September 22, 2025 • 22 mins
Are calm corners helping students regulate... or just giving them a softer way to opt out?
In this episode of Graded, I take a hard look at one of the most popular SEL approaches in schools today: calm corners. You’ll hear what the research says, what most campuses are getting wrong, and what grade calm corners really deserve.
Plus, I respond to a one-star podcast review that called me condescending and gave me a D-minus.
(I could NOT be more grateful! Listen to find out why.)
*********************************
⭐️ Want support with real-world strategies that actually work on your campus? We’re doing that every day in the School for School Counselors Mastermind. Come join us! ⭐️
Annotated References
Brasfield, M., Elswick, S., Raines, S., Peterson, C., & Mboge, S. (2025). Classroom calming corners: Peaceful spaces for times of transition. International Journal of the Whole Child, 9(2).
Mixed-methods study with 1st and 6th graders showing improved coping skills when corners were properly implemented with teacher training.
Budiman, M. E. A., Yuhbaba, Z. N., & Cahyono, H. D. (2023). Calming corner therapy in an effort to increase mental resilience in adolescents. Blambangan Journal of Community Services (BJCS), 1(1), 8–16.
Four-week adolescent study finding that resilience improved only with consistent, well-facilitated spaces—structure and follow-through mattered.
Ewert, C. (2023). Influences of privacy on emotional regulation in elementary classroom calming corners [Master's thesis, Trinity Western University]. Trinity Western University Digital Commons.
Study with 15 second-graders over 4 months. Found 81% success rate, but 7% of uses increased dysregulation due to embarrassment and visibility issues.
Thompson, C. (2021). The impact of a classroom calm down corner in a primary classroom [Master's thesis, Northwestern College]. NWCommons.
Action research with 23 second-graders showing decreased negative behaviors, but only when paired with daily mini-lessons: the space alone wasn't enough.
**********************************
All names, stories, and case studies in this episode are fictionalized composites drawn from real-world circumstances. Any resemblance to actual students, families, or school personnel is coincidental. Details have been altered to protect privacy.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
They are supposed to be the answer to classroom
meltdowns, disruptions and allthose big emotions that tend to
derail learning in the classroom.
Teachers love them because theylook trauma-informed,
administrators love them becausethey're cheap to implement and
(00:20):
we love them because, well, atleast it feels like we're doing
something supportive.
But here's what happens whenyou actually watch calm corners
in action.
I was observing in hisclassroom a couple months ago.
Nothing fancy.
I was just checking in on astudent I had some concerns
(00:41):
about and math was gettingstarted.
Pencils were scratching paperswere rustling and there was some
low-level murmuring through theclassroom Pretty normal for a
Tuesday morning.
But then it happened.
One of the students I'll callher Maya looked at her math
worksheet like it had personallyoffended her and her entire
(01:04):
family, and she said I hate this.
And with the dramatic flairthat only a third grader can
muster, she swept that paperright off her desk and marched
herself to the calm corner likeshe owned the place.
She threw herself in thebeanbag like she was a protester
staging a sit-in, and then shegrabbed a stress ball and she
(01:27):
pulled her hood over her faceand it was pretty evident that
she had done this a couple timesbefore.
No one said a word in thatclassroom.
The teacher hardly even lookedher direction and the students
never even flinched.
And I sat there thinking, ok,so I guess this looks
trauma-informed, but is itactually working?
(01:49):
Because what hit me in thatmoment was that Maya wasn't
dysregulated, she was beingstrategic.
She'd learned that the calmcorner was her
get-out-of-math-free card.
Calm Corner was herget-out-of-math-free card, and
when avoidance starts lookingtrauma-informed, we have to
start questioning it, because wetend to take something with
(02:12):
good research, strip away allthe training and support systems
, slap it in a classroom andwonder why it doesn't work.
Sound familiar?
So today we're gonna grade calmcorners, the beanbags, the
breathing posters, the fidgetsand the folks who claim that
they are the solution to everyemotional outburst.
(02:33):
Hey, school counselor, welcomeback.
In this episode of our gradedseries.
We're taking on one of the mostpopular SEL interventions in
schools today Calm Corners.
You've been told they're theanswer to classroom disruption,
emotional dysregulation andcreating trauma-informed spaces.
But what do Calm Corners reallyaccomplish and why do they so
(02:57):
often feel like they're enablingavoidance instead of building
skills?
I'll share why the way mostschools implement them falls
flat the research that showsboth the promise and the
problems, and four keystrategies that can turn your
regulation spaces into actualtools for growth.
