PCM in Education: Teaching a Rebel to Read by Katelyn Patterson

education pcm Jul 22, 2017

My rebel.

He’s a loud, fun, daring and a very charming seven-year-old. He is a natural athlete who likes to play games, get dirty, and compete. He entered this school year with a bundle of energy and very little reading skills. I had to bribe him with extra playtime for him to even attempt to show me what he could read. After many extra play sessions, soccer games and puzzles, I discovered my rebel could decode and blend words at a preschool level. He hated books and the idea of reading. He intrigued me. How did such a street-smart, clever kid function in traditional school with so few reading skills?

I set up a meeting with his mother and checked out his cumulative file. As I explored his cumulative file, I was saddened by what I found. He had come from a traditional school where he participated in regular daily lessons and also received extra pull out services. His folder was filled with remarks about his behavior, particularly noting his lack of focus and low abilities. He...

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PCM in Education: Hugs, Love, and Teddy Bears: Connecting with a Harmonizer by Jenny Briesch-Miller

education pcm Jul 22, 2017

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” - (Dalai Lama XIV) 

These words ring true to those with strong harmonizer energy. As a base harmonizer, I grew up feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. I felt other’s struggles as if they were my own, and did what I could to please them. My compassion and empathy is what led me to become a teacher. I wanted to help heal the world and to support and nurture children on their path through life. My ability to be open and loving with my students has always helped me cultivate strong relationships. I’ve always felt that with a little love and care I could reach anyone, despite their personality type. As this school year began, my classroom was brimming with 17 new kindergarteners, each with a unique set of characteristics. Their excitement and enthusiasm was contagious as I began to learn all of their personalities. I quickly learned that some of my students...

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PCM in Education: Connecting with an Imaginer in Early Childhood by Randi Kearney

education pcm Jul 22, 2017

I believe that my primary goal as an Early Childhood educator is to create a safe environment where my students can feel free to be themselves. By meeting students with hugs, warm environments, silly nicknames and lots of play and laughter, mutual respect was easily gained between the teacher and student. With this mutual respect and safe environment for learning, the school year would go by with a lot of joy, laughter and learning. Throughout my years of teaching, I have found the ever-important task of creating a safe environment for students to be so easy it was effortless, that is, until I met Lily (actual name withheld).


Lily was four years old, soon to be five. She had giant eyes, a sweet, giggly spirit and showed up nearly every day in a new “princess” costume. The first few weeks of school, I went about my normal welcoming routine, I wanted to connect with her, so I started with the most obvious opening: the princess costume. I asked her which princess she liked...

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PCM in Education: Secrets, Gambling, Bragging, Bribing and Incidence: Motivating A Promoter by Giuliana Caredda

education pcm Jul 22, 2017

Secrets, gambling, bragging, bribing and incidence are the name of the game for my
student with promoter energy. He is treated like no other in his class, because he literally is like NO other…and he knows it. Numero Uno, as I call him, is cunning, fast paced and incredibly persuasive and I didn’t realize it at first. When I first encountered Numero Uno, his charming demeanor was misinterpreted as timid and humble. I initially struggled to recognize him, therefore I struggled to motivate him. As the school year rolled out, I constantly found this “shy” guy at the center of countless conflicts and distractions during my lessons. Every time I confronted him, somehow, I found myself unable to verify that he had initiated these grumblings. He seemed bored, uninspired and always up to something, but I could never prove it! It wasn’t until I accidentally witnessed a conversation that I uncovered this promoter. I quickly realized who I was dealing with and...

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PCM in Education: Let’s Think About It by Katelyn Patterson

education pcm Jul 22, 2017

Growing up were you a “math person?” Did you enjoy a good algorithm to solve or computing a multi-step word problem? Students as early as kindergarten classify themselves as a “math person” or on the contrary, “not a math person.” Students place themselves into these categories for a variety of reasons: past math experiences, parental influence, mindset or personality type. One PCM personality type allows students to process the world around them using data and logic. Their brains work like computers and they crave information. They also tend to believe they are “math people.” Thinker students enjoy processing math equations and spitting out answers. They feel proud when they get the right answer and love recognition of their work. However, thinkers sometimes hit a bump in the road when math moves from concrete equations and computation to real-life application. I was able to see one of my thinker students hit this bump in the road...

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PCM in Education: Mr. Opinions: Connecting with a Persister by MUSE teacher Tressa Wyner

education pcm Jul 22, 2017

“Why do we need to know this?” “I don’t see when I will ever use this in real life.” “If it’s not fun, I’m not going to do it.” [Elaborate groan] “It’s soooo hard!” These are the sorts of phrases I used to hear in my 7th grade classroom from my base rebel, phase persister daily. If I wasn’t careful, he would dig his heels in and sit in distress for the rest of the day. In fact, there were two major instances this school year where Mr. My-Opinion-is-it-must-be-fun put up the barricade and sat with his arms folded, unwilling to participate. The first occasion was during math. The student would put his head on the desk, roll on the floor, talk, and argue about the validity of math each day. First, I would try to reach him with either the emotive or requestive channels, asking about opinions:


   "Dude, seriously, this does suck!”
   “Bro, this problem isn’t going to solve...

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