SEL and RP

In our feature Ask the Keeper, senior trainer and staff developer Marieke van Woerkom answers your questions about restorative circles and related practices in schools.  Send your questions to: keeper@morningsidecenter.org.

Here are some basic questions to help students share thoughts and feelings about an upsetting event, and additional guidance.

Consider giving students a few moments of silence and calm by asking them to focus on an object. If students respond positively to the experience, repeat it. 

Eight tips on what to do when students make hurtful remarks.

In the wake of recent anti-Muslim attacks by Trump and others, students read and discuss profiles of diverse Muslim Americans, consider how they may be feeling about recent events, and read a letter to "Non-Muslim Allies" about ways to stand up for those who are being targeted.   

Students consider what it means to be an ally and to stand up for justice by examining a famous photo of a protest  at the 1968 Olympics and then learning about and discussing the story behind the photo.  

This classroom activity uses Halloween as a taking off point for students to share their experiences of being fearful, explore how fear is a normal part of life, and share ways we can handle our fear. The activity is structured as a circle, but can be adapted for other formats. For an introduction...

General guidelines for talking sensitively with students who may be upset about recent acts of violence in the news.   

Students read and reflect on a poem and on their experiences over the past year, and consider things they've learned or goals they want to set for the coming year.   

This activity is based on an attack on one girl by several others at a McDonald's restaurant in Brooklyn. It uses a circle format to help students consider possible helpful responses to such an incident.