We are pleased to share the latest in the “I” series focused on that complex time of the school day known as recess.  For some kids, it is a great time and space to self-regulate, socialize and expend pent up energy.  For others, it is a daunting challenge to navigate or even to avoid.  Mary-Catherine provides strategies that are helpful for children and are also great resources for teachers and parents to access.  ​
Her book is available through this link:    So http://www.ctc1990.com/ with an order coupon code tenCSRI through CSRI that gives a 10% discount.

​Over the past few years, there has been a tremendous uptick in resources - people, information, programs and other supports - to build our understanding and application of self-regulation strategies in the classroom and at home.  As teachers, parents and other human services professionals, we were all raised in a different era without the advantage of recent breakthroughs in brain science research and without the increasing connection between neurophysiology and quality learning environments. In the absence of all of that new learning, it’s likely that we would teach as we were taught and parent as we were parented, for better or worse, even with the best of intentions.  

Look inside a school today and you see focused attention on supporting and sustaining social-emotional learning & wellness in all its facets.  There’s a commitment to Growth Mindsets, Youth Mental Health and Differentiated & Engaging Learning.  Schools have become far greater “Action Research hubs,” light years ahead of the isolated teaching environments that sometimes  existed in the past.  Teachers, administrators and education assistants work together to address real issues, using a communities of practice approach that takes what they know and applies it to what they do, monitoring and adjusting as they go.

At CSRI, we support that journey in individual schools, districts and regions, via live sessions, webinars and other content development.  We also work collaboratively to address one of the greatest challenges: to link home and school so that parents and educators are on the same page regarding self-regulation strategies in order for children to gain maximum benefit. 

With that in mind, it is good to see that accessible parent resources are increasing.  One resource group that is reaching out to parents is Collective Therapy http://collectivetherapy.ca.  Their team has developed a series of parent on-line workshops, bringing the notion of Action Research to the home as well as to the school.  Feedback from participants has been extremely positive, with parents appreciating the knowledge base provided by the resource people and also valuing the sense of community as they work together in facilitated, scaffolded learning and dialogue.   We look forward to sharing more from Collective Therapy as they continue to develop their opportunities for connection and their support for every child, every chance, every day.

​Building on his self-regulation strategies webinar (Part 1), West Vancouver vice principal Nathan Blackburn tells us about “Flip Your Lid” (Part 2).  http://bit.ly/1PT7s6Q  This webinar shares what became a favourite and highly successful lesson for kids in his school. They learned the basics of neurophysiology, how they could become more aware of what is good for their minds and bodies, and how they could get in better touch with their feelings and develop the capacity to curb impulses and think before acting.  More and more, the understanding and application of self-regulation is foundational to how individuals, classrooms and schools are functioning.

​We are often asked “what does it look like?”  when neuroscience really makes a difference in our educational practices. How do teachers and entire school staffs take the theory and turn it into a new normal for their learning environments?  Many thanks to West Vancouver vice principal Nathan Blackburn for his webinar on how the self-reg story developed in his school.  http://bit.ly/1ns3Bap 
It is making a real difference.  Enjoy Nathan’s brief overview of that journey - 17 minutes well worth investing.

​With a new year well underway and some of those overly ambitious resolutions fading, let’s think about practical, achievable and very positive self-regulation resolutions for the rest of this year and beyond.  Here are seven that can make a real difference for kids and for adults:

1. About that bedtime snack:  Very tasty, much anticipated and a long-standing tradition for many, but digestion burns a lot of energy during sleep time when your body is meant to restore its energy reserves;
2. Sleep hygiene:  When I first encountered that phrase while working with Dr. Stuart Shanker, I thought he was promoting clean pyjamas and well-brushed teeth as bedtime rituals.  Those are really good too, but the term sleep hygiene refers to the conditions (particularly light and noise) that can keep the brain churning in “alert” mode rather than being in a restful and restorative mode.  Think about all the LED glow from various places in the bedroom: the bedside clock, the tv on/off button, the mobile phone charging on the bedside table.  Now think about noise intrusions during sleep time.  The booming vibration from downstairs music triggers the brain to be on standby alert.  Those deep sounds are a lot like the growl of predators in our ancient history, so we can’t really “shut down” and restore;
3. Clutter: Whether it’s in the classroom our house, some of us can be pretty quickly overwhelmed/dysregulated by the visual overload that clutter presents.  Even busy and crowded artistic displays in classrooms can be too much for some kids.  Their visual capacities are such that the myriad of stimuli prevent them from focusing on the areas which requires attention and concentration;
4. Sitting: The bane of our post-agrarian existence.  Our species is meant to move: our physiology is much more connected to a hunting/gathering/nomadic blueprint than one that has us sitting at desks, in cars or on the couch.  Look at the evidence from schools that increase the frequency of activity time and find that it doesn’t take away from learning, but increases it.  http://on.today.com/1IWfC1w
5. Screen time, especially at night: When our kids (or we) go to bed with mobile technology or television screens glowing in the dark, we are delaying our quality sleep time long past when we hit the off button.  It takes the brain a long time to settle after being bombarded with blue light, so factor that in when you think you are getting the amount of sleep need to keep you healthy and well-regulated.  Here’s an article that expands on this issue: 
   ​ http://bit.ly/1Ktynsx
6. Exercise in Response to Fatigue: It feels counterintuitive, but one of the healthiest things a person can do in response to feeling sluggish is to get active.  It’s a great way to either up-regulate (to snap out of lethargy) or down regulate (to return to calm from a hyper-alert state).   Exercising one’s way out of fatigue feels like a bit of a riddle – just remember that it expends energy and restores energy all at the same time;
7. Turn the lament into an inquiry: We’ve all heard “Why does all this keep happening to me?” as a lament.  It is the voice of the powerless two year old, the frustrated teen or the overwhelmed adult.  If we can manage to flip that to a place of curiosity and investigation, we begin to take charge – putting the self into self-regulation.  If I begin to understand why this is happening to me, I may be able to influence some of the variables.

There are seven difference makers for 2016.  They may not have been on the list when the clock struck midnight, but commitments like these really can have an impact through next year and beyond.