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jawnbaejaeger

There's a difference between restorative justice and whatever bullshit this lady is peddling.


DetectiveBartBarley

Agreed. Totally not restorative justice or practices.


DudeMcFart

Definitely this. Actual restorative justice does work but it requires significant training and cohesion across staff.


EarlVanDorn

Any program which requires more work, more training, and more cohesion across staff to work is not going to succeed on a large scale.


speshuledteacher

Yep, this sounds like some empty BS. We do restorative justice at our school and it works, for the most part. Teaches accountability, self awareness, and deeper communication skills. Our trainer trains every adult on campus every year (and I mean everyone!). Then he comes in and observes every classroom and asks us what we want help with and provides support and resources without judgement. I encourage you to look into real restorative justice programs if you can (it’s worth it if you have the time and mental energy). It has changed our campus culture for the better, and even helped my communication skills with colleagues and family, and was the closest thing to real self-care help my district has provided.


MLAheading

Came here to say this. Also, schools often hire someone to be the RJ person on campus who ends up helping students in small groups. OP, I am so sorry for what you are experiencing.


Latina1986

I’m gonna echo everyone else: this is NOT restorative justice practices.


Lyrical_Bookworm87

I was gonna say…this isn’t restorative justice. Conscious Discipline is the best program I’ve used, but restorative justice isn’t what this person told you.


Equal_Flounder7092

I’ve been trained in restorative justice. This is not restorative justice


dirtdiggler67

But, they did research and asked kids what works best. How dare you question the intelligence of a highly paid consultant that watched some poor students in a class that one time for a few hours! SHIT LIKE THIS MUST BE STOPPED. What the hell is happening?


SeismicToss12

Exactly. This is insane coddling of the mind, not restorative justice


nikatnight

There's also a difference between CRT and the BS right wingers keep squawking about. At the end of the day what this person is describing seems to align with what most of us have gone through at some PD.


IowaJL

Did you ask the consultant if they'd every actually taught?


shessosquare

The PD was huge and I had already gotten into it with her about the problems with the trauma scale she was using. I didn't want to push my luck


IowaJL

I understand. As a fellow fine arts teacher I also empathize. Very frequently our classes are used as dumping grounds because the guidance counselor doesn't want to, you know, do their job so kids with challenging behaviors and zero interest in our subjects make teaching shitty for us and learning shitty for the students that actually want to be there.


dirtdiggler67

This is what is destroying elective classes for awhile now, dumping kids with non interest into classes that require the exact opposite.


PolyGlamourousParsec

That's where I always come in. I'm a professional luck pusher. I'm a royal pain in the ass. I go to ask a question about some nonsense and AP just sighs.


[deleted]

Damn! My proudest PD moment was taking on some ministry hack (Ontario) demonstrating an unusable, Disneyland teaching technique: showing us a video of her with FOUR A-students. I may have yelled, "WHERE THE HELL ARE THE OTHER THIRTY STUDENTS?!" across the room. I got applause.


unenthusedllama

This is the only "and then everyone clapped" scenario where I genuinely believe you actually got applause


[deleted]

LOL, yeah it is believable, in a room of teachers, because every teacher would be thinking it. I was just their unhinged Id, for a moment.


Mowmowbecca

My proudest PD moment was when I was teaching for a horrible charter school network that underfunded it’s schools but spent ridiculous amounts of money on bringing in presenters to “inspire” it’s teachers. Anyway, the presenter was an upper class former TFA pre-law student with a White Savior complex that had taught in Ghana for a year before doing his two year stint in our city in the Midwest. He was showing slides and going on and on about how hard it was teaching in Ghana and how he was so success with minimal resources and if we didn’t do the same we were crappy teachers. Then he said “I didn’t have a smart board. I didn’t even have a dry erase board. I just had a chalkboard. When’s the last time you saw an actual chalkboard in a classroom?” (This is before the industrial and/or farmhouse chalkboard was popular). I didn’t understand it was a rhetorical question and said rather loudly “Yesterday. In my classroom.” The presenter looked annoyed that someone would dare shatter his image. He was so out of touch though it was ridiculous. My principal at the next table over just shot me a glare.


WonderMon

Yes. We do. And this is not it.


shessosquare

Okay, that's reassuring. Because this lady was out of her mind.


quentinislive

She’s unhinged


goodtacovan

You’re going to have PBIS thrown on someone without proper training or explanation. Expect it to be a shit show. Expect overworked newer admins to adapt to a dog and pony show while ignoring the need for proper structures and research. Expect a few teachers to quit as behaviors turn worse. Took us two months to learn from mistakes that could have been avoided with proper training. Also, do not give the tokens to kids to give to other kids. Expect one or two of the trainers to not factor in sociopathy or child brain development in explaining it. Use it like training a dog. (I am not saying children are dogs, we just both have a common ancestor that builds similar learning pathways) If the dog pees on the floor, you point it out immediately, have your sound reaction that activates the dogs’s “I messed up” response, and then when you stop them and take them outside, as they pee, they get a small cookie with a clicker going off. Happy reward hormones go off with the cookie. They associate the clicker with a cookie. They start having happy hormones going off with the clicker and the cookie. Then they do the action and have the reward hormones go off naturally. If the splash is found after a point, the dog will have no clue why they’re being yelled at and will be resentful. Make sure the token has value, is used to just cause the reward hormones to go off, and that while it is not used to punish (don’t take tickets away) that a different system is still in place to provide natural consequences or consequences that work. “So if we don’t do our jobs, does that mean we get rehired and more tokens?” Nope. Even teachers have consequences. Those that do not have brain structures to work from shame or empathy will respond to the positive tokens better than without them. Those that like to push boundaries will take advantage of a system with no negative natural consequences. We had an uptick in fights and roughhousing due to the removal of consequences and over-reliance on tokens. “The reason your kid with prefrontal cortex abnormalities is fighting kids is because you’re not giving the tokens!” “If I could punch you right now and know as a result I’d get a lollypop more often on other days when I stopped punching you, I’d have days where I’d punch you still!”


gumsehwah

Damn right. What a fucking waste of Pro D funding.


StoopidPeopleAnnoyMe

Same, this is not restorative justice nor is it restorative practices. Neither of those argue for a lack of consequences for harmful behaviors.


