Looking for a great book to read this summer? Look no further, “Flooded A Brain-Based Guide To Help Children Regulate Emotions” is going to be your favorite summer PD read!

I’m not kidding- go ahead and pre-order this book from NCYI for all your summer reading and professional development needs.

Many of you know I LOVE learning about the brain and its impact on emotional regulation. The mind/body connection is my jam! So I was very excited to get a copy of this new book by Allison Edwards, LPC, and read it in the garden.

This book is a simple, to-the-point read that is perfect for all stakeholders and educators.

Here’s what I love:

• it includes a discussion guide which makes it perfect for a book club/ book study

• it has illustrated practical examples

• it is so relatable

• I had MANY AH-HA moments

• it’s not limited to school counselors- parents, social workers, psychologists, and teachers alike will take away important knowledge from this book.

• the reflection pages provide opportunities for self-reflection and program assessment

Takeaways and thought provoking moments

One takeaway moment for me wasn’t even about my students, but their parents! We often say “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” and it’s true. We know the cycle of trauma and abuse. It’s very likely that some of our student’s caregivers have their own traumatic past as well.

I have used the MindUp curriculum for several years now as a goal to make “brain talk” a common language in my building. Through research and professional development, I have changed the way I handle a dysregulated student, but I realized while reading this great book that I need to apply those changes to parents as well.

We sometimes get upset when parents don’t use the kindest words in their emails, we give them plenty of reminders to turn in permission forms or sign behavior sheets, we wish they wouldn’t get so heated when their kiddo bends the truth about what happened in class, and we try and hold back the forceful tone when we ask them to remember how to log in for our virtual lesson even though it’s been the same all year.

We pause before we respond to students, but we must also do this for their parents. They may be “flooded” as well!

I teach a yoga club in the mornings before school starts. One day I wasn’t feeling well so I put on a Cosmic Kids Yoga to follow along with and the kids went nuts (I tried not to take it personal.) So after that we did a different video each morning and I took requests of themes. Sometimes we wouldn’t even finish an entire video, but my kids knew exactly which video was picked and where we stopped. I am constantly impressed by their memory during yoga club.

So this quote struck me- because as much as they can remember the awesome stuff, it’s so important to note that they also remember the bad stuff. And those negative experiences can be triggered by words, smells, a touch, etc.

Complying is an emotional response!

I’ve always known freeze is my go – to response. My brain processes in slow motion and sometime I just watch. When my dogs fight, I might scream “hey” but I am not the one rushing in to stop it.

I have taught the idea of fight, flight or freeze my entire career. However, I had never thought about complying being a fear response.

Over the last few weeks I have had a co worker say some unkind and simply not true things to me. They include “you aren’t allowed at IEP’s , “you can’t speak in the meeting” and talking about trauma is “a waste of time because it’s in the past.”

This isn’t my first rodeo with a tough co worker- I’ve left previous jobs at schools I LOVED because the toxic work environment was making me so sick. However, this time I decided I wanted to “stand up” for myself. I decided I was going to her ask her why she thought I couldn’t speak in meetings.

The day came, I had practiced and I was ready. The moment came and all I could hear was my heart thumping in my chest. I was seconds away from complying and not talking during this meeting.

I did finally ask her and I did talk in the meeting, but when I read this I thought of the thousands of times I had simply compiled before out of fear. At school and at home- sometimes I do things simply because I am fearful. Fearful of a conflict, fearful people will dislike me, fearful of being abandoned, and fearful my voice will be seen as “too opinionated and harsh.”

Sometimes when educators say “this kid is refusing to do it and every other kid is doing it” it’s important to remind them that some of those other kids are complying out of fear. That compliance doesn’t mean they are doing it from a place of calm.

“Compliance can be a level of control and that does NOT mean the child is learning.”- Tina Bryson

Get A Copy

• You can head over to my Instagram page for your chance to win a copy Giveaway closes April 14th.

• Visit TheFloodedBook.com where you can learn more about the book and order from a variety of places.

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