June 11th, 2023

Restorative Circles as Tier I Practices

Students need time to hear each other talking about their feelings, and to learn how to listen. I find Restorative Circles very popular, even though it takes a little time for some middle schoolers (and even high schoolers) to learn how to participate respectfully.

When a student made fun of the process, I talked to him after and said, "Look, see how the students rejected you today. You don't make friends when you do this. I know you have a lot of pain and that makes you angry, but if you can learn to take this seriously I think you'll find you have allies and friends and feel less like you're on the outside."

He changed and had a much better experience the next time.

Tags: Climate and culture, Integrating SEL into academics, restorative practices

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Hi Martin Bram:

Thanks for joining our conversation. Tell us more about how you run restorative circles. What would you tell a teacher who might like to try that? And how could the school, district, and state help support that?

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