Zones Of Regulation - Continuation

The beginnings of a personalized Zones "Tool Box"

Several months ago I posted about a wonderful Social Skills curriculum that I had the opportunity to learn about through professional development, the Zones of Regulation by Leah M. Kuypers.  When I originally posted, I was just diving into the program with my students and was so excited about the language, ideas, and opportunities it provided to empower young people to self-regulate.  Time and a brutal winter has passed, and we have been trying to move our way through the curriculum.  It has been a slow process, with very inconsistent schedules and many opportunities for learning taken away due to weather cancellations.  I was starting to wonder if we needed to back up and spend more time working within identifying the zones when we had a wonderful breakthrough and I saw it click for my students, my staff, and even myself. 

Moving through the worksheets and the curriculum, we spent the suggested time and completed the suggested activities as we went along, but I wasn't seeing my students really make the connections.  I wondered, will it make sense to them, once we get into learning about the tools?  So we forged ahead and spent time learning about and practicing the tools, finding moments in our day where tools would be helpful and as staff, co-regulating and suggesting the use of one tool or another...STILL no connection.  This is when I began to wonder if I should back up.  Had all the inconsistencies of 2 hour delays and no school days throughout the winter hindered the impact this program could have?  Should I start over?  I decided to give it one more go on the tools, finding that the next activity was "Tools for Each of My Zones," which provides visual cues for the tools and asks the individual to place a tool in each of the Zones (Blue, Green, Yellow, and Red).  I figured, if my students REALLY hadn't made the connections, it would be very evident in completing this activity.  Well, something became very clear, and it was a very powerful experience.  It certainly had stuck and I saw them thoughtfully selecting the right tool for them for each of the Zones.  For many of them, especially my students on the autism spectrum, I have learned through my time working with them what they need for regulation and have tried to guide many of their sensory experiences toward that, so it was SO moving to see them identifying tools that fit within their sensory needs ALL ON THEIR OWN!  The time myself and my staff had spent modeling, stepping each of them through, and acting as co-regulators had an impact, and they were beginning to make those identifications themselves.  It was a very exciting day. 

So what is next?  I feel like we are just starting beginning on the long journey of self-regulation, and I am afraid to slow down, for fear that we may lose our momentum.  I have taken what each student has identified as their tools and put together the beginnings of what will be a visual tool box that each of them will assemble.  Strips of Red/Yellow/Blue/Green will be glued onto a black sheet of paper, and on each strip they will be able to glue the picture of their personally identified tools for each of the coordinating Zones.  These "tool boxes" will be laminated and will sit on their desk, attach to their schedule, and accompany them to work and other community environments.  As staff, I see us continuing to co-regulate, cuing them into the tool box before tasks, or as we see them move from one Zone to another.  In time, that support will fade...that is the goal!

I continue to have nothing but good things to say about this program.  In the midst of following the curriculum, I have also found opportunities to create expansion activities that deepen the understanding of my particular group of students and their needs.  It is the foundation of our social skills and regulation, but provides so many possibilities for branching off, and connecting with other social skill programs and needs.

Has anyone else seen these powerful results through the Zones of Regulation program?

Come to the edge with me...
Mackenzie Keimig

I teach teachers.

My years in this position has provided me with countless blessings, and at the top of that list, I would put the people that it has allowed me to meet, work with, and learn from.  Several years ago, in search of a new work site for several of my students, I approached a newly opened hotel that was affiliated with the community college that houses our Transition Program.  This hotel was built as a living, breathing, real life classroom for students pursuing careers in the world of hospitality careers...learning by doing, it was right up our alley.  I was put in contact with the gentleman who was in charge of housekeeping, and immediately we connected and began planning opportunities for both my students and his students, each of us so excited about the possibilities.  In the midst of our planning, he made a comment that changed me as a transition teacher, and as a person.  He told me that everyone was learning and growing from my students working in this hotel.  Not only were my students learning important work and social skills in a community environment, but his students, and members of the community were learning from my students as well.  They were learning understanding, tolerence, and acceptance.

I have taken that with me and applied it every day as I venture out into the community with my students.  As I sense someones frustration behind me in the grocery line, as my student struggles to count their money and make their purchase, I remind myself that I am teaching teachers.  As we board the bus and one of my students sits in the front seat bouncing and stemming throughout the ride, I remind myself that I am teaching teachers.  As I work through a melt down with an individual who is insisting on breaking because it is 2:45 on a clock that has not been changed for daylight saving time, I remind myself that I am teaching teachers.

My students, with all their quirks, routines, and struggles are better teachers than I could ever be to the world around them.  Just by being themselves and moving through their daily lives they teach each person they come in contact with acceptance.  That is pretty powerful stuff!  In those difficult moments, I must remind myself to resist the urge to step in and count the money for them, stop the stemming, and eliminate the melt down.  If I step in, no one learns.  My students do not learn to work through their struggles, and cannot be themselves in a community that is just as much theirs as it is yours and mine.  And those frustrated folks in the community do not learn either.  They do not learn to accept differences and be understanding.

I teach teachers; unique, determined, unaltered and kind-hearted teachers...and by teaching them, they teach you and me every day.

Come to the edge with me...