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staff benefit from common language/strategy use (school-wide initiative). Teaching
self-regulation is not a one-time event; the practice of self-regulation cannot be
mastered in one attempt. One must continually plan for teaching self-regulation as
a component of SEL and not only model and prompt but also consistently reinforce
its practice. Students must come to the table ready to learn, so we need to teach them
how to do so.

Conclusion
Dysregulation happens to all people, but the ability to notice, use a coping
strategy, and regain composure is paramount. Calm strips are a tool I will use again
to teach students how to manage stress and anxiety, not just in the school setting but
as a life skill.

References
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (2024). Fundamentals of SEL. https://
casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/
Gonser, S. (2023). What to do about increasing dysregulation in the early grades. Edutopia. https://
www.edutopia.org/article/tackling-misbehavior-in-the-early-grades/
Institute of Education Sciences. (2022). School pulse panel. U.S. Department of Education. https://
ies.ed.gov/schoolsurvey/spp/#read-more

National Center for Education Statistics. (2022). More than 80 percent of U.S. public schools report
pandemic has negatively impacted student behavior and socio-emotional development
[Press release]. https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/07_06_2022.asp

50 The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: International Journal for Professional Educators