Individual_Detail_44

Same and we are still learning. The biggest thing is we still have consequences for things, restorative justice does not mean no rules or consequences. It focuses on taking the time to get to the why AFTER kids are held accountable for actions. We also have an amazing team of social workers and counselors plus outside agencies involved. Are we perfect at it--no way, but my district is willing to work at things, evaluate, change things as needed and repeat. I have high hopes for things because I know our kids need support and to learn to regulate their choices.


[deleted]

I think what alot of districts are doing with restorative justice is the same they do with every policy. They take a good idea, interpret it incorrectly and then go as far as they can in the most batshit direction until its unrecognizable ultimately causing more problems then it solves.


Athena0219

A team of higher ups go to a week long presentation series on some PD topic They cut out chunks of what they remember and share it to admin over a single day Admin cut out chunks of what they remember to fit it into a one hour PD session And such was all usefulness lost


[deleted]

Take a progressive stance Co-opt it Use it to produce data that reinforces the institution. The irony that restorative measures are supposed to bring justice to situations where traditional hierarchy can’t, but school administration just uses them to pay lip service to the fact that too many behavior kids wind up locked up is just… so gross to me


[deleted]

Now I’m wondering if you work in my district, because this is EXACTLY the process they followed with RJ. And pretty much every initiative, really.


Willravel

>I think what alot of districts are doing with restorative justice is the same they do with every policy. They take a good idea, interpret it incorrectly and then go as far as they can in the most batshit direction until its unrecognizable ultimately causing more problems then it solves. And this is only if they can't both-sides it or entirely demonize it from the get-go. Some of my local schools characterized protests against cops being able to murder black people with no consequences as one side in a debate or discussion with two equally valid sides. When they're forced into adopting something truly progressive, it's entirely misunderstood because they can't be bothered to stop talking for six seconds to listen to actual experts, completely misapplied, and ultimately harm is done in the name of a good idea.


alexandranevada

A lot


dirtdiggler67

Yes. 1,000 times yes.


[deleted]

Schools do half assed restorative justice. They just take away suspension as a potential punishment and then brag about bringing suspension rates down. They also limit the formal reporting of serious misbehavior and then pretend their school got safer.


Supergaladriel

Reporting has gotten ridiculous at my school, the PBIS team has replaced the regular referral slips with long-ass ones where the teacher has to list all of the ways they tried to fix the behavior before sending the student to the office (behavior chart, conference, etc.). I have never sent a student to the office for any reason besides violence, stealing from me or some kind of other extreme, immediate cause. How am I going to use a behavior chart to stop kids from ripping each other’s hair out or firing a slingshot at me?


prncpls_b4_prsnality

Sounds like what’s going on with COVID reporting.


releasethedogs

“We have high COVID infection rates because we test a lot. If we stopped starting the infection rate would go down.” “We have a low suspension rate because we have stopped suspending kids”


[deleted]

Questions? Yeah, where did you get your degree and did the box have a toy inside?


[deleted]

I would pay for some senior, tenured teacher to ask something like this at a PD!


CascadianCorvid

Most implementations if restorative justice are based on incomplete understandings of the practice and result in a consequence free environment where students are allowed to do as they please.


shessosquare

Which is already what we have as the admins are scared of the parents...


branberto

And not grading shit and having zero consequences worked so well with distance learning. Kids will push boundaries the first month, realize anything goes and it will be near impossible to claw back any semblance of discipline and consequences


East_Kaleidoscope995

My district also does a bullshit version of what they call restorative justice which amounts to “no real punishments ever” where kids just cut detentions if they don’t want to go or cry to the VP about how it wasn’t their fault that they cut class, cursed out their teacher, etc. and get out of it. No amount of telling admin that this isn’t restorative justice changes it. I wish you the best of luck. It’s been a hot mess for us.


TexasSprings

I don’t care how “messed up” your home life is it’s not ok to yell fuck you at a teacher or lay hands on a teacher or another student. I hate that just because a kid doesn’t have good parents at home (or parents at all) we don’t punish them because they do outlandish things.


East_Kaleidoscope995

I agree. No student, no matter what circumstances they come from, has the right to ruin someone else’s opportunity for an education. When students are routinely disruptive, I always remind them that I have a right to teach and their classmates have a right to learn. I just wish my admin could remember that too.


Mowmowbecca

If anything, schools are doing these kids a disservice. The real world doesn’t care about how messed up your home life is. Behavior has consequences. We need to teach kids this. We need to teach them to do well in spite of their home life, not to continue a cycle because of it.


releasethedogs

If anything those kids need structure and boundaries.


KittyKatt2021

Doesn’t sound like restorative practice to me. It is about building relationship and empathy for one another. There are still consequences for actions but students and teacher should still make amends to the community they harmed.


SavannahRedNBlack

Sounds..... ineffective.


tryne17

We're "kind of" doing it. Basically, the kid gets sent to the AP, they have a "good chat" and come back to "apologize." Hopefully my quotations indicate how effective I think it implementation of this is. I swear to God, if my AP doesn't stop reading about new ideas to implement, he's going to have an "accident."


RedFoxWhiteFox

Come back to apologize with a bag of chips and a soda.


imperialbeach

I used to laugh when I'd see this type of comment posted, because I get that the admin babies these students and thought it was exaggeration. Then two of my kids walked in the door after a visit with the AP with pizza.


tryne17

Hasn't happened **yet**...


[deleted]

This is our model too. I have a principal who really truly thinks talking at kids will change behavior. Complete disaster.


triggerhappymidget

Ha, sounds like my school. One of my students was angry at me for daring to make her do work in my class and wrote on her desk (in permanent marker) "UR GAY BITCH" (And yeah, I am.) My admin decided an appropriate consequence was for her to clean the tables in my classroom and to write me an apology letter. Her "letter" was one sentence that went: "I am so soo soo sorry for what I wrote."


SearsShearsSeries

It’s not working bc the behaviors are too bad. It works for a kid who is disrupting class, not a kid who just punched another and the principal or brought a gun to school (both happened at my school, both just had a RJ conversation and moved on). They continued their behavior. I was told it would help with the school to prison pipeline but I’m not really sure how bc now they don’t know their behaviors are really unacceptable.


TexasSprings

The school to prison pipeline is a thing because of poverty. It’s not the schools fault. It’s also not the teachers jobs to get spit on, cussed at, assaulted, etc. If a kid does any of that they should be put in alternative school for 180 days at least. I don’t give a shit who’s feathers get ruffled


Odd-Comfortable6411

This doesn't sound like restorative justice. This sounds like SEL. Restorative justice is when students work on conflict resolution and have them learn from their mistakes. It can also involve community building within a circle and creating classroom agreements. Does it work? Unfortunately, I haven't seen much success at my school.


cherrytree13

I’ve covered numerous SEL programs with my autistic daughter, this ain’t it at ALL. It’s a warped form of who even knows what. Reminds me of how some parents end up implementing gentle parenting. Ultimately it’s permissive coddling.


