Harrison Hill Elementary is in Lawrence Township in Indianapolis, Indiana. Dr. Lori Desautels began co-teaching two days a week in August of 2020 during the pandemic in third and fourth-grade classrooms. In February she moved to a second-grade classroom and sixth-grade classroom implementing, modeling, and sharing the framework of Applied Educational Neuroscience with the staff and students. This framework addresses trauma, resiliency and creates a lens and a path to preventative brain-aligned relational discipline. The framework consists of four pillars that blend into our procedures, routines, and transitions throughout the day. The pillars are adult brain and body states, co-regulation, touchpoints, and teaching our staff and students about our neuroanatomy.
Each day we began class with a brain-aligned morning meeting or afternoon gathering where the students learned about their nervous systems, parts of the brain, and how experiences impact how they feel, learn, behave and trust others. Through a variety of practices, we met the students in their brain and body development, addressing behaviors as a form of dysregulation. The students took this framework into their own lives as we shared ways to calm our nervous systems through breath, movement, rhythms, and a variety of sensory practices. The students began addressing and talking about brain and body states with the characters in books, throughout academic content, and experiences during the day! Join us for a live panel discussion where we will hear from the staff and students about how this framework has impacted their lives. We will also have an opportunity to learn how students, teachers, and staff apply the practices and strategies of educational neuroscience.