Here is a list of "opportunities to respond"/"CRISS/KAGAN" strategies that are very useful in managing behaviors, and for providing all students opportunities to interact cooperatively with peers and teachers.
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The Jordan School District has some excellent mini-PD sessions over de-escalation behavior techniques. Each video provides an overview of the strategy, an exploration opportunity for teachers to discuss options that could be implemented in each situation, and then a practical example of what should be done. Each mini-PD includes a worksheet of big ideas, question to engage thinking, and a short activity.
Module 1 Managing Escalating Behavior | Module 2 Signs of Escalation | Module 3 Early Intervention | Module 4 Escalation Reaction | Module 5 Crisis Management | Module 6 Increasing Student Compliance | Module 7 Dealing with Student Disruption | Module 8 Dealing with Student Disrespect | Module 9 Dealing with Provocative Student Behavior | Module 10Dealing with Aggressive and Fighting Behavior http://behavior.jordandistrict.org/tasn/ This information came from Conscious Discipline, Building Resilient Classrooms, by Dr. B. Bailey Rituals help hold our school family together. Connecting rituals are essential because connection fosters willingness. School rituals take very little time and often ask children to apply their academic learning in a meaningful way. They also soothe the lower centers of the brain, wiring children’s brains for impulse control and willingness, and creating an optimal state for learning
Not only our our school family rituals the glue that builds connectedness, they also provide practice in the social skills needed for life. Rituals occur day after day, in the same location, at the same time and for the same reason -connection. Patterning them in this way contributes to establish social trust. Without trust, children will not relax their defenses enough to be guided. Without guidance, there is no discipline, just various forms of correction. Here are the top ten listed of suggested rituals for your classroom, from Conscious Discipline. Top Ten Suggested Rituals
Greeting/Goodbye Rituals The goal of these rituals is real connection, not just the process of saying, hello. In connection, you are hoping to achieve eye contact, touch and presence in a playful situation. The ritual affords you the opportunity to assess a child inner-state (survival, emotional, or executive) and upshift if necessary. How: Select a location you will stand every morning to greet the children. You could have greeting choices from which they can choose. These choices can change. You can makeup snake, skunk, superhero or seasonal greetings. Older children can create addition, subtraction or multiplication greetings. The goal is to connect, touch, make eye contact and have fun. At the close of the day, send each child off with a goodbye. One kindergarten teacher says to each child, “Tomorrow I will see your smile, crocodile,” and then gives a hug. Another has a different saying for each week of school. Safe-Keeper Ritual This ritual symbolically represents the focus on safety in the school family. Children and adults are asked to consciously place a picture or other representation of themselves in a container to show their willingness and commitment to help keep the school family safe. School Family Agreement Song or Chant Each classroom can create a school family song or chant. The song or chant represents the agreements for this classroom. Below is an agreement chant from a third grade classroom. We are intelligent thinkers who persevere through difficult obstacles. We show compassion to people around us. We practice self-discipline in our school. Together we can help each other be safe, respectful and responsible. Connecting Rituals At specific times during the day, take time for connecting rituals. Connecting rituals are activities that ask children to consciously touch one another and make eye contact. They are often done with music and movement. The Brain Smart Start routines in the morning and the closing routine at the end of the day provide two excellent times for connecting rituals. You can send rituals home for homework and use them in a reading buddy program. Integrating connecting rituals into your daily routine helps every child receive the brain building connections required for optimal development and increased cooperation. Kindness Rituals There are many ways to document and celebrate acts of kindness. A kindness tree encourages children to place a heart on the tree to signify a kind act. Each day students could add a kindness leaf to the tree. Absent Child Ritual The school family can brainstorm things to do for school family members who returned after an absence. Many classrooms use a wish well board. Absent students are placed in the heart and wished well upon their return. The message to send is, we noticed you were gone, we missed you and we are glad that you are back. Some classes make cards or poems. Others write songs. The following is an example of a song that could be it. It is sung to the tune of Frere Jacques. We missed __________ (insert child’ name) We missed __________ (insert child’ name) Yes we did! Yes we did! We’re glad that ________ is back (insert child’ name) We’re glad that ________ is back (insert child’ name) Now we’re all together Now we’re all together Welcoming/ Leaving Child Rituals A joke was made, that teachers are always pregnant; they just don't know when the next child is coming. With the increased mobility of our society, children come and go frequently. Mark these transitions with rituals. A second grade classroom made t-shirts at the beginning of the year. Children decorated the shirts with their hand prints, making extras for new children and they join the class. When a new child arrives, they present him/her with a shirt during a welcoming ceremony. A first grade class decided they would make a good bye video for each time leaving the class. Similar to the process done at weddings, each child recorded a message on camera. The class then gave the recording to the leaving child. Wish Well Ritual The wish well ritual asks children to wish others well when they are absent or struggling with a life issue from academics to death of a grandparent. Testing Rituals With increased emphasis on testing, testing rituals are needed to help ease student’s anxieties and help them achieve and optimal brain state during testing. In one school, kindergartners write encouraging notes to older students and held a parade two days before the state assessment. Adding music, movement, connection and encouragement are helpful components for rituals conducted just before test-taking time. End-of-Year Rituals The ending of the school year can be difficult and discipline issues can increase. Rituals help soothe this transition. Each teacher had children create an “I will remember” book about the year. Another teacher asked children to write how each person in the class helped the student school family. The teacher collected and bound the writings into a personalized book for each child to take home. |
AuthorDawn Tush Archives
February 2020
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