Students are often told to calm down. This is something I hear often as a School Counselor when students start to get agitated—answering rudely, refusing to work, making insulting comments, or whining. A teacher might tell a child to go somewhere calm down or go to the counselor's office to simply “relax.” The problem is, many students don’t have anywhere to go. An area with bean bag chairs and rugs to sit, and lay on will create a calm environment.
Our students need a place where they can collect themselves and self-regulate their emotions. Having an area that students feel is a safe place to collect their thoughts and control their emotions is of great importance. All children will benefit from learning self-calming skills. With the bean bags and rugs, I will create a area of peace, where students will reflect on their behaviors.
Students who are just learning to identify their feelings of frustration may need frequent reminders to utilize a particular strategy. The calming strategies I have found to be most useful with elementary school students include:
Reading a book, Deep breathing/ Meditation, Listening to music, Drawing and Yoga stretches
Students need an area to practice these skills.
To make the practice most effective, students need to practice these skills in the area they most likely to go when students are actually upset, such as the reading area or Calming Corner. When students go there in a moment of frustration, they will be able to use the correct strategy in that space more efficiently. Not only can it prevent challenging behavior in the future, but it is an essential skill for success at school, at home, and in social settings.
About my class
Students are often told to calm down. This is something I hear often as a School Counselor when students start to get agitated—answering rudely, refusing to work, making insulting comments, or whining. A teacher might tell a child to go somewhere calm down or go to the counselor's office to simply “relax.” The problem is, many students don’t have anywhere to go. An area with bean bag chairs and rugs to sit, and lay on will create a calm environment.
Our students need a place where they can collect themselves and self-regulate their emotions. Having an area that students feel is a safe place to collect their thoughts and control their emotions is of great importance. All children will benefit from learning self-calming skills. With the bean bags and rugs, I will create a area of peace, where students will reflect on their behaviors.
Students who are just learning to identify their feelings of frustration may need frequent reminders to utilize a particular strategy. The calming strategies I have found to be most useful with elementary school students include:
Reading a book, Deep breathing/ Meditation, Listening to music, Drawing and Yoga stretches
Students need an area to practice these skills.
To make the practice most effective, students need to practice these skills in the area they most likely to go when students are actually upset, such as the reading area or Calming Corner. When students go there in a moment of frustration, they will be able to use the correct strategy in that space more efficiently. Not only can it prevent challenging behavior in the future, but it is an essential skill for success at school, at home, and in social settings.
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