EDCI 338 Final Project Overview: Building a Restorative Community

 

Here is an overview of Suzanne Bartel and Christopher Lister’s joint EDCI 338 Professional Learning Project about Restorative Practices including Self Regulation.  

Project Goal

Our original goal was to create an online place for educators who are interested in using Restorative Practices in their classrooms to connect and share experiences.  Our plan was to take our existing Restorative Classroom Circles Wikispace and give it a facelift by adding the Restorative Practices philosophies, Compass of Shame, and the Social Discipline Window.  We also planned to engage our current Wikispace members and attract new members from our Twitter networks and local school district colleagues. With our existing restorative methods, we wanted to include more social and emotional learning into our curriculum.  We planned to introduce new concepts such as self-regulation (MindUP curriculum) into the Wikispace as a complementary addition to classroom circles.     

 

Adaptations of our Goal: The Learning is in the Journey, not the Project

This morning, we read a tweet from Mardelle Sauerborn that said “Cool how the projects are secondary to the journey.”  We couldn’t sum it up better ourselves!  Throughout our journey on this project, we have been constantly growing and learning in our EDCI #338 class discussions, school district collaboration group, Restorative Practices workshop, and our personal experiences with Restorative Practices in our classrooms.

After creating a polldaddy survey to elicit feedback from our Wikispace members and talking to colleagues already using Restorative Practices in their classrooms, we realized that we were not having much success using our Wikispace as a collaborative tool. We started to wonder if we were using the right platform to create a collaborative environment.  In one of our EDCI 338 sharing classes, we were introduced to the idea of building a Google+ Community from Jane Rees and Allison Galloway.  This platform meant that people could participate in our community without becoming a member.  They could also add their own content and participate in online conversations. At this point, we decided that our Wikispace might be best left as a resource for implementing Restorative Practices, and a Google+ Community could be used to encourage collaboration.

One interesting part of our learning journey occurred when we tried to deepen our understanding of Restorative Practices.  Several Google searches for “restorative practices” returned little useful information outside of International Institute for Restorative Practices.  We knew there was content out there but we had difficulty finding it.  Our original plan was use Diigo has a tool to collect and share bookmarks on the topic.  We attended a Hangout on Diigo hosted by Ed Tech Mentors Network and found that although it is a useful tool, it is limited in its ability to generate and evaluate content in the same that specific curation tools like Paper.li, Pearl Trees, and Scoop.it can.  We really liked the magazine style layout and ease of use that Scoop.it offered.         

 

Actions Taken:

• Created a polldaddy to seek feedback on our current Wiki – Feedback Survey

• Attended Hangout on Diigo hosted by Ed Tech Mentors Network

• Content Curation via Scoop.it

  • Restorative Practices in a Mindful Classroom

• Collaborating with colleagues:

  • Created hashtag on Twitter #RPschools

  • Created a Google+ Community – Restorative Classroom Practices

  • Attended monthly school district Restorative Practices teacher collaboration meetings

  • Attended 2-day Restorative Practices workshop in Coquitlam, B.C. hosted by International Institute of Restorative Practices (IIRP)

• Restorative Classroom Practices Wikispace Updates:

  • Implemented feedback from poll

  • Included mindup/self regulations strategies

 

Further Extensions to Project

• After attending our Restorative Practices workshop, we realized the importance of explicitly teaching students the restorative process through storytelling.  We plan on creating a simple restorative storybook, embedding into our community, and potentially creating an electronic copy to be published on iTunes. Thanks to the expertise of Liane and Michelle

• Continue to build Google + Community Restorative Classroom Practices by

• Maintain curation on Restorative Practices in a Mindful Classroom

 

Restorative Circles In The Elementary Classroom

 

I’ve used restorative circles in my elementary classroom since the beginning of the school year and I can already feel the sense of community developing quicker than in previous years.  My school counsellor introduced my to the idea of restorative circles by handing me the book, “Restorative Circles In School.”  The International Institutes for Restorative Practices produces the book and they have a great website full of useful information.  Although circles in my classroom are in their infancy I appreciate the opportunity to sit with my students and listen to their stories, their thoughts, and really understand whether or not they’re reading for take in new learning.

Why Use Restorative Circles

1. Builds a participatory community
2. Establishes a classroom support network
3. Allows for focused classroom discussion
4. Creates an environment of trust and respect

Circles In My Classroom

• In my grade 5/6 classroom circles take place, twice a week, on Monday mornings  and Friday afternoons.
• We meet on Monday’s so that we can check-in after the two day weekend break.  If some of my student’s have experienced a difficult weekend I have the opportunity to give them additional supports before.
• The circle is formed so that everyone can see each other and no one is hidden from sight.
• Topics of discussion are specifically chosen to include all individuals and are generally light in nature while students become comfortable with sharing
• The speaker holds an object when they speak.  Only the person holding the object may talk, the rest listen
• Once the facilitator has shared the topic they decide which way the circle goes (clockwise/anticlockwise)

Already, I feel a deeper connection with my students after only a few weeks of the new school year and I feel the class has been exposed to a new type of support network.  Some students may offer their support to other students who might need help.  Other students may ask for help or support from another student for the day in an effort to lessen the burden they may be facing.

The most important consideration I’ve noticed so far is making sure a level of trust has been established in the circle.  This helps affirm to students that it is safe to share information and express oneself.

I would welcome connecting with other educators who are conducting restorative practices in their classrooms.