculum is to teach children about self-regulation and how to strengthen their self-regulation skills. Self-regulation can go by many names, such as self-control, self-management, and impulse control. Self-regulation is an essential skill in life, and in all learning environments. Children who can regulate their own emotion and attention are better ready to learn and thrive.
The Zones of Regulation groups all the ways that children feel and act into four “Zones”.
Blue Zone—when your body is running slowly, such as when you are tired, sick, sad or bored.
Green Zone—when you are “good to go.” You feel happy, calm and focused.
Yellow Zone—when you feel your engine running high, such as when you are frustrated, overwhelmed, silly, wiggly, excited, worried, anxious, or surprised.
Red Zone—is when you have “flipped your lid.” You have extreme feelings such as terror, uncontrolled anger, aggression, or elation.
In the first half of the curriculum, children learn about how their emotions and attention are connected, and then how to recognize emotions and attention in themselves and other people. They learn that they move through their Zones throughout the day, and that they can improve their control over their Zones through practice.
In the second half of the curriculum, Zones of Regulation teaches about tools for changing from one Zone to another, and encourages each child to build a repertoire of tools. The goal of the curriculum is for children to gradually become more able to use tools and strategies to self-regulate.