Episode 50: Why Conscious Discipline Belongs in Secondary Schools

0:09 welcome to real talk for real teachers I'm dr. Becky Bailey the creator of consciousness I'm an expert in education child development and a lifelong teacher and learner for those listening who are not aware of conscious discipline yet it is a comprehensive brain based trauma-informed social-emotional learning program but yet it is unique in that it integrates school climate classroom management and self-regulation into one seamless system today we are

0:42 talking about conscious discipline in secondary school I invite you to join afton an eighth and ninth grade English teacher from Arkansas and myself as we explore how she implemented conscious discipline in her secondary classrooms welcome I'm here with Afton's life so Afton tell me about what you do and your position so I teach eighth and ninth grade English at a junior high school in Arkansas and that's pretty much it

1:16 that's pretty much it so people think of conscious discipline and often they think either early childhood or are at best elementary so now here you're in eighth grade 8th to 9th grade so one how did you hear about it and to then we'll go into how in the world you figured out how to implement so I heard about it a couple of years ago Jill moly came to our district in Springdale and she put on a session I think it was titled

1:46 conscious discipline for secondary and at the time I had been teaching for 10 years and I thought oh you know I'll go do a refresher on some discipline classroom management I probably need you know every visit after 10 years she did yeah see what's new and I kind of teased a little bit but what is this discipline that's conscious okay I don't know and kind of on a whim I went to it fell in love with it I think it was the first

2:15 break I ran over to Jill and I started talking to her and I was like this makes sense to me I mean I think I had tears in my because I was thinking internally first just about my own healing and for me yes and I was just amazed so of course that night I called everyone I knew in my family in my school my principal I said this is the best training I have ever been to there's a book and can I please

2:43 have this book is there money and my principal said yes there's money are you willing to lead this book study that you're telling me about if I buy a book for all of the faculty I said yes and so that first year we got the book I led the book study and then the next year I went I commit I made a commitment with Jill that summer and I said that I'm gonna go to CD one and so that next year

3:11 a group of us went to CD one from my school and of course deepened my learning in my own practice and a lot of reflections happened at CD one some things started clicking yeah they're right information right yes and my journey is just continued on from there one of the questions I always get is how in the world do you do conscious discipline with eighth graders at a

3:41 junior high school and my response is always if I can do it with myself and I'm much older than an eighth grader then why couldn't I do it with someone who's brilliant answer I'm gonna use that one yes that's brilliant so what did you do first I mean so I have several questions they're all rushing while I try to just want to know but let's go back to the book study how many did you get resistance how many actually

4:10 were on board with you when you went through that book study yes we got resistance on board it was it was just anybody who was willing it was not a mandate right by the principal which I appreciated so everyone was given a book when we came back to school in August and I just made an announcement and my principal gave me a couple minutes and I just went up there with my excitement and I invited everyone you have this

4:42 book if you are willing I am going to host these sessions in my classroom I did one before school and after school for anyone who could come and make time and I invite even if you didn't read this section please come let's discuss let's talk about scenarios that are happening in your classroom let's talk about things that are happening in your household with your own kids with yourself with your spouse with your family members and how many did you get

5:10 roughly ballpark I would say that maybe 15 out of about 55 Wow well that's a good that's a good bit and did they did that 15 kind of stick with it or at the end of the day how many really kind of joined you on the effort I would say that 15 was pretty committed 15 I think so and so when you started putting it in your classroom and these other people started putting in the classroom did

5:37 that influence some of the other folks a little bit it definitely did and I think my passion for it yeah kind of radiated yeah and then the students would go and talk about well in Machias classroom we did this and they started teaching others and so just little bits and pieces I think was helpful for those teachers who were a little resistant because they thought oh well I can I can do this breathing I mean yeah you can do

6:07 that so that's I find that interesting what you just said is that once the students got wind of it then they kind of were part of the movement to encourage others to come along and that's interesting because one of the excuses that people say is my kids are too old for that you know it's like oh that's something you would do with a 10 year older with a 5 year old or with a 6 year old

