I’m not an auditory learner. Spending an hour on Zoom with my Restorative Practices Coach Ahija meant I took notes.1 Some of the notes I can’t read because they are too sloppy. However, I managed to capture some of her nuggets of gold. Here are my favorites for working with district and school site administrators using restorative practices that you might find useful.
District & Site Administrators
- Create systems roll-out for Restorative Practices site team leads.
- Specifically invite district administrators [and school board members] to Restorative Practices events.
- Connections to support the training narrative are for reducing suspensions and building relationships. This should resonate with district and school site administrators.
- Email December reminder to site leads for preparing for January Culture Re-set: scholars, staff, and families.
- Use two to three weeks during Christmas winter break for contacts with site administrators. Slower pace + less interruptions = coffee time! I’m thinking of finding out about their favorite coffee, tea, or soft drink from their administrative assistant and showing up at my appointment with their favorite drink.
- Send email with mid-year updates. “If you missed these things, …”
What are your favorite tips for working alongside District and site administrators implementing restorative practices?
Sources
- Personal notes from Zoom meetings with Ahija Moore between August 5 and December 23, 2024. National Restorative Coaching Program.
- Image Source: James St. John, CC BY 2.0 [creativecommons.org] licenses_by_2.0_via Wikimedia Commons