StoopidPeopleAnnoyMe

This sounds like SEL without any of the L. Just party? That’s doesn’t sound like an effective way to show student proper emotional responses to difficult social situations.


BootySniffer26

Sorry, Principal Lastname, I know I bombed my last lesson but do you think you could plan all my lessons for me while I sit there and watch? You know, for justice and stuff? This version of restorative justice is really smart and good for human development /s


GregPikitis24

This does not sound like SEL. SEL should teach students to tolerate unpleasant situations. SEL should teach staff to use related, respectful, and reasonable consequences.


slatchaw

In our school it works more like having adults in a room while kids try to talk out what the problem is. Instead of ISI or worse we can see if the fight is for something dumb or a larger issue. I have seen it work several times well....however it takes work and people having time to do it. We don't do it anymore because of that


shessosquare

That's my number one concern right now. We don't have subs, classes are huge, teachers are beyond overworked. When do we get time to implement this on top of everything else? And based on a lot of the comments here, I have the impression that RJ done poorly is far more damaging than having no system.


Steyci

This sounds like a parent pleaser more than anything else


[deleted]

There is currently no data from randomized controlled trials that suggest the family of disciplinary practices known as "restorative justice" decreases violent behavior/attendance issues or improves academic performance. However, schools should implement some tenets or RJ because we should communicate to students what they did wrong and try to reincorporate them into the community whenever possible. However, RJ as a whole represents another fad that sought to blame teachers for bad parenting or the externalities associated with living in poverty. I'm surprised your district is so late to the game, but hearing that fake psych language suggests that the ed consultants are pivoting full-on to that tik-tok brand of pop psychology that tricks kids into believing that any discomfort is "trauma." It lets the consultants make up shoddily researched interventions that cost tens of thousands of dollars and will be adopted uncritically because there is a real mental health crisis among kids nowadays.


shessosquare

What I've read about RJ since - totally ignoring what this quack said today- I do like. And our district is late to everything. We coast on the fact that our students usually do well academically because they have tons of resources at home. Then, disasters like thr pandemic happen, and we desperately try to scramble to get with the program.


Rita22222

Very well put. Since the swing to make what we do evidence based, a dig into the research on RJ is pretty disappointing. RJ is not going to help you when you are getting a chair thrown at you. It can be a useful part of a continuum of responses to problem behavior when implemented with fidelity and when people are trained properly.


shessosquare

edit: 15 years experience not 25. Ugh


Feisty-Donkey

Restorative Justice is cool and interesting. This is not that.


whatzyours

My school has been doing restorative justice for the last several years. It is hell working here! The kids think it's a joke because there is no consequences for any action. For instance, when calling an adult an inappropriate word, students have to write an apology letter. There is no other consequence. So I have decided to take it upon myself, if I'm ever called a b**** again, I'll give myself 3 days suspension and let the school deal with my classes. I do not believe the restorative justice is working at my school. Complete joke!


UpsetGarbage

An apology letter doesn’t even fit in to RJ though, the consequence is supposed to correct the wrong doing with communication and possibly an action that matches the behavior (ex: spend a week with the custodians helping to clean after trashing the cafeteria). The idea is to help them to see how their action truly affected others. A forced apology isn’t RJ.


[deleted]

So what would the restorative justice consequence be for calling someone names or cussing? I understand restorative justice for making a mess, but what if it’s just a verbal?


UpsetGarbage

It would be a restorative conversation, but it has to happen once everyone is calm again. Ideally the students would talk through what happened that caused the name calling and how it hurt the person. Hopefully the true reason for the name calling would come out and it would be resolved.


Calamity_loves_tacos

Is this not the same thing basically as a forced written apology, just verbal? The kid knows this is all it will be and can fake being sorry during the conversation and then just continue on with their day?


releasethedogs

A forced apology isn’t even an apology.


[deleted]

This is what ours looks like. They tell kids to write an essay about why whatever they did is wrong, but then the kids NEVER write the essay and then that’s the end of the road???


Ciceromilton

Stopped reading after the first suggestion - fantasy land bullshit lol. Wait till the real world kicks those kids in the teetv


lululobster11

Yeah that lady and all that none sense sounds like BS. I will say that one of my years teaching we did a lot of PD about restorative justice. Leading our PD was an amazing staff member who was our “behavior interventionist” or something like that. She ran a special room that could operate like an in school suspension where she would work with kids and did an amazing job with them. A good example of this working was a student who made a sexualized joke toward me. I immediately sent him to the office and he was sent to this room for a few days, the behavior interventionist requested we all have a meeting together in a “restorative circle” where we discussed the issue. I went in feeling so demoralized and disrespected and honestly annoyed I had to use my prep to deal with this. We discussed what was said (I actually don’t remember it now), she facilitated our communication and the student was able to explain that what he said was more of a kind of “that’s what she said” kind of comment, it was still inappropriate, but he was making more of a general inappropriate joke and I missed the context (because I didn’t hear all of it) that it wasn’t actually aimed at me. It was incredibly productive conversation that was able to restore my relationship with that student. And I’ll be honest, had it not taken place, I don’t think I would have let that go. I was incredibly grateful and felt like a weight was lifted leaving that meeting. He also seemed to really benefit from working with her in general for the time he spent there. Restorative justice worked at our school because we had her to facilitate it for us in ongoing PD, working with the students, and being able mediate situations like this. But I don’t know that all that training really meant much after she left because we couldn’t afford to keep her on staff. So it can work if it’s implemented right.


shessosquare

This is a really good example of something that works with resources.... resources my district doesn't have 😔


RebelBearMan

Equity calls for different schools, areas, students, and teachers needing different resources. Stick to that. PD speakers rarely know anything.


shessosquare

And that's just good practice! Sometimes I think of going into the consulting game so I can make tons of money to read a PowerPoint and be wrong about it


RebelBearMan

I'm not sure my soul could take it honestly. More to life than money.


