Over the years and among the many teacher blogs I read, I have heard similar positive comments coming from a movement called Conscious Discipline. A desperate teacher would post a question regarding a particularly difficult behavior issue in class, and many of the suggestions repeated those two words. After the past few years dealing with extreme cases of difficult behavior issues in my own class, I was becoming that desperate teacher. I knew these students needed more than I knew what to give them to self-regulate in a classroom setting. I decided to check it out.With a professional development stipend, I purchased the online course for Conscious Discipline. It includes the book, a video series, and a 1-year subscription to extra content online.
Discipline isn't something you do to children, it's something you develop within them. -Dr. Becky A. Bailey
The first thing I learned was that this journey into Conscious Discipline is a transformational change that requires us to change our mindset as well as our skill set (p. 25). It was reassuring to me to read that this whole process would take about three years, as I generally get overwhelmed with change (don’t we all?!). There was relief to read that in Year 1, I should keep the system I have in place (currently-a clip chart), but also practice the new skills I am learning in this process.
Connection is key in building relationships. My goal is to facilitate more intentional face-to-face moments with and among my students. This includes eye-contact, physical contact (high-five, touch thumbs, etc...), presence, and playful situations. I will conduct this at least one time per hour of the school day. I will set a timer to remind me, but I am hopeful that this will occur in natural transitions in order to form a habit. We do have a morning meeting each day where each student is greeted by name face-to-face by at least one other student. I also personally greet each student as they walk in the door first thing.
Next month, I will start becoming "Brain Smart" as I delve into Chapter 2 while adding more of the rituals from Chapter 1. Check the link in the title if you are interested in taking this journey with me!
Connection is key in building relationships. My goal is to facilitate more intentional face-to-face moments with and among my students. This includes eye-contact, physical contact (high-five, touch thumbs, etc...), presence, and playful situations. I will conduct this at least one time per hour of the school day. I will set a timer to remind me, but I am hopeful that this will occur in natural transitions in order to form a habit. We do have a morning meeting each day where each student is greeted by name face-to-face by at least one other student. I also personally greet each student as they walk in the door first thing.
Next month, I will start becoming "Brain Smart" as I delve into Chapter 2 while adding more of the rituals from Chapter 1. Check the link in the title if you are interested in taking this journey with me!
Happy Teaching!
Erin Grebel
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