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A strength I think I have is starting with open-ended questions. When trying to understand the behavior, often my first question for students will be what happened? Something that is a challenge for me is having patience with remembering they are so young and are still learning so having students be intrinsically motivated is going to take time. I think teaching kinder students to be intrinsically motivated is very important, but also challenging because they are so young.

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"Students can solve their own issues when you provide them with a constructive forum to do so, and mediations are that forum"  (p.33) This implies a need for a growth mindset in that one must believe that all students can solve their own issues. This also puts emphasis on teaching students how to mediate effectively. I would think that this requires a lot of modeling and keeping to a set procedure as described in the book. I also noted that the the authors state that "mediations take patience, and have to be looked at as investments" p. 28

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Growth vs. Fixed Mindset with Discipline

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Growth vs. Fixed Mindset with Discipline

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Hack 1 discusses the importance of understanding the reasoning behind a student's misbehavior, and asking questions to get to the root of the problem. Our current discipline system (as most schools have in place) have a rote "action and consequence" system: we may be asking students questions that are scripted, but we are not getting to the bottom of WHY they are behaving this way, and therefore the chances of repeating these behaviors are much greater. Instead, The book suggests we create a culture of communication, and immediately ask open-ended questions addressing the ill behavior, in order to get to the reasons that caused it.

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A quote that really demonstrated the growth mindset being exhibited in these chapters as "students can solve their own issues when you provide them with a constructive forum to do so" (33). I really like how this gets at how all students (and people) are able to communicate clearly and address and improve behaviors, but that our systems don't usually support this growth. The potential (and often motivation) to do so is there, and we just need to support it. Throughout the chapter, many tempting thought processes that are probably normal but are actually harmful towards the goal were brought up and discussed in order to avoid them that were demonstrative of a fixed mindset. Notably, these were also the practices that are seemingly most common in schools and in discipline practices.

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"Mediations are your way to play detective and listen until you feel all appropriate discoveries have been brought to the surface." Page 21
I think it is important to remember to listen. Even working with the youngest children it is important to remember that they have a perspective too. They may not be able to verbalize it but that is why we need to listen to what they are saying, what others around them are saying and how they are feeling. By listening and observing we are helping them understand their feelings and being able to express them in a more positive way.

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"Teach the students to keep relationships at the forefront of every decision, and run a mediation with open-ended, leading questions." (pg. 33) When we start with a questioning frame or from a place of curiosity and NOT judgment, we are in a growth mindset. We are in the stance of trying to learn more. For most of us building relationships with children are a strength, we may not recognize that some students are struggling with skills that may come more easily for us. Through the process of restorative chats, we build trust and the skills needed to address the lack of skills in problem solving, responsible decision making, and relationship building.

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Immediately when I read about mediation I thought about all of the "recess" squabbles and the big problems. In order to help students and have these important conversations we set up DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) following lunch and recess. Not only does it help them transition from recess back to the classroom but it gives me time to mediate with students if necessary. I also like to take this time to check in with students. I can make sure that a student ate their lunch, or give them the time now to eat. I can make sure that the student who lost his hockey tournament over the weekend can vent about everything that the refs called wrong. I can make sure that the student who stayed at dad's house last night slept okay and check-in about the morning because it was a tough transition. Listening & Relationships are so important, if we want students to buy into our PBIS plans, this step cannot be overlooked!

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"That isn't my job. Student success is your job, no mater the role you play in your school." -pg 28 I was thinking about this quote and it really resonated with me.  Student success is literally my job description.  That means definitely not just test scores, but their social emotional health, their wellbeing, and their attitudes towards school and learning.  I'm happy Melrose incorporates these learning tools into their practices and encourages teachers to go into this world.