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Executive Functions: Focused Interventions for Emotional Control Deficits

People often have misconceptions about emotions and executive function, and with good reason. Executive function is often perceived as being “matters of the mind” while emotions are regarded as “matters of the heart.” Our ability to engage our metacognitive executive functions is directly related to how we feel and how intensely we feel it.

Otherwise known as emotional regulation, emotional control is a multi-faceted, complex process that involves the social-emotional strand of executive function. As its name suggests, emotional control involves being able to control one’s thoughts and emotions. It should come as no surprise then that this is easier said than done. Many students struggle with the ups and downs of emotional regulation; however, for students whose emotional control is more severely compromised, the negative impact on their academic performance and social-emotional well-being is more profound. While difficulties with emotional control behaviors look different in each student, the following behaviors are common in students with this executive function deficit (Strosnider & Saxton Sharpe, 2019).

• The student may not be able to adjust his/her emotions to the classroom culture.
• The student may be aware that although his/her emotional behavior is inappropriate, s/he is unable to control it. As a result, the student may often experience remorse for his/her behavior and subsequent actions.
• The student may experience poor relationships with peers and adults.
• The student may be depressed and unable to function.
• The student may be the victim of bullying or fall victim to others who may treat him/her unkindly.

Research also confirms that students’ academic performance is likely to suffer dramatically if they have trouble managing their emotional reactions to school-related events.

How to Label Feelings

Before a student can use a coping strategy, s/he must first realize that one is needed. Students need to learn how to identify their feelings and notice when they are becoming upset. One way to do this is to teach them how to correctly identify and label their feelings. Zones of Regulation were created by Leah Kuypers, an occupational therapist and autism specialist to help students become more self-aware (Fowler, 2021). Kuypers created them to help students with autism identify their feelings so that they could learn how to handle them. She created four Zones of Regulation: red, yellow, green, and blue. The table below breaks down how each of these zones works (Occupational Therapy Helping Children, 2021).

Zone	Feelings	Actions
Red	Intense Emotions rage terror devastation	Explosive behavior
Yellow	Elevated Emotions stress excitement anxiety frustration silliness nervousness	"Be aware" "Take caution"
Green	Calm State of Alertness happy focused content	Optimal learning can occur "Good to Go"
Blue	Low State of Alertness sad tired sick bored	Need to rest and re-energize

Discussing these feelings and the colors associated with them allows students to better express themselves in times of stress. Show students an emotional thermometer like the one below. Tell them that like a regular thermometer, an emotional thermometer can be used to gauge how a person is feeling. Tell them that when emotions are involved, the angrier you are, the more in the Red Zone you become. Conversely, if you are feeling pretty good about yourself, then you are in the Green Zone, but if you are sad or tired or bored, you are most likely in the Blue Zone, at the bottom. As feelings begin to escalate, students will feel themselves moving up the emotional thermometer. Once they learn to recognize the warning signs, students can then be taught coping mechanisms to bring their “temperature” up or down, depending on their current emotional state.

Ultimately, for students to gain control of their feelings and emotions, the teacher needs to explicitly teach what feelings are, what they mean, why they are natural, what causes them, and how the body may react at each level. After repeated exposures to these terms and colors, the hope is that when a student begins to feel stressed, s/he can express how s/he feels. The teacher can then help the student choose an appropriate coping strategy.

Coping Strategy Suggestions

A simple Internet search of the terms “feeling cards” or “zones of regulation” results in many concrete options to use with students. Keep in mind, however, that no matter what option you choose to help a student return to a state of calmness, it does not need to be fancy to be effective. After the successful identification of feelings, the second part of the process is to help build each student’s toolkit of coping strategies to use as needed. Below are three coping strategies that have been found to be successful for students who are experiencing elevated emotions. Keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list by any means, but it is shared to illustrate how teachers can help students cope when their feelings threaten to overwhelm them.

1. Teach students some breathing techniques. Most people take breathing for granted, and students are no exception. Explicitly teaching students how to breathe mindfully provides them with a powerful skill that will last a lifetime.

