 As the importance of trauma sensitive classrooms and the drive for becoming more responsive is at the forefront of our minds, at the foundation of these initiatives is the relationship building that is necessary to make any of those powerful initiatives a success. In the article, "Why Teacher-Student Relationships Matter" Sarah Sparks notes, A Review of Educational Research analysis of 46 studies found that strong teacher-student relationships were associated in both the short- and long-term with improvements on practically every measure schools care about: higher student academic engagement, attendance, grades, fewer disruptive behaviors and suspensions, and lower school dropout rates. Although the positives are profound, as educators we recognize there are challenges with building meaningful relationships with all of our students. There are time constraints, curriculum demands and large class sizes that can prevent those ‘little conversations’ from occurring. As the new school year is fast approaching, keep in mind the following strategies and/or trainings that can aid you in having those ‘little conversations’ that will improve engagement and bring about positive lasting results for your students. The Challenges and the Strategies to Overcome Them Time Time is our most valuable resource and there never seems to be enough of it. Within a school setting there are tight schedules and limited class periods.
Class Size Although class size varies and depending on grade level may grow or shrink from year to year, we may feel at times if there were only a few less students, more could be accomplished. Getting to know students can be difficult when there are so many and utilizing different games or whole group activities can help foster teacher-student relationships.
Curriculum Demands Gone are the days when we taught whatever we deemed important, today we are held to high curriculum standards and answer to testing data. The stress and pressure of getting through everything and delivering on academic goals is high. Luckily there are ways to steal moments that can help strengthen teacher-student relationships.
 For additional information on Restorative Practice Training, please reach out to Jillian Putnam, Mark Carls, Kathryn Mendell or Jessica Rose. By: Jessica Rose, CA BOCES Professional Development
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 It’s more than just sitting in a circle! School districts around the area have been looking for ways to help their staff build better relationships with their students and to hopefully come up with ways to reduce discipline issues. The West Valley school district led by their principal, Dan Amodeo and School Psychologist, Antonette Leonard, met earlier this year with Katie Mendell and Mark Carls about bringing Restorative Practices to West Valley. During the last staff development day before Spring break, Mark and Katie worked with the West Valley staff in the morning to give an overview of Restorative Practices and how it can possibly help the West Valley staff. Throughout the morning the teachers had plenty of open and honest conversations about what they already do in their classes and brainstormed some ideas on what they can possibly change at West Valley.
Many CA BOCES districts have been looking at Restorative Practices and have also attended many of the CA BOCES offered IIRP two-day trainings. The CA BOCES certified trained IIRP professionals offer dates in July and August for these two-day trainings, but they can also work with districts to offer full or part time trainings for any district. Participants in West Valley and other districts have been excited to see that Restorative Practice is ‘more than just circles’. Schools that adopt Restorative Practices give a common language to set expectations, build positive relationships and to help set up a ‘culture of caring’ for all students in a building.
By: Mark Carls, CA BOCES Professional Development |
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