6:33 and what I'm hearing you say is once the students got a grasp of it or an understanding of it they themselves would have liked to have seen it spread throughout the school is that correct and a reflection that I've had is when people say conscious discipline is babyish and again I'm like it's conscious discipline is not babyish again you can you can practice it at any age and most importantly with yourself but it's the structures that people view

7:02 as baby and right and those can be tweaked to fit your personality your students and your situation yes and as kids get older the structures aren't quite as important as it is for them to grasp the powers so they can start managing their own mind you know so it does switch slightly with young kids you'd have a lot of structures because they need that they don't really read right well they can't reflect but as you get older you have that same skill we

7:34 have a reflection of wandering and taking things internally and seeing how they fit with your life so it to me it makes complete sense so give me then let's take that on since we went there so what are some of the structures you found helpful and the kids seem to enjoy okay so the brain Smart Start yes beginning class and I at my school we have seven different class periods for about forty seven minutes and so some of

8:06 the resistance was I only have 47 minutes and I have to teach English or I have to teach math and that takes too long and I don't have time and so I have timed it I have timed the brain Smart Start and that is probably that I think that was voted the most one and surprisingly to me because I had my own story I was projecting and I didn't think it was going to be but the wish

8:26 well it's very powerful for them but the brain Smart Start I think max three four minutes and then we were together the rest of the time present and if someone wasn't present we had the skills to be able to help that person come back to us and so so let me just see so a three minute let's say three minute ish investment out of 47 what you're saying kept them engaged in attentive

8:59 for the 44 left it truly did and if if and sometimes we do veer off and our mind wanders yes and so the transitions that I've been able to implement let's say I noticed that the class is feeling really kind of down yes for whatever's going on out in the world out in the hallways we would take 30 seconds stand up ghost give someone a high five and tell them something good that's going on in your life right now or if we needed

9:29 to calm and breathe I mean just rubbing the hands and the breathing was a fast one that I found and so I might have to give up a maximum of one more minute incrementally hearing right but yes we were able to be present and if we weren't we could get back on track more quickly versus before conscious discipline I'm a Yeller and that was kind of my skill and so I would just yell hey come on let's go what are you

9:57 doing oh my god and I think I spent I would lose multiple minutes I mean probably 20% of class spread out throughout the class right dealing with conflict yeah and pulling them back together yes so the investment you're saying just in and in the brain Smart Start paid off in learning and did you see that reflected in discipline referrals or grades or how did that reflect in those things we

10:29 quote measure so to speak so the first year that I started practicing conscious discipline which was not a complete practice of understanding and I do think that with conscious discipline and practicing it's something that we're always going to be working with and practice I think it's definitely a practice never over which I kind of enjoy because that I'm always in it the first year amazingly enough 79 percent

11:00 of my students on the state test had average to high growth so that was their growth not that they were on level but growing from the previous right which was huge and then this past year on our interim test preparing for the state test which we don't have our results back for yet ninety-one percent of my students were honor above grade level which was well that is those numbers are huge well that

11:31 is exciting congratulations for trusting the process and and going with your gut because I'm I heard earlier it resonated with you and you just grabbed hold so let's go back so that I had my experience in working with older students is they've always adored the wish well they have got so much on their heart in their mind and so much so much of world coming out at them that that wish well I've had it where you put up a

12:03 thing and you couldn't find one inch left on that they'll squeeze little writings in it so you to found that out they like the wish well so tell us about that so the I was hesitant that was not something that I added my first year yes because I was afraid with all that was going on with the world with is that going to be religious is that too hippie-dippy yeah I was hesitant yes so if anyone else out there is hesitant

12:27 it's okay it is okay it definitely is okay it's your energy on it that's gonna sell it anyway so if you're hesitant leave it out okay and so last year I thought you know what I'm all-in I'm gonna try it and so I led the first wish well it does eventually become a student job if they're willing to do it and they love that job they love all the jobs but they particularly want to lead that one and

