When I was getting my master degree in School Counseling a few years ago, one of the things that really struck with me was the behavior technique, "Catch them being good!" This was a technique for students that were always seeking attention. Unfortunately, if we are not good at catching the good things that students are doing, we are promoting the bad behavior when we are only giving attention to negative actions! After learning about this technique, I started trying to use this more in my classroom to find that it does really work! It helped me to create more positive relationships by recognizing the good in students.
In Conscious Discipline, one of their techniques is the power of noticing vs. judging. What is noticing? Noticing as defined by Conscious Discipline is accepting "what is" in a very specific way. It really takes the "Catch them being good" technique and adds an extra step that helps build specific skills in students and let them see specifically what they are doing well and what behavior you are specifically looking for.
There are four steps that will help us successfully notice the helpfulness of children without judgement:
1. Start by using the child's name or the pronoun "you".
2. Describe in detail what the child did that was helpful - "You did a great job of coming in and getting your chromebook out and completing the bellringer!"
3. Help the child understand how that behavior helped someone else or the entire class - "that helps us all learn so much better because we can quickly move to the next activity."
4. End the Description with a tag such as "That is so helpful, I really appreciate it."
Research shows that noticing what students are specifically doing (and not judging - even using "good job" is a judgement because it is not specific evidence) will help build their frontal lobes where good decision making occurs. We also know that bringing these actions into a student's awareness is a much better change agent than discipline.
It is amazing to me what small changes in our approach can reap such large benefits! My challenge to you is to set a goal of noticing more in your classrooms. We know that to change a behavior it takes 21 days. Take the next 21 days and try to notice at least 10 times in a day! I believe it will make a difference!
Attached is an 8 minute video clip from Conscious Discipline if you want to be reminded of how this technique works!
Video Link
Important Information:
20 Principles of Educational Neuroscience - What a great article by Laurie Desautels! I would highly encourage you to read this short article as a quick reminder of the journey we have been on and the successes that it is bringing to our schools. Article
Visitor - You may notice a special visitor on Monday! Dr. Kaushal from Virtual MD will be here to talk to Tara and Jody about taking next steps in our partnership with his company. Virtual MD provides counseling services both face-to-face and virtual methods. They currently have offices in Jasper, Evansville, Tell City and soon will have a space on our Perry Central Campus. This is just another effort to collaborate with partners and break down barriers that help our students and families get the services they need. We are excited about the potential of this partnership and want to thank Dr. Kaushal for his vision!
Veteran's Day Program - This year, Perry Central will recognize Veteran's Day on Friday, November 9th from 8:00 - 9:30 a.m. in the cafeteria. Students in grades 7 & 8 will be invited to attend. We are looking forward to a great event. A special thanks to all of those who have served our country! We are forever grateful.
Breakfast Celebration - To celebrate Day Light Savings Time and a great start to the school year, the administrative team wants to make you breakfast! Breakfast will be served in the high school library for all faculty and staff. We look forward to serving you on Monday, November 5th!
Formative Assessment Training - On November 8th, some of our teachers have been invited to participate in Formative Assessment Workshop led by Tara Bishop. Tara teaches this course at the SIEC and is known as an expert in our region. We are excited to bring this refresher course to some of our teachers!
ILearn Update - Our core content teachers have been working SO hard to help our students prepare for ILearn testing by creating performance tasks. To help continue this work, English and Science teams will be working half days on Monday and Math will be working later in November. We appreciate all of our teachers and their efforts to move our students forward!
Mid-Term Reports - Please remember that this coming Friday, November 9th, is already the mid-term for 2nd quarter! Please send out mid-term reports on this Friday. Let us know if you need any help!
Important Dates:
Monday, November 5th - Faculty/Staff Breakfast, English and Science Teams - 1/2 day of work
Tuesday, November 6th - Varsity Girls Basketball @ home vs. Corydon Central 5:30 p.m./ Election Day!
Thursday, November 8th - Formative Assessment Workshops,
Friday, November 9th - Veteran's Day Program, Varsity Girls Basketball @ Mitchell 5:30 p.m. / Mid-Term Emails should go out this day
Upcoming - Monday, November 19th - Freshman Field Trip (College Visits)
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