Even as the temperatures outside cool down, many of our students have found their tempers flaring- anger management and unkind expressions of anger have been among my top referral concerns this year. To help students regulate this uncomfortable emotion, I will be teaching lessons about anger in most classrooms during the month of November! In the elementary school, Cloud is usually front-and-center during our conversations about anger. When Cloud is angry it can be difficult for him to keep a calm voice and body (which are often necessary to solve problems without causing a fight). Sometimes the words we use when we're angry can also have a bigger impact than intended... even friendship-ending effects. Cloud is teaching students how to take Calm Down Breaths this month by slowly inhaling through their noses (like smelling a flower) and gently exhaling out of their mouths (like blowing out a candle). Taking Calm Down Breaths helps refocus our minds when we're angry, and keeps us from making choices that hurt others. This is an easy tool to model and practice at home, but there are many different strategies that a child may prefer to use when they need to calm their bodies. Creating a menu or toolkit of options is preferable because it gives students easy choices in a moment where they may not be thinking clearly. You can even create a calm down menu for your home and hang it on the fridge! Here are a few more examples of regulation strategies to try: What other calm-down tools are effective for your family? Drop a comment below. :)
-Ms. Harris
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AuthorLynsie Harris is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist and the Wellness Director at BRCS. Archives
February 2022
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