Self Regulation-Applying the IDEA framework (No, not the federal law)
In chapter 5 we are introduced to the acronym IDEA to understand what underlies behavior. No, this is not federal law. This acronym stands for Inquire, Determine, Examine and Address. Application of the IDEA process helps us create a supportive approach for the behavioral challenges of the child.
Take a comprehensive history of the child (Inquire). Example questions are provided in the chapter resources. Sometimes it is hard for parents to remember so if you can identify a time period by an event (birthday, move, birth of a sibling, change of caregiver) it can help give some context to the memory. Journaling triggers and behaviors for a short period of time sometimes help identify patterns (Determine) that are overlooked in the day to day of family life. Once you identify the triggers (Examine) you can utilize the sensory preferences to (Address) the child’s ability self-regulate from the Bottom Up!
Chapter 5 reminds us to start from the bottom up when a child is in a stress response or their developmental level is bottom up. The goal is to get them back on a green pathway in a mode for learning.
Chapter 6 explores behavior from the top-down. Again we are using the IDEA model to inquire, determine, examine and address the child’s behavior. The book uses the illustration of an iceberg to show that only a small part of the behavioral influences are on the surface. Being mindful of a child’s subtle cues and helping them feel safe can be critical to averting a meltdown and the loss of precious instructional time for the student and others in the class.
The chapter describes the use of therapeutic play and emphasizes the relational aspect. Children often will show in their play things that they are unable to express in their communication with words. Play, to be therapeutic, must be engaging and relational. It is not giving a tablet to let the child chill in isolation. It teaches the child how to talk about their feelings and experiences. As you engage with the child, they will move from the red or blue pathway to the green pathway. In that interaction you are acknowledging the child’s experience, sharing it and helping the child become an active participant in discovering solutions. This builds the resiliency to face future challenges with confidence.
Question of the Week:
Think about a student or students that you have worked with. Reflect on an event that may contribute to a student’s experience of stress. Describe a strategy you could use within your classroom context to either help them maintain self regulation (prevent) or help them regain the “green zone.”
Goodrich-Garza Education 
I had a very difficult student I worked with during my first year as a school based physical therapist. I worked in Spring Branch ISD at the time. The student was a sophomore with spina bifida. She was unable to walk and used a wheelchair for mobility. Due to medical neglect from the family, the student had significant medical issues that were not adequately addressed including pressure wounds (on/off), severe scoliosis, urinary tract infections, and issues with her g-tube site. There was a history of the school reaching out to CPS due to concerns, as well. When I first met her teacher, she had only negative comments about the student and basically told me she wasn’t going to put in much effort since the student didn’t put in any effort. The student moved to a different school in the middle of the year, which made a world of difference for her. The new teacher worked really hard to build a relationship with the student and actively encouraging friendships in the classroom and across campus. Despite the new environment, the student would shift into the Blue Pathway after I worked with her for a few minutes. This occurred throughout the school day, as well. When I worked with her, she would initially greet me and happily engage in conversation. After a few minutes, she would shift into closing her eyes, looking away from me, ignoring me, refusing to talk, and refusing the activity I was there to help her with. When it became a pattern, I spoke with her teacher.
After lengthy conversations with her teacher and other members of the team, we learned that the student had a lack of safety and security at home: lived in a one bedroom apartment with multiple siblings and she slept on the couch, older sister served as a parent figure due to mother’s work schedule often making her unavailable, food insecurity, mother and sister’s lack of understanding the severity of her medical issues, pain/discomfort related to unaddressed scoliosis and resulting bodily deformities (difficulties breathing, GI issues, etc.). Additionally, despite the student expressing personal goals, she would often follow up with that it didn’t matter because her mom wouldn’t do much for her once she graduated. We hypothesize that when she shifted into the Blue Pathway it was due to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. We knew we needed to make the school a safe place. The friendly teacher and staff helped her in so many ways to feel safe and loved at school. The student went from missing multiple days per week to coming to school when she didn’t feel her best because she didn’t want to miss out). The classroom staff did an amazing job! In my role as the PT, we had a mat table moved into the classroom so that she could have time out of her wheelchair during the school day. I worked on positioning supports/strategies so she would be in less pain throughout the day. (It was also cool that her teacher provided pillows so she could invite a friend or 2 to hang out on the mat with her so she wasn’t isolated) The teacher even positioned the mat table so that the student could access the smart board while lying on the table. During therapy sessions, I focused heavily on building a relationship with the student. I also provided a monthly calendar for the days and times I would there to work with her so she would be prepared. The teacher and I developed activities she would do on the days I wasn’t there. The student got to choose from a bank of activities they wanted to do that day that addressed their PT supported goals. The student created a PT contract expressing what she wanted from me as her PT. Lastly, we created a goal tracking chart so the student could see her progress.
