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Natalia and Ms. Vogt
By approaching discipline from a place of understanding, teachers can know when and how to apply the discipline structures they’ve created in their classroom (Eber et al., 2020). Further, they can create ways to develop connection with students and reinforce their use of prosocial skills (Jones et al., 2018).
We offer several strategies or considerations to keep in mind as teachers work with students who have SEB needs and who may be experiencing a heightened emotional state during school. We also share the escalation cycle, which is a particular pattern that some students with SEB needs may show. Our goal in this chapter is to share flexible methods that show compassion for students as you support them in bolstering their resilience.
We’ve described several principles and strategies throughout the book that are important for students with social, emotional, and behavioral needs or ongoing mental health needs, including teaching prosocial skills, creating a predictable environment, building authentic relationships, and using reinforcement to build classroom culture. When managing day-to-day interactions, students can become upset or triggered by various factors in the environment. If that happens, they may enter fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses (Barlow, 2002; Cannon, 1927; Walker, 2013), making use of the aforementioned strategies in the previous chapter less effective (Goleman, 2005; Pickens & Tschopp, 2017).
Given that the strategies mentioned in the previous chapter will be helpful with all students, students who have experienced stressful events, have mental health needs, or are just having a rough day may need some additional considerations when you engage with them. By adjusting strategies based on a student’s needs or responses, teachers can ensure they have a classroom that is compassionate. The following sections address ways to adjust strategies.
• Connect first. • Describe instead of direct. • Allow time to process. • Use short, clear directions. • Interrupt the heightened state. • Use a neutralizing routine. • Frame things positively. • Be flexible. • Anticipate and offset triggers.
Connect First
When students escalate or are triggered, they are likely feeling unsafe and disconnected from their environment (Goleman, 2005; Ingram, n.d.; Knight, 2019; Pickens & Tschopp, 2017). Because of this, a good response is to first establish a connection. Ask the student if he or she feels safe or what he or she may need. For example, you can state, “I can see you’re having a hard time and perhaps feeling unsafe or threatened” and then ask, “What do you need to feel safer?” Although your exact phrasing can differ, the goal is to convey empathy and understanding. Your response should focus on making the student feel safer and more in control than he or she currently feels. When doing so, be sure to use neutral nonverbal responses, such as keeping your distance from the student’s personal space, relaxing your posture, and even getting to the student’s eye level, if possible. If the student responds verbally, or gives a nonverbal cue like nodding, you can work on addressing his or her fear or need for safety.
Once the student is calmer and more engaged with you, then you can discuss whatever discipline is needed. If the student is not responsive, allow space, focus on others in the classroom, and then check back in a minute or a few minutes. Space and distance can allow emotions to come back down, whereas increasing interaction or trying to force compliance can escalate the situation (Goleman, 2005; Pickens & Tschopp, 2017).
Describe Instead of Direct
Students may have moments throughout the school day in which they’re experiencing anxiety or certain emotions attached to their past. This can express itself in various ways, such as being withdrawn, irritable, or sullen; pacing; or being unable to sit still. When students are experiencing heightened or anxious states or feeling elevated, they may not be experiencing things clearly or in a typical fashion. In fact, they may be experiencing what psychologist Daniel Goleman (2005) calls emotional hijacking, in that they are consumed by emotions and not aware of everything around them or actively processing input in a logical, coherent manner. Because of this, they need time to calm down and allow the flooding of emotions to recede (Ingram, n.d.). To help with that, teachers can describe or reflect the feelings they are seeing in the student rather than focusing on directions and compliance. Students who are dysregulated could benefit from someone scaffolding emotional awareness for them by describing what they see, using a statement such as, “I see you’re very angry and perhaps hurt. I’m wondering if what Jim said earlier was hurtful to you.” By reflecting