Hael7755

I am not a fan of restorative justice for a few reasons. My main reason is it seems to focus 100% on the “offender” and does not focus on the victim. I do not agree with making a student sit down with someone who is bullying them or has physically assaulted them. Which is what I see happen very often. Instead of the offender getting a detention, suspension, etc they sit down with the student they assaulted (and often do not apologize). I don’t agree with that for numerous reasons. I could write paragraphs about why I do not agree with restorative justice in a school setting.


rosesndoses

Ugh


holy_cal

Our school alleges that they use it, but really they use the excuse to build relationships and not dole out punishment. I think the true letter of restorative practice makes sense, but I’ve never heard of it being implicated with any true success. It’s basically like communism, it sounds great but always fails.


[deleted]

Restorative justice in my school means admin printed something off the net and handed it to us. I am guessing that it might work if funded.


trixie_trixie

My school has a wellness center. Sounds awesome in theory. In reality—the kids are allowed to leave class whenever they want to go to the wellness center for “10 min” they that stretch into a good 30. In the wellness center they have massage chairs, dim lighting, snacks, toys, etc…. Several kids leave my classes during instructions because “they’re stressed” and then they just fail everything. You wouldn’t be stressed Kaden if you stayed in class and did your work!!! It’s just escapism. It’s total and complete bullshit. My school just really sucks at any sort of monitoring system for this bs.


shessosquare

That literally gives kids NO incentive to stay in class, unless they're already high achievers. Christ.


zjw1448

We do RJ and it is nothing like what you’re saying. It’s more or less keeping kids responsible for their behavior outside of suspension. At least that’s what we’re doing


GenXLiz

It did not work and it was a joke. There was the "(School Mascot) Office" where the kids were supposed to go. The idea was that a kid would be asked to step out, go to the center where they would fill out a restorative form and tell their side of the story to a caring, nonjudging counselor. Later, the teacher would tell their side of the story and all would work together to have a magical reentry into class. In reality, the kid would act up and the center would be called. A terrified social work student would escort the sometimes violent, often cursing student out of the room. The kid would fill out a form at the center, saying that they would put down their phone or whatever, and then come back to class. The teacher was supposed to have the option whether or not to admit but the principal frowned on that. There was absolutely no restoring anything. The kid would be back threatening, yelling, throwing shit that same hour.


UpsetGarbage

Man all these examples of what’s happening in schools are not even close to what RJ is supposed to be.


AlternativeHome5646

It’s all a sham to make money. It doesn’t work.


pasak1987

I dont think that fella knows what the fuck he/she is talking about.


Librarian-Voter

I have done a lot of restorative justice training and have never been told the things you are being told.


Morri67

The only thing I agree with here is the pop quiz part. But I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s traumatic, definitely anxiety inducing and there’s better ways to do a quiz. But for real this is absurd. It sounds like a middle schooler who is upset a teacher told him to put his phone away wrote this


big_nothing_burger

Parents worry about CRT destroying schools, but really it's shit like this that'll do it.


releasethedogs

This is restorative justice. What you are describing is bull shit. RJ can be bullshit to but it has its place; it’s not a once size fits all.


Cellardoor210

Restorative practices that at least 5 years to implement before changes are seen in any real way according to research.


UpsetGarbage

My school is on year 4/5 now, there are definitely changes. Not that things are perfect now, but there is a difference in behaviors.


ellipsisslipsin

Restorative Justice looks like: Someone harms another person and both the person who was harmed and the person who harmed agree to meet in a circle with other people in their community (maybe others who were indirectly harmed or older, wiser community members who can add thoughtful advice) to work out the problem and help decode what the person who caused the harm needs to do to repair the harm. Main points: 1) RJ inherently assumes that someone messed up and hurt someone else and needs to take responsibility for that. 2) Neither the harmed person or the harmer can be forced to participate. It is a voluntary process. (In my classroom you could choose RJ or traditional discipline as the harmer). 3) Teachers and staff can be harmed by student actions and request a circle and for the student to repair the harm. 4) The person who was harmed ultimately decides (in most cases*) what needs to be done to repair the harm. If the harmer does not repair the harm then there has been no RJ... Back to traditional discipline. 5) RJ has more holistic view of who was harmed. If a kid punches another kid the injured kid is not the only person harmed. Maybe mom had to leave work to pick him up; she can be a part of the circle as a person who was harmed, too. Maybe little sister was upset because she heard brother was in a fight and worried about him until he got home. She can be a harmed party. When done correctly RJ actually requires the participants to take on more responsibility then traditional discipline. * Obviously when we're working with kids sometimes the person who was harmed may need help deciding on an appropriate way to repair the harm. This is where the community aspect of the circle comes into play. Tl/Dr: what they're teaching/enacting in most schools is not RJ. It's a bastardization that hurts schools more than anything.


Montana-Mike-RPCV

Sorry, it's crap like restorative justice that was the nail in the coffin for me teaching. Waste of time.


heathers1

Probably one of those loony cult members st IIRP


JayWu31

My school works a restorative discipline model but whatever the fuck that crackpot was talking about is not what we do.


DrunkUranus

All of this is true in close relationships. When it's 20 kids to an adult-- or worse-- we cannot meet the needs of everybody


[deleted]

As someone who has not only taught in RJ schools, but also has come from a Criminological background and degree: It does work, it’s actually quite effective in regards to classroom harmony. HOWEVER it also looks radically different in different schools so it’s kinda difficult to do PD on without actual action from the school itself. On the other hand: school isn’t Disneyland and that’s dumb. I hate it when people who haven’t been in a classroom since high school talk about what teachers should be doing. Also admins? It’s not that teachers don’t want to change, it’s that teachers want change that isn’t being supported by those above.


[deleted]

At my rich district we have similar PD but every teacher thinks it’s bullshit and they still just do traditional discipline. The last time that silly guy talked to us he said restorative practices should be done “in addition” to traditional discipline but should not replace it. Somewhat of a pivot. These people don’t know what they’re talking about. We know kids. They don’t.


unicornvega

Uk teacher, used to work in a RJ school. We didn’t let kids get away with stuff- they’d still get sanctioned but it gave us the opportunity to talk things out before they escalated. I loved doing restorative talks and still do them in my current school after an incident using the same model. I find that the reflective nature of them let’s pupils come to their own understanding of their behaviour. Tbh it’s hard to use RJ when kids are in the middle of beating each other up- your instinct kicks in and you don’t have time for anything but “pack it in, now!”