Having this book would have really helped the team build strategies to work with her because she would often shut down across multiple contexts during the school day.
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Clearly relationship was integral to her success. Way to go Whitnee!! That student went from feeling helpless (blue pathway) to being empowered. What a nice success story to share.
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Relationships are so important. I have seen you build relationships with our students. The one we share now definitely needed someone like you. She trusts you and loves to work with you and gets so excited the moment she sees you because she feels safe with you. Keep doing what you are doing Whitnee!
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We never truly know what is going on in our student’s home life. You do a great job advocating Whitnee.
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I had a student who was severely bullied at her previous school. At the slightest inkling that someone may have said something about her or looked at her the wrong way, she shut down. She would stay home from school for days to emotionally recover. I didn’t know this was what was going on until she wasn’t in my class anymore, but I was doing counseling sessions with her as part of my internship. I am a fixer by nature. I am still breaking myself of the habit of going straight to offering solutions because I just want to make everything better. I like how the book talks about involving the child personalizing their experiences. Telling her “try this and this and this” was not going to be effective. She needed to be able to process the triggers and consider what could be done to regulate the emotions that came with the perceived triggers. I think the worksheets could be adapted a little to make them more suitable for my grade level. It seems so simple. Find out what they think will help them. Yet here I am having an a-ha moment.
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Your story about the student who was bullied really underscores the importance of understanding the root causes of behavior rather than immediately trying to fix things. It’s natural to want to offer solutions right away, but as you noted, it’s essential to let students process their experiences and find their own ways to manage their emotions.
Your a-ha moment is a great reminder that as educators, we are always learning and evolving.
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I had a student a few years ago that came to me for accelerated small group math instruction. He would participate and enjoyed coming to my room. However, that wasn’t the case in some of his regular classrooms. The teachers were tired of the interruptions and were off their green pathway. Many times I would be called to help with the situation. I spoke softly/calmly with him and let him vent as long as he needed to. I didn’t judge or stop and tell him he was acting badly. Once he had vented, we could then have a calm discussion about what the problem was. I knew what would and wouldn’t work with him because he would talk to me. He wouldn’t talk to all teachers though, and I think the worksheets would have been a tremendous help to those teachers. It would have showed him that they did care about his thoughts and feelings, without him having to talk with them in the moment. I do plan on using the worksheets in the coming school year. I’m going to encourage my team to read this book, also!
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I’m definitely feeling the idea of “I’m off my green pathway” or “that teacher is leaving her green pathway.” I think this language is helpful with avoiding words of frustration or labeling a situation, but instead helping us recognize that we as adults need to move back to a safe place. I agree with the preference worksheets. I love how Delahooke breaks them into sensory categories. I feel like we often focus on preferences for reinforcers, but this is so helpful with considering environmental preferences that will help set kids and their teachers up for success.
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I also love “I’m off of the green pathway!” If we can just take a step back and regulate, we can accomplish so much more with ourselves and students.
