"Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war."
Whole School Workshops and Consulting
Chip and his team hold live workshops for Montessori schools, both in-person and online, via Zoom. See the list of workshops and a brief description of each below. Email Chip on the Contact Us page to discuss arranging one of these course for your school.
Whole School Workshops
A common approach to discipline based on shared values helps develop a deep sense of community and partnership within a school and is essential to creating an environment that fosters kindness, respect and responsibility. The following 2-day classes are designed to teach the foundational tools and principles of Positive Discipline to teachers and parents and begin a school-wide approach to discipline and social-emotional learning.
The Practitioner’s Class
Positive Discipline in the Montessori Classroom
The Whole-School Practitioner’s Class is the foundational course for Positive Discipline in the Montessori Classroom. The class is designed to help schools develop a consistent, respectful, and research-based approach to classroom discipline that is fully aligned with Montessori principles. This course, using a case study approach, focuses on helping teachers and administrators learn and implement the principles and tools of Positive Discipline in the Montessori Classroom.
Participants will learn to:
- Create a classroom social/emotional environment that will reduce misbehavior.
- Develop clear and consistent practices among adults to meet behavioral challenges respectfully and effectively.
- Understand the roots of misbehavior in children.
- Help children develop self-regulation, cooperation, and independence.
- Address chronic misbehavior.
- Help students find a sense of belonging and significance in their classroom community.
- Develop school-wide practices that will help teachers and parents.
A 2-hour evening parent presentation is available for schools conducting the Whole School Practitioner’s Workshop. The parent presentation is conducted the evening before the first day of the workshop.
The Master Class
Growing with Positive Discipline in the Montessori Classroom
The Master Class is designed for Montessori educators and leaders who have taken the Practitioner’s Class. The goal of this course is to deepen participants’ understanding of the principles and practices of Positive Discipline in the Montessori Classroom and to advance its consistent and effective implementation in classrooms and schools. Particular focus is given to understanding mistaken belief systems, collaboratively addressing misbehavior, and developing consistent practices among adults that promote security and social success for children. In this class, participants will:
- Discover practices that enhance consistency among teaching and leadership teams.
- Deepen their understanding of the Mistaken Goal Chart and its effective application.
- Discover new tools to help address “the belief behind the behavior”.
- Learn to address misbehavior proactively before significant challenges arise.
- Take a deep dive into developing student support plans using the child-study process.
- Explore how to use the Class Meeting to support conflict resolution, and build strong student leadership skills.
The Parent Communication Class
From Conflict to Collaboration
The Parent Communication Class: From Conflict to Collaboration is designed for Montessori Educators and Leaders to help build supportive and collaborative relationships with Montessori parents. Children are best supported when parents, teachers, and leaders, have strong relationships and work together. Supported children become secure children, and when children feel secure they have more success, emotionally, socially, and academically. Unfortunately, school-parent relationships sometimes break down; and this tension affects everyone: teachers, school leaders, parents, and students. The good news is that most conflicts with parents can be prevented by developing sound communication skills and strategies and planning ahead to prevent future problems. In this workshop, participants will learn to:
- Build supportive and trusting relationships with parents.
- Handle difficult and emotionally charged interactions successfully.
- Avoid common communication mistakes that are often overlooked.
- Communicate child concerns to parents and maintain parent support.
- Turn challenging situations into opportunities for building strong relationships.
- Hold successful and productive parent-teacher conferences.
- Develop school-wide practices that will help teachers and parents.
Coaching and Consulting
Consulting and coaching services are available to support school leaders as they implement Positive Discipline principles within their schools.
Chip provides support with:
- 911 Support for specific challenging behavioral situations (individual, classroom or school-wide).
- Supporting individual teachers and leaders in developing best-practices for PDMC implementation
- Incidents of challenging or serious behavioral challenges
- Navigating difficult parent communications or conflicts
- Addressing authentic bullying behavior effectively
- Developing continuing education for teacher and parent education models for long-term PDMC implementation
- Addressing challenging adult behaviors in staff and parents
- Creating policies and procedures to support Positive Discipline principles and practices within the school.
Consulting and coaching services can be billed hourly or contracted annually based on need. Please contact Chip directly for more information.