Plus, I'll tell you about myabsolute favorite podcast review
(03:20):
, a one-star gem that called mecondescending and perfectly
proves why this show exists.
So if you're ready for somestraight talk, my friend, a
little clarity and maybe a touchof rebellion, you're in the
right place.
I'm Steph Johnson, and this isthe School for School Counselors
podcast.
(03:43):
Here's what's interesting aboutcalm corners Teachers rarely
preface them or talk about them.
They just one day set them up.
Maybe they hear about them at aconference or another teacher
mentions it.
So they grab a basket, throw insome fidgets and add a calming
strategies poster that's hangingby one tack and boom, calm
(04:04):
corner complete.
You know that corner where thereading pillow has mysterious
stains, or the one where thefidget toys have somehow become
trading cards in the classroom.
This is also sometimes thespace that gets overtaken by
storage boxes, because thatcorner probably didn't get a lot
of use anyway.
And on the other hand, you havesome calm corners that look
(04:27):
like they came straight out of aPinterest lineup right, the
glitter pillows, the sensoryitems, the soft lighting, the
whole shebang.
The level of buy-in with thesevaries wildly.
Some teachers are all in andthey research trauma-informed
practices and they thinkstrategically about
implementation.
(04:48):
And then there are others thatjust kind of go through the
motions because it feels likesomething they should do.
Calm corners, sometimes alsocalled calming corners, peace
spaces or regulation stations,are a physical area set up in a
classroom for students to go towhen they're upset, overwhelmed
or dysregulated.
(05:08):
Usually they're stocked withsoft seating, sensory tools,
visual cues like breathingprompts or zones of regulation
charts, and sometimes they evenhave a timer or a so-called
reflection sheet.
That's actually just a behaviorchart in disguise.
The idea is simple Instead ofsending a student out of class
(05:30):
when emotions get big, we givethem a space within the
classroom to calm down and comeback to baseline.
They're rooted intrauma-informed ideas and
positioned as a classic tier onesocial-em emotional strategy.
Sounds great, right?
But here's where it getsinteresting, because teachers
(05:51):
are setting these up withoutnecessarily requesting support
or training.
The implementation is all overthe map.
So sometimes we see prettybaskets with color coordinated
tools, but nobody's actuallyallowed to touch them.
Or we see lots of prettypictures and motivational quotes
(06:12):
on the wall, but those reallydon't mean anything to a
dysregulated seven-year-old.
As school counselors, we areuniquely positioned to see the
patterns that teachers miss.
We know the difference betweena student who needs sensory
input and one that's learnedthat looking overwhelmed gets
them out of work.
We see the same kids cyclingthrough multiple classrooms with
(06:34):
the same avoidance behaviors.
Look, we often assume that calmcorners are effective because
they look supportive, but whenwe dig deeper into how they're
used, how students are taught touse them, and whether they
actually support regulation, westart to see a whole different
picture.
(06:54):
So let's start with what works,because there are some genuine
wins here with Calm Corners.
First, they normalizeself-regulation.
Calm Corners make it okay forstudents to step away from a
problem without shame.
Instead of sending a child outinto the hallway or down to the
office, we're giving them thetools to manage emotions on
(07:17):
their own turf, with autonomy.
Here's what the researchactually shows, and this might
surprise you.
Brasfield's 2025 mixed methodstudy followed kids in first and
sixth grade who had access tocalming corners across an entire
school year.
Students reported strongercoping skills and more control
(07:40):
over their emotions, andteachers saw fewer meltdowns and
a calmer classroom vibe overall.
One sixth grader even sharedsometimes I just need to go
there so I don't say somethingI'll regret.
I mean, there is a middleschooler showing insight and
skill, and that is the point.
But on the flip side, anotherstudent said, my teacher thinks
(08:03):
I'm being good when I go to thecalm corner, but really I just
don't want to do the work.
Hold on to that quote.
We're going to come back tothat one.
Secondly, calm corners reducedisruption for everyone.
I once saw a third gradeteacher make eye contact with a
student mid-lesson and give justthe slightest of nods.
(08:25):
The student got up, walked tothe corner, squeezed a squishy
for exactly two minutes and cameback like nothing happened.
There was no blow-up or powerstruggle and there was no loss
of instructional time for theclass.
And there was no loss ofinstructional time for the class
.
According to Thompson's 2021Action Research Project, she saw
(08:47):
a noticeable decrease innegative behaviors after
introducing a calm corner intoher second grade room,
especially when it was pairedwith many lessons on how and
when to use it.
