1. Restorative Circles Overview Adapted from Study Guide: The Restorative Practices Handbook for Teachers, Disciplinarians and Administrators Authors: Bob Costello, Joshua Wachtel, and Ted Wachtel compiled by Cheryl Bowman

2. Restorative means… adults doing things with students rather than to or for them believing in students treating students with respect developing good relationships restoring a sense of community

3. Typical vs. Affective Statements Typical Stop teasing Sandy. Talking during class is inappropriate. You shouldn’t do that. Sit down and be quiet. I don’t want to see you fighting with him. Affective It makes me uncomfortable when I hear you teasing Sandy I am frustrated that you aren’t listening to me. I feel sad when you say something like that to John. I get angry when you talk and joke during my lectures. I was shocked to see you hurt Pete.

4. Affective Questions… foster a process of reflection by asking questions that get wayward youth to think about their behavior and how it impacted others shift responsibility from teacher’s instinct to constantly correct students and places it on students whose behaviors are problematic

5. Restorative Questions When 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? To Help Those Affected 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?

6. Small impromptu conferences can… be held in a class, on a field trip, in the lunchroom, in the hallway…. bring everyone together and resolve the problem quickly actively engage students in expressing their feelings keep problems from escalating

7. Teacher as facilitator What was your part in what happened? What can you each do to make it better? What is one thing each of you will do differently now to make sure this does not happen again? Which one of you can come by my classroom at the end of school to let me know how it went? Tomorrow, I want you both to let me know how the rest of the day was.

8. Circles Circles can… be used to deal with behavior problems be effective as proactive process for building and setting class norms become a regular part of class enhance communication build a sense of community and connectedness Teachers use circles to… check in with students at start of day help students with planning set classroom norms set ground rules for projects and activities set academic goals and monitoring progress engage students in academic learning deal with serious problems, teasing, bullying check out/summarize end of day

9. Tips for running circles… Set clear topics and goals for outcomes Set positive tone, be upbeat, use humor Keep the focus Make students your allies (ask ahead for volunteers to start, etc.) Always sit in the circle and fully participate Anticipate and overcome resistance Empower students to solve own problems Be creative

10. Proactively use circles to avoid potential problems to prepare for field trips anytime there is potential for inappropriate behavior “Raising consciousness reduces impulsivity.”

11. “Go Around” simplest, easiest technique to manage a “talking piece” designates speaker pass symbolic object around circle no interrupting speaker only teacher may interact with speaker or ask clarifying question waiting for turn builds patience

12. Restorative Practices & Discipline Example of how to defuse a fight Safety comes first Get assurances youth will not hurt self or others 1:1 ask what happened, what was affect on others Youth apologize & develop plan to stop fighting Youth describe what they will do differently They return to class Teacher holds a circle to publicly address situation and support youth and their plan