Course Content

Safety, Regulation and Connection in Classrooms

This course provides educators with a foundational understanding of the neurobiology of regulation and its relationship to classroom learning. It explores how educators can design environments, routines, and responses that foster emotional safety and co-regulation. Participants will learn how to recognize dysregulation, reduce triggers, and support students’ access to learning through consistent, compassionate, and predictable practices.

This course blends storytelling with practical learning. As you move through the course, you will alternate between reading your chosen story and engaging in Learning Interludes that deepen your understanding of inclusive education.

To view the course content, click on each section header below. This will reveal the readings and materials for that part of the course.

How the Course Flows

The course follows a consistent sequence:
Prologue → Learning Interlude 1 → Chapter 1 → Learning Interlude 2 → Chapter 2 → Learning Interlude 3 → Chapter 3 → Learning Interlude 4 → Chapter 4 → Learning Interlude 5 → Epilogue → Learning Interlude 6

Each chapter of your story highlights key ideas in action. After each chapter, you will complete a Learning Interlude that unpacks those ideas through guided content, tools, and activities.

What’s in a Learning Interlude?

Each Learning Interlude contains three Learning Links. A Learning Link is a short, focused learning unit that includes:

A short video explaining an essential concept.
A follow-up activity to help you apply what you have learned.

After each Learning Link, you will find both individual and group activities. Choose the activities that are most meaningful and relevant to your role, goals, and context. There is no requirement to complete them all.

If you are facilitating this course for a group, Facilitator Notes are included at the beginning of each Learning Interlude. These provide guidance, timing suggestions, and tips for leading group discussions and activities.

You will also find:

Printable tools and templates to support your planning.
Reflection prompts to help connect new ideas to your own practice.

These interludes help you make sense of what you have read and offer practical strategies you can use right away, whether you are learning individually or with a group.

▶ Inside the Story: Prologue

Inside the Story: Prologue

As you move through this course, we encourage you to return to the story you selected during the “Inside the Story” sections. Each chapter aligns with the learning interludes and offers a vivid, contextualized look at inclusive design in action. Feel free to explore additional stories if you're curious how the same principles play out in different contexts. Short overviews of the chapter are included here to help you discern if you want to explore other stories.

Kamara’s Story: Co-Regulation in Action

Prologue: The Breaking Point ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

Kamara has another intense outburst that leaves desks overturned and a classmate in tears. After school, Ms. Evans and Jordan sit in silence, both emotionally drained. They realize they’re spending more time recovering from incidents than preventing them. Referrals for external assessments are slow, and behavior plans aren’t helping. For the first time, Ms. Evans wonders if the strategies themselves (i.e., charts, consequences, warnings) might be part of the problem. She voices the question that shifts everything: What if it’s not Kamara who needs fixing, but the environment around her?

Horizon Outreach School: Bridging Two Worlds Through Belonging

Prologue: Out of Reach ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

At Horizon Outreach School, many students arrive disengaged, carrying heavy personal histories of school-based trauma, mental health challenges, and systemic exclusion. While the staff offers flexible scheduling, relational support, and an emotional support room, students still struggle to see themselves as learners. They especially struggle in subjects like English, where vulnerability and expression are core. The disconnect between traditional classroom structures and student needs becomes undeniable.

Mr. Sinclair’s Story: Rhythm and Relationship

Prologue: Worn Thin ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

The school year begins with high hopes but unravels quickly. Mr. Sinclair finds himself exhausted by constant disruptions, power struggles, and emotional outbursts. The classroom feels more like crisis management than learning. He feels pressure to “hold the line,” but a growing sense of unease tells him the current approach isn’t working. Not for him or his students.

Celeste’s Story: Designing with the Body in Mind

Prologue: Fixing or Flowing? ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

Celeste, an occupational therapist supporting multiple schools, begins noticing a pattern: sensory tools are often treated as last-ditch efforts, pulled out only after students are already dysregulated. She watches as students are sent for movement breaks as punishment or used fidget tools only under close surveillance. In meetings, she hears teachers ask, “How do we fix this behavior?” rather than, “What does the environment need?” Celeste wonders how to reframe regulation not as a reactive strategy, but as a foundational design element of inclusive learning.

Simran’s Story: Leading Culture Change

Prologue: This Isn’t Working ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

Simran, recently appointed principal at Wayfinder Middle School, feels disheartened by the sheer number of office referrals and suspensions flooding her desk. Patterns of reactive discipline, student disengagement, and escalating behavior seem to repeat daily. In hallway conversations, teachers express frustration, fear, and burnout. Simran senses that something deeper is being missed. Not just in students, but in how the entire school is operating. She begins to wonder: What if the problem isn’t defiance, but dysregulation? And what if the change has to start with the adults?

