CD Chap 2: The School Family

It has taken me forever to get to writing this next chapter. I had so much fun with and learned so much about myself on multiple levels. I have been wanting to get to the second chapter of Conscious Discipline but alas I have been overwhelmed with other things.

UNTIL TODAY!!!

This chapter is about how to create a school family! I was so excited about this chapter. During the first month of school, I feel that creating a school family is just as essential as setting up rules and procedures. This chapter talks about how routines and rituals are the heart of the school family.

Principle 1: 

We are all in this together!

Routines create predictability. It supports the school family like our skeleton supports our bodies. I love that analogy! Rituals creating a caring culture with a common goal. They do take some time away from learning but are the most important part of establishing a school family. Rituals help build trust!

 There is a long list of types of different types of rituals and attitudes about them. Rituals including caring for all members of the classroom and include classroom jobs,

This is the song we sing each morning with the students in my current classroom which is a grade 1-2 combo class. There are actually several songs and chats that we do/use as part of our routine. I wonder if my mentor teacher has ever heard of Conscious Discipline? I will have to ask.

Teacher:Good Morning To You 

(students repeat)

Teacher: And how do you do? 

(students repeat)

Together: We are all in our places

With bright shining faces

And this is the WAAAAAY

We start off our Day

I love this absent routine from Heather's Heart. Have you seen it?

 Principle 2: 

Contributing to the welfare of others

This section talks about how everyone wants to feel needed. It has a great list of classroom jobs and why they are important. It suggests that you should have a job available for everyone to do. HEY! That is what I said before! LOL! I really like some of the "specialty" jobs and maybe mixing up some of the jobs I use to add these in. 

It also talks about the importance of community service, valuing others contributions, and helping parents become involved. All things I highly recommend!

Principle 3: 

How you see others defines who you are

This  section hit home with me on such a personal level. It asks you to simply answer "Who am I?" and then talks about how the answers color our interactions. This is SO TRUE! The tips in this section are AMAZING! I need to re read it. I need to really learn to retrain myself on what I am noticing. 

Principle 4: 

We are all unique NOT special

I laughed so hard when I saw this! One of my pet peeves is people thinking they are special. They are not special. Special implies you are better than someone else. I do not believe I am special. I am not better than everyone else. I am simply unique. My own person with my own unique strengths and weaknesses. I will save you all from my soapbox moment!

Principle 5: 

Some forms of praise can be discouraging. 

This section was also very interesting to me as I have heard my professors say "Never praise a student. You can notice what they are doing but never praise. Praise is making a judgment about the person. It is not helpful!"

Oh how I struggle with this one! 

My favorite part is when it says you should act like a football fan when you are encouraging students. Are you sure about that? Have you ever seen me during a Bears game? I might scare my kiddos!

Praise is a judgment. It tells a child who you think they should be and is a sign of conditional love. Instead we are to notice and describe behavior. There are some great tips to help you notice rather than praise. 

Principle 6: 

Children need encouragement especially

when they have made a poor choice. 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE how discipline issues are handled. This is truly the type of teacher I want to be. A lot of open questions, a lot of solutions, and discipline that is done with love and understanding!

So once again, I feel like have not done any justice to this chapter at all. There truly is so much in each one that you really have to read it to understand.

Here is the next video in the series. I hope you enjoy!


So are you reading this book with me? If so, what are your thoughts on Chapter 2? If not, what are your thoughts on this anyways?