Conscious Craziness
So my very last day of work for the 2014/2015 school year was actually a training for professional development for the 2015/2016 school year. If you are a teacher you are rolling your eyes right along with me, if you're not , you are just sitting there saying huh?
Any way, the training was about this discipline approach called Conscious Discipline. Now, I am going to make a confession here. I am certain Conscious Discipline was explained to me. I am certain the speaker shared lots of great ideas on how I could use the discipline method in my classroom. Here's the thing, my brain hurt. Like, I really wanted it to work, but it was floating around with what's for lunch, did I sign Ashlynn up for dance class, wait when is soccer camp, does my new classroom have the same number of bulletin boards? What time is it?
Then somewhere in the mix of all that, the speaker pulls up this slide show with a picture on it. She goes on to talk about how in pre-school, teachers take pictures of how they want the toys picked up and put up, to show the child the expectation. How this type of cue is a non-verbal way of teaching and discipline, that a child can follow without any stress from either the child or teacher.
Next she makes a joke about how no one in her house can figure out how to unload the dish washer and put the dishes up in their correct space in the cabinet. So why not take a picture to hang up in your cabinets of how you want your dishes to be put up.
Oh my mercy, right there my brain was like yes, yes, yes! I am so doing that. I mean not the dishes thing. Come on, Marshal has been married to me for 14 years. It took him a little while to figure it out, but he knows if he ever wants to go to bed at night, every thing has to be put away, to my satisfaction, or he is going to be really sleepy the next day, because I will not let it go and he will not be sleeping until I am happy.
However, Ashlynn Raye Watson did not inherent the neat gene. Oh that child! I am going to owe her husband a huge apology one day. It's not for the lack of trying, believe me, I've tried. Then there is Jaxton. He isn't getting out of this either. He is much better about keeping his room clean, however he wants to get out, and leave out, every single thing he has ever played with.
So I thought about my top complaints. What is it I have the most "discipline" complaints about?
* the mess I always find in the playroom
* the shoes left out behind the couch
* the toilet not being flushed
* Ashlynn's drawers being left open
The pictures for the downstairs didn't take very long to come up with. However, the playroom was quite the project. We have always had designated tubs for toys. The problem is before you know it, the zhu zhu pets are mixed in with the barbies, the Legos are in the army men tub and you can't find the game cards to play candy land.
I went through and made sure all of the toys were organized. Then once everything was in its proper home, I took a picture of each tub with it's contents. Then I printed off the picture and a label for each tub.
Next, with the help of Ashlynn's sweet neighbor friend, ( pictured below with Ashlynn and Mister Fluffy Pants) and attached all of the labels and pictures to the tubs. Side note: there were seriously five girls over playing and four boys running around outside playing and this child stayed upstairs because she wanted to help me. Um hello, did we accidentally switch children at birth? This is my kind of chicka!
Are you ready? Oh this seriously makes me so happy I can't even stand it! Ridiculous I know. The things that bring me joy also make me crazy.
You can't really see it, but the game shelves have pictures on the side that show which games/crafts belong on each shelf.
I also made the following pictures for downstairs. I hope to not have to leave them up for long, as I really do not like having things out that do not belong there. I know you never would have guessed that, right. Ha!
Kids bathroom. I really don't get this. Seriously, just flush. Shouldn't that be a habit? Ugh, why are my kids so gross?
American Girl organization reminder in Ashlynn's closet.
When you get something out of your dresser shut the drawer. See the picture? The drawers are all shut. Awe it looks so much better.
I guess I didn't get a picture of the couch and the shoes. You get the idea though. It may be total genius or it may have been a waste of two of my summer days. I'll keep you updated.
And just for fun, here are a couple of pictures of some of the summer fun being had while momma is organizing like a crazy lady....
Any way, the training was about this discipline approach called Conscious Discipline. Now, I am going to make a confession here. I am certain Conscious Discipline was explained to me. I am certain the speaker shared lots of great ideas on how I could use the discipline method in my classroom. Here's the thing, my brain hurt. Like, I really wanted it to work, but it was floating around with what's for lunch, did I sign Ashlynn up for dance class, wait when is soccer camp, does my new classroom have the same number of bulletin boards? What time is it?
Then somewhere in the mix of all that, the speaker pulls up this slide show with a picture on it. She goes on to talk about how in pre-school, teachers take pictures of how they want the toys picked up and put up, to show the child the expectation. How this type of cue is a non-verbal way of teaching and discipline, that a child can follow without any stress from either the child or teacher.
Next she makes a joke about how no one in her house can figure out how to unload the dish washer and put the dishes up in their correct space in the cabinet. So why not take a picture to hang up in your cabinets of how you want your dishes to be put up.
Oh my mercy, right there my brain was like yes, yes, yes! I am so doing that. I mean not the dishes thing. Come on, Marshal has been married to me for 14 years. It took him a little while to figure it out, but he knows if he ever wants to go to bed at night, every thing has to be put away, to my satisfaction, or he is going to be really sleepy the next day, because I will not let it go and he will not be sleeping until I am happy.
However, Ashlynn Raye Watson did not inherent the neat gene. Oh that child! I am going to owe her husband a huge apology one day. It's not for the lack of trying, believe me, I've tried. Then there is Jaxton. He isn't getting out of this either. He is much better about keeping his room clean, however he wants to get out, and leave out, every single thing he has ever played with.
So I thought about my top complaints. What is it I have the most "discipline" complaints about?
* the mess I always find in the playroom
* the shoes left out behind the couch
* the toilet not being flushed
* Ashlynn's drawers being left open
The pictures for the downstairs didn't take very long to come up with. However, the playroom was quite the project. We have always had designated tubs for toys. The problem is before you know it, the zhu zhu pets are mixed in with the barbies, the Legos are in the army men tub and you can't find the game cards to play candy land.
I went through and made sure all of the toys were organized. Then once everything was in its proper home, I took a picture of each tub with it's contents. Then I printed off the picture and a label for each tub.
Next, with the help of Ashlynn's sweet neighbor friend, ( pictured below with Ashlynn and Mister Fluffy Pants) and attached all of the labels and pictures to the tubs. Side note: there were seriously five girls over playing and four boys running around outside playing and this child stayed upstairs because she wanted to help me. Um hello, did we accidentally switch children at birth? This is my kind of chicka!
Are you ready? Oh this seriously makes me so happy I can't even stand it! Ridiculous I know. The things that bring me joy also make me crazy.
You can't really see it, but the game shelves have pictures on the side that show which games/crafts belong on each shelf.
I also made the following pictures for downstairs. I hope to not have to leave them up for long, as I really do not like having things out that do not belong there. I know you never would have guessed that, right. Ha!
Kids bathroom. I really don't get this. Seriously, just flush. Shouldn't that be a habit? Ugh, why are my kids so gross?
American Girl organization reminder in Ashlynn's closet.
When you get something out of your dresser shut the drawer. See the picture? The drawers are all shut. Awe it looks so much better.
I guess I didn't get a picture of the couch and the shoes. You get the idea though. It may be total genius or it may have been a waste of two of my summer days. I'll keep you updated.
And just for fun, here are a couple of pictures of some of the summer fun being had while momma is organizing like a crazy lady....
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