This video is available as a NAESPA membership benefit or for a limited time as a conference attendee.
|
63 :
04
Calm, Cool, and Collected: How to Turn Confrontation into Cooperation
This interactive session will equip teachers and administrators with practical tools to turn moments of resistance or confrontation into opportunities for connection and growth. Together, we’ll explore how bringing calm and care to challenging moments helps historically underserved learners thrive and empowers educators to build classrooms rooted in equity and connection. Participants will learn to uncover and respond to the unmet needs driving student behavior, rather than reacting from a place of frustration or bias. They will learn how to use body language, tone, and word choice to avoid escalating conflict and create a supportive classroom environment. These strategies and approaches focus on shifting disciplinary interactions from control to support, centering each student’s inherent worth and capacity for success. Leave with a refreshed perspective and a toolkit full of techniques to address even the most resistant behaviors constructively and compassionately.
This talk was presented at:
2026 National ESEA Conference
February 2026
in
Denver, CO
For more information:
www.consciousteaching.com
Speakers
Grace Dearborn
Grace Dearborn has applied restorative practices and non-violent communication techniques in her own classroom, and coached others to experiment with similar strategies in theirs, for over 25 years. She has written three books on classroom management and behavior intervention, and is currently working on a fourth book on the neuroscience of active student engagement and differentiated instruction.
ESEA Network
The National Association of ESEA State Program Administrators is dedicated to building the capacity of education professionals to provide disadvantaged children with a high quality education. Their ESEA Network website provides a host of resources to educators at all levels.
Connect With Us
 |
 |
 |
 |
Contact Us
admin@eseanetwork.org | 800-256-6452
532 North Franklin Street | Fort Bragg, CA 95437
About Us
The National Association of ESEA State Program Administrators (formerly the National Title I Association) is dedicated to building the capacity of education professionals to provide disadvantaged children with a high quality education. Their ESEA Network website provides a host of resources to educators at all levels.
Connect with Us
|
|
|
|
