Establish Routines

Table 6.1: Examples of Triggers and Ways to Offset Them

Trigger

Conflict with a peer

Example of Ways to Offset

• Have students journal to process emotions or write down assertive responses. • Discuss with students about how they can handle the situation.

Holidays, family events • Ask students about their emotions and allow space to process event. • Have students journal or draw to process emotions.

Weekends or unstructured time

Changes in schedule or routine

Sensory changes (temperature, noise, and so on) • Review schedule and structure upon return to school. • Allow students to teach or practice a routine.

• Notify students of upcoming changes as soon as possible. • Offer a printed schedule on students’ desks or write schedule on board. • Remind or offer use of a coping skill to manage anxiety from schedule change.

• Use coping skills such as headphones to cancel out noise, or meditation to offset the sensory change. • Offer a short-term solution, such as headphones to block sound, or time in another room to offset temperature changes.

From all these tips or adjustments, we hope readers see a common approach of ensuring safety for the student, offering a method to stop them from being emotionally dysregulated, and then supporting them in using a beneficial response to their current state of mind. Students with SEB needs are likely using an adaptive coping skill that worked for them in one setting but may prove unhelpful in different settings (Pickens & Tschopp, 2017).

As shown in figure 6.1 (page 142), when students experience a stressful event, they can become emotionally escalated and dysregulated and use a skill that, although adaptive previously, is now maladaptive. For example, they may have withdrawn in response to a stressor in the past, but now when they withdraw, it creates other consequences (such as poor relationships with others or an inability to resolve the stressor). As such, they need to learn a new pattern to navigate that event. The top row illustrates students’ use of prior skills, which are reinforced over time as students use them (that is, the skill is successful at navigating the emotional arousal, despite it creating other issues; Goleman, 2005; Pickens & Tschopp, 2017).

Event or Experience

Student Emotional Arousal or Response

Previously Used Adaptive Skill Reinforcement of Prior Skill

New Adaptive Skill Reinforcement of New Skill

FIGURE 6.1: Model of intervening with students with trauma histories.

Recall that people use skills that are purposeful and functional. In contrast, we want students to use a new adaptive skill that can help them navigate the event without creating other adverse consequences (illustrated in the bottom row). Teachers can prompt and reinforce new skills that are more adaptive for the context; for example, a student who may withdraw in response to something stressful can be prompted to journal their emotions as a way to regulate them (Hawken et al., 2021; Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). That’s not to say that teachers need to be counselors, but it is important that they are able to recognize when students are triggered so that they may prompt those students to use a more adaptive response. For many students, a pattern of escalation and previously used skills may be a more ingrained pattern that is reflective of the escalation cycle, which we discuss next.

Know the Escalation Cycle for Earlier Prevention

Now that we have outlined ways to adjust strategies for students with SEB needs, we turn our attention to understanding students who may escalate quickly or are more volatile. Although a student’s quick escalation, volatility, or violent responses can be stressful and frightening, these explosive displays do follow a predictable pattern (Colvin & Scott, 2015). By understanding the pattern, teachers can intervene in a proactive manner to de-escalate the situation.

Aggressive responses occur in seven phases: (1) calm, (2) trigger, (3) agitation, (4) acceleration, (5) peak, (6) de-escalation, and (7) recovery (Colvin & Scott, 2015). Each phase has distinct behaviors that students display. Accordingly, the teacher’s response changes based on the stage the student is in, as shown in table 6.2. With table 6.2, we describe each stage, the educator’s suggested response, and an example of a ninth grader, Kerry, whose behavior escalated into being argumentative, making rude comments, and tearing up paper.

: Phases of the Acting-Out Cycle and Suggested Educator Responses Table 6.2

Example

Suggested Educator Response

Kerry was agreeable to directions and completed her work. The teacher praised and acknowledged her for being respectful and responsible.

Rely on universal practices, including reinforcement and brief error correction.

Typical Student Actions

The student is compliant, cooperative, and follows routines and directions.

Phase

Calm Kerry often experienced interpersonal conflict with her peers. She also was in counseling for substance abuse; she wanted to use drugs when she experienced conflict with peers. The teacher checked in at each start of class and asked Kerry to identify her mood.

Employ prevention strategies (page 116) to offset triggers or remind student of previously taught skills to manage triggers.

The student experiences an adverse conflict or situation.

Trigger Kerry was noncompliant with tasks in class when agitated. The teacher encouraged Kerry to journal (a coping skill of hers).

Allow the student space to process his or her agitated state and encourage use of coping skills. When accelerating, Kerry targeted peers by making antagonizing comments to them. The teacher provided clear directions (“It’s not OK to talk to peers that way”) and provided choices for her (“You can focus and do your work or take time for yourself at your desk”). If Kerry was able to calm herself and participate in class, the teacher would briefly talk with Kerry to help her process her trigger and how she was able to manage it in a positive manner.

Avoid negative interaction and provide clear, concise directions.

The student gets off task and becomes unfocused, anxious, or agitated.

Agitation The student engages in focused behavior designed to elicit a response from others.

Acceleration

continued

Example

Suggested Educator Response

Kerry made negative comments to peers, threatened to fight others, and tore up paper or books at her desk. Depending on the severity of the peak phase, the teacher asked Kerry to stay in a certain area in the classroom, call for assistance to remove Kerry from the classroom, or move students out of the classroom to ensure their safety.

Ensure the safety of the student and others. Follow school safety procedures.

Typical Student Actions

The student displays aggressive, explosive, or generally unsafe behavior.

Phase

Peak Kerry went to the office if removed or simply stayed at her desk. The teacher or staff instructed Kerry to calm herself using her coping skills and then gave her space to calm down. When she was calm, the teacher checked in about Kerry being able to rejoin the class or activity. (“Do you feel comfortable rejoining us?”)

Allow the student time to return to a calm emotional state. Engage the student in a short debrief to return to the classroom or other setting; ensure any restorative steps (such as those described in the section “Repair Conversations,” page 128).

The student seems unfocused, subdued, or confused.

De-escalation Kerry returned to the class or activity. The teacher and Kerry had a more formal debrief, including any necessary repair conversations. Often, the counselor joined and helped facilitate a discussion with peers whom Kerry had targeted.

Encourage return to normal routine; conduct more formal problem solving or debrief.

The student returns to a state of being relatively cooperative and agreeable.

Recovery Source: Adapted from Colvin & Scott, 2015; Harlacher, 2015 .