Show notes
In this episode, I interview John Whalen. I first met John back when he was a 6th-grade teacher at East Middle School Binghamton City School District. John came to Texas to visit me at Ed White Middle School, and we automatically connected. Since then, I’ve seen John grow from a teacher to the restorative practices coordinator of the district, and now in leadership. Tune in for part one of this two-part interview.[00:01 – 01:37] Opening SegmentI introduce and welcome our guest, John WhalenJoin our brand new RCL Community Facebook Group! Link below[01:38 – 13:26] The Flip-5 SegmentWe exchange five GTKY questionsJoin our Educator Circle Calls! Link below[13:27 – 20:56] Who is John Whalen?John talks about his background. His thoughts on the disproportionality in school disciplineJohn talks about “Restorative Justice.”The story of how we met[20:57 – 36:28] Restorative JusticeLeading and creating Restorative Initiative circlesThe challenges that come with restorative justiceJohn’s main takeaways while working with restorative justiceRestorative approach vs. the traditional approach[36:29 – 45:16] Give Teachers OpportunitiesGive the teachers more opportunities to do restorative workBringing teachers and students togetherGive students the opportunity to be heard Tweetable Quotes:“When we started doing those relationship-building circles, I started learning so much more about the students in my class.” – John Whalen“I saw some of the most amazing things when teachers were willing to come in and just say okay, I’m willing to listen to you.” – John Whalen Resources Mentioned:Relationship Centered Learning Community (Facebook Group) Get in touch with John on LinkedIn Visit www.Rclfirst.com to join the Educator Circle Calls that happen three times a week! Want a FREE download of 25 GTKY questions? Visit www.rclfirst.com and sign up for our newsletter!