2024 Essential Bullying Prevention Strategies, Part 1
Bullying in schools is just one of a multitude of student behaviors that restorative practices principles and practices addresses. For that reason, I typically don’t attend webinars on bullying. But recently I attended an excellent virtual webinar that intrigued me, Essential Bullying Prevention Strategies Every School Needs by Second Step. Bullying by the Numbers I’m […]
Dr. Marian’s Go-To Graphics Sites
I’ll admit it. I learned about using images the hard way. I first used a computer when I was 35-years-old to write my first book. I’m considered a “digital immigrant.” I still stand by that. Computers are a foreign language to me. “Right Click” Doesn’t Mean “Free” When I worked with Laura Christiansen1 (Blogging Bistro) […]
Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: What We Can Learn
A few days ago, I received a newsletter from the Crisis & Trauma Resource Institute (CTRI). I rely on several such newsletters to stay current in restorative practices related content. Commemoration of this specific day was new to me. September 30 is Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. You’re probably familiar with the residential […]
2024 Circles to Repair Relationships Pays Dividends
I recently returned from Minneapolis where I attended three days of training on Restorative Practices sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Education. There were so many training topics to choose from. I selected Circles to Repair Relationships, which closely algins with the curriculum I’m developing for 2024-2025. I was not disappointed! I met so many […]
A Day in the Life of a Student in a Restorative Community
Saturday, January 27, 2024 was the second time four trainers presented our new RP 201 Seminar: From ACEs to PACEs – Building Restorative Relationships. Read more about what we learned…
Restorative Practices = Relationships
Many of you know that I’ve been working on creating a curriculum for an all-day new seminar for quite some time. RP 201 From ACEs to PACEs – Building Restorative Relationships launched on October 21, 2023. Some activities went exactly as planned while others need some improvement. I used more quotes than usual in this […]
2022 Restorative Practices Summer Reflections
As the 2022-23 school year winds down, I’ve been reflecting on the past year. This past year, the 9th year with the school district, has been the busiest for me and the other three trainers. Just like we’ll do next month, we started off last summer with two planning days. I appreciate the three other […]
Why I’m Adding Restorative Circles to Restorative Practices Workshops
My last blog post, Why Didn’t I Include Restorative Circles in Every Workshop? left me feeling disappointed in myself for not realizing the criticalness of this years ago. For the three workshops on my schedule, I revised the workshops and added a circle component. I’m going to briefly explain the changes I made in each […]
Using Circles to Review Homework Assignments, Part 1
Do your students struggle with turning in their homework? Could your students use some strategies to help get their homework competed on time? What are students learning from their homework? Frederick Community College in Maryland features 16 faculty instruction guides on a variety of topics. The one that caught my eye is, “Restorative Circles.” I […]
How Parents Can Model Apologies to Children and Teens
Modeling Apologies to Children Modeling Apologies to Teens Sources:
Five Parent Tips to Help Your Child and Teen Apologize
Parent Tip 1 Children and Teens needs guidance and patience from you when it comes to teaching them how to apologize and make amends. Parent Tip 2: Help your child/teen to notice how he/she feels about the situation or mistake and think about how someone else is feeling and what he/she might be thinking. […]
What Do Children & Teens Understand About Apologies?
What Children Understand A child who has never been apologized to won’t understand the apology process, and more than likely he or she will refuse to apologize, turning a potentially beneficial moment into a standoff with hurt feelings. Children are born with the capacity for love empathy and understanding. According to Craig Smith, “Children as […]
Restorative Practices & Resolving Conflict: Affective Statements
Any time is the perfect time to try a new restorative response. Here’s how a Modesto City School teacher at Shackelford used the simplest form of restorative practices. Affective Statements in Action “When two students had an ongoing issue at recess, we started to resolve the problem using I messages. Although the behavior did not […]