“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”

This blog is based on the podcast “Consequences vs Punishment with High School Students” by Dr. Becky Bailey, the creator of Conscious Discipline.

Dr. Bailey begins the podcast by first defining the two words. Did you know that the word consequence has roots in Latin and French meaning “that which follows” or along the lines of growing out of an event or an effect. The legal definition of punishment is to afflict pain or a person losing something. As you can see, these two words are extremely different in definition, and yet are typically used interchangeably in education.

Through Conscious Discipline, students are taught that there are consequences for actions and to take responsibility for those ramifications rather than try to place blame and assign punishment for the behavior. This is a shift in mindset that we must make in education. In our role, we are always educating children. When we approach an issue from the standpoint of consequences so that the child understands this is the effect or the outcome of an event due to their actions rather than taking revenge on a child for disobeying, then child is able to take responsibility.

We should never give a child a punishment in school. The difference between punishment and consequences is the mindset that one views a situation. When a child is always afraid of the impending doom of a punishment then a child will not be able to learn in the classroom or change the problem behavior. Students (all people) go into a fight or flight brain mentality which inhibits the ability for them to learn from the situation.

Now that we know there is a significant difference between consequences and punishments, how do we implement consequences in the classroom? Let’s look at a systematic issue that I have seen in most buildings I have worked in so far.

Johnny decided to skip class one day. When he came to school the next day the principal called him into his office and gave him In School Suspension (ISS) for the day. Johnny goes to ISS and does not attend a single class all day. Let’s exam the consequence for Johnny, he did not want to go to the class he skipped and his consequence is to not got to class a second day… To me, Johnny was rewarded with not having to go to class again. This would be a scenario of a punishment rather than a consequence since it was not a natural event that grew from a situation. The punishment was removing social interaction and isolating the student.

A more appropriate consequence would be for Johnny to have to stay after school or come before school to make up the missed class time. The natural sequence of events would be that Johnny made a decision to skip his class time, and therefore has to make it up at a different time.

In the classroom we should look for naturally occurring consequences that come from a child’s decision. When a child chooses to not study for a test, the consequence is they get a low grade on the assessment. If it is a behavioral issue, such as a child acting out, we need to find out what the root cause for the behavior is and determine a natural consequence that matches the misbehavior. This is the whole purpose of Conscience Discipline, to be mindful of what the behavior is and why it has occurred. Once we understand why behavior has happened, then we need to show students that there are natural consequences for their decisions.

I want to make sure people understand, implementing consequences versus punishment does not mean that we as teachers turn our backs on bad behavior. Looking to use consequences in the classroom is working towards correcting the behavior and teaching the students long lasting changes. If a child is refusing to participate in the classroom activity simply sending them to the office for defiance will not result in any change. You will just get the satisfaction that the child got in trouble. Instead we should work to understand why the child is refusing to participate. Determining the why does not eliminate the need for a consequence, it just makes sure the consequence matches to behavior.

I am continuing my journey of understanding more about Conscious Discipline and look forward to helping my students socially and emotionally as well as academically. Here is the link for Conscious Discipline, give it a look and let me know what you think!

 

I have had a nontraditional career so far as an educator: It all began in college. I started off as an art major, but as the first semester was coming to an end I began thinking about my financial responsibilities after graduation… which led to me to the drawing board for another degree. Next, I settled on becoming a nurse, that was, until I had my first class and passed out from the sight of blood. This time my college advisor made me really think about what I wanted to do with my life. The funny thing about that was that I was a single mother and had no idea what I was going to do when I got home, let alone, what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

After looking through several course catalogs I finally settled on being an elementary teacher. I would love to say I got into teaching because I wanted to change lives and I loved children so much. But if I am being honest, I wanted to have the same schedule as my son and make a livable wage.

Fast forward to my senior year in college. Fall semester I was placed in a 4th grade classroom to observe and teach 3 lessons. This wasn’t too bad, I actually liked them this age of students. The Spring semester of my senior year I was placed in a kindergarten classroom. This was a time when I should be rejoicing about my upcoming graduation, and yet, I found myself in full blown panic mode. I did not like kindergartners and had decided I had a made a huge mistake! I could not teach elementary, but I felt it was too late to change my major now. In tears I went to my advisor and we looked through my transcript. Apparently, I had taken enough math classes as electives that I had a math minor. This meant I could get my teaching license and teach secondary math. The day was saved!