Notice that phrase paired withmany lessons.
Keep that in mind too, becausewe're not talking magic here.
We're talking intentionalprevention.
(09:10):
Third, they give young studentsa physical tool for emotional
autonomy.
Kids don't always know how tosay I'm starting to panic or I
don't feel safe.
But they can recognize a signallike a calm corner and learn to
respond.
One study found that after fourmonths, 81% of calm corner
(09:32):
visits led to improvedregulation and 80% of students
gave positive feedback, sayingthat they liked having a private
, safe space when they feltoverwhelmed.
It's for kids that say thingslike my brain gets quiet when I
sit there.
I just need some quiet.
That's doing calm corners right, but you also know I'm not here
(09:58):
to cheerlead.
I am here to tell the truth,and the truth is there are some
serious concerns we have toaddress with respect to calm
corners as well.
First, they're often used asescape hatches.
The student that somehow alwaysneeds to regulate during math,
but never during art yeah, wesee them when students are sent,
(10:22):
or they send themselves, to thecalm corner every time they're
asked to work hard, to facefrustration or to engage with
peers.
It's no longer regulation, it'sbecome avoidance.
Teachers often report thispattern where they observe
students using the calm cornerto avoid challenging tasks and
(10:43):
then admit that they themselvesstruggle to hold boundaries
around when and why the calmcorner can be used.
One teacher told me once itbecomes the place where kids go
when they don't want to try andy'all.
That's a problem, and here'swhy this matters to us as school
counselors.
Every time a student uses thecalm corner to escape instead of
(11:06):
regulate, they're not justavoiding work, they're
practicing a coping strategythat will backfire as they get
older.
Secondly, calm corners don'tteach regulation by default, and
this is the thing that mostpeople get wrong.
The corner itself isn't anintervention, the skills are.
(11:32):
I've seen too many corners withfidgets and posters and
beanbags and zero instruction.
Teachers just assume studentsknow what to do because the
space looks supportive.
Research backs this up.
Brasfield's study showed thatcalm corners worked best when
teachers received training andmodeled coping strategies.
(11:53):
But without those pieces, thecalm corner became just another
pretty corner of the classroom.
Third, calm corners are wildlyinconsistent.
Across campuses you might see asensory-rich, trauma-informed
(12:18):
oasis in one room and then astool with a sad reflection
sheet right next to the fireextinguisher in the next
classroom.
I've even seen calm cornersthat face the class so everybody
can watch the troubled kid havetheir moment.
According to research on calmcorners with adolescents,
resilience improved only whenthe space was consistent and
well facilitated.
(12:38):
The structure mattered, theenvironment mattered and the
follow-through mattered.
Without all of those elements,y'all, it just doesn't work.
And fourth, calm corners don'twork for everyone and sometimes
they make things worse.
Here's what the research hasfound that will make your
(13:01):
stomach drop a little bit.
Almost 10% of students actuallyget more dysregulated in calm
corners, not less.
Think about that kid that youknow, the one you've been
worrying about, the one thatspirals every time they go to
the calm corner.
The research just validatedyour gut feeling.
Some students feel embarrassedbeing watched by classmates.
(13:23):
Others escalate in that cornerand use the tools as
distractions instead of supports.
I genuinely had a student tellme once why would I want to go
over there?
It just makes me more mad whenpeople are looking at me, and
that's real right.
It means that we need toconsider privacy and social
context in individual studentneeds, not just throw a cushion
(13:46):
in the corner and call ittrauma-informed.
So how do we fix all of this?
Here are four strategies thatcan turn your regulation spaces
on your campus into actual toolsfor growth.
First, you can become the calmcorner detective, create a
(14:06):
simple audit tool and then justpick it up when you're observing
in classrooms and you seesomeone go to it.
When you're observing inclassrooms and you see someone
go to it.
Student stayed five plusminutes.
Student returned to task.
Student asked for help beforegoing.
Teacher checked in afterward.
Don't use these as judgment,right, but just use them as data
(14:27):
.
You could pick three differentclassrooms and spend 15 minutes
in each one and then askyourself are students using this
space to regulate or are theyusing it to escape?
How long are they staying andwhat happens when they come back
?
The answers to those are goingto tell you everything.
And hey, if you want to grab anexample of what one of those
audit tools would look like,head to the show notes.
(14:49):
I'll have a link to one for youright there, ready to go.
Secondly, address theimplementation gap.
