Relationships and Behavior (Interview with Dr. Deonna Smith): Classroom Management Series Part 3 [S5 E113]

Listen to the full episode below:

When you think about your role as a teacher, are you trying to control your classroom, or are you trying to build a community?

Our guest today, Dr. Deonna Smith is asking the tough, yet crucial, questions like this in part three of our series on classroom management! This is her zone of genius, and we couldn’t be happier to have her on the podcast to share her experience and insight.

Meet Deonna

Deonna is a former teacher, instructional coach and school leader. Before transitioning into leadership, Deonna taught intervention, elementary and middle school math and science. As a student and teacher,  Deonna saw how systemic racism negatively impacted both adults and kids.

This experience set Deonna on a journey to learn more about how teachers can liberate their students’ potential through anti racist practices. Deonna is dedicated to her own learning as well and recently completed her doctorate in education from Loyola Marymount University.

As teachers, we love to keep checklists, and have solid systems in place for managing our classrooms. However, as Dr. Smith shares, we have to let that obsession go. There is no set method when it comes to anti-racism behavior management. It starts with doing internal work, and taking time with yourself to consider why you’ve implemented the practices you have in the past, and how you can learn and do better moving forward.

You’ll hear us talk about ABAR (anti-bias and anti-racism). Here’s how those terms are defined in this episode:

Anti-Bias: examining the biases that we’re all programmed into having

Anti-Racist: actively dismantling systemic racism in The United States (here, we’re discussing it specifically in the context of education)

Deonna discusses that understanding that your culture, your background, and your experiences, will help you position yourself to be able to not only manage behavior, but to actualize a community of learners.

Maybe some of the management systems in place when we were students have transferred over to your own classrooms, but now we have the opportunity to make changes. If you’ve done things like kicking students out of your classroom, or taking away recess/free time, you’re not a terrible teacher. But now that you know better, you can do better.

Throughout this interview, you’ll learn about management practices that we now know aren’t best practices, that becoming anti-racist is a continuous journey, steps to take when dealing with microaggressions, why Dr. Deonna Smith says not to teach content during the first two weeks of school, and so much more.

If you are enjoying this series, please share it with a teacher friend. You can also screenshot this episode, add it to your Instagram stories, and tag us @bravenewteaching to let us know that you’re listening!

Topics Covered:

• The difference between diversity and undoing systemic racism in education

• Creating communities of care in your classroom

• Classroom management practices that are doing more harm than good, and we should be moving away from

• Consequences vs. punishments, and how teacher ego comes into play

• The importance of mindfulness in our teaching practices

• Dr. Deonna Smith’s advice for new teachers to help you get clear on the kind of teacher you want to be

Connect with Dr. Deonna Smith:

• Follow her on Instagram @deonnasmith

• Head to her website

• Enroll in The Anti-Racist Institute 

• Check out her Workshop Replays

Resources:

• Reserve your seat for The First Ten Days: The Complete Back to School Toolkit

• Watch our FREE masterclass, Down with the Reading Quiz

• Connect with us on Instagram @bravenewteaching

• Follow Marie on Instagram: @thecaffeinatedclass

• Follow Amanda on Instagram: @mudandinkteaching

• Let us know what you think! Leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Related Episodes:

• Episode 112, Organic Community (Interview with John Rodney): Classroom Management Series Part 2

• Episode 111, Our 3 R’s and 3 C’s of Classroom Management: Classroom Management Series Part 1

• Episode 101, Collaboration vs. Lone Wolf: Collaboration Series Part 1

• Episode 97, The Key to Classroom Management + 20 Favorite Strategies

More about Brave New Teaching:

Join hosts Amanda Cardenas (Mud & Ink Teaching) and Marie Morris (The Caffeinated Classroom) in discussions about being brave, trying new things, and all things teaching! As seasoned classroom teachers, Amanda and Marie bring their experience, insight, energy, and oh, so many opinions and ideas... It's time for all teachers to take their classroom and teaching practice into their own hands!

Tune in on your favorite podcast apps like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.