▶ Learning Interlude 1: Understanding Regulation

Learning Interlude 1: Understanding Regulation

Occurs After Prologue → Before Chapter 1
Module Name: Stress, Safety and the Brain

📎 Facilitator Notes (📄PDF)

🌟 Success Criteria

I can identify signs of dysregulation in myself and others.
I can explain how stress affects learning and behavior.

🎬 Learning Link 1: What is Regulation

Power Point Slides (📄PDF)

📝 Individual Learning Activity 1 (Choose 1 or More)

Regulation Reflection Journal (📄PDF): Reflect on personal experiences of dysregulation and moments of return to calm.
Stress Triggers and Calming Cues (📄PDF): Identify personal and student-specific triggers and effective calming strategies.
Regulation Observation Log (📄PDF): Observe and note signs of regulation and dysregulation in different classroom moments.

🤝 Group Learning Activity 1 (Choose 1 or More)

Scenario Sort (📄 PDF): In small groups, sort example classroom behaviors into regulated/dysregulated states and discuss supports.
Regulation Language Workshop (📄 PDF): Co-develop shared language and cues for supporting regulation in the classroom.
Calm Corners Brainstorm (📄 PDF): Design elements of a calming space and identify what would support various student needs.

🎬 Learning Link 2: Stress and the Brain: A Classroom Lens

Power Point Slides (📄PDF)

📝 Individual Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Stress Response Cycle Map (📄PDF): Map the stages of stress and how they show up in learning environments.
Brain and Behavior Reflection (📄PDF): Reflect on how the stress response impacts executive function, memory, and emotion.
Classroom Stress Audit (📄PDF): Identify classroom practices or structures that may unintentionally increase stress.

🤝 Group Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Stress Response Scenarios (📄PDF): Analyze common classroom situations through a brain-based lens.
Brain-Aligned Strategies Gallery (📄PDF): Share and discuss strategies that align with how the brain learns best under stress.
Trigger vs. Support Charting (📄PDF): Chart what helps or hinders regulation and learning in real-world contexts.

🎬 Learning Link 3: Co-Regulation vs. Self-Regulation

Power Point Slides (📄PDF)

📝 Individual Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Co-Regulation Moments Reflection (📄PDF): Describe a time when an adult helped a student regulate and why it worked.
Self-Regulation Inventory (📄PDF): Identify student tools and habits that support independent regulation.
Adult Role Mapping Tool (📄PDF): Reflect on educator behavior and how it influences student regulation.

🤝 Group Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Co-Regulation Practices Roundtable (📄PDF): Share and discuss real co-regulation strategies from practice.
Regulation Role-Play (📄PDF): Act out regulation and dysregulation scenarios and model co-regulation strategies.
Shared Regulation Plan Builder (📄PDF): Co-create a classroom plan for embedding regulation opportunities into daily routines.

🧰 Tools & Templates:

Student Regulation Cues Card (📄PDF): Quick-reference guide to common cues for dysregulation and regulation.
Personal Stress Awareness Journal (📄PDF): Tool for tracking personal triggers and patterns to build educator self-awareness.
Classroom Regulation Strategy Planner (📄PDF): Framework for embedding regulation opportunities into routines.

📚 Reference List (📄PDF)

Includes foundational research on stress and the brain, Shanker Self-Reg theory, polyvagal theory, and trauma-informed education.

▶ Inside the Story: Chapter 1

Inside the Story: Chapter 1

Kamara’s Story: Co-Regulation in Action

Chapter 1: Reading the Storm ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

Determined to do better, the team begins to document when and how Kamara’s dysregulation occurs. Patterns emerge: transitions are hard, group work is unpredictable, and loud spaces seem to flood her senses. They explore professional learning on trauma and regulation and begin shifting their mindset from controlling behavior to co-regulating emotion. Instead of seeing Kamara as disruptive, they start seeing the unmet needs underneath. Ms. Evans introduces daily visual schedules and gives advance notice for changes. Jordan begins gently coaching Kamara to recognize early signs of escalation. It’s not a fix but it’s a beginning.

Horizon Outreach School: Bridging Two Worlds Through Belonging

Chapter 1: Unseen and Unready ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

Staff at Horizon and Summit Grove begin noticing the deep levels of dysregulation, mistrust, and fear of judgment that surface in ELA classes. Students shut down during whole-class readings, avoid participation in discussions, and resist writing assignments. Teachers reflect on how standard instructional approaches in English (i.e., rigid deadlines, analytical essays, and oral presentations) may be unintentionally amplifying stress. They begin to shift the question from “Why aren’t they doing the work?” to “What’s missing in our design?”