When you have that teacher whocomplains that calm corners
don't work, you could saysomething like I've noticed some
patterns across some classroomsthat might help us make yours
more effective.
Do you want to talk about whatI'm seeing and then offer a
(15:10):
little 10-minute mini lessonframework they can use with
their class about when, why andhow to use that calm corner
space?
Third, provide a shortreflection card that can guide
the teacher in talking with thestudent.
Very briefly, what was Ifeeling before I came here.
What helped me calm down?
(15:30):
Am I ready to rejoin my class?
What helped me calm down?
Am I ready to rejoin my class?
The research shows reflectionwas one of the key factors in
long-term regulation gains withrespect to calm corners.
We cannot skip that part, andyet that is the part I most
often see skipped.
And fourth, create someconsistency standards across
(15:54):
classrooms on your campus.
Talk about location, not facingthe class.
Essential tools for the cornernot the broken fidgets and the
mystery stain pillows, teachercheck-in protocols and clear
boundaries about their use.
And I feel those are prettyrealistic.
Right, looking at calm cornerswhen you're already in
(16:16):
classrooms anyway, addressingimplementation gaps as the
conversations come up, helpingteachers build in reflection
about corners and creatingconsistent standards on your
campus.
So, with all of that, the pros,the cons, the way that students
are using and misusing CalmCorners what's the official
(16:37):
grade?
I'm going to give Calm Cornersa B and remember that in our
field, b means promising butneeds some work.
The research shows potentialwhen Calm Corners are
implemented correctly.
Students report positiveexperiences when those spaces
are well-structured and they canreduce classroom disruption.
(17:00):
But implementation is wildlyinconsistent.
Most lack the teachingcomponent that makes them
effective.
They're often enablingavoidance instead of building
skills and the majority are setup without training or any kind
of ongoing support.
A calm corner should not belooked at as a cure and it can
(17:25):
become dangerously close todecorative if we're not pairing
it with real skill building andadult support with real skill
building and adult support, allright.
Speaking of critical analysisand questioning the status quo,
I have to tell you about my newfavorite podcast review.
It was a one-star.
(17:48):
They called me condescendingno-transcript, which shows her
(18:17):
ignorance of the organization.
She mentioned that the fifthedition of the national model
was created as a moneymaker forASCA.
While I was at Elevate, the newleadership development
intensive, we found out that thefifth edition is a free
download.
So not really a moneymaker, sadto say.
But I give Steph Johnson Dminus on her podcast Bam, that's
(18:41):
so funny to me.
All right, to be fair.
They were right about one thingthe newest ASCA national model
is free and the revieweradmitted they keep listening
because the podcast makes themthink.
So I'll take that.
But my point about the modelwasn't the current edition, it
was about the ones before itwhen counselors had to pay for
(19:03):
the very framework that wassupposed to guide their work.
If we are serious aboutelevating this profession, that
model should have always beenaccessible.
Elevating this profession thatmodel should have always been
accessible, which has alwaysbeen my point.
On the TPT, teachers, payTeachers front, I'm going to say
this If someone feelspersonally attacked because I
(19:24):
don't think that $3 worksheetsshould define the future of
school counseling, I mean, I getit, that's their lane, but I
think that our kids deserve morethan print and pray, and I
think you do too.
So, yeah, this one star reviewis my new favorite because it
proves that this podcast isdoing its job.
I'm challenging assumptions,I'm sparking new thinking, and
(19:48):
sometimes I'm making peopleuncomfortable.
And I'll tell you, I'd ratherbe honest and get a one star
than be part of the status quowith five stars, because that's
exactly what we need to do witheverything in the school
counseling world.
Right, we need to challengeassumptions, even when it makes
people uncomfortable, becausethat's how we grow and develop
(20:09):
and debate and think together.
How boring would it be if weall just agreed with each other
all the time.
Right, all right.
Here's what I want you toremember from this episode.
Most calm corners are underusedand underexplained and, as a
result they typicallyunderdeliver.
But that doesn't mean we shouldtoss out the whole idea.
(20:31):
It means that we can use ourrole as a school counselor to
reframe it.
Start by asking what's theactual purpose of these spaces
on our campus.
Are we just trying to look likewe're doing good
social-emotional learning, orare we actually helping students
learn to regulate?
Every time a student learnsthat avoidance looks like
(20:55):
self-regulation, we're not justfailing that student, we're
teaching them and every otherkid in that classroom a coping
strategy that will backfire inmiddle school, high school and
beyond.
