
Restorative Practices in Schools: Why aren't they working?
Teaching through Emotions: Teacher Mental HealthShow Notes
It is so frustrating to me — and I think to a lot of educators — that the practices schools adopt that are meant to solve all their problems end up fading away. Like Restorative Practices. A really great program aimed at strengthening relationships through honesty, support, and community connection. Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Of course, no program can be a silver bullet. Change takes humans who exert discipline and consistency and commitment. But, as my readers know, anything that strengthens relationships in schools is good because it increases the chances of effective teaching and learning. Not to mention growth and development. So sticking with programs that foster connection makes sense. Marisol Quevedo Rerucha, author of Beyond the Surface of Restorative Practices: Building a Culture of Equity, Connection, and Healing and CEO of Heartset Consulting Group, argues for restorative practices in schools. In this episode from Truth for Teachers, Marisol discusses * School Culture: Who are restorative practices for? * Living Our Values: How does our humanity get in the way of our work? * Making Mistakes: How do we hold each other accountable with love and dignity? * Being Human: How to blend personal and professional development * The Role of Faith: What is the Way of the Buffalo? What is a Cow Moment? Marisol is wise and offers lots of great perspective and advice. If you leave this episode thinking, “YEAH!! Let’s do this thing! But how?” here are a couple of suggestions (beyond using restorative practices in your school): * Read Loretta Ross’s Calling In: How to Start Making Change with Those You’d Rather Cancel * Contact TTE Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Connect & Share Got a story to share? What’s your experience with restorative practices? I’d love to hear! Leave me a voicemail at (413) 239-4158 and we might feature your perspective in a future episode! Or send me an email! [email protected] Support the Show: If anything about the Teaching through Emotions podcast resonates, please leave a rating or review on your podcast app. Your feedback helps others find us. Get full access to the community: www.teachingthroughemotions.com/subscribe Credits Founder and Host: Betsy Burris Co-Host: Joe Johnson Producer: Jullian Androkae of PodVision Audience Development: Andreea Coscai of PodVision Music: Tom Burris/Jabbering Trout Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
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More from Teaching through Emotions: Teacher Mental Health
Ah, rudeness. Most college professors do not expect it from their students (or from anybody). The hierarchy in colleges and universities is pretty clear, and the stakes of messing with it are generally high for students. So what do you do when a student tells you to wait while they finish typing their text? In other words, how does student rudeness affect teachers? Even if you handle the student effectively in the moment, what if you feel bad about it afterwards? Teacher mental health (everyone’s mental health) includes surviving boundary hangover, or the regret that can follow doing the right interpersonal thing. In this episode, we hear some college professors in a Teacher Support Group wrestle with this very thing: setting an appropriate boundary and feeling bad about it afterwards. We discuss * Who’s in Charge: What to do when the authority structure gets flipped upside down * The Class Placeholder: The possible ramifications when students scramble to change their course schedule * Student Distractions: Do students need help fitting into your classroom reality? * The Teacher Ego: Why it’s crucial to teacher mental health * Objectification: What the antidote is to the common experience of being turned into an object for someone else’s use You don’t have to be a college professor to relate to this story! High school teachers, elementary and pre-school teachers, even parents — everyone who interacts with other people, especially members of Gen Z, can benefit from hearing how these teachers work through their reactions to student rudeness. Teacher mental health is crucial. Check it out! External links Teaching through Emotions What type of teacher are you? Take the quiz! Connect & Share Got a story to share? What shockingly rude behaviors have you encountered in your classroom? I’d love to hear! Leave me a voicemail at (413) 239-4158 and we might feature your perspective in a future episode! Or send me an email! [email protected]. Support the Show: If this conversation resonated, please consider leaving a rating or review on your podcast app. Your feedback helps others find us. Get full access to the community: www.teachingthroughemotions.com/subscribe Credits Founder and Host: Betsy Burris Producer: Jullian Androkae of PodVision Audience Development: Andreea Coscai of PodVision Podcast Editor: Jasper Chua Theme Music: Tom Burris/Jabbering Trout Interstitial Music: Brad Wells Chapters: 00:00 Thank yous, then when students get under your skin03:58 A college student tells his professor "okay, go ahead"09:08 The group asks: was the phone really the problem?17:03 When students treat your class as a placeholder20:36 Getting paused like a phone, and why it stings29:21 Saying no to the replay, then the boundary hangover38:01 The plan: trust your gut and speak up42:44 A month later, plus takeaways for your own classroom
Welcome to Season 4 of Teaching through Emotions! We are excited to drop the first episode just a few days before World Teachers Day. October 5th is the day devoted every year to honoring educators the world over, specifically to draw attention to * Teachers’ rights and responsibilities * Standards for teacher education * Expectations for teacher recruitment and employment * Requirements for teaching and learning conditions Consider Teaching through Emotions our paean to teachers and our regular commemoration of World Teachers Day! Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Season 4 of Teaching through Emotions is about to drop (on October 1st)! And it’s different. Really different. In past seasons, I’ve shared teacher stories, many with my wonderful co-host, Joe Johnson. Here’s the most popular one from Season 3, btw: Handling Teacher Guilt: Are you being too judgmental of yourself? All of these teacher stories came from Teacher Support Groups or work I did with individual teachers. All of them were told by me. This season, we’re taking you right to the heart of TTE’s work. We’re cutting me out as the storyteller. Instead, we’re letting actual teachers tell their stories! That is, we’re recording TSGs and bringing teachers’ experiences to you fresh from their TSG meetings. Speaking of which, looking to join a TSG? Contact me. I’ll put together a group of teachers from all over the world (if need be) to meet regularly online to talk about — and change — the realities of teaching. Listen to the trailer and share it with your colleagues! your teacher friends! your other friends! The stuff we talk about is specific to teaching but valuable to anyone who’s in a relationship. Stuff like * Becoming overwhelmed even at the very beginning of the school year * Handling Gen Z device-enhanced rudeness * Dealing with AI * Setting crucial boundaries with students, colleagues, and parents — and surviving “boundary hangover” and so much more. Credits Founder and Host: Betsy Burris Producer: Jullian Androkae of PodVision Audience Development: Andreea Coscai of PodVision Podcast Editor: Jasper Chua of PodVision Music: Tom Burris/Jabbering Trout
Listeners! Ande Lyons, a wonderful, sparkling woman, recently interviewed me on her podcast Don’t Be Caged by Your Age. Ande asked me some great questions about how I got where I am, what advice I have for people over 65 (might be relevant to you even if you aren’t lucky enough to have yet reached 65), and why I care so danged much about my work. It’s a fun interview with lots of laughter! Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
My friend Sarah is a bad ass. She is an incredibly good teacher and is assiduously responsible. In our initial episode about the difficulties of having a Teaching Assistant (TA), she promised to follow up with me about her take-aways from her conversation with me and Joe. Which she did. And this is the conversation she and I just had about that follow-up. Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.