Conscious Discipline!
What is Conscious Discipline?
• A social emotional learning (SEL) program that aims to modify
teacher and child behavior in order to create classrooms based
on safety, connection, and problem-solving instead of external
rewards and punishments.
• Based on current brain research, child development information,
and developmentally appropriate practices.
• Specifically designed to make changes in the adults lives first.
• Goal is to create a system wide, relationship-based, community
model for behavior management, called the “School Family.”
Key Things I Like To Remember
• All behavior is a form of communication!
• To discipline means to teach!
It is not punishment or rewards. It is a process, not an event.
• Stop policing and start teaching!
Three Reasons Why Breathing Is SO
Important
• Breathing is our largest waste removal system. It eliminates 70% of
the waste products produced by our bodies—and the cleansing
happens mostly on the exhale! For breathing to be effective, the
exhale must be longer than the inhale.
• The air we breathe brings oxygen to every cell in the body. To function
properly, the brain requires 25-40% of our total oxygen supply.
Without proper belly breathing, the brain can be short-changed by as
much as 60%! (An oxygen starved brain is an educational disaster!)
• If your diaphragm is not moving, your prefrontal lobes are not fully
engaged. If your prefrontal lobes are not fully engaged, you will be
reactive instead of responsive.
Emotional State: It’s Not About the Nail
Some Example Executive Skills
• Self-monitoring / Self-control
• Managing emotions
• Working memory
• Time management
• Organization
• Planning
• You can only change the state of the brain that is activated.
• Learning (and all the other executive skills) is ONLY
accessible in the executive state!
• A child can never be in a higher state than the adult in the
interaction with them. This is important to remember so
we can remember to check & regulate ourselves first!
• The prefrontal lobe (and the concurrent executive skills)
takes 24-28 years to mature!
• Mature internal speech does not develop until around
8-10 years old.
• Therefore, we must be external co-regulators to help them
practice and hone their executive skills.
Joy Juice & Authentic Connections
• The connections we make with others on the outside
build neural connections in our brain on the inside!
• During authentic connections, we create “Joy Juice” --
dopamine, oxytocin, endorphins, and other natural
hormones!
The key elements to this “Joy Juice” production are:
1. Eye contact: Getting down on your child’s level, looking them in the eye,
and using their name, is essential to building the connection needed for the
release of these hormones.
2. Touch: Placing your hand on your child’s shoulder or head, a gentle tickle, or
a hug, signals to the child that they are safe. It readies them for connection
and cooperation.
3. Presence: Being fully present in the moment and with your child indicates
empathy and comfort. It’s a way of signaling to them that they matter to
you and that you are a safe place for them.
4. Playfulness: A playful situation gives the brain a little break and primes it for
more learning. A playful game can put us in a state called “relaxed
alertness” which is optimal for learning and readiness.
Seven Powers & Skills
We tie into the powers.
The powers connect us to the skills.
The skills are strengthened through the structures
(how we implement them in the classroom).
Perception >
Attention >
Unity >
Free Will >
Acceptance >
Love >
Intention >
Ways to Incorporate Conscious Discipline in the
Classroom
• Stay aware and in control of our own emotions/state
• Using encouragement and positive language all the time; giving choices as
much as possible
• Expressing Empathy/Utilizing D.N.A. process for emotional regulation
• Building “Brain Smart Start” techniques into spiritual block
• Have visual aids (step-by-step text and pictures) for routines and transitions
• Classroom Jobs
• Do you have any other ideas?
“Safe Place – My Five Steps”
(Last Page)
• Front page is what peacemakers should do!
• Back page is what we can do!
