The HeART of Discipline - Center for Inspired Teaching

The author with her students.

February 27, 2022

By Jaqueta Abbey, Teaching and Learning Specialist

As a first-grade teaching assistant, I’m currently experiencing just how exhausting it is to be in the classroom right now. First grade is such a BIG year for children: they’re learning fundamental reading skills, learning to interpret social cues, and figuring out what it means to be human. Oh, and all of this happens while their teeth are falling out all over the place. Add having life as they’ve known it completely upended due to the pandemic to the list and it’s no wonder why my lead teacher and I are encountering more frequent unwanted behaviors in the classroom!

Center for Inspired Teaching’s February Institute, “The HeART of Discipline,” couldn’t have come at a better time. Over the course of two hours, participants (including myself) used improvisational activities, guided self-reflection, and collaborative brainstorming to dive deeper into a student-centered approach to navigating challenging behaviors.

The session began with a series of stretches to loosen up our bodies and minds, as well as introduce participants to the core of Inspired Teaching’s approach, the 4 I’s: Intellect, Inquiry, Imagination, and Integrity.

After the warm-up, we engaged in the following activities to help us explore what we want discipline to look like, identify student needs that aren’t being met, and break through stagnant thought patterns.

Two Kinds of Discipline – We used our imaginations to first brainstorm what “discipline” meant to us in relation to the classroom. Then, we thought about what the word might mean to an artist and made comparisons. We realized we want to incorporate more of the positive associations of the word into the classroom or home.
Point and Name – By naming items in our surroundings, then making a conscious effort to name them something completely different, we discovered how difficult it is to break old habits and thought patterns.
Reflecting on Student Behavior with ABCDE – We defined ABCDE, the core needs that must be met in order for someone to be motivated to learn. We then took time to reflect on a student who performed an unwanted behavior and thought about which of the student’s needs were not being met.
To Not For With – We learned how to reframe our responses to unwanted behaviors by incorporating ABCDE and practiced with a scenario. The goal of this activity was to identify punitive, neglectful, and/or permissive responses and move away from them in favor of a restorative approach.
Sunshine vs. Up All Night Students – For our final activity, we used reflection sheets to jot down thoughts about a student who brings us joy (“sunshine student”) and a student who keeps us up all night, then shared some observations about what we noticed.

Finally, we closed out the session by sharing one thing we intended to try in our classroom. With the wealth of information presented, it was a little overwhelming to declare how I intended to reconfigure discipline in my classroom right on the spot. But every change in habit begins with one tiny, mental shift. My lead teacher gently reminds our students, “You’ve only been on this Earth for six years. That’s not a long time!”

Sometimes, I think we adults need that reminder too. We’ve been on the Earth for longer than our students, but as educators, we should be committed to continuously learning and growing. I love that Inspired Teaching’s Institutes give us the space to do so, and in a creative, engaging way.

Micaiah Anderson

Community Outreach Specialist

As a Community Outreach Specialist, Micaiah is responsible for program promotion and outreach support for Inspired Teaching events and workshops. Micaiah has a passion for collaborating with community members to build-power and connect. She is an educator with a heart for youth and has experience supporting students fight injustices within their schools and communities. She has a BA in Political Science from, the real HU, Hampton University & anticipates graduating in May 2024 with a Masters of Arts degree in Educational Policy Transformation from Georgetown University.

AUTONOMY

"I want to have a say in what happens to me."

Autonomy is the need for independence; the ability to make choices, to create, to explore, and to express oneself freely; to have sufficient space, to move around, and to feel unrestricted with opportunities to exercise free will.

Brady Maiden

Outreach Coordinator

As the Outreach Coordinator, Brady helps maintain Inspired Teaching’s social media presence and supports the organization’s mission to connect with DC community leaders, educators, and parents. Brady has her Master’s in Public Policy from George Mason University and her BS in Political Science from Northern Arizona University. She is passionate about community, equity, and coalition building recognizing that learning and growing with the community at large is how we continue to be impactful.

What brings you joy in life?

I find joy in spending time with my friends and family and meeting new people. I like going to concerts and festivals, and finding new books to read.

The Learner’s Cycle, Wonder-Experiment-Learn, and the Teacher’s Cycle, Observe-Plan-Instigate, comprise Inspired Teaching’s approach to engaging students in inquiry-based learning.

When they are engaged in the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, students are immersed in learning. They take the lead in designing authentic learning experiences around their own interests and their school’s standards of learning. Each discovery leads to a new question which in turn leads to more wondering and more learning. In the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, Learn is not a destination or an endpoint; it is a deeper understanding, leading to a deeper wondering and new possibilities that create new entry points to further exploration. The cycle continues because what students have learned generates more wonderings that require more experiments that foster more learning – and on and on.

The Observe-Plan-Instigate Cycle is the work of an Inspired Teacher. While a student is expected to follow the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, the teacher joins them on the learning journey while following their own cycle of Observe-Plan-Instigate. This cycle ultimately serves to ensure an inquiry-based atmosphere is at play in the classroom.

Jaqueta Abbey

Teaching and Learning Specialist

Jaqueta is the Teaching and Learning Specialist for Inspired Teaching. In addition to her current role with Inspired Teaching, Jaqueta is a first-grade teaching assistant. Her background features a variety of traditional and non-traditional experiences in the field of education, including working as an adjunct professor, teaching summer reading programs to children and adults, and tutoring children in the foster care system. Jaqueta earned a B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an M.A. in Interactive Media from Elon University.

What brings you joy in life?

Creative self-expression! In addition to my passion for storytelling, I love dancing of all kinds. I've studied belly dance, bachata, and Brazilian Zouk among other styles. I also enjoy glass fusing, crocheting, photography, and cross stitching. These art forms allow me to express myself and build connections with other people at the same time. I think life would be a lot less vibrant without artists and storytellers!

Michelle Welk

Communication & Marketing Specialist

As Communications and Marketing Specialist, Michelle is responsible for finding and creating new ways to highlight Inspired Teaching and promote its programs in order to expand and deepen the organization's impact. Michelle has worked in communications in an array of settings, from creative agencies to state politics to national nonprofits. She has a BA in Journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia and is passionate about education, access, and equity.

What brings you joy in life?

My son, the beach, making a persuasive argument and good food!

Max Peterson

Real World History Assistant Teacher

Max received his Bachelor’s degree in History and African American Studies from Boston University in May 2016. He has worked in museum curation at the Museum of the White Mountains in New Hampshire and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Max has worked with young people of varying ages from young children to young adults transitioning to college.

Feedback and Accountability

We grow through feedback and an understanding that the quality of our work is a reflection of what we are learning, but the shift to remote learning this spring disrupted a lot of the tools teachers were used to using to evaluate student growth. How might we do things differently this fall? Participants in this workshop will explore ways to bring meaningful assessment into the virtual and/or socially-distanced classroom and approaches to student feedback that strengthen motivation, and build relationships and achievement.