Tips from a Teacher: Introducing Emotional Regulation

Welcome to Tips from a Teacher! Each Week, we will be sharing more from our interview with Katie, an art and science teacher with Kipp Voice Elementary School. We are starting the month off exploring the need Katie's students have for emotional regulation. Stay tuned for answers to all of our questions! Emily: Okay so the topic is emotional regulation for kids k-5th grade and you are a teacher of kids in that age range. I am wondering if how it differs between young and older kids. Katie: So I think a lot of the older kids are good at self regulating or at least identifying their emotions, but some of the younger kids will surprise you. So I have a first grader who- he’s been in therapy- but he is very good at communicating exactly how he is feeling, even if he doesn’t know what to do with it. So, um.. but I think that is kind of the first step. To identify this is how I feel and this is why I feel that way. So I think if they can master that and then get to a place of knowing how to get themselves into a new zone, I think that will really help them. Because he gets to a point where he is escalated and he knows that he is there and he knows why, but he doesn’t know how to bring himself to a new zone. This short snippet is a teaser for what is ahead. Stay tuned for how Katie teaches and empowers her kids to find their own peace!