Zones of Regulation
Action Plan
What was implemented?
Throughout the duration of the study, the Zones of Regulation curriculum was implemented with twenty-three third grade students. The curriculum was taught whole-group in morning lessons, prior to other instruction, and was chosen with the main intent of improving students’ self-regulation and listening skills. The Zones of Regulation curriculum consists of lessons that are taught with the purpose of teaching students to respond to triggering situations in more effective ways, therefore improving students’ social and emotional behavior as they have the tools to better handle strong emotions that they experience. In addition to teaching the lessons, the curriculum was not taught as lessons in isolation, but was rather carried out throughout the day with visuals in the classroom and self-regulation strategies being modeled.
Why were these strategies chosen?
Upon doing further research about the Zones of Regulation curriculum, I was able to see its many positive outcomes and benefits that my students could have from learning it. Many studies reviewed in literature found similar results, one being that students’ self-regulation skills were improved by the conclusion of the study. This means students showed improvements in categories such as raising their hand, following teacher directions, communicating with peers, staying in an assigned area, and more. Students also showed an increase in their time spent on task while the amount of disciplinary referrals was decreased. In addition to improving their self-regulation, focus, and listening skills, students also gained a vocabulary for explaining how they felt and skills and strategies to deal with situations that provoked feelings like anxiety (therefore also reducing signs of anxiety among students). Looking at all of the benefits students gained from these studies, I considered my class and saw many connections in the areas that they could have positive outcomes in.
Why these strategies for these students?
My class had four students in particular that had difficulty following directions and focusing, but I considered how the instructional strategies used would benefit and improve behavior for all students in the class. In my class, about half of the students lacked strong problem solving skills and came to me almost immediately to solve it for them, even when it was a minor disagreement, question, or clarification. This was limiting their ability to handle their emotions and confusion on their own, as I usually ended up offering suggestions for how to solve the problem. Additionally, out of the 23 students in the third grade class I teach, 9 of them had split time between households and one of them had a father who had been deployed for the past year. One of my students received special education services and four were tested throughout the fall semester to see if they would benefit from support from special education services related to academics. These four students did qualify and began receiving daily support in writing, math, and a reading intervention group. It became clear to me over the semester that my students’ minds might be focusing on something else. In addition, after having conversations with past teachers and parents, patterns of impulsivity were noticed among several students. I found myself giving many redirects throughout the day for particular students as well as providing comfort for students who experienced anxiety from various parts of the day such as assessments. Upon learning the many benefits of the Zones of Regulation, I knew having tools and strategies learned would help them handle the emotions they were feeling throughout the day.
Timeline
-January 28-February 1: Pre-test Implementation (surveys and video interviews done among students) & Lesson 1 Creating Wall Posters of the Zones began
-February 4-February 8: Lesson 2 Zones Bingo, Lesson 3 The Zones in Video & Lesson 4 The Zones in Me
-February 11-February 15: Lesson 5 Understanding Different Perspectives, Lesson 6 Me in My Zones & Lesson 7 How Do I Feel?
-February 18-February 22: Lesson 8 My Zones Across the Day & Lesson 9 Caution! Triggers Ahead
-February 25-March 1: Lesson 10 Exploring Sensory Support Tools, Lesson 11 Exploring Tools for Calming & Lesson 12 Exploring Tools - Thinking Strategies
-March 4-March 8: Lesson 13 The Toolbox, Lesson 14 When to Use Yellow Zone Tools & Lesson 15 Stop and Use a Tool
-March 11-March 15: Spring Break
-March 18-March 22: Post Test Implementation
How were diverse learning needs met in the study?
Diverse learning needs were addressed throughout the study in several ways. First of all, the curriculum was taught in a variety of ways to meet the needs of all learners. Visuals were used and displayed throughout the classroom, conversations and discussions were had, and modeling occurred - giving students multiple ways to obtain the intended outcomes of the curriculum. I also made sure, considering my students’ age and developmental levels, that the language and lessons I was teaching were appropriate to their learning abilities and needs. Additionally, after spending a semester with my class and knowing them as individuals, I wanted to work on improving specific self-regulation skills with a few of them, such as strategies to deal with anxiety when there was a disagreement or an assessment and strategies to deal with emotions that make it difficult to sit still. While the curriculum benefits all students, there were particular aspects of it that fit best to each individual student that I was wanting to see them gain.
Culturally Responsive Practices
Throughout the duration of the study, the classroom environment fostered equity, accessibility, and supported multiple perspectives. First of all, as learned through literature about the Zones of Regulation, it is important for students’ development and overall success in school that they have self-regulation skills. The levels they come into the classroom with vary on several factors, including their home environment, socioeconomic status, trauma they may have experienced or were experiencing, whether or not they have ADHD, and more. With the explicit instruction of Zones of Regulation to students in the class, equity and accessibility were fostered as all students were provided with ways to learn and develop necessary skills, regardless of their background or diagnoses. It allowed for me to help students strengthen existing skills they already had as well as assist in building strong skills among students who may not have had them, thus giving them all an opportunity to be successful in this aspect in school and in life. Additionally, the classroom environment throughout this study supported the use of multiple perspectives as all the literature reviewed showed similar outcomes and benefits seen with the students who participated. The way I implemented the curriculum supported one perspective of not teaching the lessons in isolation, but having visuals, modeling, language usage, and reinforcement throughout the day to best build those skills in students. I also chose to implement the curriculum in a whole-group setting, rather than in small groups as one perspective suggested, so students were able to see other perspectives and opinions and take those into consideration with their actions.
Professional Collaboration
I knew from spending time with my students throughout our first semester together that I wanted them to experience social and emotional learning based on my observations and data collected. Often in staff meetings and with my grade-level teammates, we discussed how important teaching these kinds of lessons to students was, as it was becoming more of a need to teach problem-solving, listening, and handling emotions. However, I was unsure of the best way to go about it. I discussed my feelings and my classes’ needs with my school psychologist, and she offered several strategies that I could go about implementing a socio-emotional curriculum within my classroom. We discussed the “Good Behavior Game,” but then decided it may be more beneficial for my particular group of students to address their underlying needs and more so look at why their behavior was occurring. The Zones of Regulation was introduced, which I learned could help students identify the emotions they are experiencing, what the emotions feel like, and appropriate ways to deal with them. We decided that my students learning the tools and skills necessary to improve their social and emotional behavior would be a good fit, and this was also a method of teaching these skills to students that a professor suggested as well. My associate assisted in helping me research the history of Zones of Regulation, ways to implement it, and benefits seen with students, which further confirmed to me that this was the right curriculum to be teaching my students as it could improve their behavior and therefore our learning time. My principal helped in connecting me to other teachers in the district who had taught the Zones of Regulation and were still doing so, and they were able to provide me with resources as well as answer questions I had throughout the study. Finally, discussing with my cohort allowed me to gain ideas for data collection throughout the study so I could best see the results with my students.