Recent Posts
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Why Belonging Begins With Homeostasis: A Tool for Maine Schools
Before students can use restorative tools, they need a state of homeostasis—and that is exactly what intentional belonging practices provide.
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Marcus Didn't Need a Hallway Pass. He Needed a Better Tool.
When a student slams a calculator, the question isn't 'How do I punish this?' but 'What tool was missing—and how do I help build it?'
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Stop Saying 'Stop': How a Simple Shift in Adult Language Unlocks Student Self-Regulation
When a teacher commands a student to stop a behavior, she often triggers defiance—but offering a choice can unlock the student's own self-regulation. Here's how to shift from 'Stop that' to 'What do you need?'
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Taking Marcus's Notebook Turned a Coping Tool Into Classroom Defiance
When a student's 'bad' behavior is just the best tool they have, the adult's job is to offer a better one — not to take the tool away.
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Cameron Kicked a Desk. The Referral Was Not the Repair.
A student’s disruptive behavior is a tool; the question is whether we’ll hand them a better one before they need it again.
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When Students Lead the Circle: Self-Regulation and Structured Prompts Build Community Without Adult Fixing
Building community through restorative circles requires student facilitators who regulate themselves first, then use structured prompts—not adult control—to invite honest participation.
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In Most Restorative Programs, the Adults Are Getting All the Practice
A dean who runs two hundred mediations a year becomes extraordinarily fluent in repair. The students in those mediations get mediated once. Fluency goes to whoever holds the practice, and in most schools that is an adult who already had...
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In Most Restorative Programs, the Adults Are Getting All the Practice
A dean who runs two hundred mediations a year becomes extraordinarily fluent in repair. The students in those mediations get mediated once. Fluency goes to whoever holds the practice, and in most schools that is an adult who already had...
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Jasmine Was Using the Best Tool She Had
She had beaten up two girls on the last day of school, at the same time. We spent the summer teaching her tools, not lessons about why fighting is wrong. The difference between those two approaches is the difference between...
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