WHERE DO I START?

The Zones of Regulation® is a framework and easy-to-use curriculum for teaching students strategies for emotional and sensory self-management. Rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy, The Zones approach uses four colors to help students identify how they are feeling in the moment given their emotions and level of alertness as well as guide them to strategies to support regulation. By understanding how to notice their body’s signals, detect triggers, read social context and consider how their behavior impact those around them, students learn improved emotional control, sensory regulation, self-awareness, and problem-solving abilities. Learning activities and visual supports are included on a USB for easy printing.

Using a cognitive behavioral approach, the curriculum’s learning activities are designed to help students recognize when they are in different states or “zones,” with each of four zones represented by a different color:

The Red Zone is used to describe extremely heightened states of alertness and intense emotions. A person may be elated, euphoric, or experiencing anger, rage, explosive behavior, devastation, or terror when in the Red Zone.

The Yellow Zone is also used to describe a heightened state of alertness and elevated emotions, however individuals have more control when they are in the Yellow Zone. A person may be experiencing stress, frustration, anxiety, excitement, silliness, the wiggles, or nervousness when in the Yellow Zone.

The Green Zone is used to describe a calm state of alertness. A person may be described as happy, focused, content, or ready to learn when in the Green Zone. This is the zone where optimal learning occurs.

The Blue Zone is used to describe low states of alertness and down feelings such as when one feels sad, tired, sick, or bored.

All of the zones are natural to experience, but the framework focuses on teaching students how to recognize and manage their zone based on the demands of their environment and the people around them. 

WHERE DO I START?

At the heart of the Social Thinking Methodology is their vocabulary. It’s a way of translating complex social concepts into a simpler form that can be taught and used as a common language to talk about what it means to “be social” across people, cultures, and context. Social Thinking Vocabulary encourages individuals to actively notice what’s happening around them. The language can be used whenever and wherever needed to talk about social expectations and interpretations: working as a group during a math lesson, dinnertime at home, hanging out with friends on the playground, participating as members of a team during P.E., etc. The concepts are expressed in simple language to make these abstract ideas easier to understand and motivate individuals to integrate them into their daily experiences as they participate in the social world.

The 10 Social Thinking Vocabulary concepts:

1. Thoughts and Feelings

2. Thinking with Your Eyes

3. The Group Plan

4. Body in the Group

5. Whole Body Listening

6. Hidden Rules & Expected—Unexpected Behaviors

7. Smart Guess

8. Flexible and Stuck Thinking

9. Size of the Problem

10. Sharing an Imagination

SOCIAL THINKING VOCABULARY

Go through the Vocabulary and Phrases cards below. As you're reading each phrase, think of a situation where you might be able to use it. (Examples: Out on the playground, when students are arguing with one another, when a child is underneath a desk, when students are running on the blacktop, etc.

WHERE DO I START?

Certain phrases tend to trigger expected behaviors in students. PRINT OUT THE TWO PDFs BELOW:

 As you read the 10 PHRASES TO TRIGGER EXPECTED BEHAVIORS, be thinking of the following:

• What phrases can you use right away? 

• What phrases do you want to try? 

• Think of situations where you might use each of these phrases.

• Are there specific phrases that you know will work with certain students?

As you read TIPS &TRICKS FOR BEHAVIOR SUPPORT, be thinking of the following: 

• What strategies can you use with your students right away?

• What strategies do you want to try?

• What strategies have you tried in the past? Were you successful? Why?/Why not? How could alter that strategy moving forward?

Watch the webinars below. What are your takeaways? How can you use your new knowledge of these key phrases and strategies with the students that you work with?