I also enjoyed how the PD differentiated and defined rituals and routines. I thought it was interesting to learn about how routines can turn into rituals!

1. Visual Referencing which is the use of our sense of sight to gain information

2. Making mistakes is okay! Allow mistakes so that children can develop skills and confidence in fixing mistakes

3. Thinking is Alternates and Possibilities which is useful for students with stuck thinking. Address the problem at the point of thinking rather than forcing a behavior change

Information came from The Declarative Language Handbook

I liked the idea of asking what if? in a challenging situation to approach situations with curiosity and kindness to minimize the impact on our mood. Common humanitty offers empathy and compassion and reminds us that we all want to belong, be respected, and feel safe. I loved the strategies of remember that what we have to give is good enough. The little things make a difference and help us to forget our own struggles, which is so true, I always feel good when I do something simple to help someone or get a reaction from someone when I share something positive or kind. Another strategy is look for the helpers. I have been doing this more and more and really try to appreciate the people who help me, my students or my family, especially with the challenge my family is going through right now. This is also especially helpful in times of challenge or stress to reframe my mindset (or others) in the moment. I loved the idea of having a Spot the Helper Challenge - I may try to do this for SEL one week to bring more positivity and support in the classroom. The strategy of perfection is overrated was a nice reminder for both me and my students about avoidance vs completion of work/tasks. This would be another good SEL lesson in the near future because they focused on how to harness perfectionism. I liked the idea of writing down 3 things that did not go as planned and identifying the real outcome, because the things that we fear don't really happen, and it is better to focus on how we grew from it and reflect on how failure leads to success.

Being intentional with our attention changes how we can show up each day.

Where your attention goes, your energy flows.

If we intentionally direct our attention towards positivity, we make more connections and see the brighter side of things. This can rewire our brains and stimulates the growth of new neurons.

Promoting a teacher could use with students

1. Say It - Listen to the word

2. Move It - How many sounds do you hear

3. Spell It - Write the sounds you hear

4. Write It - Put the sounds together to make a word

Notice whats happening with the students and within ourselves (pause/think)-->

Validate it is normal to feel that way about what happened (be present with the student) -->

Respond by assessing where the student is at (coregulate - ask student what they are thinking / where they are at)

Notice, Validating, and then responding are important steps to building trust and relationships with students.

In situations you can notice by taking time to pause and slow down before responding. Validate students feelings by confirming their thought and then take the appropriate response which may vary by student and situation.

1. Notice

   1. Pause, Take a breath or observe the body language

2. Validate

   1. Be present, normalizing the emotion

3. Respond

   1. Regulate with the student or provide choices when reading

I have already starting using Say it, Move it, spell it, write it with my students! I have shared it with a few teachers already as a way to help support our readers! Such a good tool and the PD was a great reminder of the things we can continue to do with phonics instruction.

Notice, Validate and then Respond. We also do not have to "get it right", it is the time, energy and attention that we take with our students to make them feel valued and heard, and thus giving us their trust. I also love how Sam and Dilshad mentioned it takes practice to validate the feelings, not the behavior.

This would work for students and myself!

I also loved the idea of "Cherish the Ordinary" where you take pictures of your daily lives at random times.

PARTS

Persona - assign AI a role

Act - tell the action you want AI to take

Recipient - who is this geared towards?

Theme - may or may not use

Structure - framework of the output

AI is a collaborator.

1. Be Specific

2. Give Context

3. Set Constraints

Use PARTS Acronym to help prompt more thoughtfully.

Think of AI as a collaborator with our own ideas and knowledge to get the best result possible.

Interrupt yourself (before I spiral)

Dig down

Zoom Out

New Story

I also loved the idea of Good Things Only Day!

I loved these reminders to reframe and approach challenges or scenarios from a different angle by taking time to interpret yourself, dig down, zoom or tell a new story.

1. Interrupt yourself

2. Dig down

3. Zoom out

4. New Story

I also loved how they mentioned that how we choose to show up is in our control.

• We could plan a whole day for "Good Things Only" such as

  • Planning a meal around something you love to eat

  • Wearing cloths that you feel proud wearing

  • Surround yourself with people who bring the energy you want to be exerting

    
    

The last strategy that I want to try this week or next week is using the 5-4-3-2-1

• 5 Things you can see

• 4 things you can hear

• 3 things you can feel

• 2 things you can smell

• 1 thing you like about yourself

This was such great timing for me! I have worked really hard over the years to control distorted thinking, but the other day, one email about girl scout cookies(I know, right?haha) truly made me spiral. I did try to do the mantras and it helped.