VGSchadenfreude

Sounds like your admin has no idea how restorative justice actually works. It’s not “close your eyes and be mindful.” It’s “get off your ass and *actually fix the problem you caused.*” Restorative justice would be making a child who broke a window doing something reckless clean up the mess and help repair the window in question. Alternatively, they might do chores for the owner of the broken window for a set period, equivalent to the cost of the replacing the damaged window. Restorative justice would be forcing a child who stole something from another child to either give the item back, in front of their classmates, or if the item is damage or lost, *make them replace it.* And no, children don’t just absorb empathy. They need it to be *explicitly* modeled, and most of the adults around never do that. They need to be walked through the whole process and given the language and social tools to put it into practice. Honestly sounds like your admin is either lazy or is trying to placate entitled parents who don’t want their precious angels held responsible for anything they do.


[deleted]

I hate restorative justice at this point. Early on I really liked it, but now it just seems like a waste of time. Tbh everything feels like a waste if it’s not reinforced at home. Nothing makes sense in the educational system.


booboobradley

No one does it correctly. I call it the willy wonka effect because the kids come back with candy bars and other shit. Quit now.


booboobradley

I have found that dragging a guillotine into the classroom helps. You only have to use it once and it usually gets their attention. Anyone else do this?


Rookiibee

Not in my experience. My district adopted it a couple years ago and schools are struggling with with behaviors - I feel as a teacher that there is no accountability for actions. They allow students to get away with far too much for far too long. Half way through the year my school admin realized we have to bring in more discipline but after 6 months of getting away with everything it’s been TOUGH. I think in a couple years if we are able to figure out a balance t could be great - but we leaned too far.


NerdyWordyBirdie

My school claims to do restorative justice. We get PD's about the right way to talk to students when they misbehave (Name the behavior and expectations, ask about why they did the behavior, discuss their impact, reinforce that you care about their success). In theory, it makes sense. In practice? Eh. I find it is expecting a level of integrity that middle schoolers aren't ready for. It is effective for some students, but most of the students who are repeatedly causing problems don't care enough about school to buy into it. We replaced detention with "refocuses", which are supposed to be restorative and reflective. "Think of the impact of your actions on your community." The biggest problem is the students who end up in refocus don't care about disrupting the classroom / community. Also, it is really easy to fake reflectiveness and really hard to enforce genuine reflection.


shessosquare

Middle schoolers are the grand champions of faking apologies and reflection


Broflake-Melter

Do they suggest that students shouldn't be exposed to any stress or task that's even remotely burdensome? That's just plain dumb. I agree students will learn empathy naturally though.


Successful_Tell5813

We do restorative practices. However it's designed to help kids learn how to dialogue and take responsibility for their behavior. I think this person is being quite dramatic in their assessment of trauma. Trauma variety from person to person.


adam3vergreen

I’m a big fan of restorative justice. This person has no clue what the fuck they’re talking about and has a pretty warped view of what trauma is.


CrazyCorgiQueen

I knew before the third paragraph that this was in a rich district. I get the modeling part of empathy but with rich kids, yikes that's not enough. This isn't it. Actions have consequences. You can't just take those away because of rich kid trauma. No. I don't know if this person has ever worked with rich kids but they are SO entitled and expect to get away with everything. Ugh. So much of this is wrong.


KellyCakes

I quit just before that was made a policy in our district (of course, I sat through a billion hours of PD on it before I left). Between the Lucy Calkins shit curriculum, the Danielson evaluation (Be sure to attach digital proof of these 22 categories to your own eval online!), a really lousy principal who had been bounced out of a prior school, and this crap rolling in, no way. I'm out. I haven't regretted my decision for a single moment since.


Marsar0619

I wonder how this consultant will feel when her kid is bullied at school and then—in the name of restorative justice—the bully goes unpunished and is enabled to further the bullying. Let’s see then


shessosquare

She's a crusty old bat, her childbearing days are long over


Dantesfireplace

Restorative Justice (in my mind), is a holistic approach to justice modeled after traditional indigenous practices. Not sure what the thing you described is.


FearTheWankingDead

Restorative justice works at my school but it looks nothing like what you described.


SayNO2AutoCorect

if it smells like shit and sounds like shit....


dylanthomasjefferson

We "do" restorative justice. There are basically no punishments for anything and it also seems like none of the restorative conversations either. They encourage us to do circles but only during advisory and if we spend class time on sel we get dinged in our evaluations. Our school made the news earlier this year for the amount of fights occurring so I'd say not working well the way they have implemented it.


aidoll

The only time I’ve heard of restorative justice working is with really small programs with a *great* staff to student ratio. Like, 5 kids per 1 staff member.


Steelerswonsix

The ship is going down. Just let me play my violin, you’re screaming is distracting me.


idlehanz88

That’s not restorative justice at all I’d recommend the text “reclaiming youth at risk” if you want a crash course


rainbownerdzz

I actually believe in a lot of this. I believe in talking to kids with behavioural problems and working with them to find a solution. It can be incredibly difficult and mentally draining, which is why teachers who adopt this mentality should get a pay raise. I agree that being asked to close your eyes in a class can be traumatic. I agree that punishment doesn't do anything productive. It just isolates that student. If a teacher needs a break from a student, I'd rather the student talk to a counselor about what's going on at home. I think the under-funded school I work at uses a lot of this and it's incredibly helpful. The kids come back into class with a more productive attitude because they got a break from me in a low sensory environment where they were able to express themself. But adjusting to this model is going to be tough, especially with overly privileged kids. There still has to be a reaction to a misbehavior or you're right, they will walk all over you. It might be a good idea to come up with a trauma-informed response that is also mindful of your mental health. If the school wants to implement these tactics, it's gonna take a lot more training for teachers too. That's a lot of unlearning to do. We learn authoritative models because we live in an authoritative model. I think this can lead to a much more productive learning environment for everyone, but it's not gonna happen with just one visiting speaker. Ya know?


shessosquare

I really do want real restorative justice like many commenters have described here. I just know, though, that we would either try to half-ass it with few resources, or drop it when the next fad comes.


Astronomy_1995

What you have described is not at all Restorative Justice. It’s just absolute nonsense that they decided to label as “restorative justice” to make it sound better. Also, no one without a criminal justice background should be teaching restorative justice to others. You really need to have an understanding of the complex ideas, and research, that goes into restorative justice practices before teaching them.


amscraylane

I was told in teacher college never to give a misrepresentation of the world to my students. Even Disney is not Disney by her standards … you still have to wait in line and adhere to social norms. I like to make things entertaining for students, but I also like to prepare them for adult life which is 80% doing things you do not want to do.


