Save the Dates for 2025 The Regulated Classroom Train-the-Trainer Sessions

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) is continuing its collaboration with Emily Read Daniels, M.Ed., MBA, NCC, SEP™, owner and founder of The Regulated Classroom™ (TRC™), to provide a third phase of train-the-trainer professional learning experiences at no cost to Maine educators.

In the fall of 2023, the Maine DOE launched the first phase of these trainings to respond to requests from educators for classroom resources to support building positive classroom culture and addressing dysregulated student behavior. All 600 spaces for the first phase of TRC trainings were booked within weeks. In the spring of 2024, a second phase of TRC trainings for 600 more educators from across the state was announced, and, like the first round, those sessions also filled up quickly. With a considerable number of emails coming from educators seeking opportunities for professional development—and a waitlist of more than 100 participants—this project has been expanded to create more training opportunities for another 600 educators, starting in March of 2025.

Through a somatosensory and Polyvagal-informed approach to cultivating conditions for “felt safety” in the classroom, TRC equips educators with a framework that consists of four core practices, two essential educator capacities, and sensory tools, establishing a safe and connected classroom environment. TRC offers highly-effective tools and practices to incorporate into routines, along with self-awareness and self-care resources that enable educators to recognize and bring regulation to the classroom, supporting engagement, connection, and learning.

To develop leadership capacity and promote project sustainability, the Maine DOE Office of School and Student Supports secured funding from Title II and hired Lead Co-Regulators from each of Maine’s nine Superintendent Regions. These Lead Co-Regulators are facilitating a series of three events this school year, specifically designed to support the implementation and sustainability efforts of educators trained in the framework of TRC. These in-person opportunities will allow participants to share successes and brainstorm strategies to meet any challenges, developing a vibrant community with a strong sense of mattering and belonging for educators. Click here to be included.

Here is what some participants have said about The Regulated Classroom:

“[We’re] feeling much more connected as a school community. Students feel safe within their settings when TRC is implemented.”
“[The implementation of TRC] is creating more interactive experiences between teachers and students.”
“[TRC is] 100% positive [and brings about a] culture of positive change, [plus] lower discipline referrals.”
“[TRC is] supportive of our shift toward embracing an integrated trauma-responsive approach. Kids and staff enjoy the practices.”

With more than 94% of Maine educators rating their experience with TRC as “Very Good” or “Excellent”—and many remarking that this is the best training they have ever attended—the Maine DOE is delighted to announce this new series of additional trainings, with an intent to open registrations in early January and then again in mid-July. Proposed dates and times are as follows:

The Regulated Classroom registrations (open week of January 6, 2025):

Locale	Previous Trainings Info	Dates	Max. # of Trainees
1. Kittery (York County)	Participants thus far from York County: 126	3/11, 3/12	50
2. South Paris (Oxford County)	Participants thus far from Oxford County: 64	3/27, 3/28	50
3. Scarborough (Cumberland County)	Participants thus far from Cumberland County: 141	4/10, 4/11	50
4. Auburn (Androscoggin County)	Participants thus far from Androscoggin County: 64	5/8, 5/9	50
5. Damariscotta/ Jefferson (Lincoln County)	Participants thus far from Lincoln County: 25	5/21, 5/22	50
6. Skowhegan (Somerset County)	Participants thus far from Somerset County: 51	6/3, 6/4	50

The Regulated Classroom registrations (open week of July 7, 2025):

7. South Portland (Cumberland County)	Participants thus far from Cumberland County: 141	9/9, 9/10	60
8. Northern Maine locale (Aroostook County)	Participants thus far from Aroostook County: 30	9/25, 9/26	40
9. Belfast (Waldo County)	Participants thus far from Waldo County: 41	10/1, 10/2	50
10. Ellsworth/Bar Harbor (Hancock County)	Participants thus far from Hancock County: 36	10/23, 10/24	50
11. Orono (Penobscot County)	Participants thus far from Penobscot County: 58	11/4, 11/5	50
12. Portland (Cumberland County)	Participants thus far from Cumberland County: 141	11/18, 11/19	50

To learn more about TRC, click here. If you have additional questions regarding the third phase of TRC trainings, please contact the Maine DOE. Administrators are encouraged to reach out to Kellie Bailey, Maine DOE Social Emotional Learning Specialist, at kellie.bailey@maine.gov. School personnel are encouraged to reach out to Sarah Nelson, Maine DOE Student Engagement Specialist, at sarah.nelson@maine.gov.

