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Great resource for career information and lessons.

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Detailed descriptions of the world-of-work for use by job seekers, workforce development and HR professionals, students, developers, researchers, and more. Individuals can find, search, or browse across 900+ occupations based on their goals and needs. Comprehensive reports include occupation requirements, worker characteristics, and available training, education, and job opportunities.

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Great site with online books that include lesson plans and songs. I use several of the lessons with K-2.

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Another great program to use as a tool for Self-Regulation strategies.

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THE ZONES OF REGULATION: A SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING PATHWAY TO REGULATION

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"Regulation is something everyone continually works on whether we are cognizant of it. We all encounter trying circumstances that test our limits from time to time. If we can recognize when we are becoming less regulated, we are able to do something about it to manage our feelings and get ourselves to a healthy place. This comes more naturally for some, but for others it is a skill that needs more attention and practice. This is the goal of The Zones of Regulation (or Zones for short)." - Leah Kuypers, Creator of The Zones of Regulation ​

The Zones of Regulation framework and curriculum (Kuypers, 2011) teaches students scaffolded skills toward developing a metacognitive pathway to build awareness of their feelings/internal state and utilize a variety of tools and strategies for regulation, prosocial skills, self-care, and overall wellness. This includes exploring tools and strategies for mindfulness, sensory integration, movement, thinking strategies, wellness, and healthy connection with others. The Zones of Regulation provides a common language and compassionate framework to support positive mental health and skill development for all, while serving as an inclusion strategy for neurodiverse learners, those who have experienced trauma, and/or have specific needs in terms of social, emotional, and behavioral development.

The Zones of Regulation creates a systematic approach to teach regulation by categorizing all the different ways we feel and states of alertness we experience into four concrete colored zones. Integrating in cognitive behavior therapy, students build skills in emotional and sensory regulation, executive functioning, and social cognition. The framework is designed to help move students toward more independent regulation while also honoring and respecting each student and their unique self.

The Zones of Regulation curriculum incorporates Social Thinking® (www.socialthinking.com) concepts and numerous printable visuals to support students in identifying their feelings/level of alertness, understanding how their behavior impacts outcomes, problem solving conflicts and learning what tools they can use to regulate their Zones.​

The is used to describe extremely heightened states of alertness and intense emotions. A person may be elated or experiencing anger, rage, devastation, or terror when in the Red Zone.

The is also used to describe a heightened state of alertness and elevated emotions, however one has more control when they are in the Yellow Zone. A person may be experiencing stress, frustration, anxiety, excitement, silliness, the wiggles, or nervousness when in the Yellow Zone. is used to describe a calm state of alertness. A person may be described as happy, focused, content, or ready to learn when in the Green Zone. This is the zone where optimal learning occurs. Yellow Zone

The Green Zone

The is used to describe low states of alertness and down feelings such as when one feels sad, tired, sick, or bored.

The Zones can be compared to traffic signs. When given a green light or in the Green Zone, one is "good to go". A yellow sign means be aware or take caution, which applies to the Yellow Zone. A red light or stop sign means stop, and when one is the Red Zone this often is the case. The Blue Zone can be compared to the rest area signs where one goes to rest or re-energize. All of the zones are natural to experience, but the framework focuses on teaching students how to recognize and manage their Zone based on the environment and its demands and the people around them. For example, when playing on the playground or in an active/competitive game, students are often experiencing a heightened internal state such as silliness or excitement and are in the Yellow Zone, but it may not need to be managed. However, if the environment is changed to the library where there are different expectations than the playground, students may still be in the Yellow Zone but have to manage it differently so their behavior meets the expectations of the library setting.

INCLUSION: The Zones provides a compassionate framework to support positive mental health and social/emotional learning (SEL) for all, while serving as an inclusion strategy for learners with neurodiversities, those who have experienced trauma, and/or have specific goals related to their social, emotional, and behavioral development.

BEST PRACTICES: The Zones integrates best practices around Trauma Informed Care and mental health supports, aligning with the CASEL core competencies. In addition, The Zones incorporates numerous best practices for instruction with learners with neurodiversity. STEP 1 -

PROACTIVE/SKILL-BASED: The Zones shifts the overall mindset in school environments from a behavioral lens to a universal skill development lens, fostering a healthy school climate.

COMMON LANGUAGE: The Zones provides a neutral and simple language and a systematic framework, improving communication for students and staff.

