For two days this week, I also received training in CPI - Crisis Prevention. This training dealt with how to prevent and/or de-escalate a crisis, as well as how to handle a student that poses a risk to themselves or others. Once again this training was really informative but also hard to hear at times.
When I look back on these trainings, one of the biggest messages I received was the vital role that we as adults can play in a situation. Our reactions can make a big difference. In our CPI training, the instructor gave us the example of the child with the bloody knee. If we as adults look at the bloody knee and start freaking out, then the child isn't going to react well either. If we calmly clean the knee, bandage them up and get them ready to play again, then the child will be calmer too. (I need to remember this when my daughter is riding her bike with no training wheels.) We can be the example of calm and strength, or we can let our emotions take over and basically make the situation worse. The thing I need to remember is to practice modeling this calmness on a daily basis, not just in potential crisis situations. Whether it is the student that is being rude or my own daughter throwing a temper tantrum, I need to be calm. If I get mad and yell it will usually just escalate the situation. The crazy thing is I'm pretty good at this at school, but I need to work on it more at home. Those temper tantrums can really put me over the edge!
Our roles as parents and educators mean that we are faced with difficult situations on a regular basis. The important things for me to remember is that my role is to stay calm, and as my dad, the sailor, would say - steer us all to calmer waters.
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