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Welcome to a Journey in helping your students and staff learn to 

communicate and really listen to each other!

Parents and teachers call it, "Magic".  It's not magic...it's Circles and using Restorative Practices.  I strongly feel my students need to be heard...OFTEN.  All of them, not just the confident students who routinely raise their hands.  Using Restorative Practices in your classroom will help you create a community with self-worth and respect for their peers, their teachers, and their school community.  Believe me...it's not MAGIC...it CIRCLES!

My Journey to becoming an educator.

I started out being a coach not a teacher…or so I thought. Then I discovered they are really the same thing! So I went back to college at age 25 and earned my teaching degree. For the next six years I taught across the hallway from my mom. She taught fifth grade and I taught sixth. Then I married and moved away…my mother cried. This was a big move from a rural district to an urban setting. Over the years this urban neighborhood school has changed from a school with less than 30% poverty and diversity to a poverty “high needs” school. Last year we were 87% poverty and 90% diverse. I have been very intentional in changing my teaching strategies to meet the needs of the new group of students and families. The biggest and most positive change in my classroom has been using Restorative teaching strategies. Restorative language and Restorative thinking has changed the way I see the world, my students, and their families. My principal calls it Mrs. Cranston’s magic. It isn’t magic …. It’s Circles!   I feel strongly that all human beings need to be heard. It’s that simple….when children feel heard they feel a sense of community, a sense of self-worth, and respect for their peers, their school, and their teachers. Believe me…it’s not MAGIC….it’s CIRCLES!  

Services


Classroom Talking Circles

Tier I intervention appropriate for all students. Training specific to classroom talking circles.  Appropriate for teachers, social workers, PBIS specialists, intervention specialists. Can be tailored for your school or location.  Can be one full day or two full days.  

Problem Solving Circles

Tier II intervention appropriate for "some" students.  These circles are centered around an incident/in response to a wrong-doing.  Appropriate for teachers, administrators, social workers, intervention specialists, PBIS staff who have participated in the Classroom Talking Circles training and are experienced  circle keepers.  One full day.  Must have Classroom Circle Training or experience in Circles. 

Restorative Chat/Social Conference

Tier I intervention appropriate for all students. Training specific to Restorative Language and one on one conference with a student experiencing problems in school/classroom. Appropriate for adults who work with children/students of all ages.  One full day.   

Restorative Language

Tier I intervention appropriate for all students. Training specific to Restorative Language and how to communicate respectfully. Appropriate for adults who work with children/students of all ages. One full day.

NEW!  Restorative Practice Training for

 Bus Drivers and Bus Monitors

Offer support to your bus drivers and monitors. Teach them how to use Restorative Language with students to build community. 

 The follow up training focuses on teaching your drivers and monitors how to have Restorative Chats

 with students to repair relationships. 

This training is based on the theory of Restorative Justice where discipline is focused on agreement

 and repairing rather than punishments.


 This is a three-tiered program based on

 Tier I PREVENTION, Tier II INTERVENTION and Tier III REPAIRING.

Restorative Justice can work hand in hand with traditional discipline policies. The three-tier system intervenes before a student is suspen​ded and then in the event a suspension does occur, the school staff meets with the student to offer supports before the student returns to the bus. Drivers report they feel like they have a voice in the process and feel supported at the same time. 

Please call us to learn more

What our customers are saying

I would highly recommend this training.  It is so helpful to know the training is coming from a teacher not just an outside expert. 

Jane Hayes

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