15Mar 2021 by Mary Power
The COVID One-Year Mark: Let’s not go back

The COVID One-Year Mark: Let’s not go back

Brain Science, Connection and love, In the News, Point of View, Resilience

 

We will not go back to normal. Normal never was. Our pre-corona existence was not normal other than we normalized greed, inequity, exhaustion, depletion, extraction, disconnection, confusion, rage, hoarding, hate, and lack. We should not long to return, my friends. We are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment. One that fits all of humanity and nature.

— Sonya Renee Taylor

On March 5 of last year, Sound Discipline’s leadership team met to make a COVID contingency plan. A 2-week school closure had just been announced. We drew all over a whiteboard, planning for three scenarios; 1) …

Read More
Rethinking Rewards: Alternatives to Offering Incentives

Rethinking Rewards: Alternatives to Offering Incentives

Teachers, you have been accomplishing incredible feats this year! It is mind-boggling how your job has changed because of the pandemic and online teaching. Though some of your students are thriving, you may be worried about many who do not seem engaged and who aren’t completing assignments. It is easy to think that rewards may be the answer that you just need to provide the right incentives to get your students to be engaged and completing their work. Despite solid research showing that rewards decrease internal motivation, passion, and interest, the draw to use rewards and incentives is strong. They …

Read More
07Jan 2020 by Pase Garrett

Brain Science to Supercharge Your Teacher Toolkit

Brain Science, In the News, Tips & Tools

We are drawn to teaching because we want to make a difference in the lives of children. With the creation of new technologies and innovative research, the field of neurobiology has become an exciting new frontier, offering a clearer understanding of what works for the healthy development of the whole child. This understanding sheds light on what effective teaching looks like. Here are a few brain building tips to optimize your teaching efforts:

Connect, connect, connect.

Strong relationships build strong learning. When a child perceives that a relationship is mutually respectful and that there is trust, oxytocin is released. The …

Read More
07Jan 2020 by Pase Garrett

Brain Science Can Help Us to Become Better Parents

Brain Science, In the News, Tips & Tools

With the creation of new technologies and innovative research, brain science has become an exciting new frontier, offering verifiable support for the strategies and practices of authoritative approaches like Positive Discipline.  What constitutes “effective parenting” is becoming less controversial through research in the field of neurobiology, illuminating our path as parents. Here are a few  ideas from recent research that support effective and connected parenting:

Model what you want your child to learn.

With the work of Dr Marco Iacoboni and others, we now know that people are hardwired to mimic what we see through a complex set of …

Read More