Instead of doing the traditional MAT program that the UofA-Fayetteville offered, I did a distance MAT program through UofA-Monticello. This program allowed me to have a job as a teacher in place of an internship. I needed this option as I was a single mother and needed to start making money immediately. Problem was, my undergraduate was early childhood education and I had only been in the classroom setting as “a teacher” for a total of 6 hours (not even 6 consecutive hours). I had not been in a secondary classroom besides 4 years prior when I was the high school student.

I was fortunate enough to find a school that took a risk with me and I am so thankful they did. I began my career in a junior high that housed 8th and 9th graders. As much as I loved my first job, I decided I should experience more grade levels to find my perfect fit. I am currently in my 8th year of teaching and I have been in 6 different buildings and 3 different districts.

Some people may see that and say that I just move around, but the reality is I was learning from each job. I was finding my purpose and pursuing it. I chose the degree so that I would have the same schedule as my children, but now I am passionate about education on a whole new level. My long term goals are to get my doctoral degree in educational policy writing and to work in DC. Each one of the buildings I have been in have given me a new perspective and an appreciation for the different ways to approach education. But, it also meant I have been “the new kid” 6 times so far in my career.

I have come to realize that my coworkers are not simply going to listen to me or seek my advice because I have taught for 8 years or the title I am given with my new job. They know nothing about me, so why should they? This year is the first time I have been out of the classroom. My first 7 years I was a math teacher and for the last 3 of those 7 years I was an ESL Caseload Manager as well. This year I am an ESL Coordinator for 2 buildings and my role is to collaborate with teachers to help our growing ESL population flourish in the general education classrooms.

So here I am, brand new district, brand new school, and brand new position. I started to think about the ways to gain my coworkers trust as a new person in the building and what I have learned so far this year about that process.

Relationships

I feel like I hear this word a lot in education; relationships. Relationships with students, relationships with coworkers, relationships with parents, relationships with the community… you get my point. It is all about relationships. But practically, what does that mean?

1. Present- It is amazing how much being of an impact it makes just being visible at meetings, in between classes, during lunch… It can be so easy with this workload to recluse to your classroom and never get out. Building a relationship takes work, and you have to be present to put that work in.
2. Reliable- In my specific role I cannot tell you how many times I get stopped in the hallway and asked about some time of paperwork, a student, an email… and if I tell a teacher that I will look into, but forget and never do, I have damaged that relationship. My way of keeping my self organized is to always have my phone with me so that when I am stopped in the hallways or I need to follow up on something I make a Google Calendar notification. I have quickly learned that if it is not in my calendar, it is probably not going to happen. Another person in the district that is in a similar role as me says she carries around a notepad with her at all times. That way if she is stopped she can jot down a quick note. So my advice is to find whatever way that works best of your to be reliable.
3. Kind- This may seem elementary, but can go the furthest out of anything else. Education is not for the faint of heart. There are days that the students are awful, parents are mean, or administration has to have a tough conversation with you. We all need that one person that keeps you going. Maybe you do not have to say anything, but just by offering a quick smile to remind others that we are all in this together can help a person keep going. Be the person that is always positive and making the most out of life, that positivity will be contagious and people will remember you.

Knowledgeable

Educators are called to be life long learners. One of the best parts about having a mixed level of tenure in your staff is that everyone can learn from everyone. The teachers fresh out of college may have new strategies or different types of technology to bring to the table. The veteran teachers have years of wisdom of how to handle those situations that are not taught in a college classroom. Both sides of the spectrum are valuable and should be respected.

What you need to be careful with is that no one is expected to be an expert in all areas. No matter where you are in your career. It is okay to admit that you do not know, but that you will look into it. True collaboration and trust among coworkers with allow everyone to learn from one another with the focus always being on what is best for the students.

Trustworthy

Lastly, you must be trustworthy. I have already touched on this with the reliability aspect when you say you will do something, then do it. Trustworthy also means that people can rely on you to do what you are supposed to do when know one is watching (aka, integrity). Students and teachers talk. If you are lacking in any area it will not go unnoticed. It may for a while, but know that it will catch up to you.

Being trustworthy means keeping student information confidential. I think back on buildings where I have worked that at any given moment you could walk into the teacher lounge and hear teachers talking about students, gossiping really. This breaks down the trust among teachers. Even if a teacher is not participating in the conversations everyone knows who “talks” in the workroom. As a teacher, I never trusted those teachers with anything. I kept any issues I was having to myself. I wanted to show my students the respect they deserved by not talking about them in a negative way if possible. There are times when it is necessary to have tough conversations about students, but with a limited audience.

Be the teacher that can be trusted with any information and trusted to always do your work to the best of your ability. Couple this with being knowledgeable, humble, and building positive relationships will help you being a motivator in your school even as a newbie.