Mr. Sinclair’s Story: Rhythm and Relationship

Chapter 1: Why Can’t They Just... ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

A hallway conflict ends with a student in tears and Mr. Sinclair at his wit’s end. But instead of assigning consequences, he pauses to reflect. Conversations with a learning coach and a review of patterns reveal something deeper: many of his students are not defiant. They're dysregulated. This shift in lens becomes the first crack in his old way of seeing behavior.

Celeste’s Story: Designing with the Body in Mind

Chapter 1: Out of Sync ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

In one school, Celeste shadows a student who is frequently sent out of class for being “wiggly” or “disruptive.” She observes that movement is only introduced after the student is overwhelmed and always in isolation. In response, she begins coaching teams to reflect on classroom rhythms: When do students sit the longest? When are transitions rushed? With this lens, educators begin to see how the absence of proactive regulation is impacting learning for many not just the students on their caseloads.

Simran’s Story: Leading Culture Change

Chapter 1: Punishment or Pattern? ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

After a particularly distressing incident involving a student sent home for swearing at a teacher, Simran digs deeper. She reviews the student’s records and discovers years of trauma, inconsistent support, and repeated removals. Instead of viewing it as an isolated event, she sees a pattern and a mirror held up to the system. Simran begins inviting staff into reflective dialogues: What do our current responses communicate? Are we reinforcing harm? These conversations spark both resistance and curiosity. A shift is beginning.

▶ Learning Interlude 2: Designing for Safety

Learning Interlude 2: Designing for Safety

Occurs After Chapter 1 → Before Chapter 2
Module Name: Environments that Regulate

📎 Facilitator Notes (📄PDF)

🌟 Success Criteria

I can describe how my space supports or hinders regulation.
I can implement one environmental change to promote safety.

🎬 Learning Link 1: The Role of Predictability

Power Point Slides (📄PDF)

📝 Individual Learning Activity 1 (Choose 1 or More)

Predictability Self-Assessment (📄PDF): Reflect on the predictability of your classroom routines and transitions.
Consistency Map (📄PDF): Map out daily/weekly classroom structures and evaluate consistency from a student’s lens.
Transition Support Reflection (📄PDF): Consider how current transitions support or undermine student regulation.

🤝 Group Learning Activity 1 (Choose 1 or More)

Predictable Practices Roundtable (📄PDF): Share practices that promote predictable rhythms and routines.
Unpacking the Hidden Curriculum (📄PDF): Identify parts of the day where students may feel unsure or unsafe.
Routine Redesign Protocol (📄PDF): In small teams, redesign one classroom routine for greater clarity and regulation support.

🎬 Learning Link 2: Sensory-Aware Design

Power Point Slides (📄PDF)

📝 Individual Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Sensory Inventory Journal (📄PDF): Record sensory inputs in your classroom (lighting, sound, seating) and reflect on their impact.
Personal Sensory Profile (📄PDF): Reflect on your own sensory preferences and how they may influence classroom design.
Environmental Impact Tracker (📄PDF): Observe how students respond to sensory elements across the day.

🤝 Group Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Sensory Audit Walkthrough (📄PDF): Conduct a team walkaround of the space with sensory needs in mind.
Design for Regulation Studio (📄PDF): Co-design calm corners, sensory supports, or low-stimulation zones.
Creating Sensory-Responsive Schedules (📄PDF): Work together to embed sensory regulation strategies into the schedule.

🎬 Learning Link 3: Environmental Cues for Safety

Power Point Slides (📄PDF)

📝 Individual Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Safety Cues Reflection Tool (📄PDF): Identify visual, auditory, or relational cues in your environment that promote safety.
Nonverbal Signals Scan (📄PDF): Reflect on how your space communicates expectations, welcome, and regulation support.
Designing for Emotional Safety Journal (📄PDF): Explore the emotional messages your space sends and potential improvements.

🤝 Group Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Environmental Messaging Gallery Walk (📄PDF): Share images or sketches of classroom spaces and reflect on what they communicate.
From Chaos to Calm Protocol (📄PDF): Work in teams to transform a disorganized or overstimulating space into a calming one.
Classroom Cues Makeover (📄PDF): Collaboratively plan and test visual cues that promote independence and safety.

🧰 Tools & Templates:

Safety & Regulation Environment Scan (📄PDF): Tool to assess how classroom layout, lighting, sound, and routines support regulation.
Predictable Routines Builder (📄PDF): Template to map and structure consistent classroom routines that reduce anxiety.

📚 Reference List (📄PDF)

Includes research on trauma-informed environments, classroom predictability, sensory processing, and psychological safety in learning spaces.

