Restorative Practices, a strategy that has its roots in the criminal justice system, has been effectively implemented in classrooms by trained educators who believe in holding students accountable for their actions. It focuses more on helping students recognize and determine how to change a misbehavior, without resorting to traditional punishments like suspension. It can be used to address a specific incident, diffuse a particular situation, or simply to get students thinking about their behavior and how to improve it. Often, both teachers and students find that they end up building positive relationships with other students, since restorative practices involves sharing feelings, expressing ideas, and learning about each other.

More important than ensuring that our students are learning grade level material, as educators we must also prepare them with necessary skills to be successful in school, work and society. Don Knezek, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has developed a list of 5 lessons to help move education into the digital age:

Research has shown that building strong positive relationships between students and teachers actually leads to an even higher level of academic success. Having that type of connection with a teacher makes a student want to go above and beyond the expectations of the class. Most teachers already take the time to make individual connections with their students, but there are some tips that will assist in building positive relationships.