Over the years I have heard the phrase “project based learning” and have spoken with several teachers who have boasted about having a being project based learning (PBL) classroom. As I have had the opportunity to visit different learning environments it has become clear that there are some misconceptions about PBL. I do not claim to be an expert by any means, but I have done quite a bit of research on how to structure your classroom into one that lays a foundation for learning through inquiry and project based strategies that lead to authentic learning.

I have created a few infographics to share what I have learned so far about PBL. Feel free to download and share! The first image shares the origin of PBL and why it is an important style of learning that should be used in the 21st century classroom.

The second infographic is seven essential characteristics to have a successful project based classroom.

For the past 3 years I have gotten to work with a range of English Language Learners (ELLs). Not only do these students come in with a variety of different home languages, but they also bring their own unique story to my classroom. As an educator it is my job to give each of these students a voice to share their story. The main way I can do that is by helping them acquire English. The catch is, learning a new language takes years and a ton of hard work. I wanted to find a way to give my students a voice right now.

The Build Up

I had the opportunity to go to Montana for a sustainability conference a few summers ago and it was life changing. Not only for how I approached my work in the classroom, but also in the way I viewed every day life. I decided to live with purpose. Through out the course I was given several strategies to take back to my community to build awareness and help educate people on the sustainability struggles our world is facing today. One of my favorite parts of the conference was the presenters did not say we all need to stop driving cars, we need to only eat organic food and absolutely not meat, and no more toilets because of the water waste. Instead they gave practical solutions in areas that every single person can do. I will share those tips in a later blog.

What About Giving a Voice?

One of the strategies to help students put into words how they feel about the current state of our environment is to not actually make them say or write it down, but rather, to show it through pictures. This got me to thinking, what if I could do this with my ESL students. They can show me through pictures what matters most to them and their families. I did more research on this topic and a school district in Colorado had the same thought. Their approach was to have a select group of parents who were given cameras and asked to take pictures about their lives and cultures to share with the school. This was built into an adult literacy program to help the parents learn English along side their children.

I decided to take it a step further by giving the vision to the children. Let the students talk with their parents and decide what matters most to them. So I did just that and here are the steps. Disclaimer- I am going on year three of doing this and have changed steps drastically each year as I have seen what has and has not worked. I am looking forward to sharing how this years project goes.

Step 1

I wrote out a project summary and rubric. The purpose of this project is for me to understand my students and their families better. Each student is required to take a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 20 photos that show what they value in life. I encouraged students to complete a portion of the photos with their parents and secretly hoped this could spark some meaningful conversations about heritage between the students and their families.

Step 2

I went out and bought five digital cameras. My original plan was to get disposable cameras for the nostalgia of it, but then decided this was impractical. Now, these digital cameras are not fancy by any means. I purchased water proof/shock resistant Polaroid cameras for 45 dollars a piece. Handing these to my students was hilarious since none of them had used a camera before, they had only taken pictures with their phones. After a quick mini lesson on how to take pictures and delete the ones they did not like I sent them on their way. They had one week to take their pictures.

Step 3

Once students turned the cameras back in I uploaded them to my computer and created shared google folders between myself and each student with his/her own photos. Now it was time for the students to write a summary or explanation of what the photo represented and why it was important to them. I provided sentence frames for my each of my students to help them get started. This step took the longest as each of them had around 15 pictures to write about. I would suggest planning a few weeks of allowing students to work on these. My class is a Seminar style class so they had to fit in working on these around other commitments.

Step 4

Presentation- my favorite part! Each student had a choice of what format to use for the presentation. I suggested things such as a video/slideshow, a poster board/desk top presentation, and I provided clothes pins for them to clip the pictures up throughout the classroom. It was so much fun to see their creativity blossom during this part of the process. Each project was unique and truly a representation of their story.

Step 5

This last step is optional as each of these stories is the students own story to tell if they chose to. I took a new job this year as an ESL designee a school district and I work in two specific buildings. Once my new group of students have finished the project this year I plan to have a family night at school to allow the students the opportunity to share what they have down with their families and any school employees who wish to participate. In previous years I have only done a small classroom presentation, but decided it was time to share their beautiful experiences with anyone who wants to be a part of it.

Next Steps

I will be writing another blog after this years projects are finished and share the pros and cons of this latest sequence of steps. For now I am happy to be doing everything I can to give all children a voice.

