Restorative Discipline Practices and the Art of Conducting Classroom Community Circles

Classroom

As I have researched schoolwide initiatives, I have found that the newest and most popular schoolwide trainings centers around Restorative Discipline Practices and the Art of Conducting Classroom Community Circles.  In Houston’s Alief Independent School District, I have trained thousands of educators over a (21-year) period in the Proven Student Assistance Program Model (SAP) which includes Restorative Practices and how to facilitate successful Classroom Community Circles. The goals of this training remain to increase academic productivity, to improve all communication skills, to teach positive coping skills, and to provide a safe place for students to thrive, heal, and form healthy relationships with peers and caring adults.  We recognize that we connect to other people when we sense that they see us, know us, and care about us. Classroom Community Circles support honest and authentic dialogue that strengthens and unifies relationships.  What I think every school district in the world desires for students is to be seen, to be heard, to be known for who they really are and to care and to be cared for by others.     

Alief ISD has long been a Recognized School District, even in the midst of many low socio-economic campuses. Alief ISD’s graduation rate also surpasses the state average and Alief ISD students exceed the state average in enrollment in post-secondary institutions.  I believe that Alief ISD continues to excel because of the yearly SAP Restorative Practices and Classroom Community Circles’ Trainings, and other noted professional development initiatives.
If you desire your school, district or organization to be trained in the proven research-based SAP Restorative Practices and Classroom Community Circles’ Model, please contact Donna Clark Love.

Team Building & Training at HCC

HCC Central

Wow! What a morning I have had! Such an honor and quite an exciting challenge to receive a call from the leader and innovator of the multi-college system: Houston Community College. With 21 campuses in the Houston area, students are being trained for work and life in our ever-changing, diverse global and technological society. In June, I will facilitate comprehensive training for all departments on how to provide stellar customer service, as well as how to unite individual departments utilizing state-of-the-art team building activities. Houston Community College… Here I come!

When NASA Calls

NASA Mission Control

Imagine receiving a call from NASA/Johnson Space Center, the world’s leader in space and aeronautics, to conduct a workshop/training entitled, “Cyber Bullying: The New Face of Workplace Bullying”. Not only did I have the opportunity to train employees including supervisors and crew leaders, but I also consulted with HR and assisted them in drafting comprehensive social media policies for the company. If the top place to work in the world is struggling with digital bullying via social media venues, can it be that cyber bullying is frighteningly more common in the workplace than one may predict?

A cumulative study by the University of Sheffield, Harvard, USC, the RAND Corp, & the Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI) has shown that approximately 4 out of 10 people have experienced cyber bullying at the workplace in the last six months.

I have found that many businesses are struggling with how to address, prevent, and stop this new form of bullying which incorporates the use of electronic devices to hurt, embarrass, threat, intimidate, humiliate or harass another. Many have not included social media guidelines in company policies which increases the risk factors for legal ramifications. Cyber bullying incidents include sending malicious and belittling e-mails, group texts, and tweets…especially to target one’s job performance. Other reported examples of workplace bullying include posting offensive or embarrassing comments/photos about co-workers via social networking sites, chat forums, trendy apps and blogs.

Workplace cyber bullying proves not only hard to track, but also hard to monitor. It can cause anxiety, stress and hostility… eventually leading to a decline in employee productivity and overall climate. It is important to recognize and take action against cyber bullying in order to maintain sustainable business operations. While there is no single successful method or a magic panacea to end cyber bullying in the workplace, there are proven strategies that businesses can employ to combat and prevent cyber bullying in their workplace.

Please contact me for further information, to book a training/workshop or to speak at a workplace conference.

Cy-Fair ISD Professional Development Conference 2018

Cy Fair ISD Professional Development Conference 2018

I was in awe of the magnitude of over 8,000 educators as they entered the Berry Center to attend the 2018 Cy-Fair ISD Professional Development Conference. To be a workshop presenter among such passionate and committed professionals was quite an honor and a daunting task. As I have traveled and presented seminars both in the U.S. and internationally, I have witnessed a common thread within organizations and the workplace. This thread significantly affects performance and productivity on every level. So….what is this common thread?? The skill of “being able to get along with others” is the thread that researchers refer to as the greatest determiner of personal and professional success.

Since strangling someone is not an option, we have to find saner ways to deal with those we “cannot stand” or more nicely stated, “people who are quite difficult”. This is why I created and presented the workshop entitled, “The “Tank”, the “Sniper”, the “Space Cadet”, the “Whiner”, the “Know-it-All”: How to Deal Effectively with the most Difficult Personality Types.

As I presented 15 workshops during the week, I was surrounded by such amazing conference participants who laughed, interacted and bonded with myself and others because no one is immune to having at least one difficult person in his/her life. Who doesn’t want to be equipped with some never-seen-before strategies for detaching, confronting unacceptable behavior, disengaging from power struggles, and being at peace… even when everyone around you is in an uproar? Thank you workshop participants for inspiring me with your passion and willingness to learn and actually practice some new tools for your people skills toolbox!

Please contact me for further information, to book a training/workshop or to speak at a workplace conference.

11th International Conference on Workplace Bullying and Harassment

11th International Conference on Workplace Bullying and Harassment

On Monday, as I was leaving Sonic Drive-In after ordering a Route 44 Diet Coke, I answer a call and find it a little hard to understand the French man on the other line, even though he is speaking English. As I listen very closely, he tells me that the International Workplace Bullying/Harassment Conference Committee would like to invite me to come to Bordeaux, France and present a two-hour workshop. As I stop breathing, he mentions that Bordeaux has the reputation for being one of Europe’s top travel destinations because of the beautiful wine country and lavender fields. He continues with, “The conference will be hosted at a palace and attended by thousands of people from all over the world and I will have interpreters at my workshop.” I have to say that this is probably my most exciting and challenging speaking engagement ever and I feel very honored and doubly blessed. An extra bonus is that my sister has decided to accompany me, as she has never encountered the magic of traveling to and around Europe. My three nieces have asked if they could also come, and friends have mentioned the near possibility of being stowed away in my luggage. France—-Here I come!