Helping restore our classroom through Restorative practices

1. Restoring Our Classroom:
Building Intentional Communities Using Restorative Practices

2. OBJECTIVES
• Explore the fundamental principles, philosophy, and
processes of restorative practices.
• Define the elements of affective and effective
communication inside the classroom.
• Practice and develop a plan for implementing affective
and effective communication inside the classroom.

3. What we will not cover during this session…
 Disciplinary systems and procedures
 Classroom management
 REPs

5. Think of a value that you bring to your
job as educators and that you want to
model for our scholars as they grow
into whole human beings. Write this
value on a sheet of paper and be
prepared to share this in at your table.

6. Table Talk
Round 1: Please share with your group what value
you chose and what it means to you.
Round 2: Tell about a proud moment in your
career as an educator.

7. Debriefing
How did it feel to share these experiences and
thoughts to your colleagues?

8. What is Restorative Practices?
Restorative Practice is a philosophy, not a
curriculum. It focuses on building positive
relationships and providing opportunities
for community members to take
responsibility for their behavior while
remaining connected to the community. An
intentional Restorative approach fosters a
compassionate, relationship-centered
culture.

9. Restorative practice is a process that builds healthy relationships and community
in your classroom to help prevent conflict and unacceptable behaviors.

10. https://youtu.be/WVJGjFT9qDk
Video: Restorative Practices in Action

11. Restorative Practice in Classrooms is about
LEARNING
We learn, through consistent RJ practice, to value, understand,
practice, and build crucial life skills:
• working together
• supporting and critically challenging one another
• fostering each other’s individual development and the well being
of the community as a whole

12. “I’m a teacher!”
What’s your superpower?

13. Table Talk
Teachers play a special role in helping us stretch and
develop. Take a moment to reflect on your journey through
education as a scholar. Share with the group your favorite
teacher, the effect they had in your life, and what made
them special to you. (WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THEM)

14. Debriefing
What connections did you make after you heard
your colleagues share their favorite teacher?

15. “Assume nothing teach EVERYTHING” – Artemus Jones
As educators we have an opportunity to
model restorative principles for scholars
not only in the classroom but the
community as a whole.

16. How were scholars involved in the development of this process?
We are walking role-models: Have a think
about your own classroom practices.
Children learn
by emulating
the behaviors of
the adults in
their lives.
Some of our scholars are on
campus for up to 10 hours a
day!
What do you do to actively ensure scholars in your class feel welcome and
that they belong?
How does your classroom environment impact how scholars communicate
with each other and with you?
How do you interact with the scholars in your class and how do you
interact with colleagues?
How do you respond when you have a conflict with one of your
scholars?
How do you respond when you see a conflict arising between
scholars in the classroom?
What process do you use to resolve conflict or disagreement in your
classroom?

17. Keeping your Power
Removing a child from your classroom due to a
behavioral issue is not always beneficial:
1. You lose your authority as a leader inside your
classroom.
2. The behavior will not change unless YOU address
the issue.
3. You can damage building any future relationship
with the scholar.

18. Affective Communication
They are often described as personal
expressions of feelings in response to others’
positive or negative behaviors. The idea is for
teachers to connect scholars with how their
behavior is “affecting” or impacting self or
others.

19. Affective Communication
“Using affective statements helps us target the main behavior that
the scholar is exhibiting and encourage or discourage that behavior
while improving or maintaining the relationship between the
teacher and student.”

20. Four point I-Statements
1.“When you________________________________” state observation
2. “I feel or think___________________________” state feeling
3.“Because____________________________________________” state need
4. “I would prefer that___________________________________________”
state preference
EXAMPLE:
When you are scheduled to be at your desk at 8:30 but you don’t come in until 9:00, I
feel disrespected/frustrated, and because your being late means we can’t start our
instructions on time. I would prefer that you arrive to work at the agreed-upon
time.”

21. I-Statements in Action

22. Effective Communication
• Creating dialogue between your scholars
will be a challenging yet fundamental
part of teaching.
• Effective communication can help to
build and foster a safe learning
environment where students can thrive,
prosper and learn.

23. 5 ways to establish effective
communication in the classroom
1. Create a safe environment
2. More teamwork
3. Don’t stand at the front of the class
4. Active listening
5. Positive feedback:

24. E.A.R.’s : 1. Empathy 2. Active Listening
and 3. Reparaphrasing
Silence can sometimes be a helpful tool. It allows for thought
and reflection. It allows you to examine your tutee’s specific
needs and accommodate your plan to their needs.
Empathy is appreciated and promotes interaction. Genuine
empathy displays your ability to listen to the tutee. It
expresses attention and understanding.
Body language is vital. Eye contact, smiling, hand gestures,
etc., displays to the tutee that you are focused on helping
them with their understanding of the subject material.

25. Active Listening
• Paying attention
• Showing that you are listening
• Providing feedback, positivity!
• Responding appropriately
• Avoiding judgments/assumptions
• Content over delivery.

26. Paraphrasing
• Displays to the speaker that you are
listening and understanding what they
are speaking about.
• Ensures that your interpretation of the
problem/concept is correct.

27. Restorative Questions
Restorative questions to respond
to challenging behavior
 What happened?
 What were you thinking at the time?
 What have you thought about since?
 Who has been affected by what you have
done?
 In what way have they been affected
 What do you think you need to do to make
things right?
Restorative questions to help
those harmed by other’s
actions
 What did you think when you realized
what had happened?
 What impact has this incident had on
you and others?
 What has been the hardest thing for
you?
 What do you think needs to happen to
make things right?
 Who can you go to for support?

28. Self-Reflection
Think of a time when you felt harmed or hurt by another
person. Be prepared to share this story in your breakout
group. Focus on an experience of hurt that does not currently
make you feel upset. Remember that experience and notice
feelings that came up for you after that experience. WRITE A
LIST OF THESE FEELINGS.

29. Table Talk
Round 1: One person will share their story about a
time when they felt harmed or hurt by another
person. Other members, will use restorative
questions and their E.A.R’s to figure how that
person felt during the experience and what they
needed to fell better after that hurt.

30. Debriefing
After listening to your partner’s story, what
connections (if any) did you notice about the
feelings and needs of the person who was harm?

31. Benefits of Restorative Practices inside
our classrooms
• Builds relationships
• Strives to be respectful to all
• Provides the opportunity for equitable dialogue and decisioning
making
• Involves relevant stakeholders
• Addressing harms, needs, and obligations
• Encourages all to take responsibility

32. Over time RJP can create……..
1. Less stress
2. More time for teaching
3. Better outcomes for scholars
4. Address root harm
5. Real-life skills

33. Why Restorative
Practices?

34. Research continues to demonstrate
the beneficial outcomes of using
restorative practice techniques in
schools, rather than traditional
punitive approaches, in response to
student misbehavior.

36. RP up close and personal

37. Restorative practice is a great way to help scholars
learn how to resolve conflict appropriately. This will help
them become a productive and positive member in their
community.

38. Proof is in the pudding ….