That is not dramatic.
That is developmental reality.
But we are the ones who canchange it, because calm corners
(21:17):
can work, but they don't work bydefault.
They work when we treat themlike the intervention they're
supposed to be, not thedecoration they often become.
So if you want help turningtools like this into real
strategies that make your jobeasier and make your students
more successful, that's exactlywhat we do in the School for
(21:38):
School Counselors Mastermind.
If you're tired of the Pinterestpressure and you're ready to
build systems that actuallysupport student growth, you
should come hang out with us.
We'll show you how to auditwhat you have and upgrade the
things that need fixing.
Hey, my friend, thanks forbeing here this week.
If this episode helped you seecalm corners in a new light,
(22:01):
would you share it with acolleague who needs to hear it?
Leave a review or, better yet,join us inside the mastermind
and let's get your schoolcounseling systems sharp.
Keep being amazing, keep beingundeniable, keep being a safe
space for your students to land,and I'll be back soon with
(22:22):
another episode of the Schoolfor School Counselors podcast.
Take care.
They are supposed to be the answer to classroom
meltdowns, disruptions and allthose big emotions that tend to
derail learning in the classroom.
Teachers love them because theylook trauma-informed,
administrators love them becausethey're cheap to implement and
(00:20):
we love them because, well, atleast it feels like we're doing
something supportive.
But here's what happens whenyou actually watch calm corners
in action.
I was observing in hisclassroom a couple months ago.
Nothing fancy.
I was just checking in on astudent I had some concerns
(00:41):
about and math was gettingstarted.
Pencils were scratching paperswere rustling and there was some
low-level murmuring through theclassroom Pretty normal for a
Tuesday morning.
But then it happened.
One of the students I'll callher Maya looked at her math
worksheet like it had personallyoffended her and her entire
(01:04):
family, and she said I hate this.
And with the dramatic flairthat only a third grader can
muster, she swept that paperright off her desk and marched
herself to the calm corner likeshe owned the place.
She threw herself in thebeanbag like she was a protester
staging a sit-in, and then shegrabbed a stress ball and she
(01:27):
pulled her hood over her faceand it was pretty evident that
she had done this a couple timesbefore.
No one said a word in thatclassroom.
The teacher hardly even lookedher direction and the students
never even flinched.
And I sat there thinking, ok,so I guess this looks
trauma-informed, but is itactually working?
(01:49):
Because what hit me in thatmoment was that Maya wasn't
dysregulated, she was beingstrategic.
She'd learned that the calmcorner was her
get-out-of-math-free card.
Calm Corner was herget-out-of-math-free card, and
when avoidance starts lookingtrauma-informed, we have to
start questioning it, because wetend to take something with
(02:12):
good research, strip away allthe training and support systems
, slap it in a classroom andwonder why it doesn't work.
Sound familiar?
So today we're gonna grade calmcorners, the beanbags, the
breathing posters, the fidgetsand the folks who claim that
they are the solution to everyemotional outburst.
(02:33):
Hey, school counselor, welcomeback.
In this episode of our gradedseries.
We're taking on one of the mostpopular SEL interventions in
schools today Calm Corners.
You've been told they're theanswer to classroom disruption,
emotional dysregulation andcreating trauma-informed spaces.
But what do Calm Corners reallyaccomplish and why do they so
(02:57):
often feel like they're enablingavoidance instead of building
skills?
I'll share why the way mostschools implement them falls
flat the research that showsboth the promise and the
problems, and four keystrategies that can turn your
regulation spaces into actualtools for growth.
Plus, I'll tell you about myabsolute favorite podcast review
(03:20):
, a one-star gem that called mecondescending and perfectly
proves why this show exists.
So if you're ready for somestraight talk, my friend, a
little clarity and maybe a touchof rebellion, you're in the
right place.
I'm Steph Johnson, and this isthe School for School Counselors
podcast.
(03:43):
Here's what's interesting aboutcalm corners Teachers rarely
preface them or talk about them.
They just one day set them up.
Maybe they hear about them at aconference or another teacher
mentions it.
So they grab a basket, throw insome fidgets and add a calming
strategies poster that's hangingby one tack and boom, calm
(04:04):
corner complete.
You know that corner where thereading pillow has mysterious
stains, or the one where thefidget toys have somehow become
trading cards in the classroom.
This is also sometimes thespace that gets overtaken by
storage boxes, because thatcorner probably didn't get a lot
of use anyway.
