Purchasing day was tough for us (myself included).  We were under a good deal of stress: we had to find the right materials (and honestly, who has ever found what they were looking for at a big box store?), stay under budget, collaborate with teammates, load a school bus with our supplies, and be done by the time school started.  When under this stress, a lot of us lashed out at our classmates and did not treat each other as we should have.

Today, we started the class off with a bit of a cleanse.  We all participated in a Restorative Circle of sorts.  A restorative circle is something used to “re-actively respond to wrongdoing, conflicts, and problems.”  Each student wrote down the name of someone they did not treat with kindness.  From there, they wrote down what they did, asked for apology, and said what they would do differently next time.  After writing down our situations, we confronted that person and used our writings as guides so as to have an honest conversation about what we did wrong, honestly ask for forgiveness, and to find a way to move on.

It was an absolutely amazing process!