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How a restorative circle stopped a fist fight from breaking out in my English class. It was as much about the circle as all the work the months before to build a restorative classroom culture.

Here are 10 quick tips on how to make your online classes, meeting and events more relational, interactive and energizing.

Join us for a virtual "circle" share to pause, reflect, and connect

So many of us are having to convert our trainings from in-person to online events. I was fortunate enough to take a course on this and also practice some of the skills. Here is my attempt to support you in making the switch to online training.

A holistic restorative approach aims to create the conditions in which students and staff can learn, grow and thrive together. During this two-day event youth and adults will share stories, build community and expand skills and knowledge related to restorative practices, mindfulness, equity, social emotional learning, youth-adult partnership and healing engaged practices.

One of the greatest challenges of building restorative schools is shifting the way we think about "misbehavior." Our schools have been built on a traditional paradigm: a rule is broken, therefore we need to dole out the appropriate consequence. This has been shifted in many schools: an expectation has not been met so we need to remind them of the expectation, teach or reteach the behavior we want, and possibly come up with a logical consequence. What I am hearing in school after school is that in many cases neither approach seems to result in a change to some more difficult or repetitive behavior. Why not?

With kids who are well-behaved, regulated and motivated, we can respond to their disruptive very directly and they will stop. But with kids who have been marginalized and traumatized a more informed approach is necessary. I have developed an approach called "Two Feet. One Breath. 5 Cs" to support the teacher in the moment he or she needs to respond to disruptive behaviors from students who seem intent on derailing class.

Restorative circles are a powerful way to develop respect, belonging, safety and voice in any learning community. They provide a way to build connection and relationship equitably, with healthy boundaries and structure.

Our job as humans is to remind each other of our beauty when we forget. We need brave friends to tell us when our impact is not positive. We need to be given opportunities to reconnect with a better self.

In this post I try to begin the difficult job of discussing all the ways Mindfulness and Restorative Practices support and inform each other