EFFECTIVE: Schools report implementing The Zones of Regulation increases both student and staff skills and efficacy in SEL while decreasing the need for punitive measures within a school site. ​

As an occupational therapist and autism resource specialist working in public schools for six years, I frequently had students on my caseload who were struggling not just with sensory-regulation but also emotional regulation. Too often the time spent with their non-disabled peers was being limited due to my students' frequent outbursts and inability to cope effectively. Adopting Ross Greene's mantra, "Kids do well if they can" (The Explosive Child, 2006), students were frequently being punished for disruptive behaviors rather than being taught skills to control their behavior. While taking graduate coursework on Autism Spectrum Disorders and Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder, I had the idea to create the concept of The Zones of Regulation to teach students to self-regulate their sensory needs as well as their emotions and impulses in order to meet the demands of the environment and be successful academically and socially.
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After successfully piloting and expanding on my concept with the students I worked with over a few years, I was encouraged by my colleagues to create a curriculum to support my concept. The Zones of Regulation concept was influenced by the work of Williams and Shellenberger's The Alert Program® (1994) and Kari Dunn Buron and Mitzi Curtis' The Incredible 5 Point Scale (2003). As I was designing the curriculum, I integrated best practices in the field of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) into the curriculum and conducted extensive background research in the area of self-regulation, including sensory regulation, emotional regulation, and executive functioning. I also researched how these processes relate to children with ASD and ADHDs' learning styles. By integrating principles of Simon Baron Cohen's Systemizing Theory, The Zones provides a system to classify states of arousal, feelings, and emotions into four easily identifiable distinct color-coded Zones. Creating a system such as The Zones to categorize all the complex feelings students experience eases their ability to recognize and communicate how they are feeling, as well as tap into strategies to aid them in self-regulation. While designing the curriculum, I incorporated Michelle Garcia Winner's Social Thinking® concepts to help students become more aware of how others are perceiving them when they are regulated versus in less regulated states. By tying in Social Thinking concepts, the lessons on self-regulation become more meaningful to the students' lives as they gain a deeper understanding of the impact their behavior has on their relationships. Learning activities entail the use of cognitive behavior management strategies to reinforce the use of The Zones of Regulation throughout the student's day. By using cognitive behavior management, the students learn how to self-monitor and reflect on the effectiveness of their regulation strategies. This method allows students to move away from staff prompts to regulate and to assume personal responsibility in self-regulation.

​ CLICK HERE TO READ AN ARTICLE BY SOCIAL THINKING THAT FURTHER DISCUSSES THE JOURNEY OF THE ZONES.

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"Regulation is something everyone continually works on whether we are cognizant of it. We all encounter trying circumstances that test our limits from time to time. If we can recognize when we are becoming less regulated, we are able to do something about it to manage our feelings and get ourselves to a healthy place.

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Ideas from the Responsive Counselor...ways of making the most out of classroom lessons

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I'm always excited about new fun school counseling activities that don't involve worksheets and this post is all about my favorites! When I'm planning for my school counseling lessons, there are five things I keep in mind:

1. Name the objective,

2. Skip the worksheet,

3. Chunk it into segments,

4. Include partner or group work,

5. Incorporate movement.

This sounds like a lot, but using cooperative learning activities in school counseling lessons makes it easy, fun, and effective. Enter: Kagan structures.

I was first introduced to cooperative learning structures my second year as a school counselor by catching some of our best teachers in action when I popped in to ask a question or as they were finishing up their lesson before I delivered mine. I quickly realized that these are some amazing strategies to engage students in counseling lessons too!

They have quickly become my go-to activities when lesson planning and the students don't mind one bit if we repeat some of the same activities throughout the year; in fact, I think they go even better once they've had some practice with them!

Reasons Cooperative Learning Activities Rock:

Classroom management is twenty times easier when you're encouraging talking and movement instead of discouraging it.

You can use them with almost any grade level.

They often provide the opportunity to discuss deeper ideas without the students being developmentally ready to handle a longer whole group discussion.

They work with nearly any topic or skill you want to teach.

No matter the topic, students will be practicing social skills because these activities all involve student interaction, meaning they have SEL embedded into them just by their cooperative nature.

They are super engaging, so the lessons are fun for you and the students!

There are tons of different cooperative learning structures that can be applied to school counseling; these are the four that make my heart go pitter patter and that I use all the time. I'm also going to link you to a FREEBIE at the end with more detailed directions for these and four more activities.

