Staff Development

Chapter 5 explores building classroom management techniques through the use of restorative practices, including how students, teachers, and staff members share the responsibility of managing issues and behavioral concerns within a classroom. The topic of finding a balance between focusing on academic content and integrating restorative practices into a classroom are also discussed. Finding a balance can sometimes mean that teachers and students must learn to be flexible within the classroom as the day's activities may need to shift in order to address an issue within the school. As the school community members learn to share the responsibility of managing the classroom, a change in roles can occur in which the teacher acts as a counselor, a counselor acts as a teacher, and a student acts as a teacher.