Michigan Department of EducationSegment 10: RJ Activities

1. Share creative ideas to inspire exploration of a broader range of options for experiencing restorative justice (RJ) and expressing its effect.

2. Inspire and encourage development of activities for using circles process to enhance learning and community building.

3. Have fun trying out some of these ideas!

Group Activity and Ice Breaker Exercise

The following four slides provide an example of an ice breaker exercise that helps bring the concept and principles of RJ into focus and provides insight into how lives are touched personally.

Consider using this in training exercises or when introducing the concept of RJ to a group. The ice breaker gets people moving and talking, then thinking and listening. Engage in the first three slides, then return to the cards after introducing some of the concepts.

Participants will each need an index card (3x5) and writing instrument.

Group Activity and Ice Breaker Exercise

Think of a time in your life (preferably at about the same age as the children you work with now) when you felt that someone had harmed you, or something important to you, in some way.

Choose one word to describe how you felt when you were harmed in this way. Write that word on your 3x5 card.

Once you have written your word, move around the room and collect the words of five other attendees. Do not share your story, just write down each of their words under your own word on your card.

When you have six words on your card, sit back down in your chair.

Group Activity and Ice Breaker Exercise

Now turn your card over to the side without writing.

Group Activity and Ice Breaker Exercise

Think of a time in your life (preferably at about the same age as the children you work with now) when you caused harm to someone else.

Choose one word to describe how you felt when you knew you had hurt that person in that way. Write that word on the back side of your 3x5 card.

Once you have written your word, move around the room and collect words from five different attendees from the people you talked with before. Do not share your story, just write down each of their words under your own. When you have six words on this side of your card, sit

back down in your chair.

Group Activity and Ice Breaker Exercise If you are in a group, arrange your chairs in a circle so that

everyone faces into the center. Bring your 3x5 card with you to the circle and turn to the side

with words describing how you and your colleagues felt when you caused harm to another person.

Taking turns so that only one person speaks at a time, go around the circle so that each person shares one word from that side of his/her card. Do not share the entire story—one word is all anyone should say for this exercise.

Once everyone has shared, follow the same process using words from the other side of the card.

Once everyone has shared two words that resonate with them, go around the circle one more time with each person answering the question:

Did you find closure in each situation or do you wishyou had a way to make things right?

Group Activity and Ice Breaker Exercise

The following slide describes an activity to bring RJ practitioners together to help focus on their work and help them open their minds and hearts to new learning or deeper examination of their work.

Participants will need an assortment of paper hearts and markers or crayons to select from and use.

Group Activity and Ice Breaker Exercise

People come into our lives with lessons, gifts, and opportunities.

Think of one person at your school who brought you something related to RJ and write his/her first name on the heart provided.

Now turn to another person in the room and tell him/her what your heart name has given you and how your experience will help strengthen your RJ practice.

Circles are a great tool for creating a sense of community between and engaging people from different backgrounds. Prepare for a circle by establishing accomplishment goals and craft questions and symbols to guide participants to that goal.

Before engaging in circle, help students feel a sense of ownership by creating some of the physical elements of future circles in their classroom. The next four slides provide tools to set the stage for deeper student engagement in community-building and conflict-resolution circles.

A centerpiece for your circle can help welcome people to the process and provide a physical representation of the Circle community. It also provides focus for participants and offers a place for participants to rest their eyes without being disrespectful to the person speaking.

A quilt, a piece of Kinte cloth, a piece of Scottish tartan, and a piece of fringed deerskin or beaded cloth, all bounded by the colors of the school, can provide an easy way for students and other Circle participants to see themselves welcomed to the Circle in the centerpiece.

One way to make a centerpiece is to simply lay a scarf or piece of cloth in the middle of the circle and invite students to place small objects of meaning on the cloth. At the end of the Circle, the piece of cloth can be rolled up and stored for the next Circle.”

Nancy Reistenberg, Circle in the Square, pp. 82-83

In circle, the talking piece has great power because it controls who speaks and who listens, so it becomes both a tool and a symbol for the community working together.

Choosing the talking piece can also be a powerful experience because it reflects the chooser’s taste and the circle’s purpose.

Consider the power, then, of giving students a chance to create their own talking pieces! Assemble mixed craft materials such as pipe cleaners, wire, small stones, shells, drift wood or clay. Let your students shape and decorate their talking pieces in whatever way they choose with paint, glued items such as beads, feathers, confetti, and more according to the symbolism they want to use. Let imaginations run wild, but be sure the finished talking

piece fits into participants’ hands and is sturdy enough to be passed around from person to person. Store talking

pieces on display in the classroom.

Story of The Fighting WolvesAn old man and boy were walking together when the older man began to talk, saying: “A terrible fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible struggle between two wolves.

“One wolf is evil and ugly. He is anger, envy, war, greed, self-pity, sorrow, regret, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, selfishness and arrogance.

“The other wolf is beautiful and good. He is friendly, joyful, peaceful, loving, hopeful, serene, humble, kind, just and compassionate. The same fight is going on inside you and every human being.”

“But Grandfather,” cried the boy, “which wolf will win?”

The elder looked at his grandson and said, “The one you feed.”

Story telling is a key element of the circle process and an experience humans enjoy. Open circles by having one student read a VERY short story or poem, then ask everyone to share their thoughts in a circle discussion. Or, at the beginning of a conflict circle, share a story or poem that fits the situation. The following is a great example.

Through newsletters you can let the world know about RJ practices and their effect on your students and school community. Keep them short, colorful and dynamic with data about your RJ process, real-life stories (keep participants anonymous), student artwork and more! Distribute to faculty, staff, potential donors, and anyone who can help support RJ in your school.

Video has become more effective in capturing attention. Consider developing short documentary films about your RJ process and posting them on You-Tube like these from the Lansing Schools: or Restorative Resources videos. Remember to get release forms signed before production starts!

Assemble various art and craft media for two and four dimensional artwork and prepare to tape performance art if desired. Invite students who have already participated in an RJ session to create a piece of art that expresses their feelings about their RJ experience.

Once they have created their artwork, ask them to write a short statement about what it means.

Exhibit the pieces in a gallery setting or scan them and use them in presentations, illustrations for reports, newsletters, or other communications.

NOTE: Obtain a signed release with the student’s and his/her parents’ permission to exhibit the artwork—especially if it identifies that child as the artist. The student may want to sign the artwork on the back.

If participating in this training alone, skip to the bolded questions at the bottom of this slide and think about their answers. If participating in a group, arrange chairs in a circle with everyone facing into the center.

Taking turns so that only one person speaks at a time, go around the circle asking each person to answer the first question listed in bold below.

Once everyone has answered the first question, follow the same process to answer the remaining two questions. Keep track of the time you have—if necessary apply time limits to each answer so everyone has the same amount of time to speak.◦ How can these ideas be adapted to our RJ practice?◦ Share one idea for an RJ activity that isn’t offered here.

◦ What one thing are you willing to commit to do to supportthe RJ practice?