Rebuilding Classroom Regulation in the Final Weeks

Let’s be honest: May is hard. Educators spend countless hours planning lessons, grading papers, and managing classroom dynamics. But by this point in the school year, even our best-laid plans can start to unravel. Students are restless. Teachers are exhausted. The routines that worked beautifully in October suddenly feel impossible to maintain.

There’s one critical factor that influences everything we do in the classroom—and it becomes even more important as the year winds down: our nervous system.

Your regulated nervous system is the most powerful thing you bring into your classroom. It informs everything—from how you respond to challenging behaviors to how effectively your students can learn. And right now, at the end of the school year when everyone’s reserves are depleted, understanding and tending to nervous system regulation matters more than ever.

Why the End of the Year Feels Different

Focus starts to wane. The good habits we’ve built throughout the school year need to be reestablished. Students who were thriving in March might be struggling in May. And that’s completely normal.

The science behind this is clear: Learning doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It requires our bodies—and our students’ bodies—to be in the right state. The central question becomes: How do we help our bodies and how do we help our students’ bodies get ready to learn? Being ready to teach or learn starts with understanding nervous system states—and recognizing when those states have shifted.

This concept, rooted in polyvagal theory, reveals something fascinating: your nervous system is constantly influencing your students, and their nervous systems are influencing you. The collective nervous system state of your entire classroom creates an environment that either supports or hinders learning. By late spring, when everyone is tired and the weather is changing and summer is tantalizingly close, that collective state can become increasingly dysregulated.

It’s Never Too Late to Reset

Here’s the good news: If things aren’t working well right now, it’s never too late to change the classroom dynamic. You may need to go back to basics, and that’s not a failure—it’s responsive teaching.

The connection between nervous system states and learning outcomes is clear: everybody wants learning to happen at school. But when teachers or students are dysregulated—stressed, overwhelmed, or in fight-or-flight mode—the brain simply isn’t primed for learning.

When you take care of your nervous system, you’re not just supporting your own wellbeing. You’re creating the conditions for your students to succeed. Your regulated state helps co-regulate the entire classroom environment, influencing student success in profound ways. And sometimes, especially at the end of the year, that means hitting the reset button.

Practical Regulation Strategies for Busy Teachers (When You’re Already Exhausted)

You don’t need hours of free time or elaborate new systems. Simple, accessible approaches can fit into your existing school day—even when you’re running on fumes:

Start with Transparency

Let your students know what you’re doing: “I am trying to get it together, but I’m gonna need a minute to kind of get my body ready for the classroom today.” This models self-awareness and gives students permission to tend to their own needs. It also normalizes the reality that May is challenging for everyone.

Make It Optional

Offer brief regulation activities—breathing exercises, movement breaks, or grounding practices—and make participation optional. This respects student sovereignty while still providing support for those who need it.

Return to What Worked

Think back to the beginning of the year. What routines helped establish calm and focus? It’s okay to reintroduce those practices, even if you thought you’d moved past them. Sometimes going back to basics is exactly what everyone needs.

Helping Students Regulate Their Own Nervous Systems

One of the most powerful gifts you can give students—especially as the year ends—is helping them understand their own bodies and nervous systems. When we increase learners’ sovereignty, we help them take a break before they blow up or shut down.

Teach Body Awareness

Help students understand a little bit about their bodies and nervous systems. This doesn’t require extensive curriculum—simple conversations about how our bodies feel when we’re calm versus stressed can make a difference. In May, when everyone’s feeling the strain, this awareness becomes even more valuable.

Empower Self-Regulation

The goal is to help students recognize their own signals and take action before they reach a crisis point. When students understand what’s happening in their bodies, they can become active participants in their own regulation rather than waiting for external intervention.

Acknowledge the Reality

Many students aren’t getting the releases they need throughout the day—and this becomes even more pronounced when standardized testing, end-of-year assemblies, or special events disrupt the normal school rhythm. Without consistent opportunities for sensory input and movement, their bodies accumulate tension. Then when they finally have a moment, there’s so much pent-up energy that it explodes. Recognizing this pattern can help you build in more frequent, smaller releases throughout the day.

Provide Sensory Support

Many students, particularly those with ADHD or ASD, benefit from sensory input throughout the day. Consider incorporating:

• Heavy work opportunities: Ask students to move boxes of books, carry supplies, or help rearrange furniture
• Weighted items: Pillows or lap pads can provide calming deep pressure
• Movement breaks: Brief opportunities for physical activity help regulate energy levels
• Shaking exercises: These can be done standing or seated and provide quick sensory input

The beauty of these supports? While they’re essential for some students, they benefit everyone in the classroom. And small sensory shifts create big gains—if you can begin your classes with some sensory support, or pause when things are going sideways for a quick reset, you’ll see the difference.

Respect Student Autonomy

You’re the master of your classroom and know what works best for your students. The key is finding ways to share power and increase student responsibility for their own nervous system states. This might look different in every classroom, and that’s exactly as it should be.

The Bottom Line for Teachers

Our message to educators is simple but essential: Please take very good care of your nervous system. Get to know your nervous system and then tend to it as well as you can.

You don’t need to be perfect. You don’t need extensive training. You simply need to recognize that being ready to teach—just like being ready to learn—starts with your body’s state. When you prioritize your own regulation and help students understand theirs, you create ripple effects throughout your classroom that support every student’s success.

If May feels harder than September, that’s normal. If you need to reestablish routines you thought were solid, that’s okay. If you need to go back to basics with regulation practices, that’s responsive teaching—not failure.

Your nervous system isn’t just another thing to manage—it’s the foundation upon which everything else is built. And it’s never too late in the school year to tend to that foundation.

Resources:

• Professional Development: Nervous System Regulation for Teachers and Students with Autum Romano
• Professional Development: Nervous System Regulation Practices with Autum Romano
• Article: Understanding Nervous System Regulation in the Classroom: A Guide for Teachers