Transcript [pdf]

SHOW NOTES

Key Takeaways

• • Breaks aren’t the problem — how and why we use them is.
    
  • When adults decide for students to leave the classroom, we may unintentionally reduce access, learning, and belonging.
    
  • Frequent out-of-class breaks can create a pattern where students learn that relief only comes from leaving, instead of building regulation skills in the classroom.
    
  • Regulation skills are hardest to generalize when they’re taught somewhere else and expected to magically transfer back to the classroom.
    
  • Inclusion isn’t built in hallways or sensory rooms — it’s built in the moment, in the classroom, with the right supports.
    
  • Staying put with support protects a student’s access to peers, instruction, and the least restrictive environment.

Episode Download

The Stay-Put Toolbox: 40 Ways to Regulate Without Leaving the Room

This practical download offers 40 concrete, classroom-ready strategies to help students regulate without being removed from instruction, peers, or learning environments.

Inside the toolbox, you’ll find ideas organized across:

• • Movement and sensory input
    
  • Social and emotional anchors
    
  • Focus and refocus tools
    
  • Classroom routines and environmental supports
    
  • Whole-class regulation strategies

Why download it?

This tool helps teams move away from default “take a break” practices and toward portable, inclusive regulation supports that work right where learning happens. It’s ideal for classroom teachers, paraprofessionals, and school leaders who want to reduce removals while still honoring students’ nervous systems.

👉 Download at inclusiveschooling.com/download63 

Practical Tips

• • Pause before pulling a student out. Ask: Can we support regulation right here instead of sending them out?
    
  • Teach regulation in the environment where it’s needed. Skills learned outside the room don’t always transfer back in.
    
  • Replace exit with options. Offer tools like movement, fidgets, headphones, or quiet tasks without changing location.
    
  • Normalize regulation supports for everyone. When tools are available to all students, stigma disappears.
    
  • Use whole-class regulation strategically. Walk-and-talks, movement with content, or flexible break choices support many nervous systems at once.
    
  • Offer choice during breaks. Not all students regulate the same way — some need movement, others need stillness.
    
  • Teach break routines explicitly. Don’t assume students know how to use breaks productively — model and practice them.
    
  • Track time out of class honestly. Small breaks add up quickly and can significantly reduce instructional access.
    
  • Remember the goal isn’t compliance — it’s capacity. Staying with support builds long-term regulation skills.

Additional Resources

Inclusion Podcast Episode 31- Understanding LRE and its Role in Supporting All Learners: This episode unpacks the concept of Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) and its essential role in fostering truly inclusive classrooms, emphasizing that students with disabilities should be educated alongside their non-disabled peers whenever possible. Through real stories and practical strategies, the hosts explore how schools can thoughtfully use supports and services before considering more restrictive placements, reframing challenging behaviors as opportunities for growth rather than exclusion. Listeners will come away with actionable insights for implementing LRE principles in their own educational settings and a free checklist of supplementary aids to support all learners. 

Least Restrictive Environment Family Resource Guide: This Family Toolkit Resource Guide from Early CHOICES equips families of young children with disabilities to understand and advocate for inclusion in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) within early childhood education settings. It bundles practical resources — from inclusion brochures and on-demand learning modules to checklists and federal guidance — with QR links and explanations to make navigating the system easier. The guide highlights the benefits of inclusive settings for all children, offers tools to prepare for IEP meetings, and clarifies families’ rights under federal law to support meaningful inclusion.

Access Points for Common Activities: This handout offers practical guidance on creating multiple access points in everyday classroom activities so that all learners — including those with diverse abilities — can meaningfully engage with content, peers, and expectations. It highlights ways educators can differentiate instruction and embed supports into common activities rather than relying on separate adaptations, helping make inclusion real and actionable. The resource aligns with the broader Inclusive Schooling philosophy of equity and universal design for learning, showing how flexible entry points into learning tasks support participation and success for every student. By focusing on access rather than segregation, this tool helps shift instructional planning toward inclusion-driven practice. 

101 Ways to Incorporate Choice in Learning: This free download offers educators 101 concrete strategies for embedding meaningful choice and voice into everyday learning experiences, empowering students to take ownership of their education and engage more deeply with content and peers. By providing a wide array of options for how students access, process, and express learning, the resource supports differentiated instruction and honors diverse strengths, interests, and needs in inclusive classrooms. It underscores how choice enhances motivation, independence, creativity, and a sense of belonging for all learners. Overall, this guide helps teachers move beyond one-size-fits-all instruction toward more personalized, equitable practices that benefit the full range of students.

Why are we Still Segregating Students?: The short video highlights ongoing inequities in educational placement for students with disabilities, questioning why many are still separated from their peers despite inclusive education mandates. It emphasizes the moral and legal responsibility of schools to provide equitable learning opportunities in general education settings whenever appropriate. This message directly relates to the principle of Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), which requires that students with disabilities be educated alongside their nondisabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate, promoting inclusion over segregation.