Greater student awareness of social fabric. Typically, students have some relationship awareness, so they notice how others are feeling. Later, they'll discover that empathy is quite important, nearly as much as their own feelings are. Social fabric is the glue that holds all of us together; in your classes, be sure to strengthen it every day. Incorporate a social component in all of your rituals and procedures. For example, after a think-pair share activity, you might say, "Before you return to your seat, please thank your partner." By using simple social courtesies, over time students will develop a better sense that they are in the midst of an enormous complex social fabric that must be nurtured and respected.
Increased student self-governance. Share with students the responsibility for classroom management. Effective teachers work to inculcate in students a sense of belonging and self-discipline rather than the view that discipline is an external force. Teaching self-control skills (modeling plus teaching self-instruction, self monitoring, and self-reinforcement) improves the conduct of misbehaving students. slowly add more and more responsibility as students are ready to take it on
Understanding and e posing of restitution. This is the highest level of responsibility, when the offender chooses it. Restitution is the act of repairing the dam age or "righting" the wrong. You can't undo the damage, but you can the provide compensation for anyone who was wronged. Use this concept in the cases, most often the severest infractions. It is certainly not the only answer, but it does provide a better framework than making students feel guilty. Restitution basics include the following statements:
• You're not a bad person
• It's OK to make a mistake.
• You may not even have intended for this to happen.
• Nevertheless, a person was harmed or wronged
• Now, what are you going to do to right the wrong?
Restitution has some beautiful qualities: it can be seen by both victim and offender as an adequate solution: it leaves no emotional wake of negative it makes the negative action less likely to be repeated in the the offender sees the value and learns self-discipline: it is directly linked to the misdeed; and it is always offered as a choice to a student, never imposed. If a student is unwilling to make restitution, simply impose an alternative consequence (see Table 17.1)