Teach your students about problem sizes. We explored No Problem (green), Small Problem (blue), Medium Problem (yellow), Huge Problem (orange), Emergency (red). After you explore what these sizes mean, provide some examples relative to school. Then express how each size of the problem then also has a reaction that needs to match. A small problem should not have a huge reaction. The scenarios are then presented to the class and as a group we decide what pocket we add the scenario to.

The Zones of Regulation is an amazing way to teach kids how to identify what feeling/emotion they are feeling by applying it to one of the four colored zones. Once our students are able to identify what color zone they are in, they can then identify what they need. Often times we feel a certain way without understanding the emotion behind the feeling, especially in heightened emotional times. Students first practice identifying the zone, second what emotion is attached, and then lastly apply a coping skill that best regulates their emotions "back to the green zone."