Let’s talk calm corners.

They are all the rage, and for good reason.

When done right, they teach regulation skills and embed these as part of the classroom culture and shared language.

When students understand more about their brains, they’re more likely to be empowered to manage their behaviours and self-regulate. Yes, even in secondary! Especially in secondary! The teenage years are the biggest time for brain development, second only to when we are developing in the womb up until 2 years of age.

But a calm corner? Not always a physical and logistical possibility.

All I could have managed in my tiny first classroom (and many since then) were front-facing rows, or at a stretch a double-U configuration that I would trip over bags to squeeze behind.

Safe to say that no calm corner was being set up.

Luckily, a calm corner (ironically) doesn’t need a corner.

It doesn’t need a comfy beanbag or a box full of magical fidget spinners.

It doesn’t require teachers to fork out hundreds of their own hard-earned dollars, and it doesn’t require a fancy display.

Sure, a comfy space would be lovely, but please don’t let it deter you if that’s the furthest thing from a possibility.

Your classroom might be too small. You might not even have a classroom of your own and need to drag your things from one side of the school to the other five times a day. You might be a casual teacher who’s desperate to implement some of these strategies but doesn’t think it’s possible.

It is possible.

Image: Jirrawit.21 on Canva

Three Essential Things a Calm Space Needs That Doesn’t Require All the Bells and Whistles

1. Teach Self-Regulation

First and foremost, your students need to understand what self-regulation is, what’s happening in their brains, why regulation is key, and why they need to work at it! I love explaining this through the concept of ‘flipping your lid.’

If you are a member of The Behaviour Club, you will find this fully resourced lesson included.
Not a member? You can purchase it separately on my TPT here.

The goal of explaining Dr Dan Siegel's concept of 'Flipping your Lid' to your students is for them to understand their brains behind the behaviour. Not familiar with this concept? You can watch Dr Dan Siegel explain it here. Through this, we are able to explain how the brain reacts to stress, that the part of the brain responsible for rational thinking temporarily shuts down, and we are led by our amygdala, the part that is in control of the fight, flight, or freeze response. 

2. Provide Accessible Regulation Strategies

Once students know what is happening when they are dysregulated, they need some strategies to self-regulate.

Yes, this is helpful for us as teachers because it supports them in our lessons, but these are skills for life. This is why the strategies being accessible are so important. Especially for secondary students who are well on their way to being adults; working, driving, voting, starting to have romantic relationships, all of the things!

They won’t have a corner to go to when they’re working at Subway (speaking from my days as a 16-year-old sandwich artist who would stand in the cool room when things got too much).

3. Establish a Culture of Regulation

Continue to make regulation a shared language, a shared culture, a shared understanding.

Talk about it regularly, incorporate it into your lessons, and model it yourself. Encourage students to reflect on their own regulation and dysregulation when you are discussing their behaviours, make developing these regulation skills a regular part of your classroom management practice!

So, What’s My Favourite Kind of Calm Corner?

In my pocket at all times!

I carry around realistic, actionable strategies that aren’t dependent on specific resources. Students can do them at their desk, and most importantly, it upskills them to take these strategies into the real world. Yes, I can purchase some physical things for the classroom like fidget tools, but the physical cards I am about to speak about prompt them to use things like a piece of Blu-Tack, things that I always have to hand and all teachers can get a hold of.

I break these strategies into categories: Move It, Do It, Feel It, Think It.

Different students need different things at different times, on different days, for different reasons. Having these options means students can find something that works for them, wherever and whenever they need it.

Image: Self-Regulation Strategy Card Deck. Purchase here on TPT

Here’s One from Each Category!

Move It: Stand and Work

Stand up. Shake it out. Move to work in a place that feels more comfortable and calm. This might be standing as you write or finding a place on the floor.

Feel It: Heartbeat

Place your hand over your heart, stop, and wait until you can feel it beating. Count the beats for one minute, focusing on the rhythm and pace of your heartbeat. Remember to breathe slowly and deeply.

Do It: Alphabet Challenge

Starting with the letter A, think of a food that starts with that letter. Move through the alphabet, coming up with a food for each letter until you get to Z. Do this in your head or write it down. If you can’t think of one, come back to it at the end.

Think It: Your Happy Place

Close your eyes and imagine yourself opening the door and walking into your favourite place. A place where you feel happy and calm. Focus on the details of this place and how it makes you feel. What can you see, touch, smell, taste, feel?

Tangible Tools for Regulation

You need something tangible to guide these regulation strategies, which is why I’ve put together a set of 26 pocket regulation cards. They can be printed, cut, laminated, put on a keychain, and pulled out whenever and wherever needed. You can have one set for the class, students can make one with just the strategies that work best for them, and you can use it in discussions around behaviour.

The best part? You can carry these anywhere, to be used anytime. On playground duty, in an assembly, at a school camp, or on a field trip.

Grab these inside of The Behaviour Club

Grab these on TPT

One Final Reminder

Setting up a calm space doesn’t require a physical corner or expensive materials.

It’s about equipping your students with the skills they need to regulate their emotions, anytime and anywhere.

Follow the three steps for setting up a non-calm corner calm corner:

1. Teach students about their brain, what dysregulation and regulation are.
2. Provide accessible strategies - even if you just go and print those breathing exercise freebies because they are a fabulous starting point.
3. Make it a part of your culture. When students have challenges regulating, when you need to talk to them about big behaviours, give them strategies, talk to them about self-regulation. This is how we make proactive and incremental changes in behaviour.

I have made it super easy for you, pop in and say hi inside The Behaviour Club to download these resources and so much more! 

Join us inside of The Behaviour Club, your teaching village, to access a course on De-escalating Big Behaviours, the SEL lesson 'Flipping our Lids' along with all of the resources mentioned in this blog and so much more.

If a membership isn't your thing and you want a stand alone product, head to The Behaviour Hub, my TPT store. Sending all my best, teacher friends!