We believe that a child’s social-emotional learning and mental health is critical to their lifelong success. We seek to create experiences that build the child up rather than leave them managing lifelong trauma. One way we do this is by creating a deep understanding of each student’s unique needs early in the relationship. Of course, we have read the reports and interviewed the parents. But, we learn the most valuable tidbits by engaging the student directly. We talk about their sensory profiles - what helps their body to feel comforted and what is truly challenging. We talk about their learning preferences - many do not like to write or be called on in class without warning. We talk about their social preferences - do they like to spend time with peers or would they rather socialize with the teachers or spend time alone? In all of this, we seek to honor the student’s preferences. We respect the individuality of each student. We keep these needs in mind in all of our future planning and adjust to the needs as they change over the course of the year.

This year, with E, he felt comfortable thinking about his areas of challenge through the Comfort Zone Circles. By documenting early in the school year where he feels comforted, where he is pushing himself, and at what point he reaches a state of panic, we know just where growth can occur. We talked about the opportunity for growth happening when we push ourselves just into our stretch zone and that over time, that stretch zone becomes more comfortable. We built trust that we will not push each other into our panic zones.

At the year’s end, we will complete this activity again as a visual comparison for E to easily see his own growth.