The Three Cs obviously connects to this: "catch it, challenge it, change/distract"

"Catching it" is the best for me personally and for our students. I think this goes back to having connections with our kiddos to make sure you are aware of how they are feeling so we can help them "catch it"as well.

The Only Good Things is something I have leaned into over the years. This really connected to the book we are reading in Leadership Academy, what can we control that can begin each day in a positive way?

The 5-4-3-2-1 is an O'Donoghue Family Favorite! We do this on the regular when one of our kiddos is feeling anxious. So powerful!

This is a great step by step guide to go through before spiraling

-Identify the problem

-Gather only the information necessary to make an informed decision

-Think of solutions

-Make a choice

-Follow through

I also loved "You are Enough" because sometimes we start getting down ourselves we forget the small interactions that make a big difference

1. Asking for help

   1. Let your teammates know that you may not be on your A game

2. Observe the behavior that is going on

   1. We are preventing our emotions from influencing the situation

3. Think then Say

   1. We want to chose our words and tone carefully

4. Breathe

   1. Helps us calm our nerves and allows you to react in the right way on what a person is saying

Great strategies!

• Ask for help (don't take things personally)

• Observe behaviors (what is the student trying to communicate, how am I responding)

• Think then say (take a breath and consider the impact of my words)

• Breathe (take the time to reset)

• Use grounding (find something else to focus on)

Unconditional Positive Regard - I feel like I do a good job with connecting with students and being curious about what they are interested in to make connections with them. I liked the idea that students inherit unconditional positive regard, instead of earn it. Some of the misconceptions, like permisiveness and lack of accountability, is one of my conferns with uncoditional positive regard, but my approach is what matters.

The strategy of reframing to look at things from their perspective would be helpful. I usually do this, but after my response, so I need to work on reframing before responding.

The strategy of QTIP (Quit Taking it Personally) is a good reminder that it is not always about me, but the student who may need support or communicating information that I can use to support them.

The Strategy of See the Human Behind the Behavior reminded me to look beyond the behavior and see the human.

Getting curious is a way to calm your thoughts and remember that their behavior is often not personal.

"You matter just as you are" and separating their worth from their achievements/behaviors

Inclusion is an inherent right, not a privilege

I appreciated that unconditional regard is not about teacher blaming.

Reframe

QTIP: Don't take it personally

HBB: Human behind the behavior

When handling situations with students

1. Reframing

2. QTIP: Quit Taking it Personally

3. HBB: Seeing the human behind the behavior

Thye also explained "restraint collapse" where a student gets very upset very quickly. This occurs when there is a change in our environment and our nervous system becomes overwhelmed and there is no restraint left to hold it together. This occurs in students who have underdeveloped skills, struggling emotionally. This was very helpful to learn in response to a couple of my students.

The purpose of limits is to teach, not to punish was a good reminder as well.

• "When you are ______, I will give you the materials you need."

I also need to remember that there may be some things that happened throughout the day before they come to me that could effect how they behave in my classroom.

End of the day rituals: gratitude circle, one word reflection, closing song, peak moment, or shout outs

Welcoming rituals: personal greetings at the door, question of the day, one word check-ins, arrival song, or class mantra or chant

The challenge to take one picture a day is a great reminder. Even the most seemingly mundane days can be made brighter.

Spreading Kindness: I used this strategy this week when I taped little notes in the lockers of some of my fourth graders before the music program. They came up and thanked me! I liked the idea of not always writing notes to spread kindness though.

Savor the good: I already have a smile file with notes from students throughout the years.

Smile Files are the best and are truly a great way to boost your mood especially when things are not going 100%.

It is important to pause and consider your own needs so that you can take care of others throughout your day. Focus on one goal at a time with intention and reflection.

Make a 10 things list- who do you want to connect with and what priorities do you have for self care.

The independent work should be aligned to the standard(s). It has to be at the level where the student can do it independently, otherwise it's too hard. It's okay to take the time to model what this can look like within the classroom.

Teachers can do this during small group reading. The teacher can pull 4-5 words from the text that are multisyllabic words before introducing the text to students. These are 4-5 words that students need to know in order to comprehend the text. For example, when introducing the word "disaster" we can underline the vowel/vowel team, say the vowel team, loop under each part as you say it aloud and then say the entire word.

There are also anchor charts for short vowels and R controlled vowels we can use to start the lesson.