Morning Triage is the right tool to help get everyone what they need to get ready to learn. Since the pandemic, teachers have been dealing with much more behavior. Kids show up to the classroom in all moods and states of mind. On any give day:
- You will have kids that are dealing with trauma. They may be angry, scared, or worried.
- Some kids are tired and grouchy.
- Other kids are over excited on a sugar cereal high.
Because the students check in with their feelings, you have the tools to stop behavior before it starts.
If you station yourself at the door, you can help the student get to the right corner to meet their needs. The goal is always to go toward green. However, on some days it is a process. Trauma-informed practice suggests a color chart hanging by the door. The kids each have a clothespin with their name. This is a clip chart, but NOT a behavior chart. It is about feelings, not judgement about their work. So, naming feelings helps kids realize that they have the power to regulate themselves.
Green is Good
Green is the goal. It means present for learning. Students will not stay in green. They naturally will move at least to yellow and back during the school day. Green is:
- happy
- calm
- focused (still when possible)
- ready to learn
Students in the green would go straight to the morning activity. Ideally, that would be 10 minutes of sensory bins. To learn more about these, go here.
Yellow is Not Mellow
Basically, yellow is a little “off”. Usually it can be managed by the student, and generally takes one intervention to change to green. Yellow is:
- silly/wiggly
- frustrated
- nervous
- worried
I train my kids in yellow to go choose something from the yellow basket filed with calming fidgets. Included are items such as:
- squeezing and stretching toys
- fabric scraps: sequins, furry, shiny, silky,
- small bean bags
- tiny stuffed animals
- weighted lap pads
- scenic photo books
Kids in yellow can usually work at their seats. They can try and return 3 comfort items to find one that works. The rule is they continue with their work as they use their sensory item to help them.
Blue
Most people understand “feeling blue”. We use it in everyday conversation. Blue is:
- sad
- tired/slow
- sick
- brain fog
These these need waking activities with a bit more sensory input. Exercising large muscles helps ground these kids to be ready for school activities.
Raging Red
Red is a problem for the student, and for the teacher to solve together. The student feels “out of control”.
Red is:
- mad/angry
- yelling
- hitting/hurting
- throwing
Classroom calm-down corner is the place for this student while the teacher gets the other children settled. Then the teacher returns to do an in depth triage with the student.
In the beginning, during morning triage, you will point out the clues to feelings you see in that student. Gradually, you will listen as they tell you the clues as they pick the color. Additionally, you’ll spend time during Social Studies exploring what each color looks and feels like so they can learn to name their feelings during morning triage. Secondly, you will teach the kids what to do that will help them go towards green. If you start at the beginning of the year, you can explain this system to the parents at Back-to-School night so that everybody is on board and uses the same vocabulary.
To learn more about the activities for each color path, click here