September 24, 2019
Dear Readers,
As the students enter into the class each morning, I quickly look around the room. Their facial expressions – a rainbow of happy, sad, perplexed, and excited faces – often leave me curious about their early mornings. You know the phrase, “A picture says 1000 words”? Well, so do those expressions and often I am left to determine which of those 1000 words I need to highlight in order to ensure that each child has the opportunity to use his or her full potential. And when your students are 10 and 11 years old, I can assure you that this is definitely not an easy job!
Our “mood” cups have been a fabulous addition to our classroom environment. Introduced in my previous class one year ago, the term was coined by one of my student’s fathers with an awesome sense of humour. Modeled off of the Zones of Regulation, which the students are already well-versed in, I wanted a visual tool that would make our mood indicators to be more visual (other than the facial expressions). This would allow us to be more aware of each other. The instructions in using them are simple – Depending on your mood at any given time, you can change your cups to reflect it. As the cups are a representation of the Zones of Regulation, the cups are green, blue, yellow, and red. All cups were purchased from the Dollar Store. Each of us has a set. Yes, me included. If at any point we do not feel like sharing our moods, we simply put our set of mood cups into our desk. We do have the right to privacy.
There have been many advantages to the use of our mood cups. First, we have a better understanding of how each of us is feeling at any given moment. Second, mood awareness has allowed us to be more supportive of each other at any given time. Third, those mood cups have helped to reduce the number of words each of our facial expressions spell. While we may not be able to narrow it down to one emotion, those mood cups help us to have a clearer understanding of the vicinity in which that smile, frown, or blank face may belong without us needing to articulate it all the time. There are moments when we want support, or a “feel-good” moment, without having to ask for it. Our mood cups help us get what we need. Last, this is helping us continue to build on our school’s common language. Today, there are now 3 classes using the same system in our school.
As educators, the mood cups have helped us to stay informed of our school climate. And our professional conversations centered around the use of various Regulation tools has built on our knowledge. Quite often we find our students in a “blue” first thing in the morning. Discussions with our students has helped us learn that many of our students do not get enough sleep at night. We have been able to use this as a launching point in health, and various other class discussions, to promote various helpful and positive strategies to help us get to bed earlier. Second, we have noticed that quite often the moods change right after recess. This has helped us educators and our students bring to light incidents that occur on the school yard that may go unnoticed otherwise. These are issues that involve the basketball nets, soccer, or the four-square courts. Some students are not getting any time in these areas which is having a large effect on their recess. Third, this is helping us as educators learn while some students are unable to remain focused during a given period. and how often it happens. This can help to build a growth plan for some in order to help those students stay in the “green” for longer periods of time.
Ultimately, educators have one big role – to ensure that we are providing multiple opportunities for our students to reach their full potential, including our under-served and under-performing students. When students walk into your room each day, use tools that will help students learn to recognize their moods. Whether it’s the “mood” cups, or another system of the like; whether it’s a daily “check-in” circle, or various signals established with your students, explore and implement these strategies. Try them out and see what works! Once you have done that, find ways to engage their moods and continue to explore strategies that will help your students learn to regulate their moods positively. If students can self-regulate more effectively, there will be more opportunities for students to reach their full potential. Simply put – you will be decreasing the number of under-served students. And when the number of under-served students decreases, so does the number of under-performing students. Ultimately, students and educators alike will feel more successful!
Have a great week!
-Jen