Blog - Page 2 of 24 - Sound Discipline

05Nov 2020 by Pase Garrett

November Tips & Tools – Holding on to Hope (For Teachers)

Tips & Tools

This year has been rough. An undeniable understatement. Hope seems hard to reach, especially when our resilience has been tested these in these long challenging months since last spring. Yet hope is an antidote to despair. And while acknowledging the emotional toll of these times is crucial, equally crucial is our ability to hold onto a belief in positive future possibilities. Hope can sustain us, and gives our hard work a purpose that fuels us with energy and optimism. The same is true for our students. Students who are high in hope have greater academic achievement, stronger friendships, more creativity …

05Nov 2020 by Pase Garrett

November Tips & Tools – Harnessing Hope (For Parents)

Tips & Tools

Hope is the belief in a positive future. It is an optimistic, exciting sense of what is possible. In this time of global health crisis, economic uncertainty, racial reckoning, and physical disconnection from other human beings, the day to day challenges of doing everything differently make it difficult to hold onto hope. Yet hope is an antidote to despair. It can give us the energy to persevere and can offer a sense of purpose, calm and connection. Parents are children’s first hope builders. Your presence, connection, and attitude can help your child be more hopeful. They look to you to …

14Oct 2020 by Pase Garrett

October Tips & Tools – Four Ideas for Stressed Parents

Tips & Tools

We are parenting more hours a day than ever before. In-person school, in-person play dates and visits with family and friends are things we hope to resume in the near future, but they aren’t providing much relief for parents at the moment.

Have you noticed any of these issues coming up for your kids?

stressing out over seemingly small things, like tech issues during on-line school or having to ask the teacher a question
more disorganized than usual and having difficult time keeping up with assignments
less physically active
less social and more isolated
on screens much more than usual

…

09Oct 2020 by Pase Garrett

Sound Discipline Data Teams: Addressing Disproportionality in Discipline

Featured, In the News, Point of View

Sound Discipline school data teams are representatives from the school community who share leadership and meet regularly to review disciplinary referral data with a trauma informed, solution focused lens. As day-to-day situations come up, the data helps place those incidents in a broader context, revealing patterns and pointing to deeper systemic issues — processes, policies, practices, and mindset — often the upstream causes of problems in the classroom.

Ms. Thompson’s 4th grade classroom was a stark example of the kinds of issues data teams can uncover. When Ms. Thompson saw her disciplinary referral numbers, she was shocked. All of the …

08Oct 2020 by Pase Garrett

October Tips & Tools for Educators

Tips & Tools

2020 is not what any of us imagined when we chose to become educators! Most of you are teaching online and have not met your students except through a screen. We are hearing that the learning curve has been steep and that you are stressed …and it is only October. We, at Sound Discipline, thank you for your Herculean efforts and for all that you are doing for our community’s children. Our job is to help support you in your job. Each month in our newsletter we will offer two tips or tools that have been proven to make a …

11Jun 2020 by Pase Garrett

Inspiring Stories of Local Youth Activism

Featured, Growing Responsibility, In the News, Inspiring Stories, Motivation

Myhanh Wong is a senior at Franklin High School and committed to supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. She believes that “in a week of protests, the people have accomplished so much, even bringing defunding the police to the table. This idea was unheard of two weeks ago. Real change is happening”.

Her advice for young activists is that “they should educate themselves. We can protest the system all we want, but change comes from first understanding the sytem. Make sure to fact check what you see on the news and social media”. She also advises taking breaks. “Individual burnout …

11Jun 2020 by Pase Garrett

Contributions Kids Can Make to Support their Community during Challenging Times

Connection and love, Growing Responsibility, In the News, Science and parenting, Self-care, Tips & Tools

Ideas for Children to Contribute During Protests

Make posters and signs to put in the yard or to give to protesters

Organize their own demonstration or protest

Make food or provide drinks and snacks for people who are protesting

Write letters to community, city, regional or state officials and elected officials

Research organizations that do work in a field of their interest. Create a plan to share out to friends and family. Fundraise and/or donate to those organizations.

Stage a toy protest, chalk your walk, and other ideas – 5 ways for kids and families to peacefully protest from home…

11Jun 2020 by Pase Garrett

Sartori Elementary Practices Repair and Problem Solving

Featured, Feelings and emotions, Inspiring Stories

Our November Champions are the staff team from Sartori Elementary School, for the many creative ways they’ve been integrating Positive Discipline into their school practices this fall. In September, they designated their first lab days for Social & Emotional Learning (SEL). Grade level teaching teams explored goals for class meetings, then planned a Positive Discipline lesson focusing on structures, talk moves and questions to help students be sense makers. They tried out their lesson together in two classrooms, with time allotted for the teaching team to reflect after each one. The teamwork and the curiosity of the lab model …

21May 2020 by Pase Garrett

7 Ideas for Learning About Feelings

Feelings and emotions, Tips & Tools

Learning to understand, name and express feelings is important for self-regulation. Developing this skill helps children feel better about themselves, form healthy relationships, and navigate life’s challenges with more resiliency.

When we name our feelings, we’re accessing the thinking part of the brain. This act of labeling the feeling gives us that little bit of space from the feeling itself, which helps calm down the emotional center of the brain. This integration in the brain helps us makes sense of our experiences so that we can respond rather than react. Dan Siegel explains this integration, Name it to Tame it, …

18Apr 2020 by Pase Garrett

La reparación es una poderosa herramienta para el aprendizaje y la conexión

Conflict, Connection and love, Mutual Respect, Tips & Tools

Como padres podemos sentir mucha presión para hacer las cosas “bien” y hacer que nuestros hijos sean ‘felices’ todo el tiempo. Eso simplemente no es posible, y hay ciencia del cerebro que demuestra que los errores son una poderosa oportunidad de aprendizaje tanto para adultos como para niños. El Dr. Daniel Siegel y la Dra. Tina Faye Bryson, en su nuevo libro El poder de aparecer, nos animan a aceptar los errores que cometemos. El proceso de estar presentes con nuestros hijos, resolver problemas y hacer una reparación, puede acercarnos.

Los padres pueden pensar que no debemos …