How do you stay regulated when teaching feels overwhelming? Join the ESSDACK Resilience Team (Ginger & Eric) for a short, powerful Quick Bite on building emotional resilience through Personal Mantras.

We discuss the concept of the "Enlightened Witness" and how remembering one supportive person in your life can change your entire mindset.

Learn how to:

1. Identify your "Safe Person" (Enlightened Witness).

2. Extract the "I Am" message they gave you.

3. Use that message as a shield against burnout and negativity in schools.

Why this matters for educators: If you can anchor yourself in a truth like "I am enough" or "I deserve to be here," you can show up for your students (and yourself) with more patience and calm.

Resources:

• Family Peace Initiative (Topeka, KS)

• Concepts from Alice Miller & Carl Jung

👇 Question for you: Who is your person? Let us know in the comments (you don't have to name names, just drop a ❤️ if you have one).

#TeacherResilience #SocialEmotionalLearning #SEL #MentalHealth #Education #TeacherTips #MindsetShift

In this episode of Quick Bites, Ginger Lewman and Eric Nachtigal tackle the "hardest hill to climb" in education: The difference between Punishment and Discipline. If you feel like students are "getting away with everything" or that traditional consequences aren't working, this episode is for you.

We break down the Social Discipline Window (The Relationship Matrix) to help you identify your teaching style. Are you doing discipline TO your students, FOR your students, or WITH them?

👇 In this episode, we cover:

• The Big 4: Defining Punishment, Consequences, Discipline, and Accountability.

• The Myth of "Sorry": Why you can make a kid say it, but you can’t make them feel it.

• The 4 Quadrants of Discipline:

  • NOT (Neglectful): Low Expectation / Low Support.

  • TO (Authoritarian): High Expectation / Low Support (The "Drill Sergeant").

  • FOR (Permissive): Low Expectation / High Support (Doing it for them).

  • WITH (Restorative): High Expectation / High Support (The Goal).

• Safety & Accountability: Why a student needs to feel safe before they can own their mistakes.

Whether you are a secondary teacher tired of yelling "WALK!" in the hallway, or an elementary teacher prone to rescuing students, this framework will help you move from policing behavior to teaching resilience.

🔗 Resources & References:

• Concept: The Social Discipline Window (Ted Wachtel)

• Subscribe to the Resilience Team for more Quick Bites!

📢 Teachers, weigh in: Which quadrant do you naturally fall into? Are you a "TO" or a "FOR"? Let us know in the comments! 👇

#ClassroomManagement #TeacherTips #SocialDisciplineWindow #RestorativeJustice #Education #QuickBites #StudentBehavior #Resilience

"Just let it go and let's do some math." We’ve all been there—trying to teach when a student is clearly dysregulated. But asking a child to push down stress often leads to more disruptions or shutting down completely.

In this episode of Quick Bites, Ginger Lewman and Eric Nachtigal dive into Part 2 of Closing the Stress Cycle, specifically focusing on kids. We discuss why academic learning (math, ELA) is physically impossible when a child is outside their "window of tolerance" and how you can use "dosing regulation" to get them back on track.

In this video, we cover:

• Why telling kids to "calm down" doesn't work without physiological support.

• Focused Attention Practices: Using movement and breathing (Dr. Lori Desatels’ strategies) to reset the nervous system.

• The difference between real social connection and social media/AI.

• Simple ways to incorporate regulation into your daily schedule without losing instructional time.

🔗 Resources & References:

• Listen to Part 1 (Closing the Stress Cycle for Adults): [Link to Part 1]

• Dr. Lori Desatels (Focused Attention Practices)

👇 Connect with us: If you found this helpful, please Like & Subscribe so we can reach more educators! https://www.essdack.org/resilience/home