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Featured Image: Downloadable graphic by Kristin Wiens which is included in the book Soft Eyes: Daily Reflections on Stress, Energy, and Restoring Resilience: Sept - Dec 2026 by Susan Hopkins (Author), Kristin Wiens (Author, Illustrator). A child's outsized reaction to...
I've always loved the marshmallow test. You probably remember it. A young child sits alone in a room with a marshmallow and hears a simple challenge: wait a few minutes without eating it, and you'll receive a second marshmallow. The experiment was remarkably simple....
The WiFi gets shut off in the middle of a game. Within seconds, a child who seemed perfectly calm is yelling, throwing the controller, or slamming a door. The adult is left wondering what just happened. Two minutes ago, everything seemed fine. Now the whole evening...
There’s a reason I’m writing this today. In 2025, an education authority is rumoured to be considering reducing the number of breaks in the school day. Let me be clear: please don’t do this. It’s wrong for students. It’s wrong for educators. And it won’t lead you...
On one hand, there was the relief. The promise of summer vacation. The sheer need for space and rest. For a break from the “Can I go to the bathroom?” chorus and the thousand times a day someone needed me—for something, anything, everything. After ten months of...
It’s June here in Canada. For many of us, this is “that” time of year. The final stretch. Field trips, year-end assemblies, transition meetings, report cards. And under it all, this mix of exhaustion, emotion, and a kind of invisible weight that doesn’t quite have a...
Jayden's Story Jayden was already waiting in the hallway when I arrived. He wasn’t pacing. He wasn’t yelling. He was folded into himself, hoodie pulled low, hands clenched inside his sleeves. One of the EAs had walked him out of class after he threw a pencil and...
A mom told me this story not long ago, and I could practically feel it—because I’ve been there too. Her daughter is sixteen. Funny, sharp, independent. Capable of binge-watching an entire series in two days, writing an essay while texting five people at once, and...
It was a Tuesday, I think. One of those days where I was pushing through but not quite present. A little overtired. A little overstimulated. Too many back-to-back meetings, not enough stillness or space. My nervous system was buzzing—tight jaw, shallow breathing, that...
We were catching up over coffee. An old friend—someone I’ve known for more than forty years. The conversation started light. Familiar. We talked about kids, work, life. It felt comforting to reconnect. And then she said something political. It wasn’t just a passing...
Self-Reg Lens on Challenging Behaviours Blog by Dr. Susan Hopkins It’s centre time, and Harper is meticulously building a tall block tower. Suddenly, Liam rushes in, knocks it over, and shouts, “You don’t even know how to build!” Harper freezes, tears filling her...
In classrooms across the globe, educators often grapple with challenging behaviors that standard strategies fail to address. This is where the Self-Reg Framework offers a transformative approach. Rather than merely managing behaviors, Self-Reg encourages educators to...
Say hello to Jax, an eighth-grader who is regularly a target of bullying as a neurodivergent black youth in a mostly white school. For Jax, school days aren't just routine—they're battlegrounds where survival means enduring a relentless barrage of insults, taunts, and...
by Susan Hopkins EdD and Elizabeth Shepherd MSc This article was published as part of Reframed: The Journal of Self-Reg Volume 1, Issue 1 (2017) Hopkins, S. & Shepherd, E. (2017) Masking stress with misbehaviour: A Shanker Self-Reg Lens. Reframe: The...
by Susan Hopkins EdD, Stuart Shanker DPhil, and Rebecca Leslie BEd This article was published as part of Reframed: The Journal of Self-Reg Volume 1, Issue 1 (2017) Hopkins, S., Shanker, S. & Leslie, R. (2017). Self-regulation, self-control, and the...
As we explore in our Havens 101 Professional Learning Series, a Self-Reg Haven is a place where everyone feels safe in every way: physically, emotionally, socially and culturally. It's important to remember that a Haven isn't just a location. It is people, places and...
In this video, Susan Hopkins shows us how the Energy-Centred Teaching Model (ProtECT, DetECT CollECT and ConnECT) can help educators reflect on and manage the challenges of returning to school in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. https://youtu.be/dJNJwVGGCh8 For...
In this 2-part vlog, Susan Hopkins shares how a COVID-19 scare close to home, compelled her to share a series of 10 Self-Reg reframes for approaching COVID-19 with the children in your care. https://youtu.be/IUeRGy1nVxg A COVID Scare: Part 1 1. Our kids are not...
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