12:53 so we just did a quick wish well again I think in my classroom I just say to the student job ten seconds you know just set a timer on your phone real quick and we turn our focus inward and we think of somebody that we want to send well wishes and we and I kind of lead them in different practices think of someone you're having conflict with think of someone in this room that you notice today sometimes the students will

13:18 stand up and say I need well wishes this is what's going on and they will there and so we take that and the first time I did it every single class period that day I found people were crying because it just resonated with them they were just so involved in sending that positivity out and if I could I have a big aha I would love to share please yes so when I first learned about wish well I

13:47 thought it was just this amazing power that I sent out to people yes like it was a superhuman power and I kind of was able to happy people up or I was able to contribute to their state and Here I am shooting out all this laughs well I found earlier in the year when this student started to take over the wish weld job he made an oops and instead of ten seconds he said we're gonna wish well

14:15 for a minute and I heard like wow no we're going with it we're going and internally I'm thinking oh my goodness a whole minute we got this we got this and so what I chose to do with that minute is I looked at every student in that class as you know they're not looking at me I'm looking at them saying I wish you well and I'm really focused on that and the rest of the class period it went

14:39 beautifully it was like the perfect class and I have lunch next and by the way this is a on level English class this is not super high yet amazing well-behaved pristine yeah you know the kids were not perfect I did not want to say tip portrayed that but I sat down and ate my lunch and I thought what was different was my lesson just on today yeah and then I thought well wish well was really long and at that moment I

15:10 realized that those students were still pushing my trigger buttons but I viewed them differently and so every interaction I had was positive and so I thought oh silly often wish well isn't just for the other person it's for me too yeah and I didn't get that it's amazing how life presents you um that'll that allows that information to come in yes and and the wish well is the fast-track from your lower center to

15:42 your higher center and once you get up to that higher to Center life does look a little more pleasant to us and we can see the best in others so good for you I mean it happens I mean still happens to me I mean every sometimes I'll be talking and something will come out of mouth and I'm like that is important that makes sense oh I get it right in the middle of saying something I might have been

16:06 saying a hundred times I'll say something in a different way and all of a sudden I'm like I get my own saying it was like wow that just happened yesterday in class that was pretty cool so you have now you haven't you've been mentioning jobs so I mean you've got how many kids in a class I can have up to 30 so usually it's like 25 to 27 okay 25 to 27 students in seven periods now I have

16:35 a plan okay so six so 25 let's just take 25 25 students six periods 47 minutes okay so tell me how did how do you do this job thing so I sat down and this was something I felt comfortable implementing my first year and I just sat down and thought what were some of the jobs that were important for my class to run what was really needed mm-hmm and so I came up with a list and

17:04 I really tried to come up with like 40 jobs just more than what I would have in a class because each class period some some of the jobs will repeat and some of them depending on if they're beginning or end of the day they want and I just came up with a list like that for example attendance person receptionist answer the phone an important one for me is timekeeper that person gets my attention 10 minutes before class to help me with timing of

17:35 my lesson good things which is as we it's an activity we do where we separate into our groups and we share something good that's going on in our lives and then the good thing person just will randomly call out all right Becky you share what good things going on in your life right now and they love that to play that so we play that a couple times a week and so we did I mean we have a ton of jobs it's and how did

18:05 the students respond to those they respond well I received much resistance and if there there have been jobs that I have thought you know so I came up with one cuz that first year I was like what do I do what's important and I did get stuck and so I thought well organizer I mean I do need help organizing sometimes and that was a job that didn't need to be completed every single day and it started to fall by the wayside and so I

18:31 just revisited that with the student so do you feel like you're contributing to the class and turns out no they didn't yeah they were watching all these other students lights hey you know go get the lights Maria and she would go get the lights but this student wasn't able to contribute and I thought well let's what can we do differently and so I found that I don't have to be the keeper of all the information and come up with all