And on the other hand, you havesome calm corners that look
(04:27):
like they came straight out of aPinterest lineup right, the
glitter pillows, the sensoryitems, the soft lighting, the
whole shebang.
The level of buy-in with thesevaries wildly.
Some teachers are all in andthey research trauma-informed
practices and they thinkstrategically about
implementation.
(04:48):
And then there are others thatjust kind of go through the
motions because it feels likesomething they should do.
Calm corners, sometimes alsocalled calming corners, peace
spaces or regulation stations,are a physical area set up in a
classroom for students to go towhen they're upset, overwhelmed
or dysregulated.
(05:08):
Usually they're stocked withsoft seating, sensory tools,
visual cues like breathingprompts or zones of regulation
charts, and sometimes they evenhave a timer or a so-called
reflection sheet.
That's actually just a behaviorchart in disguise.
The idea is simple Instead ofsending a student out of class
(05:30):
when emotions get big, we givethem a space within the
classroom to calm down and comeback to baseline.
They're rooted intrauma-informed ideas and
positioned as a classic tier onesocial-em emotional strategy.
Sounds great, right?
But here's where it getsinteresting, because teachers
(05:51):
are setting these up withoutnecessarily requesting support
or training.
The implementation is all overthe map.
So sometimes we see prettybaskets with color coordinated
tools, but nobody's actuallyallowed to touch them.
Or we see lots of prettypictures and motivational quotes
(06:12):
on the wall, but those reallydon't mean anything to a
dysregulated seven-year-old.
As school counselors, we areuniquely positioned to see the
patterns that teachers miss.
We know the difference betweena student who needs sensory
input and one that's learnedthat looking overwhelmed gets
them out of work.
We see the same kids cyclingthrough multiple classrooms with
(06:34):
the same avoidance behaviors.
Look, we often assume that calmcorners are effective because
they look supportive, but whenwe dig deeper into how they're
used, how students are taught touse them, and whether they
actually support regulation, westart to see a whole different
picture.
(06:54):
So let's start with what works,because there are some genuine
wins here with Calm Corners.
First, they normalizeself-regulation.
Calm Corners make it okay forstudents to step away from a
problem without shame.
Instead of sending a child outinto the hallway or down to the
office, we're giving them thetools to manage emotions on
(07:17):
their own turf, with autonomy.
Here's what the researchactually shows, and this might
surprise you.
Brasfield's 2025 mixed methodstudy followed kids in first and
sixth grade who had access tocalming corners across an entire
school year.
Students reported strongercoping skills and more control
(07:40):
over their emotions, andteachers saw fewer meltdowns and
a calmer classroom vibe overall.
One sixth grader even sharedsometimes I just need to go
there so I don't say somethingI'll regret.
I mean, there is a middleschooler showing insight and
skill, and that is the point.
But on the flip side, anotherstudent said, my teacher thinks
(08:03):
I'm being good when I go to thecalm corner, but really I just
don't want to do the work.
Hold on to that quote.
We're going to come back tothat one.
Secondly, calm corners reducedisruption for everyone.
I once saw a third gradeteacher make eye contact with a
student mid-lesson and give justthe slightest of nods.
(08:25):
The student got up, walked tothe corner, squeezed a squishy
for exactly two minutes and cameback like nothing happened.
There was no blow-up or powerstruggle and there was no loss
of instructional time for theclass.
And there was no loss ofinstructional time for the class
.
According to Thompson's 2021Action Research Project, she saw
(08:47):
a noticeable decrease innegative behaviors after
introducing a calm corner intoher second grade room,
especially when it was pairedwith many lessons on how and
when to use it.
Notice that phrase paired withmany lessons.
Keep that in mind too, becausewe're not talking magic here.
We're talking intentionalprevention.
(09:10):
Third, they give young studentsa physical tool for emotional
autonomy.
Kids don't always know how tosay I'm starting to panic or I
don't feel safe.
But they can recognize a signallike a calm corner and learn to
respond.
One study found that after fourmonths, 81% of calm corner
(09:32):
visits led to improvedregulation and 80% of students
gave positive feedback, sayingthat they liked having a private
, safe space when they feltoverwhelmed.
It's for kids that say thingslike my brain gets quiet when I
sit there.
I just need some quiet.
That's doing calm corners right, but you also know I'm not here
(09:58):
to cheerlead.
I am here to tell the truth,and the truth is there are some
serious concerns we have toaddress with respect to calm
corners as well.
First, they're often used asescape hatches.
