Weekly Academic Training Minutes

Date Topics/Notes from PLC meetings Resources/Videos

PPC director facilitated a conversation about the importance of communicating between the different departments. We covered
what communication should look like and how it affects students. We talked about how we can bring Equine into the classroom by
Jan 4, 2017 asking students "what would your horse do?" In addition, we covered the basics of peer culture. This includes identifying the NIL
which is the Negitive Indegenious Leader and how to help in the classroom become positive by taking the luetents away from the
NIL. Also we are supposed to use the terms "positive helper" versus leader. Leader implies control.
This week we reviewed the prior weeks meeting and goals. Then we talked about how the brain works and trauma. Because of
trauma many of our students are not able to focus in the classroom when they are triggered. Their brain really cannot process the
Jan 11, 2017 information because they are in the fight or flight mode. Therefore, we need to create safe classrooms. This begins with Sympathy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw
vs Empathy. Sympathy is taking their problem and making it all about you. Empathy is when we can step in their shoes without
taking their problem from them. It is understanding what they are feeling without deminishing their feelings.
Jan 18, 2017 Meeting cancelled due to illness.
Had a generic meeting about acreditation meeting and what next months meetings will be about and the topics we need to discuss.
Then we discussed the students who were having emotional problems and how to deal with the behaviors in the classroom. We
identified three students who are struggling with staying in the classrooom because they have issues with dealing with their own
Jan 25, 2017
thoughts. The staff advised teachers to refer them to the PPC Directors office who will also encourage them to take less than 10
minutes to deal and express and then return to class. Also teachers need to follow the levels of discpline that they are learning in
therapy and in PPC
Followed up with communication issues. The group decided that they will provide the teachers with a copy of the Shift change
which will help us guage moods. PPC Director then discussed the implementation of the Observed Behaviors report and how we
need to hold students accountable. Then we covered Chpater 1 in the positive Peer Culture book. They discussed how there are
ineffective adult approaches to managing the groups. These ineffective management/teaching styles is Liberation, surrender, and
joining the opposition. The reason these are ineffective for our students is they have parents at home who use those same strategies
and have learned to tune them out or over-react to them. Instead we should focus on enlisting the opposition or the student.
Enlisting them means asking them for help individually or as a group. Students might say they don't care what the group thinks but
in reality all girls want to be accepted by their peers. The students act out for that attention. When they stop the behaviors and
contribute to the growth of the group then they are being accountable. This is the goal. Part of that means learning about Blame.
Feb 1st
Blame is just a discharge of discomfort or pain. When our students blame others or themselves they are really trying to control the
situation. They need someone to blame including themselves in order to feel like they are controlling the situation. By blaming
others they are controlling responsibliity By blaming self for others problems or taking on their problems they are controlling the
uncontrollable. They feel safe by controlling the situation. Steve brought up the concern that Sofia W. is sucidal due to the
bullying from her group. The team discussed that Sofia W is playing the victim card so she can control the situation. The therapist
has been in constant contact with her and in therapy she is confiding and in a safe state of mind. The residential staff have
communicated that Sofia is bullying and holding her group emotionally hostage and then pushes them. She is used to being the
victim and this is part of the blame. She wants to control by placing the blame on herself. This is why we are discussing the
elements of blame so we can help students find healthier alternatives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZWf2_2L2v8
We covered how to handle those who are disruptive in the classroom. The key is to not get into power authority battles. Often the
students will respond by doing something different. The key is normalize the disruptive behavior. So if a student is goofing off to
get attention, start goofing off too and allow the whole class to join in. This way they do not feel that goofing off is a way to divert
Feb 8th
the class. Another example is if the students are laying on the floor, then have everyone break and lay on the floor. Definiant
students will respond with your stupid and then will stop the deviant behaviors because they are normalized. We planned on how to
normalize behaviors for students such as S.T. or C.R. or B.W.
Chapter 2 in PPC book about trust, communication, and the here and now. He advised that when the students get on issues such as
glorifying drugs, trauma, or off the topic ideas that we should "Join and Redirect." When we check to control the group it results in
Feb 15th
them stopping temporarily and then back talking when the teacher is outside the classroom. Also the only way to help students is to
realize that they need to "Change" and they are struggling with this concept of changing.
 Today we watched and talked about brene browns video: the price of invulenrability. What is the definiton of vunerable? In
today's society vunerabilty is seen as weakness however it is the core to many issues. Being vunerable means that they are strong.
It is the core of aniety, fear, shame. However, it is also the core to faith, joy, creativity, peace and belonging. Students need to be
vunerable in order to obtain joy. Students find that it is "easier to live disappointment versus felling disappointment." As teachers
Feb 22nd we need to stop conveying concepts and using terms such as enough. When students hear the word "enough" they automatically
thing of Good Enough, Smart Enough, Extraordianry enough, wealthy enough.... etc. It is a term that harms them. Also when
students try to selectively numb emotions they are numbing all emotions including joy. By not feeling their pain they do not feel
the joy or happiness. We need to encourage them to heal and be vunerable. While in the classroom it is not alway the optimal time
to ahve students deal with the emotions it is essential that students are able to express their vunerablitily as it happens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UoMXF73j0c
4/5 Larry Taught a meeting about Supervision. What is the active versus passive supervision.