▶ Inside the Story: Chapter 2

Inside the Story: Chapter 2

Kamara’s Story: Co-Regulation in Action

Chapter 2: Designing for Safety ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

With support from a learning coach, the classroom begins to change. A cozy calm corner replaces the “time-out” chair. Transitions are broken into smaller steps with sensory breaks embedded throughout the day. Kamara is invited to co-create her own regulation plan, which includes ear defenders, a feelings chart, and a soft lanyard she can fidget with discreetly. For the first time, she chooses to sit at the back of the carpet rather than refusing group time altogether. Small signs of trust begin to grow. Jordan notices Kamara making eye contact, lingering to chat, even laughing during shared activities. The shift is fragile but real.

Horizon Outreach School: Bridging Two Worlds Through Belonging

Chapter 2: Space to Breathe ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

A cross-school team introduces flexible options for reading and writing assignments, offering students choices in text selection, pacing, and format. ELA teachers reframe their classrooms as collaborative, low-pressure environments where students can enter into stories through audio, graphic novels, or excerpts. With relationship-focused support from Horizon staff, students begin to dip their toes into ELA content without fear of failure. The emotional support room and soft-entry routines ensure regulation stays at the centre.

Mr. Sinclair’s Story: Rhythm and Relationship

Chapter 2: If One, Then Many ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

Inspired by the idea that what works for one often benefits many, Rhonda introduces her staff to proactive design. She facilitates a conversation: What if we planned for variability instead of reacting to it? Together, the team explores entry points into UDL, and begins to reframe accommodations as design choices—choices that reduce stigma and increase access for all learners.

Celeste’s Story: Designing with the Body in Mind

Chapter 2: In the Flow ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

Celeste collaborates with a Grade 1 and a Grade 5 teacher to reimagine how regulation strategies could be embedded directly into the learning day. They co-plan routines that include seated wiggle tools, movement-based brain warmups, and tasks that allow for controlled movement (like gallery walks or sensory bins). The team begins shifting their thinking: instead of designing around stillness, they design for movement. The energy in the classroom changes—and students start entering learning with greater readiness and ease.

Simran’s Story: Leading Culture Change

Chapter 2: Designing the Day Differently ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

Simran collaborates with her leadership team to rework school structures that often contribute to dysregulation: unpredictable transitions, chaotic hallways, rushed supervision. They introduce calm entry routines, sensory-informed break areas, and intentional morning starts. Teachers pilot new hallway supervision rhythms and trauma-informed arrival protocols. Slowly, tension in the building eases. Students begin entering class with less volatility and teachers start recognizing the impact of predictable, relational rhythms.

▶ Learning Interlude 3: The Power of Relationships

Learning Interlude 3: The Power of Relationship

Occurs After Chapter 2 → Before Chapter 3
Module Name: Trust & Co-Regulation

📎 Facilitator Notes (📄PDF)

🌟 Success Criteria

I can name relationship practices that build trust and connection.
I can recognize how adult regulation supports student regulation.

🎬 Learning Link 1: Relational Practice Foundations

Power Point Slides (📄PDF)

📝 Individual Learning Activity 1 (Choose 1 or More)

Relational Inventory (📄PDF): Reflect on the daily relational practices you use to build trust.
Connection Moments Journal (📄PDF): Write about a moment when connection shifted a learning or behavior outcome.
Student Perspective Reflection (📄PDF): Imagine how a student might describe their sense of belonging in your space.

🤝 Group Learning Activity 1 (Choose 1 or More)

Trust-Building Strategy Exchange (📄PDF): Share one relationship practice that has built student trust.
Belonging Map Protocol (📄PDF): Chart where connection and disconnection happen during the school day.
Classroom Relationship Audit (📄PDF): In small groups, analyze common routines and their relational impacts.

🎬 Learning Link 2: The Role of Adult Regulation

Power Point Slides (📄PDF)

📝 Individual Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Regulation Awareness Log (📄PDF): Track your own regulation patterns across the school day.
Co-Regulation Moments Reflection (📄PDF): Describe a time when your own calm helped de-escalate a student.
Stress Response Self-Check (📄PDF): Identify your personal stress signs and preferred co-regulation strategies.

🤝 Group Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Adult Regulation Case Study (📄PDF): Analyze fictional or real scenarios and the role adult presence played.
Grounding Practices Circle (📄PDF): Share personal regulation strategies and create a shared toolkit.
Team Regulation Planning Protocol (📄PDF): Collaboratively plan for adult support during challenging parts of the day.

