South Cook Area Wide Institute Day 2026

Learn why the circle is such a powerful configuration and how it can contribute to the formation of and the maintenance of your Classroom Community.We will talk about

1. The structure of the circle and its ability to empower kids to own their outcomes
2. Using circles to help kids connect, establish agreements, and solve individual and group conflicts
3. How circles can change the teacher's role from instructional leader to facilitator and your kids role from competitors to collaborators
4. 3 types of circles
5. 3 circle tools

Participants leave ready to facilitate their first circle or to enhance the circles they already offer. Participants also leave with a a resource Restorative Practice resource guide.

Participants learn how to ask their kids to be both personally and socially responsible classroom community members. How to help their kids understand that while they are responsible for their behavior they influence the behavior of their classmates. A simple and effective 3 step strategy for empowering kids to make Bullying a behavior the Community does not tolerate is offered.  The strategy, Stop - Walk - Talk is demonstrated and participants are provided a little time to share why they think it will or won't work. Together we'll figure it out.


Participants leave with a Stop - Walk - Talk lesson plan.

A 3 minute Experiential Education activity serves as an inclusive welcome that allows participants to feel the difference between Sitting and Getting and Moving and Doing. As with all Experiential Education lessons the presenter then facilitates the  participants processing the group's effort. The participants go F.I.S.H. ing. F - did you have fun? I - was everyone  included? S - where in school does it apply?  H - how will we use the skills we used today tomorrow? Participants feel the Difference.


An overview of Experiential Education as a methodology is provided which includes

1. The Experiential Education format.
2. The Learning Cycle - Experiencing, Reflecting, Generalizing, and Applying.
3. Teacher's role as a facilitator
4. Students role as collaborators

An explanation of how to morph traditional Social Emotional Learning Skill instruction into an Experiential Education lesson 

1. How to use Frontloading.
2. How to use processing.

The benefits of adding Experiential Education to the Social Emotional Learning Skills curriculum you use

1. Teachers are not asked to do one more thing they are challenged to do what they do, using the curriculum they know incorporating an additional instructional methodology.
2. Intentionally offering a structured social climate.
3. Intentionally building a caring, inclusive classroom community where kids want to use the SEL-S you teach.
4. Provides a vehicle to connect individual skills to your social contracts, expectations, agreements, and PBIS Matrixes.
5. Provides a vehicle for establishing a consensus reality. 
6. Provides a vehicle for establishing a consensus reality, moving the pronoun from I, Me, We, They, to US.

Participants will

1. Be positioned to try something different.
2. They will leave with 5 Experiential Education Lessons and 1 Caring Classroom Environment introspection activity.

In this session there will be a structured opportunity to bring questions and/or participate in a problem solution setting with colleagues.