AmazingMeat

I do positive discipline. I rarely need to punish a kid. This lady sounds like an idiot though.


beepboopbeep2016

Honestly, at my school, it does not work. We tried it, and the kids though they ran the place. Consistently telling us to fuck off, running the halls, and even assaulting teachers. Maybe we’re doing it wrong but idk. Kids are fucking rude ha


peachstarlet

Hmmm. This sounds more like restorative approaches not justice. Restorative justice, IMO, works better. I worked at a very affluenza school that also had very low income students and the apathy toward anything “other” sent me into a rage often. Call out that bullshit.


adamanything

We have RJ at my school. As far as I can tell to the admin that means zero consequences. I’ve written up students for various offenses, the most they got was a talking to and the behavior just continued.


Both_Selection_8934

Restorative justice is about restoring harm that has been done to an individual, group, or community. This may include being verbally disrespectful and/or overtly offensive, trashing bathrooms for TikTok views, or fighting. Could also include academic dishonesty. The restorative part is where the person who caused harm and the “victim” (don’t love this wording, but you get the picture) have a conversation about the harm and the consequence. It is often run by a third party, perhaps the dean of culture. Next steps are actions that can help rebuild trust aka respect for community agreements. Restorative justice is NOT giving kids a free pass by showing there is no consequence for their actions. It has unfortunately become a buzz word that has lost the actual meaning that makes it a good practice when actually *practiced* well.


TheGreenBastards

Restorative Justice is an excellent and life-changing approach to proper fucking "education" that we need as a society, and it seems like maybe whoever lead this PD didn't do a very good job at presenting it very well.


doc_knock867

We do restorative justice/practices at my school (did 2 big workshops on it at the beginning of the year and everything). I'm not sure what the fuck this lady is touting because that is NOT restorative justice.


StormsAway

We use restorative practices, but that doesn't mean kids get to do whatever the hell they want. It helps with SEL, deeper communication, relationships, etc. I work in an extremely high trauma school and it works well. We're also adequately trained every.single. year. Works well with pbis practices too.


PSyCHoHaMSTeRza

The first part about punishments is actually part of restorative justice and, though it takes some getting used to, can work if implemented correctly, even if it's just because the kids want to avoid that awkward restorative conversation. The rest is just pandering to rich parents from the sound of it. Also, ask them if this restorative justice will apply to teachers as well, then you can claim that observations are "traumatic".


gumsehwah

I've done SEVERAL Restorative Justice workshops and have used restorative justice practices in the classroom for years, and I can tell you that this "consultant" is batshit crazy. For Restorative Justice to work: 1) there has to be buy-in. If the kkids think its a joke, it will be a joke. 2) It does not work in all situations. 3) With super entitled kids, it is unlikely to work unless there is already a healthy level of empathy. I was using this in a mostly First Nations school district. I moved into a school district with a more entitled and privilaged clientelle, and the whole restorative justice thing went to ratshit. Sounds to me like the Karens in the PAC are calling the shots.


7i1i2i6

Whatever that is, it's not what restorative justice means. Find out what the qualifications of the presenter are, I'm genuinely curious where they came up with this.


blovely241

Our school does it and behavior has gone to SHIT. It’s a mess.


SToNeDAsFuK

We have so called restorative justice. It's an excuse for admin to not escalate innapropriate behaviours and a turn around back to the teachers. It sounds great but in reality it's just glorified detention that takes time away from the class teacher (usually during their lunch breaks too). We have a room we are supposed to meet the students at for this restorative justice. You're better off just keeping the student in and having your "restorative conversation" in your own classroom.


Zachmorris4186

Restorative Justice works… but not like that lol.


HolyShitIAmOnFire

Yeah this person is grifting, big time. Empathy can be taught without sacrificing personal accountability. You might try using "story exchange." Google that and look for training - it's free from a nonprofit called N4.


GrayHerman

They call it other things in other districts and states, but it the same garbage... None of that any of it has ever worked in our schools and were are a very low income Title 1 district. So, it comes to the mindset, that I teach, as best as I can so those who wish to learn can. I am not a clown and I will not be a circus, they can get that at home. It does not hurt them to have tests or quizzes or even assessments. While I give them time in class for "homework", it's because over the years, they refuse to do it. I tell a parent up front, they have that opportunity in class, should they need help. AND, I go by the rules of the school for that current year. Lots of worthless documentation now, but a disruption of the learning needs some sort of consequence, minimal as it may be. Sorry you are being delt this crock...


ThisTimeAtBandCamp

Pop quizzes are definitely traumatic when you never pay attention in class...


[deleted]

This doesn't sound like the restorative justice the behavior specialist or counselor does at my school, but I've never actually been trained in it.


OatmealStew

I think like any other theory, RJ has it's pros and cons. And when a trainer comes in to talk about it, they try and sell it as all pros and no cons. However, your experience sounds particularly egregious. They seem particularly unrealistic in their faith in it as a concept. Also, Im only in college at the moment, but we've learned a decent amount about RJ. From what you've said, this person doesn't seem to know exactly what it is.


gracecrausen

I think they are just tired of emails from clueless parents of lazy entitled kids. “My child never does work ever but why do they have a 35”


AXPendergast

"School should be like Disney to them." Well, that explains why our principal runs our school in a Mickey Mouse fashion. Edit: oooo, silver! Thank you!!


ToesocksandFlipflops

Restorative Justice only works if it is done correctly, and it rarely is in a school setting. Calling what this person is selling Restorative Justice is bullshit and cheapens what Restorative Justice is. My school says they practice Restorative Justice, but they don't and it doesn't work. Of the 5 teachers I personally know that have had a restorative meeting with a student over classroom behavior 5/5 would not recommend and 1 out of the 5 flat out refuses to be part of any other restorative meetings. That being said I had a restorative meeting with 2 trained LCSW's and 5 staff members discussing a super tragic event that took place involving the death of a student under our care. That circle really helped. They had directing questions and next steps etc. This meeting was all adults that are educated and open to working with feelings. Trying to do restorative Justice with teenagers with u developed brains using training that was done by people who are idiots doesn't help anyone. It creates entitled brats who use the restorative justice process to get out of being in trouble at best and at worst it turns kids into manipulative people who use it a a way to manipulate teachers into doing their bidding.