30 years ago Robin Williams starred in the movie Dead Poet’s Society, which is still watched in classrooms today. In this film we see a teacher motivating his students to be the very best they can be. It’s a wonderful portrayal of an educator challenging and leading students to always do their best by seizing the day. It’s also an accurate representation of what an educator should be. It might not as romanticized as this Hollywood depiction, but it’s an educators job to connect with student and help them reach their potential.

But that was 30 years ago.

While the role of the educator is still the same thing, connecting with students, helping them grow academically, and preparing them for life, there has been a shift in the cultural identity of teachers.

Today, movies, television shows, and media in general represent teachers in a less glamorous way than they were depicted 30 years ago. Teachers are portrayed as the adversary. They are inept or incompetent. They are morally corrupt, and they are the enemy.

This summer it was recommended to me that I binge watch the show “Big Little Lies”. If you have not seen this show yet it has an all star cast with Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, Shaliene Woolley, Zoe Kravitz, and many more amazing actors and actresses. I was intrigued by the line up alone, so I figured why not.

About 20 minutes into the first episode a first grade teacher calls an impromptu meeting with the students and their parents. She says that the day has been great, but a student has hurt a fellow classmate. She then has the victim stand in front of everyone, and asks for the attacker to step forward. When no one comes forward the teacher then asks the little girl to point to whoever hurt her, which she did.

The mother of the accused child (wrongly so we find out a few episodes later) was outraged as was the mother of the victim. All the parents were talking about how the teacher handled the situation and how awful it was.

Throughout the series there are several situations in which the principal and teachers act inappropriately and speak to parents in ways that I would never speak to another person: especially not in a professional setting. The show is not based around the students in school and quite frankly the principal and teachers have very small roles. This is why it bothered me so much that the educators were displayed as incompetent and unprofessional in so many ways.

While driving around with my husband I brought up my take away from the show and how the educators were portrayed. This lead to a lengthy discussion about teachers and principals being the antagonist in shows, movies, and the media and trying to decide why that is.

Big Little Lies is just one example. The negative portrayal of educators in media has become the new normal. This portrayal shapes the way society views educators. When people see teachers demonized in Hollywood it teaches them to treat educators as the enemy. I plan on writing a more data-driven paper in the near future. I just wanted to get my thoughts out there and get feedback from fellow educators, parents of students, former students, and current students as I move forward.

Earlier this year I wrote a post about Active Recovery for Educators. The blog highlights the need for not only recovery during times of rest, but active recovery. This term is mostly used in athletic settings. The idea is that an athlete should not take entire days off, but instead do lighter activities so their bodies are still recovering without completely taking off. This helps your body transition more easily from active to non-active and vice versa.

I can struggle with finding that perfect balance between active recovery, complete recovery, and completely active. I have been “off work” for a month now. In that month I have taken a graduate class, gone to a work conference for AVID in Dallas, attended my son’s baseball tournaments every weekend, and started remodeling the kitchen. Along with everything else I have also begun looking at ways to allow myself to recover from the previous school year and to actively prepare for the upcoming year. I decided to write down 10 ideas for fellow educators to engage in active recovery this summer with me that do not break the bank.

Read a Book

Throughout the school year I have several books that I am reading and studying to better serve my students. I love these books and can completely get lost in them. The summer is a good time to either get caught up on those educational books that piled up over the school year or to pick up a book that is purely for fun and for yourself. Listening to an audio book is another great way to get to more books than you may have time to actually sit down and read. My current audio book on my play list is Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies and I have quite enjoyed it.

Be a Tourist in Your Own Town/State

Two summers ago was one of my favorite summer vacations we have taken as a family and we did not even leave the state of Arkansas. I was born and raised in Arkansas and yet I had never gone down to Southern Arkansas and dug for diamonds which we are famous for. So after 28 years, my husband and I loaded up the car with camping equipment and both kids and headed out on an Arkansas vacation. It was so neat to see what all my state had to offer and to share that with my children. This summer we have spent our free time checking out local affairs, such as the free summer concerts series featuring The Dip at JBGB, volunteering at the BITE event in Bentonville at the BrightWater culinary school, and hitting up some local breweries. If you live in NWA you may not realize just how much there is to do here, we have stayed busy and yet barely scratched the surface of everything that is offered in this quaint community.

Develop a Workout Routine

This has been one of the harder parts of active recovery, but also one of the most rewarding. Every day I do something active; go on a bike ride, go for a run/walk, climb, circuit workout, hiking… I figure if I develop these habits now it will be easier to keep them throughout the school year. I will touch base again in October and share how my workout routine is going!