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When I first started teaching I had a 4th grade student who was brought to Texas to remove him from a violent living situation with his mother in California. He was very angry when he first arrived in my classroom. He was clearly on the red pathway, his body always seemed tense, he rarely spoke and rarely completed assignments. I tried to make him feel welcome, but also gave him space. He was not the only on with a rough home life. We spent a lot of time playing cards and chess in my classroom. The kids often talked about what was going on in their lives as we played. My new student began joining in the games and slowly opening up to our school counselor(he remained quiet, but more relaxed in the classroom). When he was having a rough day in his gen ed class(his teacher was wonderful) he would ask to come to my class or talk to the counselor. It was a long process and there were rough days, but by the time we took spring pictures he was a different kid, relaxed body language and a big beautiful smile(a kid on the green pathway) . Both the counselor and I bought a copy of his picture. I still have it in a frame and try to find a spot for it in my classrooms. It’s a great reminder on a rough day, that we do make a difference.
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That’s awesome that you were able to provide that time for your students to engage in chess and cards. It definitely seems like that was the key to building a relationship with your student from California. It is incredible how kids will open up and feel safe once you can figure out their interests.
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What a wonderful way to remind you of the difference you made in that child’s life! We play a lot of chess in my room also! It is a very soothing game to play and helps so many students!
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Hi Shawn, it is lovely that you were able to provide the student with a safe zone where he felt seen and appreciated. This for sure helped him get to the green pathway where he was able to make friends, play cards, and learn new things. Thank you for the reminder that we can make a difference in our student’s lives.
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I had a student that eventually moved to a PASS program. Our campus did not offer that program so we wanted him to remain on campus through 4th grade to avoid an extra transition. He was successful in most academic areas except writing. He would immediately move to the red pathway when asked to write, often eloping or flipping desks, depending on the situation. The PE teachers told me he loved doing a puzzle in their office when he needed a break. We started adding puzzles as an earned reinforcer. We eventually added SS2 time to his IEP for writing. When his teacher started the fiction writing unit, he came alive. He wrote about his favorite topic, video games. But, he created a world of his own with page after page of adventures. It used to be a victory when he wrote one sentence with me, and now he was writing pages. When the unit ended and we had to continue to align more work to our TEKs, he worked for his creative writing time instead of puzzles (although sometimes he still wanted to chip away at his puzzle that was reserved for him on a table in my room). This reminds me of Darrell’s story. Reflecting on my student, I imagine he was probably working through some social narratives within his writing. We would talk about each character’s problems and find ways to solve their problems, but other times I was told to stay tuned for the next chapter. When he was writing about his video game, he was on a green pathway, and I hope he was able to take this with him as an outlet.
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Thank you for sharing this student’s writing story! As an OT, I may support students and teachers in this area. Working with students in their classrooms, it is usually on given assignments. Sometimes, as time allows, I may have them write preferred words or a sentence or two on a preferred topic. I really need to remember your student and what a difference it made to allow that creativity and preferred writing topics.
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Definitely, Alex. Game changer- pun intended. Before he was interested in the assignment, I couldn’t get him to write enough for us to then work on conventions or utilize his checklist to support his dysgraphia. He also used CAT tools, but he still needed to understand conventions such as where to insert punctuation. Sometimes the speech to text moves so quickly, it’s hard to insert those teachable moments. In my mind, if they’re finally writing and enjoying it, let’s go with that for a while so these kids can have long-term success with the skills they need that can eventually be applied to other genres.
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I have found that using a students interests to work on their goals first, then moving to less self directed activities, perhaps interspersed with those self directed, high interest activities, is a great way to move past the resistance of an activity. It is my hypothesis that children, like all of us, prefer to have some modicum of control over our situation. For students who are not successful with the typical tasks of school, it can be so defeating. We can expect to move to a red or blue zone. After all, school is the major part of a child’s life and to be in a setting where you feel less than competent or see other excelling or possibly are even teased or bullied because of your shortcomings? Who wants that? To be able to tap into a strength and build on that, slowly folding in the academic expectations like a good cake batter. That can build confidence and help the child move into the green zone.