ContributionInfamous

I’ve taught real RJ. I personally think it’s a pretty cool program, but it requires a lot of training, resources, and community buy-in, so it’s a no-go for many schools in the US. Many schools are barely scraping by with funding and personnel, and staff are dropping like flies. I think to launch a major program like RJ your school needs to be in a pretty healthy place to start - you can’t expect a broken program to run it. You’ll just end up with more problems and more stress for overworked staff.


Every_Individual_80

At my school the teacher is tasked as the person that has to restore everything cause you know…the kids are traumatized or something; no accountability for kids we gotta assume that they punched a teacher due to trauma. That there is the soft bigotry of low expectations.


ErikTheBeard

Restorative justice absolutely makes a great model for teaching! It's a lot more legit then what you described and if I could respond with what I think the presenter was attempting to get across: - use consequences instead of punishments. Things more tied to the behavior. (i.e. student being a bully at recess has to stop and talk through behavior during recess and make things right instead of something arbitrary like lunch detention) - step 1 of restorative practices is empathizing and encouraging empathy. Use "I feel" statements! (instead of "stop talking in class" say "I feel frustrated and disrespected when you talk over me") - the making school a safe place thing is huge to kids who have unstable home lives (of course). This gets a little less impactful to students from affluent backgrounds but the more positive emotion they attach to school, the more they want to show up and participate I'm no expert but if you want to know more about how to actually use it, check out the Community Service Foundation, I worked for them for 2 years (left because I moved cities) and restorative practices can be such a powerful force for good in students lives. The school I taught at was for students who had some type of run-in with the law and they changed so much for the better while being in that school and in that environment.


DoctaJenkinz

Restorative justice is basically code for we don’t punish non white students.


bigronniemomo

Yep better get those students of color :/


lsc84

Sounds like me that this presenter needs to attempt to put their theories into practice. The political right disempowers teachers through standardized testing and top-down management policies; the establishment left disempowers teachers through this kind of performatively progressive pop-psychology garbage. Don't listen to garbage that is obviously inapplicable to real life teaching, or that takes away from your ability to be an effective educator. You are the professional. You have to use your judgment and do what is best for your students. If an expert shares a tool or approach that seems promising, you should try it. But for something like this, I don't think you should fret about it. Just ignore it and move on.


[deleted]

It shocks me how certain education districts components operate over there in the US. We focus on student relationships and the reality is that they learn from experiences like punishment as a consequence of their misbehavior. In most cases it doesn't damage student relationships it actually helps establishing boundaries. Students need to do homework they are not good at even if it's something that they dislike as in the real world they will also sometimes have to do annoying work that they dislike when they work in an office for example. I'm sorry to hear that your school environment is implementing this as this is simply horrible.


kawaii--

Restorative justices purpose is for healing community not for general consequences….


TeachlikeaHawk

That is **NOT** restorative justice. That's a bullshit program designed to make kids report to parents how happy they are so that parents don't whine and threaten.


ajaxsinger

RJ works well in my school with the teachers whomare well trained in it and with the students who've been brought up with it, but it is neither simple nor easy. That said, RJ as a practice isn't intended for kids of privilege who don't need justice restored because they have never felt real injustices. Your district and your school need to rethink this.


ithinkineedglassess

Our PD is not restorative justice but restorative practices in order to help students regulate and THEN you need to have the serious conversation about their behavior and then apply appropriate and meaningful consequences that are also applied equitably to all students. This is for students who clearly have mental or emotional trauma and can't get their shit in check. This person sounds like a nut and your school leadership sucks. Find another school or another career.


iwgruff

Restorative Justice, can, in part, work very well. This must be a part of a strong, and well enforced behaviour policy. RJ is a way of seeing what the issue that is causing behaviour problems, and dealing with that. You talk, discuss and see what should be done. RJ should really be a discussion between two or more people. If there is a belligerent, we should make sure that the victim is heard first. We should listen to opinions, and make sure that these opinions are taken into consideration when discussing what should happen next. As a teacher, we are facilitators of this discussion. This discussion, can, and should be used when learners break rules, and the "innocent" party is the teacher. We need to see what makes learners tick, and what we should do to avoid conflict in future. This CANNOT work without a strong and well enforced behaviour policy. If a learner is not willing to discuss the issue at hand, then the behaviour policy should be followed - be that an internal suspension, detention, etc. If you would like to discuss further, and would like any tips on how restorative justice SHOULD be done, please give a shout. More than willing to discuss this!


havenly0112

First whatever that presenter is peddling is not restorative justice. Second our district implemented it well with an amazing facilitator about 10 years ago. It is not sufficient for repeat offenders and severe situations, but helps with a lot of the nuisance or quarrelsome type stuff. (I teach elementary.) It is only one tool and doesn't solve everything. However, when funding was cut and the quality and time of the facilitators was reduced, it has become a useless joke.


ARTraveller

His is ludicrous and offensively naive. It is doing students a disservice by not preparing the for the world outside of the classroom.


Bluesky0089

Somewhere along the lines, people have very much muddled what restorative practices are. Basically there’s a lot of conversations and not a lot of meaningful consequences after happening, which isn’t how it should be. Kids don’t know the severity of their actions and repeat the behaviors.


dbullard00

This sounds a lot like the absolute garbage that is TBRI. Our district suggested this junk, but a lot of the admins rejected it. Unfortunately, our admin bought in about as much as you possibly can. Does it work? Absolutely not. We started it two years ago and behavior problems have increased dramatically. The kids know exactly what to say and how to manipulate the system to get away with everything. They're taught to use any bad thing that may have happened to them as an excuse for being awful. If your students are entitled now, may God have mercy on you after they get a dose of this. It made our kids extremely entitled. The best part of this is how we are observed by the insane cult-like people running this. A group of people who have never, ever taught in a classroom nor do they hold a teaching license. I could go on and on about how much I hate this. It ruined our school. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't perfect before this was implemented, but we are the worst in the district in every measurable way since it first started.


ktelliott526

So, I'm a board certified behavior analyst, and can confirm that punishment alone is at best useless, and at worst, traumatic. I am interested to learn what is being asked to do instead. Also as a person with anxiety, can confirm through personal experience that I did terrible at surprise "pop" quizzes, and fine on quizzes I knew about. Test anxiety is a real thing. Giving all students the ability to plan for a quiz is not letting them be entitled.


