“When little people are overwhelmed by big emotions, it’s our job to share our calm, not to join their chaos.”
-I. R. Knost
I love this quote! It reminds me how important it is for teachers to stay in control of our emotions especially during challenging times. Along with keeping our cool, it is so important to teach children what to do when they are loosing theirs. By creating a Safe Spot / Safe Place / Safe Space we give students a place to go to proactively take control of their emotions.
With all the wonderful safe spot options on Pinterest, I thought it might be helpful to identify the three most important must have elements for your classroom safe spot.
1. A Secluded Area
This is a very important part of setting up a successful Safe Spot. You will want to identify an area that is removed from classroom activities so that an emotional student can recoup without being in the spotlight. It also needs to be somewhere you can monitor to ensure the child is safe.
I have set up my Safe Spot in a corner behind my desk and small group table on a big fluffy beanbag. This area feels secluded and hidden from the other students, but I can easily check on the students. Kids love this little area where they can calm down without other students looking at them and talking to them.
2. Visual Supports
When you are upset, your brain isn’t running at its full capacity. Visual supports are such a great tool for helping students to identify and manage their emotions. These can also help them to communicate how they are feeling.
I like to have visuals that help take students through the calming process. For me, the Conscious Discipline language has been very helpful. When students are upset, they come to the Safe Spot and choose an iCalm breathing technique. (You can type Conscious Discipline breathing techniques into youtube for great demonstrations of these).
Next, students identify how they are feeling with the iFeel cards. Emotions can be difficult for children (and adults) to label, so having the picture and easy to flip through cards makes this process easier.
Then, students choose an activity to help them calm down with the iChoose cards. I love having these options in an easy to select format with visuals because it reminds students of all the techniques they can use such as counting, breathing, taking a minute to rest, or using physical tools like sensory bottles and play dough.
Finally, the iSolve cards help students decide what to do next. Do they return to work, talk to another student about how they are feeling, or talk to the teacher?
3. Refocusing Activities
The final aspect you need is a variety of activities students can use to refocus. Some of these activities are calming like further breathing, counting, hugging a stuffed animal, building with legos, or playing with a sensory bottle. Others are reflective such as drawing, coloring, writing, or looking at photos. Finally, some are gross motor like jumping or taking a walk (my students can take the long walk to the water fountain or to the nurse’s office and back). As I stated above, it is helpful to have a visual representation of what the choices are so that students are clear on expectations and can make a choice that is most helpful to them.
If you would like to pick up one of my Safe Spot Flip Card printable kits, I have a rainbow and a calming colors set. These include a variety of color options to allow you to adapt to your classroom color scheme!
Shine Bright!
-Brandi
The Proactive Classroom 