ABSTRACT
The best teachers seldom need to do any emotional repairing in their classrooms, but they are continually working to repair, just in case. Great teachers practice behaviors for repairing a situation; they also teach students behaviors for repairing, rather than escalating, a negative situation. A student responds disrespectfully to a teacher, a student refuses to complete an assignment, a student uses inappropriate or threatening language toward a classmate. Great teachers work hard to keep their relationships in good repair-to avoid personal hurt and to repair any possible damage-and other people notice this effort. Each group analyzes their assigned scenario and plan out two courses of action, one based on the traditional approach and the other on the restorative approach. Whitaker's book advises educators to teach misbehaving students to behave in a way that restores them in the eyes of the offended party.