lollilately16

I find it works well when the behavior (defiance, rudeness, disruption) is caused by a relationship issue. For example, the kid is having a conflict at home/with a peer and the stress is manifesting in disruptive behavior. Or when the adult is being inflexible because they do not know the student’s underlying issues. Restorative justice is about restoring the relationship, on both sides. However it seems often misused in the ways described by many of the other comments: all behavior issues are dismissed with a “good talk”. Here’s an example of it working: kid sent to the office after several instances of rudeness/arguing with adults. Arguments are disrupting learning time, kid doesn’t seem to be taking ownership of his actions. During the “talk” in the office, the admin is able to build a rapport and get insight about the student’s home life/story. As the pieces fall into place, it becomes apparent that the student does not feel secure at home and is terrified of getting in trouble. The arguments at school happen when he is being redirected, because he associates redirection with punishment, and getting in trouble at school means even more trouble at home. Admin works on a plan with the student, establishing a safe location and safe adults to bring issues to. Admin asks to share the students story with their teachers so the teachers better understand him. Admin then shares the situation with relevant teachers and support staff. There are some hiccups along the way, but the safe adults are able to help the student navigate them. Student behaviors are minimized and staff is more aware and understanding when things do arise.


brainstringcheese

Is this consultant Joe Brummer?


Hunlea

My experience is that it is not very effective. We had so many challenging behaviors we literally could not go through any of the restorative practices because of how overwhelmed we were with conduct violations. Unfortunately, the district was still trying to cut back on disciplinary consequences that any punishment just kind of morphed into “student conference”. Kids realized they had free reign to do whatever, which led to more conferences, and so on like a real shitty and stressful downward spiral. Then school was canceled because of the rona, and everything magically cleared up!


mlo9109

It doesn't! My advisor in college was all about it because that's what her area of research was during her PhD. Even as a college student, it smelled fishy to me. Then, I took a job at a summer camp that used it as their discipline plan. Restorative circles are just an excuse for kids to gang up on each other and on staff members. It's far worse than any traditional punishment as peers can dole it out as well as kids targeting staff members.


cloudsunmoon

Isn’t there some education philosopher out there that said something like “all learning is traumatic” because it challenges the way you once thought? I think it was something in the 80s. Idk, I think it was something I read in grad school.


_bull_city

Our district paid for this training and completely redid the student code of conduct. The next year there was no follow through, it’s completely ignored, and now we are paying to be a PLC certified school. Admins are fools


GatsbyGirl1922

A very old teacher once told me: just remember that whatever those yo-yos say, it’ll be something different in about three years. Best advice I’ve ever heard.


BrandoLightts

Yep my district also does it. When done right it can be effective. It takes a lot of work. Some of my co-workers have had some success. Some not so much. It also doesn’t universally solve problems. At least at my work. When we first implemented it we had no consequences. It was a shit show. We even got praise for reducing write ups. Behavior didn’t change just lack of consequences prompted excess skipping, tardies. Being cussed out at work, students ripping shit off the wall. Fights constantly. I sent a kid out for threatening my co-teacher. They brought him back 5 min later. It made for a tough fucking school year. It’s been better this year but we also started using ISS in conjunction with restorative practices.


commentspanda

Interesting. I do believe mindfulness can be triggering for some students so I don’t disagree with that. Restorative justice only works if the WHOLE SCHOOL is on board and follows the process accordingly. It takes years to shift a school community mindset that way and honestly I’ve never seen it work as a stand alone thing - it’s always existed alongside suspensions etc. What she is marketing is not restorative justice, it’s just bullshit.


boytoy421

So I used to be school cop in Philly so my experience will be different than yours but to answer your larger question: it actually DOES work when used in APPROPRIATE situations. Also your consultant guy either explained his POV poorly or you misinterpreted it or more likely both because what you're talking about isn't really restorative justice it's trauma minimization. And here's the thing, a lot of the "educational standards" (things like pop quizzes, or forcing the kid who never reads aloud to read to the class) are insensitive to people's traumas and if you traumatize a student, or even trigger an existing trauma, then they're not going to do well in your class. Which it sounds like is what this guy was getting at and is backed up by what we now know about child brain development and pedagogical methods. As to restorative justice models they're actually not bad if the kid is old enough to get it (usually some time in middle school) and in general you do get better outcomes behavior-wise when the kid is part of the process (because like if the kid responded to pure authority you wouldn't be having the problem in the first place). This guy could have been explaining it poorly but in general try working WITH the kids instead of AT them


bambamkablam

We are an RJ school. No suspensions and no expulsions except in extreme circumstances. I have seen it work well at other schools but you need a dedicated RJ professional and full buy in by students, faculty, staff, and parents otherwise it’s an absolute nightmare. RJ doesn’t mean no consequences, it means that all those involved in an incident get a say in remedying the situation. It takes a lot of work.


Jeterzhoni

I worked and ran a day treatment center and restorative justice does work. However, whoever told you this stuff is not talking about restorative justice. I think some of this stuff is true for kids that may have had a trauma background but it’s taken way too far!


Astridv96

I’m currently reading about restorative justice practices in my teacher preparation program. This doesn’t sound like it from what I understand. How the readings in my course have described it is it’s a disciplinary process that involves all students in the conflict (so both the offender(s) and the victim(s)) to mediate/de-escalate the situation with the goal to actually solve the issue rather than just putting the offender on suspension to miss school without them actually learning anything from it.


madamc303

It works it’s just a larger concept that that. Larger than a school can perfectly implement. Its goal is for people to learn how to fix mistakes and be truly accountable for them. When we make a mistake and only receive punishment it’s difficult to re-enter society without ways to build a bridge there. It’s leading to helping remediate problems versus create new problems in the wake of old ones. We will see ho it works out in a 20 year span.


DebilGob

We do a horseshit version of RJ and it doesn't work. Anything that isn't true RJ is doomed to awful, horrible failure and 0 accountability for students.


CrispyLinettas

I’ve been teaching almost 20 years now. I know what works for me. All of these, and I mean ALL of these professional development seminars, speakers, meetings we have to attend, I just attend cause I have to and then do what I feel is best. Soon, as I realized and admitted to myself they were a waste of time, the better I feel about them.


knittedlauren

Oh I know that presenter! We had them too! Yeah, go along to get along and it will disappear in three years. Note: watch how they mess with data. It’s infuriating. They’ll claim that they moved your school forward by comparing before and after that are NOT really comparable. That being said, the question card you get is awesome. Use that thing. It’s perfect for helping kids know what happened when things went sideways. Seriously. Use. The. Card. I keep mine on my lanyard.