"The big thing is the mindset... You have to be resilient."
-Vice Principal T
Our class met District C's Vice Principal for the first time on our October 24th visit. I was not overly surprised to discover that he was down to earth, friendly, and extremely willing to talk with us about his experiences working within the educational system. By now I almost expect this from the faculty and staff at District C; it's beginning to feel like home. The main topic of our discussion was student/ class discipline. Vice Principal T (VP T from here on in) was a wealth of knowledge and advice. He warned us that discipline would be one of the most difficult skills to build as a new teacher. You must first know yourself as an educator as well as your expectations for your class, before you can teach your students what your expectations are. "Ask yourself as a teacher... what does it mean to behave in my classroom? What makes a student a good student?"
"Many students have never been taught what 'respectfulness' means," explained VP T. Respect is something that must be taught and modeled. When discipling students, try to keep your emotions out of it. Use "I" statements such as, "I'm really disappointed" or "I am hurt by your words." VP T exclaimed to us that one of the most important things you can do when disciplining students is to explain to them that...
"Every day is a new day."
If you make this your motto and always say this to students after disciplining them or having a disagreement, it tends to diffuse any hard feelings. It also gives students the chance to start anew and make better choices the next time. He advised us to not be too serious, "Humor is important."
VP T also spoke with us about District C's Restoration Program (also being utilized at the middle schools in this district.) All restorative practices "are facilitated by a trained mediator and bring together affected parties to develop an appropriate response to conflict." The restorative practices being used in this program assist teachers, students and parents in the building, maintaining and restoring relationships and enabling students to self regulate behavior and contribute to the improvement of learning outcomes.
"It is so important for your students to experience success... Deep down every student wants to be successful."
-Kim
For faculty and staff, restorative practices provide "a proactive approach for building a school community based on cooperation, mutual understanding, and respect [and] provide processes for holding students accountable for their actions and behavior while at the same time building a nurturing school environment." (District C website)
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District C's Restoration Program utilizes Circles, meetings to discuss issues and resolve conflicts existing within the school community. Skills gained from this restorative program are valuable for students as they enter college and seek employment. Circles is done within the context of a safe and confidential environment and teaches:
- Good communication
- Peaceful conflict resolution
- How to clear up misunderstandings
- How to prevent further conflict
- Critical thinking
- Taking turns, which emphasizes the democratic process
- Taking only your portion of the “attention pie”
- How to listen convincingly and patiently
- How to describe your emotions and share them with others
- Improvements in self-awareness and self-management
- How to express your emotions without being hurtful or aggressive, regardless of whether the emotions are positive or negative
- Taking responsibility of yourself and your actions
- Awareness of how your actions affect others
- How to be part of a cooperative team that has group norms and agreements
- How to create protocols for restitution and repairing harm
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