Three Book Studies

I love reading and learning from books. How excited I was when Heather posted that she was going to organize a book study on Dr. Becky Bailey's book for teachers called Conscious Discipline. I already had that book and think that would be a great way to get myself ready for the next year. I will talk more about that later.

Last week I ran across a new to me blog that said a guided math book study was getting ready to start. Well, that would go right along with one of my summer to do lists (learn about differentiated math). I am super excited to learn along with Brenda at Primary Inspired. More on that in a different post.

And the third book I want to study this summer is The Daily 5. Hosted by Mel D. (and a few others) at Seusstastic Classroom Inspirations. I think I will be busy. I will be ready when school starts.

This isn't a book study, but going to Ag in the Classroom in Colorado later will be a wonderful way to get ready as well.

Now, back to Conscious Discipline (CD). Heather suggested reading the Introduction as a way of starting and gave us some questions to answer. The questions had straight-forward answers, so I won't go into that. I will share about what it meant to me to read and ask myself those questions again.

**Conflict is an essential part of life. But I do not like conflict. I want it to go away QUICKLY. I do not  want an opportunity to learn or teach. I have been trying to shift my thinking about conflict, but old habits die hard. It gets easier, however, especially when I have invested time into a relationship.

**Self-control is essential for being able to teach and learn during conflict. What do I do to foster my own self-control on a daily or weekly basis? What do I do to encourage my own inner peace? Definitely need to start something with this during the summer break.

**It is easy for me to show respect in calm times--what about times of stress?

**As a teacher there is so much curriculum to teach during the day and year. In the moments that I find it difficult to be empathetic can I step back long enough to know that something is not going my way? To realize that addition facts may need to take a back seat to the social skills and life values that are being modeled and taught indirectly?

**I get super excited when the unexpected "teachable moments" happen. Usually it has something to do with science or reading. Can I find a way to recognize the teachable moments with social skills and life values and get super excited about that as well?

Just reading my notes gets me energized and back to my consciousness. Chapter 1, Composure, is coming next.

I think this will be a great day for me and my family.