How to Breathe Mindfully

Materials: None

Procedures:

1. Students can either stand or sit for this activity. Wherever they feel the most comfortable is the best choice.
2. Instruct students to place their hands on their stomachs. Have them close their eyes or look down at their hands.
3. Guide students in taking three deliberate, slow breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth (just like at the doctor’s office). Ask them whether they can feel their hands moving due to their breathing. These breaths need to be slow and deliberate. It may help to count out loud (“Breathe in for 1, 2, 3 and breathe out for 1, 2, 3”), pausing slightly at the end of each exhale.
4. Encourage students to think about how each breath feels, answering the following questions silently in their minds.
   • What is causing your hands to move? Is it the air filling your lungs?
   • Can you feel the air moving in through your nose? Can you feel it moving out through your mouth?
   • What is the temperature of the air? Does it feel warmer going in or coming out?
   • Can you hear your breath? What does it sound like?
2. Create a calming corner. Often referred to as a “Zen Zone,” “Relaxation Station,” or “Calm Down Corner,” this physical area within the classroom is designed to support students with executive skill deficits (or any student, really) when they begin to feel frustrated and out of control. These calming corners serve to help them learn valuable self-regulation skills while simultaneously functioning as a positive behavior strategy. Simply follow the steps below to create this oasis.
• Although it might be referred to as a calming corner, the fact is that it does not need to be a corner at all. It can be a spot on the floor, under the teacher’s desk, or another defined space within the classroom. Students must be explicitly taught that the sole purpose of going to this space is to calm down. This also means that they must have a very clear understanding of how to appropriately indicate that they need to go to the calming corner. This can be as simple as a predetermined hand signal. Concrete visual passes also work well, especially if a student is having trouble expressing his/her needs.
• After you have established a physical space for a calm-down corner, the next step is to load it with the tools that students need to calm down. What you choose ultimately depends on the needs of the students who access this area. You may want to include a variety of sensory items (e.g., fidgets, bouncy balls, chewy jewelry, etc.), reflection tools (e.g., worksheets, posters, charts, etc.), or guides for physical techniques to calm the body (e.g., counting to ten, wall push-ups, foam rollers, yoga poses, etc.). The only thing that needs to remain constant is that students need to know how to choose the most appropriate technique and how to effectively use the tool beforehand.
• Be sure to have some established rules for the calming corner before it is used. Students need to be reminded that going to the calming corner is not a life sentence, nor is it a reflection on themselves; they are not “bad” kids. They also need to know that a trip to the calming corner is not the same as a trip to Disneyland, meaning that it cannot be used simply to get out of rigorous work. To combat this, consider including some type of visual timer, such as a countdown clock or a sand timer. Before a student is allowed into the calming corner, s/he needs to know exactly what the expectations are.
3. Create calming jars. When students become overwhelmed by their emotions, they quickly lose focus. Having a variety of calming jars on hand helps calm them down quickly and efficiently. Students can shake, squeeze, and hit the jar. This causes the glitter floating inside to swirl about, creating a sense of calmness. The jars work because they appeal to students’ visual, tactile, and auditory senses all at once.

Remember — the strategies listed above are just a few ways in which teachers can help students get in touch with their emotions and calm down when they begin to feel overwhelmed.

Slow and Steady

Emotions are a huge part of life for both adults and children. Unfortunately, students with executive skill deficits often struggle to control their emotions, which often leads to negative interactions with their teachers and peers. Fortunately, teachers are in a unique position to have a positive impact on their students’ mindsets by explicitly teaching them how to react and interpret emotionally-charged situations. It is important to keep in mind that developing these skills is a lifelong process, so don’t sell yourself short if you come up empty at first. Remember — slow and steady wins the race!

Are you curious? Want to take a deep dive on this topic?

To learn more about the impact of executive function skills and how to use focused interventions to support students in developing their executive function skills, visit the Professional Development Institute (PDI) website or go directly to our Focused Interventions to Improve Executive Function Skills course.

For over 27 years, PDI has provided high-quality and affordable online professional development courses to K-12 teachers worldwide. Our online courses are designed to offer practical strategies that can be implemented in classrooms immediately. All our courses are instructor-led and conducted entirely online. Graduate-level university credit for every PDI online course for teachers is available through the University of California San Diego Division of Extended Studies. PDI offers an extensive catalog of online courses that cover the most critical topics in today's classrooms.

Categories: executive function skills, teaching strategies

References

Fowler, D. (2021). “Coping Strategies: Find What Works Best for Your Child with Autism.” Retrieved 18 Aug. 2021 from https://blog.stageslearning.com/blog/coping-strategies-find-what-works-best-for-your-child-with-autism

Occupational Therapy Helping Children (2021). “Learning Self-Regulation with the Zones of Regulation.” Retrieved 18 Aug. 2021 from https://occupationaltherapy.com.au/learning-self-regulation-with-the-zones-of-regulation/

Strosnider, R. & Saxton Sharpe, V. (2019). The Executive Function Guidebook: Strategies to Help All Students Achieve Success. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.