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I feel that many of the students I work with experience stress because they feel and often times know they are not performing academically near or on par with their peers. At the beginning of a session, I try to develop some level of co-regulation, talking about a preferred topic for the student or letting them share something they may have done the previous weekend. Then I like to try to always end my session on a positive successful note. If the session happens to be challenging, I may ask them to complete or engage in an activity that I am sure they can complete and will make them feel good about themselves. Of course, stars and stickers can also go a long way, especially if I happen to have a sticker for something they are interested in such as a soccer ball sticker, animal stickers, etc. I feel ending in this fashion validates them and their personal abilities.
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Ending on a positive note is a great way to help them want to see you return so they can continue to try again too. Great!
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I often get students that have been labeled, “the bad kid” and have been kicked out of several daycares. When they start with me they already have a defense blocker up because of what they have already experienced with daycare teachers. But in one particular case, the parents also struggled with trusting teachers. I tried to build a relationship with this student but he would not back down from his aggressive behavior toward all staff. Of course, I did not have the knowledge or information I have now from reading this book. When we had incidents at school and I would try to talk to parents they were very defensive and usually did not believe me and would go on what their child said. I felt defeated and went to admin for help. We set up a meeting with the student and parents simultaneously. In this meeting, I talked about all the positive things I could and how I loved this kid and wanted nothing but the best for him but I needed their support and trust to help him. In the meeting, I learned things teachers had done to him and how the parents felt about it. They agreed to be more positive about what they said about teachers and try harder to trust me and give me a chance. The student and I also talked about situations that had happened (with the parents present) and the parents had a better understanding on what was going on. I set aside one-on-one time to play and interact with this student, he loved our time together. After this we finally started to see progress, he was less aggressive and had fewer and fewer tantrums/outbursts and less physical aggression. He continued to show progress and he was able to get into the pass program instead of AB. His parents were sad and scared at the end of the year knowing he would have to move schools and start over building relationships and trust for another teacher, but they also knew now it was possible.
In this situation, it was not only the student who struggled to stay or get to the green pathway but also the parents.
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It is all of us. It is a “normal” process. You have to feel so good about seeing the child progress from AB to PASS. And how great the child feels as he or she learns to cope with stressors. There is no way to sanitize life to the point that the stressors go away, but equipping the student to learn how to copy is so powerful and goes far beyond developing replacement behaviors.
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Adults do sometimes struggle to stay in the green.
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It is so true that parents are sometimes that one that veer off the green pathway. They are often harder to get back to green.
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As a Computer Science teacher, I encounter students facing various stress events that can affect their learning and well-being. One effective strategy I employ is to leverage project-based learning aligned with our curriculum. By allowing students to pursue projects of their own interest within the scope of our course, I create a supportive environment where they can engage deeply with the material while also exploring their passions. This approach not only fosters intrinsic motivation but also provides a structured outlet for students to channel their stress positively. By guiding them through project milestones and encouraging peer collaboration, I aim to empower students to regain focus and motivation, ultimately helping them stay on the ‘green pathway’ for learning.
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Again that recurring theme of self direction-so highly motivating and allows the student to tap into their strengths while learning.
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My approach to supporting students experiencing stress revolves around nurturing their self-esteem and sense of identity. When I notice a student struggling to maintain their emotional well-being, I often take them aside for a calm, personal conversation outside of class. During these moments, I emphasize their strengths, reaffirm their value as individuals, and listen attentively to their concerns. By fostering a safe space where they feel understood and supported, I aim to help them shift back to a positive mindset (‘green pathway’). Building this trust and reinforcing their self-esteem not only enhances their academic performance but also promotes their overall well-being both in and out of the classroom.
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What is the saying? “Children don’t care what you know until they know that you care.” (attributed to Theodore Roosevelt)
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I love how you approach this. Sometimes, all we need is to put oursleves in their shoes and offer to listen.
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I reflect back as a special-education teacher to remember one student, “Emma”, who seriously had self-regulation difficulties due to suffering from anxiety as a result of the recent separation of her parents. It was a giant stressor in her life and affected her ability to remain on task and calm while in class.