Try New Recipes in the Kitchen

Okay, so being honest, getting a home cooked meal on the table 5 nights a week during the school year is nearly impossible with my busy schedule. Add on to that my kids getting older and busier as well. This summer we are actively trying new foods and recipes and it has been such sweet time with my kids and I. We also tried Plated and was very surprised with how good the food is. We will be doing this throughout the school year so that we can keep up trying new foods without having to spend too much time picking out recipes and grocery shopping.

Learn a New Hobby

This summer I have taken on trying to learn how to sew. I had a pile of clothes that have needed to be hemmed or fixed. With technology such as YouTube you can learn just about anything, for instance, how to put a zipper back on its tracks if it has come off on one side.

Go Floating

More than going floating, getting outside is a huge part of active recovery for me. I need to be surrounded by natural beauty and soak up as much as a I can before the school year returns. Floating is my preferred way of getting outside because of the scenic views, little workout from paddling, the adrenaline rush of the rapids, and then the relaxation throughout the float.

Attending Educational Conference/Road Trip

During the summer is a great time to hone in your skills and learn new strategies for the upcoming school year. When choosing which conferences to attend it is always a good idea to start by looking at the cities you want to visit and go from there. Last summer I got to road trip to Chicago for a Pre-AP conference, New Orleans for a Solution Tree RTI conference, and recently returned from Dallas attending an AVID conference.

Do a DIY Project in Your Home

I can tell you from personal experience of what NOT to do, do not pick too many projects the day you get out of school. You will end up with a garage full of old pieces of furniture, old appliances, new appliances, wet saws, back splash pieces, new light fixtures, and all of the things that are typically in the garage minus your vehicles. When doing home improvement projects make sure to do one at a time. Make a list of priorities at the beginning of the summer and then begin ticking them off as you go, only starting a new one when the one before is finished. This will help keep you and your family sane for the summer.

Garage Sale

I never realize just how much stuff we accumulate throughout the year until it is time for Summer Cleaning. **There is no such thing as spring cleaning when you are a teacher, spring time is for testing and survival mode. So once you have gone through the house and pulled out all of the things you do not need go ahead and have a garage sale. This will help bring in a few extra dollars and will make you happy with the newly cleaned and organized house.

Participate in Educational Twitter Chats

This last one is my new favorite and is completely free! There are always educational twitter chats going on that anyone can join. My three favorites are #edchat, #edtechchat, and #LeadUpChat. With twitter you can always search a topic you are interested in and find great resources and meet new people to follow. Summer time is a time to learn new technology if you are not used to it and prepare for the following school year.

“For the times they are a-changin'” applied when Bob Dylan wrote and released them in 1964 and the words still apply today. Some may say they apply more now than even.

Education is at a point where demands have never been higher and stress on both teachers and students are at a breaking point. Strikes across the countries have broken out asking for more pay so teachers no longer have to work three jobs along with being a full time teacher just to pay the bills. College tuition and student loan debts are at an all time high and the scholarship pool is getting more demanding of children. Celebrities are doing what ever it takes to get their child a spot at a premier college while children of immigrants are left not knowing if they can remain in the country once they turn 18.

As a teacher in this world I am always looking for how I can prepare my students the most so they can be successful in the 21st century. Schools are changing to reflect a PLC model that maximizes collaboration and minimizes isolation, standardized assessments rigor are growing each year, proficiency is being redefined regularly, schools are implementing Social Emotional Learning that all teachers need training on, and much more. With all of these changes it can be hard to know what is best to focus on while trying to equip my students for post high school life.

As the 2018-2019 school year is wrapping up I always try and reflect on my highs and lows. While doing some research I came across an article about assessments and the need to bring hope, efficacy, and achievement back to the classroom. In this article I learned about the “COTE of armor” for helping students become their best and must successful selves. C-confidence, O-optimism, T-tenacity, and E-enthusiasm. This article also went on to explain the six tenets of using assessment to build hope, efficacy, and achievement in the classroom which was very intriguing, but I could not stop thinking about this COTE of armor.

While contemplating the state of our country and seeing how heavily divided it is in all areas, I want to find a way to unite people and help my students be the movers and shakers of the next generation. Those four characteristics are not only what is needed in the classroom to be successful, but also in life.

As I move into my summer break I will take the time to prepare myself mentally and physically for another school year. But, I will also spend part of my summer researching ways to instill courage, optimism, tenacity, and enthusiasm into all of my students. I look forward to sharing my successes and setbacks with you all. I may not master teaching the 21st century student in the 2019-2020 school year, but I will put on my COTE of armor every day; helping educate and prepare our future leaders.