Community Circle Discussions 

Action Plan:

I plan on having class groups discussions while sitting in a circle on a regular basis.  The students will align their chairs or themselves in a circle.  The students will put away any technological devices and will be at full attention.  The talking points and facilitation of the discussion will be student-led.      During the discussion the students will pass an item that symbolizes a microphone and allows students to easily identify who should be speaking.  Only the person with the designated item should be talking.  When a person is speaking all students should be listening and looking at the speaker.  I will utilize circle discussions for a variety of topics.  

Rationale and Reflection:

Teaching the students to speak confidently is important as being able to listen attentively to fellow classmates.  Traditional class discussions students are sitting in rows of aligned desks.  Many times, students can be focused on other things rather than the speaker.  The circle talk allows the students to see the speakers face.  The speaker also can see if the others are listening.  According to the manual, Teaching Restorative Practices in the classroom, created by Amos Clifford, founder of the Center For Restorative Process, utilized by the San Francisco unified school district, "Circle discussions build community, teach restorative concepts of skills, can be used to foster a sense of community when resolving problems,  and promote empathy through the act of the circle discussion."