This opportunity for Maine educators is made possible through Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding.

Media Release: Maine DOE Podcast Highlights Strategies to Support Staff and Student Wellbeing

Educators Discuss the Strategies They Learned Through a Neuroscience-Based Approach Through the DOE’s Partnership with The Regulated Classroom

On the latest episode of her What Holds Us Together podcast, Maine Education Commissioner Pender Makin talked with three educators about the strategies they learned through the Maine DOE’s partnership with The Regulated Classroom to improve staff and student wellbeing, increase student engagement, and help with regulation.

Special education teacher Jenn Whitney, second grade teacher Cecilia Dube, and first grade teacher Sierra Blake were among the 600 Maine teachers trained as trainers in the Regulated Classroom approach, and they shared how they are using the research-based tools and techniques in their classrooms and training other educators on wellbeing and regulation strategies.

“We continue to hear that student behavior, mental health, and dysregulation create some of the biggest barriers to success in the classroom. The Maine DOE offers several programs for student and staff wellbeing, and I loved talking to three educators who were part of a cohort for one of those programs called The Regulated Classroom. This program leverages what we know about neuroscience and the parasympathetic nervous system, offering practical strategies to help students engage in the learning process,” said Makin during her introduction to the podcast episode.

On the podcast, the educators discussed the techniques and strategies they are using and the results they are already seeing for themselves, other staff, and students. The educators report increased wellbeing, attendance, and engagement at their schools.

The COVID-19 pandemic took a tremendous toll on educator and student wellbeing, with educators reporting increased numbers of dysregulated students, stress, and classroom disruptions. Many educators feel overwhelmed by these pandemic-induced behavioral issues. The Regulated Classroom utilizes a neuroscience-based approach to help educators create calm, engaged, and supportive learning environments by cultivating conditions for felt safety. Felt safety references a regulated state in the body’s stress response system.

The program helps educators recognize and manage their own stress levels. It also helps educators manage increased levels of stress in students, which can be displayed as aggression, poor impulse control, limited attention span, and lack of motivation. Educators received access to a collection of practices and sensory tools to embed into daily routines and activities to promote a more regulated and stable environment for learning. This program supports student achievement and increased job satisfaction for educators.

Listen on Apple, Spotify, or other major podcast platforms.

Maine DOE Announces No Cost Program to Support Educator Wellbeing and Create Calm and Supporting Learning Environments

600 Educators Can Attend Train-the-Trainer Events Across Maine to Bring Tools and Strategies Back to Their School Communities

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) has partnered with The Regulated Classroom on a program to support educator wellbeing and student engagement at no cost to Maine educators. Six hundred educators can sign up to be trained as trainers in the framework at events across the state and will be able to bring new tools and resources back to their schools.

The program helps educators recognize and manage their own stress levels. It also helps educators manage increased levels of stress in students, which can be displayed as aggression, poor impulse control, limited attention span, and lack of motivation. Educators will have access to a collection of practices and sensory tools to embed into daily routines and activities to promote a more regulated and stable environment for learning. This program supports student achievement and increased job satisfaction for educators.

“The Maine Department of Education is committed to supporting educator and student wellbeing and we’re thrilled to partner with The Regulated Classroom to offer this program at no cost to Maine educators. The Regulated Classroom provides tools and strategies based on brain science that any educator in Maine can infuse into their teaching and daily routines to support themselves and their students in creating calm, safe, joyful, and engaging learning environments,” said Maine Education Commissioner Pender Makin.

“When our nervous system is in a regulated state, the rational part of our brain is online, enabling us to teach and to learn. But when we are in a dysregulated state, the rational thinking part of our brain goes offline and we can’t gather our thoughts and act as we would choose. Environments that feel supportive and safe foster engagement and creative thinking,” said The Regulated Classroom founder Emily Read Daniels, M.Ed., MBA, NCC, SEP™.

Daniels, a New Hampshire school counselor, created The Regulated Classroom in 2020. Since then, it has been implemented in schools and organizations throughout New Hampshire, across the nation, and around the globe.

Ten in-person train-the-trainer certificate events will be held in various regions of the state.

Educators can register for an event at http://www.regulatedclassroom.com/Maine. Maine educators can complete their registration at no cost to them with the code MAINEFREE.

The Maine DOE utilized federal emergency relief funding to offer this program to Maine educators.