Banner Lake Teachers Conscious Discipline Training

Last week, before the school year began, our Banner Lake Academy and Early Learning Center teachers attended a training on Conscious Discipline, a research-based approach to social-emotional learning developed by Dr. Becky Bailey. Rather than controlling behavior through rewards or punishments, Conscious Discipline builds self-regulation skills through connection, clear boundaries, and adult leadership, with safety, connection, problem-solving, self-regulation, and discipline forming its foundation. It's an inside-out program: teachers first learn to manage their own emotional responses, then use that same skill set to help children manage theirs. During the training, teachers broke into smaller groups tailored to their classrooms, including a Baby Circle Time session for our Early Learning Center staff.

In the classroom, this looks like teachers modeling calm responses to conflict, helping children name their feelings, and offering tools like breathing exercises or a safe place to reset before problem-solving together. Many of our teachers are also using "Managing Emotional Mayhem: The Five Steps for Self-Regulation" by Dr. Becky Bailey as a companion resource, which lays out how adults' responses to children's fits, backtalk, and defiance either build or block their ability to self-regulate. The book breaks self-regulation into five clear steps for both adults and children to handle strong emotions and move toward problem-solving. We're excited to bring these tools into our classrooms this year!