Creating Calm: 5 P's for Crafting an Effective Classroom Regulation Station

In this post YOU will discover:

• 5 Domains to creating a regulation station accessible to all students

• Difference between a calming corner and regulation station

• Reflection questions to help you continue enhancing regulation tools in your own classroom

Regulation and subsequently, co-regulation,

is not a location, it’s an experience.

As we embark on this journey to (re)define behavior management into behavior change practices, one key concept we need to address is the understanding of regulation within the classroom and school setting. Regulation and subsequently, co-regulation, is not a location, it’s an experience. The ability to regulate our emotions, which is really us regulating our nervous system, is an experience we will continue to experience at school and in our classrooms. The process to regulate our emotions, and subsequently, our students ability to regulate their own emotions is part of being a human being. Knowing this, we can use this information to help us proactively identify tools to use to help students, when, and not if, these experiences arise in our rooms! 

The process of learning…

to be able to regulate on one's own, does not happen by chance. There is no set measure to say that on this day, at this time, this student will become able to self-regulate. Instead, our ability to self-regulate comes from hundreds of occurrences of co-regulation. And remember -  co-regulation is not a location. It’s an experience, but this time it is between two people, one who is regulated, and one who is not. 

To help students with the regulation process…

many of today’s classrooms utilize calming corners to help students who are emotionally elevated, return to a level that is more regulated. And while I agree that calming corners are helpful to the regulation process, I kept feeling like something was missing. I kept wondering, why for some of the students I support, are they helpful, and for others, they are not? I wondered, what about students who may not need to calm down, but actually increase their arousal? What support can we provide to those students? With these questions, I set out to do some research, and take a deeper dive into regulation in the classroom! 

Through my research and reflections, I came up with 5 common domains to incorporate into a regulation station. 

In no particular order, here are the 5 P’s, as I’ve come to call them: 

• Perception 

• Practice 

• Purpose 

• Private 

• Portable 

Before we dive into the specific domains, notice I shifted my language from calming corner, to regulation station. As I mentioned earlier in one of my wonders, some of our students aren’t emotionally elevated when they are in need of regulation and therefore don’t actually need to calm down. In fact, it’s just the opposite. Their arousal level is low, and they need some energizing action instead. By changing the term ‘calming corner’ to \regulation station’, we now have an experience for students, regardless of the type of regulation they need. 

By changing the term ‘calming corner’ to ‘regulation station’, we now have an experience for students, regardless of the type of regulation they need.  

PERCEPTION 

When I use the word perception, I’m really alluding to the perception that others have in regards to the reason for having a calming station. Another way to think about it would be, how is the station perceived by others in the classroom. And yes, this includes students, paraprofessionals, support staff, and the teacher. The mindset we hold about why we would need a calming station in the first place is an essential piece to the regulation process. 

If we view behavior as something that is being done to us, something we take personally, or something we think the student is doing intentionally to manipulate the situation, we are probably not going to see the value in a regulation station. We  might hear things like, “that’s just giving in to the student”, “it’s just a way for the student to continue avoiding their work”, or my personal favorite, “they're just playing in there”. 

Once we can reframe our understanding of behavior and redefine behavior to an external representation of an internal feeling or unmet need, then we will be more likely to understand the purpose of the regulation station, and our perception is then that this is a tool to help with regulation, over a location that is giving into the student. 

PURPOSE 

Once we have the mindset that a calming station is in fact a regulatory tool to help students re-enter into the thinking parts of their brain, the second P to consider is the purpose. Similar to perception, purpose goes a little deeper into the understanding, mostly from the student’s perspective. If we think of perception as the adult lens, purpose directly connects to the students' understanding of this space (or spaces).  Not only do we want staff to be aware of why a regulation station would be used, we also want the students to understand the purpose and make sure the purpose is understood by those using it.  

Learning more about the brain, I’ve come to learn that if we aren’t sure of something, it is our brain’s natural reaction to stay away from it. So in order for our students to utilize the regulation station we create, it is essential that the students understand the purpose for them. And the how with this, while it might look different for different classes - is actually pretty simple…we teach them! 

Just like we would teach a reading or math lesson, we teach a regulation station lesson. Mini-lessons are perfect for this because it provides students with a boost of information about neuroscience, without it taking over an entire period of longer length of time. One of my favorite places for resources on this is Dr. Lori Desaitels website: https://revelationsineducation.com/. 

PRACTICE 

Once we’ve expressed the purpose to the station, it’s time to practice! This is where the concept of mini lessons comes into play too! Short bursts of practice over time will lead to stronger pathways in the brain than simply practicing one time for 30 minutes.  When it comes to practicing, the sky's the limit. Here are some ideas to get you started: 

• Have students practice the activities in the station independently or in small groups. Take time to explain how to use items and what it looks like and sounds like when they are using them. 

• Once students have had a chance to explore the items, have them create lists or mini toolboxes of what in the station would be helpful to them. This way they have a visual to use during times of elevation and they don’t have to figure out ‘what to use’. 

• Use scenarios with your class as a whole group discussion. Model scenarios that might occur and have students identify what part of the calming station they could use to help regulate. 

PRIVATE 

Not every student will want to use the regulation station in your classroom. Especially if it’s in a place where other students can see them. This is why we want to ensure that there is a privacy factor to our stations. This might mean there is a divider that is used to create a barrier. It also means teaching that if/when a student is using the calming station, it is their time to calm. Students can be taught the expectations that you stay away until the student has returned to their seat (or a different activity). Another example may be that a student may not have to leave their seat or table to access the regulation station, but they have a code sign or word they express to the teacher, who knows this means they will take a short break at their table before re-engaging with the content. 

PORTABLE 

Even if your regulation station is private, not every student will want to use it. If the triggering experience, person, or activity is in the classroom your student may want to leave and calm in a different location. Students with hyperactivity, may have difficulty sitting in one space to regulate and may require movement to do so, and students who don’t want others to see them (as we talked about in the previous section), may not find regulating in the classroom an option. For these, and many other reasons, having a regulating station that is portable is important. I’d even recommend having multiple regulating stations around the school building so that it is part of the school culture that regulation is a priority. 

If your school isn’t there yet, and you still want to add in a portable feature to your own station, you can easily adapt your station by taking a backpack or bin and adding in a couple regulating options and putting it by the door. Then as we talked about in the purpose section, teach your students how to access the bag, and what they can do to indicate to you that they are in need of a regulation break outside of the classroom. Decide on locations they can go (could be an office, or even right in the hallway). Teach them how to use the regulation tools and then return to class. 

The key to using a regulation space…

that can be counter intuitive to what we might initially believe, is the need to use this space early in the regulation cycle. If a student has entered into survival mode, the likelihood they will access this tool is much lower, than if they use it during the activation stage while they are in the emotional part of their brain. 

In reflection…

ask yourself, does my calming or regulation station have all 5 components? Based on your discovery, are there any enhancements to make? Do you have anything you would add to this list? What is your favorite tool to include in a regulation station? Let’s keep the conversation going on Instagram at @lindsaytitusedu or through email at lindsay.titus@gmail.com!