🎬 Learning Link 3: Mapping Student Trust

Power Point Slides (📄PDF)

📝 Individual Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Circle of Trust Mapping (📄PDF): Identify which adults each student appears to trust and where there are gaps.
Relationship Action Plan (📄PDF): Choose one student and create a plan to strengthen relational connection.
Student Lens Reflection (📄PDF): Imagine a day from a student’s point of view. What supports or hinders trust?

🤝 Group Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Trust Mapping Team Discussion (📄PDF): Share and analyze patterns across individual trust maps.
Creating Connection Opportunities (📄PDF): Brainstorm non-academic ways to build connection (e.g., clubs, greetings).
Team Relationship Pledge (📄PDF): Draft a set of shared commitments to relational safety in your school or team.

🧰 Tools & Templates:

Circle of Trust Mapping Tool (📄PDF): Visual tool for analyzing student–adult relational connection patterns.
Adult Regulation Reflection Guide (📄PDF): Prompts and reflection sheets to support adult co-regulation awareness.

📚 Reference List (📄PDF)

Includes key sources on attachment, trauma-informed education, co-regulation, and the neuroscience of relational safety.

▶ Inside the Story: Chapter 3

Inside the Story: Chapter 3

Kamara’s Story: Co-Regulation in Action

Chapter 3: Safe Together ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

The co-regulation plan expands to the whole class. Everyone begins their day with a “how am I feeling?” check-in. Ms. Evans models how adults regulate too. She names when she’s tired or overwhelmed and inviting strategies that help. Kamara starts to mirror this language. When she begins to escalate, she now signals her need with a word or gesture and heads to the calm space without needing to be sent. Her trust in Jordan grows as they develop shared language, body cues, and breathing strategies they practice daily. The whole classroom starts to feel different. They are more responsive, more human, more connected.

Horizon Outreach School: Bridging Two Worlds Through Belonging

Chapter 3: Relationships Before Rigor ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

Teachers begin daily relational check-ins, integrating trauma-informed practices, journaling for expression, and small group dialogue rooted in trust. One-on-one planning sessions give students space to talk about their goals and choose assignments that resonate with their lived experiences. Horizon staff join ELA classes regularly. They are not there as assistants, but as co-regulators and relationship bridges. As students start to see themselves in what they read and write, investment increases.

Mr. Sinclair’s Story: Rhythm and Relationship

Chapter 3: Feeling It Together ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

Emotional check-ins, feeling charts, and co-created visual tools become a regular part of the classroom rhythm. Students begin to identify their emotions and ask for what they need. Be it a movement break, a quiet corner, or time with a trusted adult. Mr. Sinclair notices students starting to co-regulate with each other, offering support instead of judgment.

Celeste’s Story: Designing with the Body in Mind

Chapter 3: Connection in Motion ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

As these new practices take root, Celeste notices something powerful. Students begin using movement not just to regulate themselves but to co-regulate with others. One student asks a peer if they want to walk the calming path together before math; another helps reset the classroom’s regulation station. Teachers begin modeling their own strategies such as stretching during transitions, naming their emotions, and inviting the class to reset together. Movement is no longer isolated. It becomes a relational and communal part of the classroom culture.

Simran’s Story: Leading Culture Change

Chapter 3: Regulation is Contagious ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

Simran realizes that adult regulation is central to student regulation. She leads professional learning sessions that focus on co-regulation, emotional literacy, and educator well-being. Staff begin to reflect on their own nervous systems—what dysregulates them, what restores them, how they show up in conflict. Peer-to-peer check-ins become common. Teachers model self-regulation strategies aloud in class. The idea of "taking a moment" becomes part of staff culture. Regulation is no longer just a student skill. It's a shared, embodied practice

▶ Learning Interlude 4: Teaching Emotional Literacy

Learning Interlude 4: Teaching Emotional Literacy

Occurs After Chapter 3 → Before Chapter 4
Module Name: Language for Regulation

📎 Facilitator Notes (📄PDF)

🌟 Success Criteria

I can embed emotional literacy practices into daily routines.
I can support students to notice and name their emotions.

🎬 Learning Link 1: Why Emotional Literacy Matters

Power Point Slides (📄PDF)

📝 Individual Learning Activity 1 (Choose 1 or More)

Emotion Reflection Log (📄PDF): Reflect on your own experience with naming and expressing emotion.
Role of Emotional Literacy Self-Check (📄PDF): Assess how often and how well you support emotional naming in your setting.
Story-Based Emotion Map (📄PDF): Use a classroom read-aloud or personal anecdote to map emotional experiences.

🤝 Group Learning Activity 1 (Choose 1 or More)

Emotion Vocabulary Share (📄PDF): In small groups, list the emotion words you regularly use with students—compare and expand.
Classroom Literacy Audit (📄PDF): Review visuals, read-alouds, and anchor charts—what emotions are (and aren’t) visible?
The “Why” Behind the Words Protocol (📄PDF): Explore why emotional literacy matters and how it supports safety and learning.