The student that somehow alwaysneeds to regulate during math,
but never during art yeah, wesee them when students are sent,
(10:22):
or they send themselves, to thecalm corner every time they're
asked to work hard, to facefrustration or to engage with
peers.
It's no longer regulation, it'sbecome avoidance.
Teachers often report thispattern where they observe
students using the calm cornerto avoid challenging tasks and
(10:43):
then admit that they themselvesstruggle to hold boundaries
around when and why the calmcorner can be used.
One teacher told me once itbecomes the place where kids go
when they don't want to try andy'all.
That's a problem, and here'swhy this matters to us as school
counselors.
Every time a student uses thecalm corner to escape instead of
(11:06):
regulate, they're not justavoiding work, they're
practicing a coping strategythat will backfire as they get
older.
Secondly, calm corners don'tteach regulation by default, and
this is the thing that mostpeople get wrong.
The corner itself isn't anintervention, the skills are.
(11:32):
I've seen too many corners withfidgets and posters and
beanbags and zero instruction.
Teachers just assume studentsknow what to do because the
space looks supportive.
Research backs this up.
Brasfield's study showed thatcalm corners worked best when
teachers received training andmodeled coping strategies.
(11:53):
But without those pieces, thecalm corner became just another
pretty corner of the classroom.
Third, calm corners are wildlyinconsistent.
Across campuses you might see asensory-rich, trauma-informed
(12:18):
oasis in one room and then astool with a sad reflection
sheet right next to the fireextinguisher in the next
classroom.
I've even seen calm cornersthat face the class so everybody
can watch the troubled kid havetheir moment.
According to research on calmcorners with adolescents,
resilience improved only whenthe space was consistent and
well facilitated.
(12:38):
The structure mattered, theenvironment mattered and the
follow-through mattered.
Without all of those elements,y'all, it just doesn't work.
And fourth, calm corners don'twork for everyone and sometimes
they make things worse.
Here's what the research hasfound that will make your
(13:01):
stomach drop a little bit.
Almost 10% of students actuallyget more dysregulated in calm
corners, not less.
Think about that kid that youknow, the one you've been
worrying about, the one thatspirals every time they go to
the calm corner.
The research just validatedyour gut feeling.
Some students feel embarrassedbeing watched by classmates.
(13:23):
Others escalate in that cornerand use the tools as
distractions instead of supports.
I genuinely had a student tellme once why would I want to go
over there?
It just makes me more mad whenpeople are looking at me, and
that's real right.
It means that we need toconsider privacy and social
context in individual studentneeds, not just throw a cushion
(13:46):
in the corner and call ittrauma-informed.
So how do we fix all of this?
Here are four strategies thatcan turn your regulation spaces
on your campus into actual toolsfor growth.
First, you can become the calmcorner detective, create a
(14:06):
simple audit tool and then justpick it up when you're observing
in classrooms and you seesomeone go to it.
When you're observing inclassrooms and you see someone
go to it.
Student stayed five plusminutes.
Student returned to task.
Student asked for help beforegoing.
Teacher checked in afterward.
Don't use these as judgment,right, but just use them as data
(14:27):
.
You could pick three differentclassrooms and spend 15 minutes
in each one and then askyourself are students using this
space to regulate or are theyusing it to escape?
How long are they staying andwhat happens when they come back
?
The answers to those are goingto tell you everything.
And hey, if you want to grab anexample of what one of those
audit tools would look like,head to the show notes.
(14:49):
I'll have a link to one for youright there, ready to go.
Secondly, address theimplementation gap.
When you have that teacher whocomplains that calm corners
don't work, you could saysomething like I've noticed some
patterns across some classroomsthat might help us make yours
more effective.
Do you want to talk about whatI'm seeing and then offer a
(15:10):
little 10-minute mini lessonframework they can use with
their class about when, why andhow to use that calm corner
space?
Third, provide a shortreflection card that can guide
the teacher in talking with thestudent.
Very briefly, what was Ifeeling before I came here.
What helped me calm down?
(15:30):
Am I ready to rejoin my class?
What helped me calm down?
Am I ready to rejoin my class?
The research shows reflectionwas one of the key factors in
long-term regulation gains withrespect to calm corners.
We cannot skip that part, andyet that is the part I most
often see skipped.
And fourth, create someconsistency standards across
(15:54):
classrooms on your campus.
Talk about location, not facingthe class.
Essential tools for the cornernot the broken fidgets and the
mystery stain pillows, teachercheck-in protocols and clear
boundaries about their use.
And I feel those are prettyrealistic.
