Zones

    Feelings can be a tricky thing. Naming the feeling in which we are experiencing and how, has been our focus at the beginning of this school year. During my whole group counseling lessons, it has been my motivation to start normalizing feelings, how they show up in our bodies, what thoughts might come when experiencing a positive or negative situation, and what our nonverbal language can show. Normalizing talking about our feelings and what to do when big feelings arrive is going to help make the appropriate shift we need to improve our mental health and well-being. 

    We are establishing universal language from preschool through sixth grade to create a norm here at Central Lyon and building our toolboxes of what types of coping skills we can use when big feelings arrive. We know big feelings are going to come and go, but what we do about them is the game changer for us as a school district. In the picture below I had a student bring me posters of what our "Zones" are. Our feelings fit in a category, I have taught what those categories are and as you can see, it is sticking with our elementary students. At home I challenge parents and families to use the "Zones" language when big feelings arrive but also ask your student, "What are the coping skills Mrs. Gerber has taught you?" 

    I have challenged our classroom teachers to have a social/emotional check in with our students throughout the school day, to make sure we are working through when negative situations occur within our school day. There is an example of that posted here. I also am having teachers sit in on our SEL (social-emotional learning) times to make sure that we are all aware of what students are experiencing and how we can help. 

    While working one on one with a student, they were asked to make different faces within a certain color zone and the picture posted here shows what a first grade student feels in the green zone. He stated that when in the green zone it is because Mrs. Gerber has made a safe space for him to come visit. To say my heart was gushing is an under statement but my feelings of pride sunk in as we continue to take the mental health needs and social-emotional learning of our student body seriously.