🎬 Learning Link 2: Building a Feelings Vocabulary

Power Point Slides (📄PDF)

📝 Individual Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Feelings Language Ladder (📄PDF): Expand simple emotional terms into more nuanced vocabulary.
Emotion Card Reflection (📄PDF): Choose 3 feeling words and reflect on when you’ve experienced or seen them in students.
“How Might That Feel?” Journal (📄PDF): Journal about a student situation and imagine it from their emotional lens.

🤝 Group Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Emotion Sorting Circle (📄PDF): Categorize feeling words by intensity, energy, or type.
Feelings Word of the Week Planning (📄PDF): Co-design a weekly plan to integrate emotional terms into the class routine.
Building Our Shared Vocabulary (📄PDF): As a team, create a shared list of emotional language tools and posters.

🎬 Learning Link 3: Making Emotions Visible

Power Point Slides (📄PDF)

📝 Individual Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Daily Check-In Design Template (📄PDF): Create a visual and routine for daily check-ins in your classroom.
Nonverbal Cues Observation Sheet (📄PDF): Observe students and record how emotions are expressed nonverbally.
Anchor Chart Reflection (📄PDF): Reflect on how your space currently supports or limits emotional expression.

🤝 Group Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Feeling Faces Gallery Walk (📄PDF): Explore tools for making feelings visible (cards, scales, visuals).
Check-In Systems Roundtable (📄PDF): Share current systems for emotional check-ins. What’s working, what needs support?
Visual Emotions Toolkit Build (📄PDF): Co-create a toolkit of visual supports for emotional literacy in various settings.

🧰 Tools & Templates:

Feelings Language Card Set (📄PDF): A collection of visual emotion vocabulary tools for classroom use.
Daily Check-In Tracker (📄PDF): A tool to track student emotional patterns and offer co-regulation support.

📚 Reference List (📄PDF)

Includes research on emotional development, emotional intelligence, regulation through language, and inclusive social-emotional design.

▶ Inside the Story: Chapter 4

Inside the Story: Chapter 4

Kamara’s Story: Co-Regulation in Action

Chapter 4: Learning, Finally ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

Now able to remain regulated for longer stretches, Kamara starts participating in small groups. She volunteers to lead a math game. When frustrated, she asks for help instead of storming off. Her classmates begin to respond with curiosity and compassion rather than fear or frustration. Ms. Evans notices that the strategies developed for Kamara are benefitting other students too. They are especially effective for those who never had a formal diagnosis but often struggled silently. Academic growth follows emotional safety. Kamara isn’t just behaving better. She’s finally learning.

Horizon Outreach School: Bridging Two Worlds Through Belonging

Chapter 4: Whole-Hearted Learning ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

With supports and relationships firmly in place, students begin to re-engage in English with confidence and agency. Projects take on new forms: spoken word pieces, visual poetry, audio-recorded essays. Students who once avoided writing now share their work in peer circles and even public showcases. Staff from both schools reflect on how student voice and safety are now embedded in how ELA is taught.

Mr. Sinclair’s Story: Rhythm and Relationship

Chapter 4: Learning with a Beat ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

With regulation routines firmly in place, academic learning gains new life. Literacy tasks are embedded in movement, visuals, and choice. The class begins co-creating agreements, setting personal learning goals, and designing their own calming strategies. Mr. Sinclair sees deeper engagement, stronger peer relationships, and more confidence in his students.

Celeste’s Story: Designing with the Body in Mind

Chapter 4: It Belongs Here ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

Celeste works with the principal to introduce sensory and movement design as a school-wide expectation, not an optional add-on. Teachers start integrating regulation check-ins into morning routines and embedding flexible seating into unit planning. Visual schedules include movement cues for everyone. Slowly, behavior charts and punitive breaks are replaced by proactive rhythms that anticipate students’ sensory and emotional needs. Regulation is no longer a specialized intervention. It’s part of how learning is designed for all.

Simran’s Story: Leading Culture Change

Chapter 4: Restoring the We ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

The school launches a formal restorative practices initiative. Daily circles begin in advisory blocks. Behavior conversations shift from punitive to relational. Students are included in planning school expectations and designing classroom agreements. Staff document fewer crisis calls and more moments of reconnection. Trust, once fractured, begins to grow. Simran notices that discipline referrals now often include notes like, “We talked it through,” or “He made a repair.” The school is healing and learning how to live together differently.

