The Cool Down Corner is a personal favorite of mine. I've had some very behaviorally challenging students who struggled with identifying their emotions or moving on from an event that made them feel upset, whether it was a getting an answer wrong or a peer interaction that didn't go as planned. Ever year there is a spot in my room that seems to be less used than others. It could be the area by our backpack closet, the area by our math supplies, or the area around headphone storage, but regardless, every year there is a spot that I can have students retreat to when they need to cool down and gather themselves before returning to our activities. Often times the cool down corner is when the students have reached a point where using the Stop and Think Light is not an option because their feelings are so strong that they just need a quiet place to calm down and think. The best part about the cool down corner is that it can work for any elementary grade level classroom! It has the ability to be tailored to fit your students!
When starting a cool down corner choose a place in your classroom that could be used at any time throughout the day. I try to put a comfy chair or seating tool there so that they have something to rest their body in while cooling down and thinking. It does not have a to be large space by any means, it can simply be a few square feet that can fit a chair, a poster and possible writing materials. I introduce the cool down corner by asking my students to name emotions that have felt or they have seen on display before. We create a giant word splash of these emotion words and continue sharing them until our board is full or the students start to run out of emotions. If students forget any I share them and add them to the list! Then I choose some of the feeling words that were shared and ask the students to identify a time when they might have that feeling. We share and discuss what this feeling looks like and how we can resolve it to get our bodies back to being happy and calm. We also talk if the emotion is a "small emotion" meaning we could use the Stop and Think Light to get ourselves back on track or if it is a "big emotion" meaning we need to leave the area, a take a minute or two to calm down before deciding what our options are. Often times the students realize that many emotions that they might experience are "small emotions". We review how to use the Stop and Think Light for these and we also discuss why visiting a special place isn't necessary or beneficial. Then we begin discussing the "big emotions" and they are so powerful.
We discuss big emotions as feelings that make us want to cry, scream, hit back, leave, tell an adult, etc. We have an open and honest talk about moments when this has happened and what the consequences was a result. Often times the students share the consequences they had at school or home for reacting in these ways to big emotions. Then I give them the thought, what if we had a special place to go and cool down when these big emotions hit us. I describe this "place" as being in our classroom, a place that is safe, a place that anyone can go when they are feeling these big emotions, and a place that gives us a few minutes to cool down before stopping and thinking about our emotions and next step choices. When I describe "this place" (sometimes the students think I am going to be building it in our classroom), the students eyes light up and all agree that it would be amazing to have a place like that. This is when I take the class to that space in the classroom. Often times they say "So THAT'S why this chair is here!".
While at the cool down corner I show them the questions that I have posted on a paper or on the wall; What happened? How did that make you feel? What are you going to do next? I read the questions out loud and discuss what they should do after reading each question. I always model what it should look AND sound like. I then show students the timer that is in the cool down corner (my students use timers for various parts of their day so they know how to work them, but you can always set the timer yourself). I tell them we set the timer for 2 minutes. I explain that they have 2 minutes to cool down, read the questions, answer the questions, and leave with their next steps of action. Since it is first graders that I teach, I always check in on them either right when they leave the cool down corner or a few minutes after they have left. This way I can find out what happened and how they thought through their feelings to make the best choice possible. With older students, it may be hard to truly find out what happened so this is where the writing component can be a great tool to implement.
Below you will see pictures of the different posters, questions, and the writing components that can be used! If you would like copies of these just use the "Get in Touch" button at the top and I'll send you the digital files!
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