Matt

Conscious Discipline + New Units + Schedule Update <meta name="description" content="Reflections and resources from a fourth grade teacher interested in mindfulness, PBL, and neurodiversity.">

Starting our last units of the year soon! And, starting to implement Conscious Discipline. Any tips on Conscious Discipline or PBL about neurodiversity in upper elementary?

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Spring break musings! circlingforward.blogspot.com/2025/03/spri...

I discovered MCP in December and have been implementing for math in my 4th grade classroom since January. My grade level teammate and I are rolling out ELA now. It's been a total game changer. I honestly can't believe how much the quality of student work, collaboration, and engagement has increased.

As a late diagnosed ADHDer, masking has been one of those terms that didn't make sense ... until it did. I'm trying to make sense of it + how to create a class environment that encourages authenticity and accommodation:

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#edusky

This weeks reflections and intentions, including some free resources: math practice posters, an upper elementary math journal, and rules that support growth mindset and building executive function. circlingforward.blogspot.com/2025/02/lear...

Reflections on another week in the classroom, including what I think is just about the perfect ratio of ingredients for rice krispie treats. circlingforward.blogspot.com/2025/02/rout...

Reading the suit filed by three #Quaker yearly meetings (including mine!) and two monthly meetings, challenging recent ICE/CBP raids on houses of worship. The highlighted line below struck me as especially powerful.

cc: @democracyforward.bsky.social

What a week!

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How is January almost over? Aside from lots of thoughts and emotions about what's happening in the world, I've been changing up a lot of teaching practices and reflecting as I go at circlingforward.com

Nothing like progress reports to motivate a classroom organization project 🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

David Bentley Hart's translation of the Beatitudes.

My current spiritual home is Buddhism, but I grew up in the Episcopal Church, and I have been revisiting the New Testament. A friend recommended this translation, and I'm struck by some of the word choices and how they resonate.

blissful, gentle, what is right > blessed, meek, righteousness.

Lesson planning for the week and feeling like I want to do things really differently moving forward. Reflecting on how to make my classroom a place where all of the children want to be. Where they are growing and learning and having their childhoods honored.

Trying out a bit of blended learning inspired by Modern Classrooms Project. Creating instructional videos is humbling. First crack at a 5 minute video was 18 minutes. Excited to keep trying and get these lessons tightened up.

Happy New Year! Set an intention this year of nurturing attunement, attachment, and connection. I've been working a bit with the Loving Parent Guidebook and some practices from Loch Kelly's Effortless Mindfulness. Putting this out there in the spirit of cultivating more openness.

Starting a PBL unit on Greek mythology. Ss will create, present, and exchange trading cards to build background knowledge about Ancient Greece and Greek Gods. Then they’ll work in teams to adapt a myth to a younger audience with SEL emphasis. Any tips on texts / building criticality into the unit?