▶ Learning Interlude 5: Community and Culture of Regulation

Learning Interlude 5: Community and Culture of Regulation

Occurs After Chapter 4 → Before Epilogue
Module Name: Regulation as Culture

📎 Facilitator Notes (📄PDF)

🌟 Success Criteria

I can design one routine that supports relational connection.
I can describe how a culture of regulation supports all learners.

🎬 Learning Link 1: From Strategy to Culture

Power Point Slides (📄PDF)

📝 Individual Learning Activity 1 (Choose 1 or More)

Micro-Moment Mapping Tool (📄PDF): Identify small, everyday opportunities to embed co-regulation into classroom flow.
My Regulation Culture Inventory (📄PDF): Reflect on current practices and routines. What do they communicate about safety and connection?
Strategy-to-Culture Reflection Journal (📄PDF): Journal about how individual strategies can evolve into a classroom-wide mindset.

🤝 Group Learning Activity 1 (Choose 1 or More)

Culture Builders Brainstorm (📄PDF): Co-create a list of small practices that build regulation culture in shared spaces.
Strategy Evolution Story Share (📄PDF): Share an example of a strategy that became a cultural norm in your classroom.
Common Language Creation Protocol (📄PDF): Collaboratively develop regulation-related language and cues for consistent use schoolwide.

🎬 Learning Link 2: Morning Meetings and Class Circles

Power Point Slides (📄PDF)

📝 Individual Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Routine Design Template (📄PDF): Plan a daily or weekly routine that fosters connection and co-regulation.
Circle Reflection Tool (📄PDF): Reflect on a current or past experience using classroom circles. What worked, what didn’t?
Safe Openings Journal (📄PDF): Design two ways to open your day or lessons that promote emotional safety.

🤝 Group Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Circle Practice Workshop (📄PDF): Co-design and model short class circle routines for different ages and contexts.
Morning Meeting Hackathon (📄PDF): Collaborate on engaging ideas for consistent morning regulation routines.
Routine Exchange Protocol (📄PDF): Share your favorite relational routines and give/receive feedback.

🎬 Learning Link 3: Universal Restorative Practice

Power Point Slides (📄PDF)

📝 Individual Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Repair Practices Self-Reflection (📄PDF): Reflect on how you typically respond when relationships rupture in your space.
Restorative Scenario Planning Tool (📄PDF): Plan how you would apply a restorative response to a common classroom conflict.
Circle of Support Mapping (📄PDF): Identify adults and peers who model or contribute to restorative culture in your school.

🤝 Group Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Repair Language Roleplay (📄PDF): Practice language that invites repair and dignity after conflict.
Restorative Practice Planning (📄PDF): Design a simple universal restorative practice for daily or weekly use.
Circle of Responsibility Dialogue (📄PDF): Reflect on how regulation and repair are shared responsibilities—not just individual ones.

🧰 Tools & Templates:

Restorative Practice Starter Plan (📄PDF): Framework for launching consistent, relational repair practices in your space.
Regulation Culture Checklist (📄PDF): Audit tool for assessing how daily practices align with a culture of regulation.

📚 Reference List (📄PDF)

Includes research on restorative practice, school connectedness, and how consistent routines support emotional regulation and belonging.

▶ Inside the Story: Epilogue

Inside the Story: Epilogue

Kamara’s Story: Co-Regulation in Action

Epilogue: A Classroom That Breathes ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

Ms. Evans and Jordan reflect on the transformation. They recognize that it happened not just in Kamara, but in themselves as well. They’ve moved from crisis management to proactive design. Co-regulation is now woven into the rhythm of the day. They’re no longer chasing behavior. They’re nurturing belonging. And in this space they’ve co-created, students don’t have to earn safety. It’s built in.

Horizon Outreach School: Bridging Two Worlds Through Belonging

Epilogue: We See Them Now ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

Horizon and Summit Grove reflect on a shared cultural shift. ELA classrooms have become spaces of invitation rather than exclusion, where identity and story are honoured. What started as a partnership of necessity has become a model of how co-designing for regulation and relevance can restore students’ trust in learning and in themselves

Mr. Sinclair’s Story: Rhythm and Relationship

Epilogue: A Different Kind of Busy ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

Looking around his classroom, Mr. Sinclair still sees noise, movement, and emotion but it’s a different kind of busy. It’s the hum of students who feel safe, seen, and supported. He reflects on how his own regulation and openness to change were key to creating a space where connection isn’t just a strategy. It’s the foundation of learning.

Celeste’s Story: Designing with the Body in Mind

Epilogue: Part of the Design ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

Celeste walks through a classroom where music plays softly during work time, students move freely through stations, and adults model emotional awareness with ease. She reflects on the journey. It is evident the journey was about more than tools and plans. That there was a transformation in mindset. Her biggest success isn’t the number of sensory bins delivered or fidget tools purchased. It’s how teachers now view regulation: not as a disruption to manage, but as a core part of how learning begins.

