If you had asked me 5 years ago if I provide emotional support for my students in my classroom I would have probably said yes. I would have told you I have stuffed animals and I encourage journaling when a student is upset. Then I was blessed to begin working at a campus that focuses on emotional support. I have had the pleasure of working under a fabulous Vice Principal named Heather Wood. She is a behavior specialist and she is so amazing. She encouraged me to have a safe spot and helped me develop skills in using it effectively. My campus is going to pilot a new program for emotional support this next year. I have volunteered to help create the lessons teachers will use. I am so excited to be part of implementing this program. I hope to be able to share more ideas from the new program.
Here are a few steps to help you implement a more emotionally safe classroom.
1. Create a safe spot in your classroom. I have a huge zebra chair that will hold 2 students. I keep a stuffed animal and a large soft blanket for students to wrap around their shoulders if they become upset or anxious in my classroom. Having a mirror and some calm down cards is also helpful. A stress ball, crayons and paper are good too. I often allow students to draw about their feelings. I plan to add a vibrating neck cushion to my safe spot this year. This spot can be used if a child feels tired, sick, sad, angry or just needs a place to go feel safe. I rarely have students try to over use this spot. If a student has been in the safe spot for longer than 10 min. I will ask if he/she feels ready to join their group for the fun activities they are doing. That is usually all I need to do to encourage a child to decide if he/she is ready to join their group. I allow students to go sit in the safe spot in pairs to read together or work together on a project so the safe spot is regarded as a special place, not just a time out space. This simple procedure will almost always instantly calm a child.
2. Consider adding a feelings chart to your classroom. A teacher from my district shared her idea on instagram. She was instantly famous and was a feature story for her idea. I borrowed her idea, but made it more first grade friendly. She used post it notes for her jr. high students to write their name on the backside and place it on the chart in her classroom. I used magnetic tags with my students names showing. I will say my classroom had been doing restorative circles and sharing our feelings so my students knew they were safe to share their feelings. I didn't force students to place their name daily. It was their choice. I found that as this feelings chart evolved my students began to go change their feelings placement throughout the day depending on how they felt. This chart opened the door for me to have many private conversations with my students daily that I would have missed had I not had that feelings chart. I have made a feelings chart for my own family on my refrigerator at home. My boys are 19 and 12. It has made a huge difference in how they interact with each other.
3. Consider having a restorative circle in your classroom at least once a week. This consists of forming a circle with all students. You pass around a talking piece. I use a Woody doll from Toy Story. Students answer question you prepare ahead of time. My school has a lesson prepared for us each week. You can easily prepare your own. We do 2 light hearted questions and then 1 or 2 more serious questions. An example might be 1. What is your favorite lunch served at school? 2. If you could order lunch from anywhere and have it delivered what would you order? 3. Do you enjoy eating meals with your family and talking about your day or would you rather watch t.v. as you eat? 4. If you ate with your teacher or family and discussed your day, what would you want to share? Having this circle time helps build trust and respect for each other. The person with the talking piece has the opportunity to be heard with no interruptions. Students also have the choice to pass the talking piece and not share.
4. Consider not having a behavior clip chart. I have not had one in 5 years. As I implemented the philosophy of emotionally safe classroom I felt the clip chart went against that philosophy. I wanted to have unlimited positive and I felt the Class Dojo system allowed me to have that. It also allows me to have parental contacts and post photos of my student's activities. I can also allow my students to post projects for their parent and classmates to view using their Class Dojo account. I try to not take away Dojos I give positive dojos and may withhold a positive dojo for a student not making good choices. If I find a student hasn't been honest about their dojos I will then use my teacher account to correct their positive dojo points. Sadly I have had that happen and needed to address that issue.
5. Consider adding feelings positive dojos to your Classroom Dojo or other reward system in your classroom. I have a loving heart dojo. If I see someone being kind or loving I give this 5 point Dojo like crazy. I also have a bragging on friends dojo. So if they brag on others they get 5 points. This sets the stage for your classroom to encourage love, kindness and cheering for others. I can't put into words how much these few dojos changes the atmosphere of your classroom.
6. Lastly but most importantly make parental connections. I use Class Dojo mostly because it allows me to have so many positive parental connections. I can post pictures of our daily activities. I can sit down and send a quick message to parents about something awesome their child just did. I show my students the positive pictures and notes I share with parents. They are always so proud when I share I wrote their parent. This also encourages students to talk to their parents about their day. I do not have time to call all parents and I do not trust most parents with my phone number. I can however implement Class Dojo. There are many different options you can use, but please choose one and use it to make positive parental connections. If you have bragged on a child 10 times and then need to visit with a parent about a concern you have about a student that parent is always willing to listen to my concern and be so supportive.
I have found so many wonderful sites that offer free downloads and emotional safe activities for you to use in the classroom. Here are a few of my favorites.
https://lemonlimeadventures.com/13-helpful-phrases-calm-angry-child/?utm_source=drip&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=llavalue&utm_content=phrasesangrychild
https://lalymom.com/emotions-discovery-bottles-inspired-by-disneys-inside-out/
https://themilitarywifeandmom.com/parenting-sub-homepage/