Free resource for every adult in the building

Start With the Adult

Every RoseThread Connect activity starts with the adult. The SSCC Practice™ (Steady, Scan, Connect, Close) is a simple daily practice for regulating ourselves first, so we can respond instead of react. It is a foundational Tier 1 practice for every adult, every day: for classroom management, student engagement, and the relationships that make both work. Each step also models an SEL skill for students, informed by CASEL’s SEL Framework.

Download the one page (PDF)Also in the front of every Educator Guidebook.

The four steps

1. Steady

Self-awareness and self-management

Notice what you're feeling and calm yourself before you respond.

Try: One slow breath. "I'm frustrated, and I can choose my next words."

2. Scan

Social awareness

Read the room and the student. What is happening, and what might they need?

Try: Look before you speak. What happened just before this?

3. Connect

Relationship skills

Respond with care and keep the relationship intact.

Try: A calm voice, their name, and "I'm here to help you get back on track."

4. Close

Responsible decision making

Decide on next steps, follow through, and take responsibility as the adult.

Try: Say, "Here's what happens next." Follow up later, privately.

Reflect at the end of the day

Two questions, one minute: Which step came easily today? Which step will I practice tomorrow? Small daily reflection is how a practice becomes a habit.

Staff session: Start With the Adult (30 minutes)

Run this as a Tier 1 professional learning session for a staff meeting, PLC, or PBIS team. Bring the one page for everyone.

Open (5 minutes). Think of a hard moment with a student this week. What did you feel first? Turn and talk.
The four steps (10 minutes). Walk through Steady, Scan, Connect, Close. For each step, model one line out loud and have partners practice it.
Practice (10 minutes). In pairs, replay a common moment (a student with a phone out, a refusal, a hallway conflict). One partner practices the four steps while the other notices which step made the difference.
Connect it to teaching SEL (3 minutes). Use the table below: the SSCC Practice™ is how we show up, and the four moves are how we teach the skill.
Close (2 minutes). Each person writes the one step they will practice this week.

Follow your school's and district's guidelines. Do not use real student names in practice scenarios.

The four moves are what you teach. The SSCC Practice™ is how you show up while you teach it.

	The four moves	The SSCC Practice™
What it is	How every activity runs	How the adult shows up
Who	You and your students, together	You, the adult in the room
When	Once a week, about 20 minutes	Any moment, especially hard ones
Steps	Name it, Show it, Practice it, Reflect on it	Steady, Scan, Connect, Close

The SSCC Practice™ steadies you. The four moves bring the skill to your students.

With PBIS and MTSS

Calm, predictable, relationship centered adult responses are what make schoolwide expectations and acknowledgments work. The SSCC Practice™ gives adults the steps for those responses in the moment. See also Using RoseThread Connect in a PBIS School.

What it builds on

The idea that adults regulate themselves before responding is well established in work on co-regulation, relationship centered schools, restorative practices, and PBIS. The SSCC Practice™ connects to the five competencies in CASEL's SEL Framework and adds a short sequence adults can use in the moment and practice daily.

It is a practice for adults. It is not counseling, therapy, or a discipline program, and it does not replace your school's or district's policies.

Research that informs it

Emotions travel between teachers and students. When teachers enjoy teaching, students see more enthusiasm and enjoy learning more, and students' engagement lifts teachers in return.
Adult stress shows up in students. In classrooms where teachers reported more burnout, students had higher morning levels of the stress hormone cortisol. This study shows a link, not cause.
Teachers' own SEL skills shape the classroom. Teachers' social and emotional competence supports stronger relationships, classroom management, and SEL implementation.

The SSCC Practice™ itself has not been studied in a formal trial. It is informed by this research, not proven by it.

Frenzel, A. C., Becker-Kurz, B., Pekrun, R., Goetz, T., & Lüdtke, O. (2018). Emotion transmission in the classroom revisited: A reciprocal effects model of teacher and student enjoyment. Journal of Educational Psychology, 110(5), 628–639. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000228
Jennings, P. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009). The prosocial classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 491–525. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654308325693
Oberle, E., & Schonert-Reichl, K. A. (2016). Stress contagion in the classroom? The link between classroom teacher burnout and morning cortisol in elementary school students. Social Science & Medicine, 159, 30–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.04.031
CASEL. What is the CASEL Framework?

The SSCC Practice™ was created by Dr. Jessica Rose Mathy. Learn more at jessicamathy.com/practice.