Simran’s Story: Leading Culture Change

Epilogue: Culture Shift ( 📖 Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

Simran stands at the back of a student-led assembly where peers are presenting on inclusion, empathy, and classroom co-regulation plans. A few years ago, this would have seemed impossible. Now, it’s part of the fabric of Wayfinder. As she walks the halls, she sees evidence of the transformation everywhere: calm corners in classrooms, collaborative staff conversations, students advocating for one another. The culture has shifted from managing behavior to cultivating belonging. And it’s still evolving.

▶ Learning Interlude 6: Writing Your Own Story

Learning Interlude 6: Writing Your Own Story

Occurs After Epilogue
Module Name: Taking It Forward

📎 Facilitator Notes (📄PDF)

🌟 Success Criteria

I can name one change I will make to strengthen regulation and connection in my setting.
I can reflect on how my classroom or school culture has shifted (or can shift) as a result of this learning.

🎬 Learning Link 1: What’s One Practice You’ll Keep?

Power Point Slides (📄PDF)

📝 Individual Learning Activity 1 (Choose 1 or More)

“Keep, Start, Stop” Reflection Tool (📄PDF): Identify current practices you’ll continue, new practices to start, and those to release.
Practice Reflection Journal (📄PDF): Reflect on a practice that made a difference and why it matters to you.
Culture Shift Snapshot (📄PDF): Capture one moment or pattern that represents a shift in your classroom culture.

🤝 Group Learning Activity 1 (Choose 1 or More)

Practice Sharing Roundtable (📄PDF): Share one practice you plan to sustain and why.
Moments That Mattered Circle (📄PDF): Participants share moments of impact from the course or from their practice.
From Insight to Action Protocol (📄PDF): Move from reflection to concrete steps by dialoguing about key takeaways and future application.

🎬 Learning Link 2: Sustaining Regulation in Real Classrooms

Power Point Slides (📄PDF)

📝 Individual Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Sustainability Planning Template (📄PDF): Reflect on conditions that will support or challenge your ability to sustain change.
Next Steps Action Plan (📄PDF): Create a concrete plan for one ongoing regulation or connection practice.
Micro-Change Tracker (📄PDF): Identify and track one manageable shift over time.

🤝 Group Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Collaborative Barrier Buster (📄PDF): As a team, troubleshoot potential obstacles to sustaining change.
Sustaining Practice Coaching Triads (📄PDF): Share your action plan with colleagues for support and accountability.
Team Timeline Builder (📄PDF): Design a shared implementation calendar for embedding key practices over time.

🎬 Learning Link 3: Culture Starts With Us

Power Point Slides (📄PDF)

📝 Individual Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Regulation & Connection Commitment Poster (📄PDF): Create a visual of your personal or classroom commitment.
Belief & Practice Alignment Reflection (📄PDF): Explore how your practices now reflect your beliefs about regulation and connection.
Personal Impact Statement (📄PDF): Write a brief reflection on how your growth may influence students or colleagues.

🤝 Group Learning Activity 2 (Choose 1 or More)

Belonging Through Regulation Gallery Walk (📄PDF): Share your commitment posters and reflect as a group.
Community Vision Protocol (📄PDF): Co-imagine what a fully regulation-centered school culture could look like.
Commitment Ceremony (📄PDF): Mark the end of the course by publicly naming one change each person will carry forward.

🧰 Tools & Templates:

Practice Reflection & Shift Tracker (📄PDF): Document one key shift and how it has unfolded over time.
Next Steps Planning Tool (📄PDF): Guide for planning sustainable action beyond the course.
Regulation & Connection Commitment Poster (📄PDF): A personal declaration of future practice grounded in the course learning.

📚 Reference List (📄PDF)

Includes research on co-regulation, relational school culture, sustainable practice, and educator impact in emotionally safe classrooms.

Course Content

How the Course Flows

What’s in a Learning Interlude?

▶ Inside the Story: Prologue

▶ Learning Interlude 1: Understanding Regulation

▶ Inside the Story: Chapter 1

▶ Learning Interlude 2: Designing for Safety

▶ Inside the Story: Chapter 2

▶ Learning Interlude 3: The Power of Relationships

▶ Inside the Story: Chapter 3

▶ Learning Interlude 4: Teaching Emotional Literacy

▶ Inside the Story: Chapter 4

▶ Learning Interlude 5: Community and Culture of Regulation

▶ Inside the Story: Epilogue

▶ Learning Interlude 6: Writing Your Own Story

▶ Reflection and Recognition