Ask-Ask-Switch

I must admit this is probably my most used cooperative learning activity. It starts with every student being given some sort of task card. They could be discussion questions, "what would you do?" scenarios, multiple choice questions, pictures, or even just statements you would like them to practice delivering.

Students will mingle around the room finding partners and taking turns reading their question/prompt and responding. After each pair finishes each of their turns, they trade cards and find new partners. In 10-15 minutes, students have been exposed to tons of different prompts and have either had lots of opportunities to practice a specific skill or have participated in a deeper discussion about a topic or story. I use this activity each year with these "What would you do?" conflict scenario cards.

Mingle-Partner-Chat

Sometimes you want to use some awesome discussion questions or scenarios but your kiddos are still emerging readers or you don't have enough for the whole class. This is where mingle-partner-chat rocks. Students mingle around the room, partner up (on your cue), listen to the prompt (or see it if you project it), use some think time, then share their idea with their partner. Consider having a few students share out. Repeat until you're through with prompts or time is done! Add in some music during the "mingle" time for bonus fun. This is a great option for using some of the discussion and scenario cards in this What if Everybody Said That? companion.

Pick a Card!

Anything that feels like a game is always a win for students! With "Pick a card!", students work in groups of four to process through 6-12 different task cards. Students take turns having different jobs (fan the cards, pick, answer, and respond) and each round always begins with "Pick a card, any card!" which I have found can make even the grumpiest kid smile. I'm a big proponent of modeling everything you want students to do and this activity is no exception; get three student volunteers to join you on the floor and show them how it goes. I used this activity for the first time in a gossip and rumors lesson and was hooked!

Number Groups

For this activity, put students into groups and assign numbers. After you give a prompt (discussion Q, "what would you do" scenario, etc.) students discuss in their groups and come up with one unified answer. Then you call out a specific number to answer and the person assigned that number in each group stands to respond. It's a great way to encourage collaborative decision making and keep everyone on their toes! This is one of the activities that is part of my responsibility lesson that goes with But It's Not My Fault!.

So, what do you think? Are you inspired to use one or more cooperative learning activities in your next lesson? Tell us all about it by commenting below! And if you want even more detailed directions for these or want to learn about some more, you can click here to find a FREE guide to eight cooperative learning activities for school counseling.

Check out this post from Counselor Keri about using School Counseling Centers during classroom lessons. Let's get those kiddos moving and talking.

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Cooperative Learning Activities in School Counseling Lessons - Confident Counselors

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I'm always excited about new fun school counseling activities that don't involve worksheets and this post is all about my favorites! When I'm planning for my school counseling lessons, there are five things I keep in mind: Name the objective, Skip the worksheet, Chunk it into segments, Include partner or group work, Incorporate movement.

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This is a cool project I learned about from an SEL webinar the PBS did. This could be done school-wide, or between classes. I even experimented and did it just with my homeroom. The kids loved the interactive episodes, and they have great questions to spark conversation about SEL topics. This could definitely be used in guidance classes to engage and spark some good discussion!

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The AIM Buddy Project | An ARTHUR Social, Emotional, and Character Development Curriculum | PBS LearningMedia

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Encourage social, emotional, and character development in elementary children with the Arthur Interactive Media (AIM) Buddy Project. The AIM Buddy Project is a supplemental social, emotional, and character development curriculum that uses interactive media, the characters from the PBS series ARTHUR, and cross-grade buddy pairs.

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This is a great site to get real life advice or ideas from a school pyschologist that works with the school counselor to reinforce Social Emotional Learning (and deal with defiant behaviors as well) Our school is really trying to be an SEL school and this is a great site to help us along the way with it's toolbox and resources.

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Resources and consultation for school-based mental health professionals

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The place for school couneslors to go for resources and the support they need to run effective school counseling programs.

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Gozen is an awesome website that has several different programs to help kids manage stress and build resilience, work on social skills, problem solving, etc. It features short clips dealing with some of kids biggest struggles.

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Programs for Resilience for Kids, Parents & Professionals | GoZen!

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Browse the full catalog of resilience programs for kids and teens to learn or teach skills to deal with anxiety. Choose the best program for your needs!

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This is a wonderful site that has award winning lesson plans and interactive games to help empower and educate our students for the digital world in which we live...

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Common Sense Education provides educators and students with the resources they need to harness the power of technology for learning and life. Find a free K-12 Digital Citizenship curriculum, reviews of popular EdTech apps, and resources for protecting student privacy.

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This site is great for lesson ideas, character traits info, and lots more!

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Making a Difference One Child at a Time~