As I continue on my journey of implementing Conscious Discipline, I have been incorporating small pieces a little at a time. Chapter 3 is all about building a school family.
Caring relationships create an optimal environment for learning, alter our physiological state and prime the brain for elasticity. -Dr. Becky Bailey
Rituals are an expression of unity, and they help hold the school family together. The first ritual I knew I wanted to incorporate was how I greet my students at the door before entering each morning.
I "bitmojied" myself and made a poster of some greeting options. I posted it by my door. The students choose their own greeting (hug, dance, fist bump, or high-five) each morning and that's what we do. I always look in their eyes, say "good morning, (name)", and give a positive touch. I plan to add more throughout the school year. Our good-bye ritual is where the student boss (helper) of the day picks a Go Noodle song. We turn the lights off and the disco ball on, and dance to celebrate our day of learning!
Another ritual I incorporated was the "Wish Well" ritual. This is where we acknowledge students who are absent. When I call out for attendance and the student is absent, we say, "we wish you well, _______". We also do this if that student's name pops up during random sticks, etc...
There are ten suggested rituals in The Conscious Discipline book. I will go into more of those in my next blog post.
An idea I incorporated was a safe space area. Well, a modified version of one. I sent home a page with directions for families to put together for their child with photos, stickers, drawings, etc... I laminated each page and put them into a binder. It stays in our book stand by the rocking chair. The picture on the far right shows a student looking at his family page while in the chair. He was invited to go there when, after recess, he was crying that he missed him mom. He sat there for about 4 minutes and came back to join us in our whole class activity. I thought this practice may be abused, but it hasn't been at all. In fact, it has shed light for the other students when one of their classmates is feeling down and needs this opportunity to regroup. They show empathy towards him or her.
What are some class family rituals you already do in class? You may not have thought of them as rituals, per se, but those small acts have been helping to create your class family. These are the acts that the students will let you know if you forgot to do them!
Happy Teaching!
Erin Grebel
Thanks for sharing this Erin! As a Middle School teacher, I often had to remind myself that the kiddos are still just as vulnerable as they get bigger. Building these types of routines into the day can help the students feel seen at any age.
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