Let’s co-regulate.
The Regulated Classroom provides educators with a framework that enables co-regulation between teachers and students. It does this by helping educators understand the why of the 4 Core Practices. The 4 Core Practices represent the quality of developmental experiences that buffer stress and trauma and support sequential growth and development. Simply put, they are 1-3 minute micro-moments of classwide co-regulation that reset everyone. Educators can access these tools at their own pace through our products or in action-packed professional development.
The framework
The “What” Behind The Regulated
Classroom and The Framework
The Regulated Classroom was born from Emily’s career as a school counselor, her observations of the struggles of the students and teachers around her, her continued desire to learn more about the effects of trauma, and her drive to figure out what she could do to make a difference.
“Emily has combined her history as a school counselor, intimate knowledge of our education system, as well as her understanding of the body, nervous system, and Polyvagal Theory to develop training for schools.”
Robyn Gobbel, LCSW - Best Selling Author of Raising Kids with Big Baffling Behaviors & Trauma Specialist
What does it mean to be regulated?
When we are calm and at ease because we feel safe, both physically and emotionally, we experience what is called felt safety. When we experience felt safety, our bodies are in a regulated state.
When we are in a regulated state, we are relaxed, and the rational part of our brain is online. This allows us to teach, learn, and build relationships with students and colleagues.
Of course, the opposite of regulation is dysregulation, a state that far too many educators and students live in daily. When we are dysregulated, the rational, thinking part of our brain goes offline. That’s when we find ourselves doing and saying things outside of our character, maybe things that we later regret.
The Regulated Classroom helps educators and their students to recover more quickly from stressors that can provoke dysregulation and return to a regulated state through the 4 Core Practices.
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What is Polyvagal Theory, and how do we use it in The Regulated Classroom?
As it’s said, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulder of giants,” and one of those leading giants for us is behavioral neuroscientist, Dr. Stephen Porges. Dr. Porges developed Polyvagal Theory in 1994 with his revolutionary map of the nervous system, describing the underlying basis for our behavior and feelings. The theory proposes that much of our cognitive and emotional intelligence stems from our physiological state.
Chronic stress or trauma can prevent our autonomic nervous system from functioning in a healthy way, signaling danger when there is none and keeping us stuck in a state of survival. Social gatherings can be frightening and a simple interaction at school can become threatening. Living in prolonged states of survival often leads to unhealthy adaptive behaviors and significantly increased risks for chronic diseases.
When you give students tools to create felt safety in their physiological state, they’re also able to experience safety emotionally, subduing trauma responses to daily occurrences in the classroom. While you can’t control what happens in your students’ lives, you can equip them with invaluable, frequent, and repetitive experiences that enable them to have more flexible, resilient nervous systems.
The Regulated Classroom vs. Traditional SEL
The Regulated Classroom vs. Traditional SEL
For several decades, social-emotional learning (SEL) has been a popular professional development option for educators looking to improve the culture in classrooms and schools, and reduce staff burnout. However even SEL professionals agree traditional SEL falls short in several ways.
This is what SEL director Maeve Williams, had to say about The Regulated Classroom after attending our professional development:
“For the first time in a while, I feel both rejuvenated and hopeful. Our students and staff, myself included, have been experiencing such high levels of dysregulation with not enough tools to combat it. I have taught, implemented, supported, researched, and/or designed several SEL programs in the past (Second Step, Calm Classroom, Responsive Classroom, Zones of Regulation, Kernels, etc.), yet none of these fully meet our students, staff, and schools where they are currently at in 2023. I'm excited to implement The Regulated Classroom across our district because I believe it will complement our existing SEL curriculum and programming, strengthen our Tier 1 practices, and allow for regulation in which both academic and social-emotional skill building can effectively take place.”
The following table shows how The Regulated Classroom compares to traditional SEL.
The Regulated Classroom™
The Regulated Classroom© starts with the educator— establishing a foundation for co-regulation where learning can occur.
The Regulated Classroom© acknowledges that not all behavior is a choice. That the fight, flight, or freeze response hardwired into our bodies can situationally block our ability to choose behavior.
The Regulated Classroom© is based on tools and practices to restore calm, rational thinking by establishing felt safety.
The Regulated Classroom© is a collection of tools and practices embedded as needed in regular classroom activities and instruction time.
The Regulated Classroom© is primarily informed by the work of Dr. Stephen Porges, Polyvagal Theory, the work of leading neuroscientists and psychiatrists, the fields of occupational therapy, developmental and somatic psychology.
Traditional SEL
Traditional SEL programs focus on student behavior.
Traditional SEL programs rely on a student's ability to think rationally, assess a situation, and make choices about their behavior.
Traditional SEL programs are often curriculum-based, focused on students developing skills to assess situations and then apply learned behaviors.
Traditional SEL programs commonly include lesson plans presented at scheduled SEL instruction time, once a week.
Traditional SEL programs are primarily informed by the field of cognitive psychology.
Here for you so you can be there for them.
Deepen your understanding of Polyvagal Theory, amplify your ability to create a trauma-informed environment, and most importantly, be ready to implement FUN, short activities that will regulate you and your students with The Regulated Classroom. Let’s co-regulate!