Right, looking at calm cornerswhen you're already in
(16:16):
classrooms anyway, addressingimplementation gaps as the
conversations come up, helpingteachers build in reflection
about corners and creatingconsistent standards on your
campus.
So, with all of that, the pros,the cons, the way that students
are using and misusing CalmCorners what's the official
(16:37):
grade?
I'm going to give Calm Cornersa B and remember that in our
field, b means promising butneeds some work.
The research shows potentialwhen Calm Corners are
implemented correctly.
Students report positiveexperiences when those spaces
are well-structured and they canreduce classroom disruption.
(17:00):
But implementation is wildlyinconsistent.
Most lack the teachingcomponent that makes them
effective.
They're often enablingavoidance instead of building
skills and the majority are setup without training or any kind
of ongoing support.
A calm corner should not belooked at as a cure and it can
(17:25):
become dangerously close todecorative if we're not pairing
it with real skill building andadult support with real skill
building and adult support, allright.
Speaking of critical analysisand questioning the status quo,
I have to tell you about my newfavorite podcast review.
It was a one-star.
(17:48):
They called me condescendingno-transcript, which shows her
(18:17):
ignorance of the organization.
She mentioned that the fifthedition of the national model
was created as a moneymaker forASCA.
While I was at Elevate, the newleadership development
intensive, we found out that thefifth edition is a free
download.
So not really a moneymaker, sadto say.
But I give Steph Johnson Dminus on her podcast Bam, that's
(18:41):
so funny to me.
All right, to be fair.
They were right about one thingthe newest ASCA national model
is free and the revieweradmitted they keep listening
because the podcast makes themthink.
So I'll take that.
But my point about the modelwasn't the current edition, it
was about the ones before itwhen counselors had to pay for
(19:03):
the very framework that wassupposed to guide their work.
If we are serious aboutelevating this profession, that
model should have always beenaccessible.
Elevating this profession thatmodel should have always been
accessible, which has alwaysbeen my point.
On the TPT, teachers, payTeachers front, I'm going to say
this If someone feelspersonally attacked because I
(19:24):
don't think that $3 worksheetsshould define the future of
school counseling, I mean, I getit, that's their lane, but I
think that our kids deserve morethan print and pray, and I
think you do too.
So, yeah, this one star reviewis my new favorite because it
proves that this podcast isdoing its job.
I'm challenging assumptions,I'm sparking new thinking, and
(19:48):
sometimes I'm making peopleuncomfortable.
And I'll tell you, I'd ratherbe honest and get a one star
than be part of the status quowith five stars, because that's
exactly what we need to do witheverything in the school
counseling world.
Right, we need to challengeassumptions, even when it makes
people uncomfortable, becausethat's how we grow and develop
(20:09):
and debate and think together.
How boring would it be if weall just agreed with each other
all the time.
Right, all right.
Here's what I want you toremember from this episode.
Most calm corners are underusedand underexplained and, as a
result they typicallyunderdeliver.
But that doesn't mean we shouldtoss out the whole idea.
(20:31):
It means that we can use ourrole as a school counselor to
reframe it.
Start by asking what's theactual purpose of these spaces
on our campus.
Are we just trying to look likewe're doing good
social-emotional learning, orare we actually helping students
learn to regulate?
Every time a student learnsthat avoidance looks like
(20:55):
self-regulation, we're not justfailing that student, we're
teaching them and every otherkid in that classroom a coping
strategy that will backfire inmiddle school, high school and
beyond.
That is not dramatic.
That is developmental reality.
But we are the ones who canchange it, because calm corners
(21:17):
can work, but they don't work bydefault.
They work when we treat themlike the intervention they're
supposed to be, not thedecoration they often become.
So if you want help turningtools like this into real
strategies that make your jobeasier and make your students
more successful, that's exactlywhat we do in the School for
(21:38):
School Counselors Mastermind.
If you're tired of the Pinterestpressure and you're ready to
build systems that actuallysupport student growth, you
should come hang out with us.
We'll show you how to auditwhat you have and upgrade the
things that need fixing.
Hey, my friend, thanks forbeing here this week.
If this episode helped you seecalm corners in a new light,
(22:01):
would you share it with acolleague who needs to hear it?
Leave a review or, better yet,join us inside the mastermind
and let's get your schoolcounseling systems sharp.
Keep being amazing, keep beingundeniable, keep being a safe
space for your students to land,and I'll be back soon with
(22:22):
another episode of the Schoolfor School Counselors podcast.
Take care.
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