I have used the IDEA framework to find a way to regain the “green zone” when overly stressful moments have arisen with “Emma”. I asked her what exactly made her feel anxious at that very moment. Relating her feelings to events or maybe triggers, I could get a sense of what she needed by relating those feelings through observation and journals, I was able to find some patterns—transitioning from one thing to another seemed to be hard for “Emma”. She needed more support during transitions. So I implemented short, one-to-one check-ins before and after transitions to reassure and provide support.
This not only helped manage her stress but built resilience in her and confidence for facing future challenges.
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Great application Sarah. Journals is a great tool that I sometimes think is not thought of as an option when children have not acquired writing skills. I have also seen picture journals to be very helpful.
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One student I worked with was labeled as the kid who couldn’t read, and teachers felt defeated as they tried to teach him. When working with him individually, he kept repeating that he didn’t know how to read. Whenever we asked him to try, he would remind us that he didn’t know how and would go to the blue pathway. After observing him for a few weeks, we realized that he might have a vision problem because he kept squinting his eyes to try to read. When we asked the student about it, he said that he and his mom knew he needed glasses but couldn’t afford them. Through the school, we found a way to donate reading glasses. It wasn’t that the student didn’t know how to read; his vision was off. With his glasses, he would be able to move to the green pathway, learn to read, and rebuild the confidence he had lost in his reading skills.
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That’s an amazing story Gisselle.
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what a wonderful story!
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It is so important to find the underlying cause of behavior! It is great that you were able to help this student gain his confidence so he can learn to read.
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I remember a student who just re-enrolled at the school and was needing a three year evaluation soon. He is a student who lived in a residential treatment center. I was surprised that a lot of the staff knew this student and quickly found out that he had been in and out of the district since he was in Kg. After a few days, many of the teachers said that the student is “not the same” as he used to be. He was struggling to follow school and classroom expectations and had been having a lot of meltdowns. Knowing that there had been so many changes to the student’s life in the past few months I wanted to make sure that I do not add “stress” for the student once I start the evaluation. I started by introducing myself and sitting with him in the cafeteria for a few minutes just to chat. I asked him about what he likes and enjoys and familiarized myself with them.
What I learned about the student helped me understand how I can encourage him to engage in testing and lessen the refusals. I made a visual for him using characters from Paw Patrol, which he loved, that looked like a map with a path to a “finish line”. Each subtest is represented by a shape and in between, there were embedded breaks which included opportunities for rewards like earning stickers, getting a snack of his choice, etc. This gave the student an understanding of how long he needed to work at every session and he was not overwhelmed. It did take a long time for me to complete the evaluation and required planning but I was able to get good data and I was able to share information with teachers about how long he can work, what he likes, and what they can do to get him to engage in activities that may initially be perceived by the student as overwhelming.
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Sorry for the late post. We were without power and then no water so went out of town for a few days. One of the student’s that I supported was transitioning back into the school environment. He had someone with him all day that worked on learning activities along with sensory/behavior. He had reduced hours. I spent time with him playing with Legos and worked on tasks for a short amount of time following a check off schedule to help reduce the stress of the transition. When his breathing increased, we knew to step back on demands.
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I struggled this past year with one student who wouldn’t respond to anyone but me. He was displaying physical aggression toward 2 boys specifically in class. A lot of people were concerned about those behaviors but it was much deeper than that. He was so jealous of their relationship, we often had put barriers in between them. He craved attention and we all tried to only give him positive attention. It was mentally exhausting for everyone to keep him on a behavior high to stay in a good mood. We continued to help him manage emotions and talk through his feelings. He grew so much by the end of the year. Many times he needed one-on-one attention to make it through the day. We still have a long way to go, but watching him feel safe and valued made it all worth it.
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A strategy that I could use in my classroom is the “Mind and Body” experiences worksheet. I really like the idea of students naming their own emotions and visualizing what they look like. This strategy gives the student control over what they are feeling and expressing through their behavior. It also helps parents and teachers to understand what their child/student is struggling with.
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