www.consciousdiscipline.com
About Conscious Discipline
" Conscious Discipline® is a comprehensive social- emotional and classroom management program that uses everyday life events to teach children
and adults self-control, conflict resolution, character development and social skills.
Company Overview
“Life-changing” is the most common phrase educators use to describe the impact Conscious Discipline® has had on their
lives. Conscious Discipline® elicits this response because it utilizes the unique approach of increasing the social-emotional skills of adults first. The
adults then feel empowered to use everyday conflicts to teach children life skills. Conscious Discipline® has no separate curric...ulum or “boxed” management system. Instead, the children are the curriculum. Conscious Discipline® provides a comprehensive social-emotional program that is based on current brain research, child
development information and developmentally appropriate practices. All aspects of Conscious Discipline® focus on creating a safe environment for children to
learn and practice the skills needed for healthy social, emotional and academic development.
Research shows that Conscious Discipline®:
• Decreases aggression
• Increases academic achievement
• Decreases impulsivity and hyperactivity in “difficult” children
• Creates a positive school climate
• Increases teaching time" (Info. from Consciousdiscipline.com)
and adults self-control, conflict resolution, character development and social skills.
Company Overview
“Life-changing” is the most common phrase educators use to describe the impact Conscious Discipline® has had on their
lives. Conscious Discipline® elicits this response because it utilizes the unique approach of increasing the social-emotional skills of adults first. The
adults then feel empowered to use everyday conflicts to teach children life skills. Conscious Discipline® has no separate curric...ulum or “boxed” management system. Instead, the children are the curriculum. Conscious Discipline® provides a comprehensive social-emotional program that is based on current brain research, child
development information and developmentally appropriate practices. All aspects of Conscious Discipline® focus on creating a safe environment for children to
learn and practice the skills needed for healthy social, emotional and academic development.
Research shows that Conscious Discipline®:
• Decreases aggression
• Increases academic achievement
• Decreases impulsivity and hyperactivity in “difficult” children
• Creates a positive school climate
• Increases teaching time" (Info. from Consciousdiscipline.com)
You all became teachers because of your love for children. The first thing you should know about the conecpts of Conscious Discipline is that disciplining children STARTS IN THE HEART! All of your endeavors as a teacher have started in your heart, certainly not for the paycheck. Today's classrooms are more demanding than ever before with the teacher appraisal system, RTI, FCAT, and an increase in broken and dysfunctional families, leaving little parent support and emotinally unregulated children. Becky Bailey's Conscious Discipline model helps teachers create a classroom family environment that is a system based on love and guidance rather than fear and punishment. We all want to show our kids how to behave and make responsible choices, but in the heat of the moment sometimes, we model the exact behavior we are trying to change in our students. We explicitly teach all academic subject matter, but the US education system fails to explicitly teach social/emotional skills. Implementing Conscious Discipline (R) in your classroom will help you create a high challenge, low stress environment for you and your students. It will be a work in progress for 2-3 years. Think of this as learning a new language. Our first language is the way we were taught by our parents and teachers to discipline, using a system based on fear. The fear of punishment, shame, disappointment, etc... It's in our nature to say "If you do that one more time..." Or "I can't believe you just did that..." Or "What are you thinking..." Time out, spankings, scoldings, etc... are our first language for discipline because that's what we grew up with. These things all stop behaviors in the moment, but the goal should be to replace and change the behavior to one that is more appropriate. For example, when your child is whining for something (a daily struggle with Olivia :), your first instinct is probably the same as mine, to get frustrated with her and tell her to stop whining or she's going to time out, etc... By breathing with that child and moving them to a higher brain state, we can then show the child how to be effective in getting what they want. "You seem frustrated that I haven't gotten you a drink yet. But, I can't understand what you're asking me for until you use your big voice. Using your big voice to ask me for something to drink would be the right thing to do. Say 'Mom, could you please get me something to drink?' Practice that with me. Now try it on your own." And, when they successfully use those big words in context be sure to praise them "You did it! You asked for something to drink in a big voice. That was helpful because now I understand what you need. Good for you". Remember, "what you focus on, you get more of". So, if you focus on the whining, you're surely going to get more of it. If you focus on what you want the child to do, you'll get more of that. Also, remember that research says it takes a child doing something in context 2,000 times before it becomes a natural response. So, I must remember that I'm going to have to remind Olivia quite often how to get what she needs or wants without whining. The next time you want to say "How many times do I have to tell you?", the answer is 2,000 times in context. A phrase given by Ginny Luther is "fake it 'til you make it." This means use the script and push through until it becomes automatic. This is because it also takes adults about 2,000 times of using something in context to achieve automaticity. SO, the language and skills of Conscious Discipline will come with lots of practice and undesirable behaviors are our "opportunities to learn and teach."
This all seems easy and great on paper, but is going to be a work in progress for sometime to make it become your first language opposed to your second language. This is not a "solve all your classroom/parenting problems overnight" program. It's a program that is research based to be effective and takes time to learn and implement. This program is an inside out program - it only works if it's coming from your heart. If you are implementing this because the school says you have to and not because you want to create a classroom enviornment based on love, this is not going to work for you. The key component to this program is that it starts with the adults, it's personal growth before it's classroom management. You should take this one step at a time. You will be ready to get right to the cutesy things that you can implement in your classroom right now, but you need to understand the theory before you can put it into practice. It's like telling someone to perform heart surgery without understanding the functions of the heart. We will move through the "Successful 7" and the 7 Powers while learning the corresponding classroom functions and implementing them one skill at a time. We want you all to be comfortable with this transition and it to be a true inside out growth process for you professionally and personally for maximum effectiveness and success in the classroom.
This all seems easy and great on paper, but is going to be a work in progress for sometime to make it become your first language opposed to your second language. This is not a "solve all your classroom/parenting problems overnight" program. It's a program that is research based to be effective and takes time to learn and implement. This program is an inside out program - it only works if it's coming from your heart. If you are implementing this because the school says you have to and not because you want to create a classroom enviornment based on love, this is not going to work for you. The key component to this program is that it starts with the adults, it's personal growth before it's classroom management. You should take this one step at a time. You will be ready to get right to the cutesy things that you can implement in your classroom right now, but you need to understand the theory before you can put it into practice. It's like telling someone to perform heart surgery without understanding the functions of the heart. We will move through the "Successful 7" and the 7 Powers while learning the corresponding classroom functions and implementing them one skill at a time. We want you all to be comfortable with this transition and it to be a true inside out growth process for you professionally and personally for maximum effectiveness and success in the classroom.
So many things to implement, where do I begin?
You may be feeling a bit overwhelmed with how you will implement Conscious Discipline this year. I suggest that you learn the brain states first. It's really a simple concept and even if you don't understand it in detail, you can understand it enough to know the effect our internal emotional/brain state has on our behavior. Knowing the brain states is a sort of pre-requisite to being able to practice Conscious Discipline. Then, you should have a functional knowledge of all 7 social skills and practice, practice, practice. You MUST truly possess these social skills to be able to teach them. I suggest you start by looking at the Brain States and Successful Seven sections of this website. Read the resources on the Conscious Discipline website, and choose some videos on you tube to watch, and read the books. This will give you a good foundation. Once you have a good working knowledge of the theory and you successfully use the successful seven most of the time, you'll be ready to implement the structures below in your classroom. (And some of the structures/rituals/routines, will help you in acquiring or strengthening those skills. For example, the brain smart start will help you prepare yourself for the tasks of the day and conquering the skill of composure.) There are Classroom Structures, Rituals, & Routines - all listed and explained on this page.