18:55 the ideas that the students can contribute as well and so a lot of the jobs I have now were not even created by me halfway through the year hey can I do this job that's perfect I didn't know we needed an artist that was one that I would never have thought of but the student did and so the student would come he would like one to class and grab the markers and so he could be the first

19:19 one there and have more time during the passing period and he would draw a picture on the board and of course all the other classes after him would run to class and see oh what did Jorge draw today I can't wait to see what it is and so I mean utilizing yourself and what is important to you for your classroom to run what's really helpful but then utilizing your students you know that's I mean that sounds simple but we just

19:45 don't think like that because a lot of people say oh my gosh I can't how could we possibly do this with 13 14 15 year-olds and I'm like how could we possibly do anything with a 2 3 and a 4 and a 5 five year old I mean they certainly can contribute some degree but it really is falling on us to be the creative one and the and to get it going and then they'll take over after a while but when you get

20:12 up to to the eighth and ninth grade you can create this just like you said they set up their own goal their own vision how do you want this class to run and now make it happen to me it sounds simpler than trying to do it with a three-year-old but yes so if you had like three things and to all the upper grades or it and that have I have 50

20:42 minutes I'm going to make it 50 I have 50 minutes I have six periods and I can't imagine investing this time or investing time in going through the book investing time and learning about conscious discipline and basically just to remind people conscious discipline is really just a way to help everyone set and achieve their goals and be aware

21:12 when they're off in the weeds and become conscious of when they're off their path and be willing to come back to that path that's as simple as we can say it so what would be some things you would say to other junior high secondary teachers or principals so the most powerful thing for me has truly been the change in myself so and if you invested your time in something personally I'm gonna suggest investing time in doing the book

21:44 study or if you're a video person watching the videos the building resilient homes in schools video series was very powerful and well received by my faculty because they could not only watch the videos but download the audio and just go on a walk and listen so I do think the change in oneself is the most important thing because that radiates out something else that I kind of got stuck on but then sort of release was I got really into using the language

22:16 and the right words and what sort of Oh what are you doing kind of internally beat myself up but what I notice with the students if my intention was there because I've done all this internal work they still felt it they were positively impacted but what I was trying to do and so supportive of me so the posters and all these structures while while they're great even if you don't have them and I did not have them that first year and

22:44 still look at my test scores right and I have many many quotes from students just saying her classroom felt safe I felt noticed I was seen it feels different in there it feels like a family in her classroom I love that mish life invests in me and I didn't have the words and I didn't have the structures I did not even have what would be considered a correct brain Smart Start but the fact that I was trying and we

23:13 were calming and connecting the it helped that did it I mean that is beautiful because you summed up the essence the true essence of what conscious discipline is it is about changing yourself first and being very very conscious of your intention and understanding intention changes the outcomes and the words and the structures and all that flew flew around it are just reminders for us they're not really that important if we can do those

23:44 two things so thank you so much Afton for stepping out there and kind of being a pioneer in secondary school and certainly for sharing it with us of course well even though I was sitting right there I still find that interesting so what are we celebrating well I'm going to celebrate Afton's beautiful statement if I can do conscious discipline with myself I can certainly do it with anyone in secondary schools beautiful statement and makes so

24:15 much sense so I don't never thought to answer it that way but if anyone asked me again oh I you can't do conscious discipline with these older kids I'm gonna say well I do it with myself and I'm a lot older than they are so what's Becky up - well I'm in the process of planning my first trip and we're taking a team of master instructors over to China so that process of beginning that training project starts this October so I'll be

24:40 doing a little bit of training others will be doing more training and I will be doing public relations work so all y'all out there and you know me need to be wishing me well in my public relations career here so it is very exciting we're so much looking forward to it so until next time I wish you well [Music] for more episodes of real talk with real teachers by dr. Becky Bailey visit consciousdiscipline.com forward slash podcasts you can also subscribe to this

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