Renee Thomas is a 25-year middle school U.S. history teacher, restorative community lead and selected as a San Diego Unified School District Teacher of the Year in 2021. She serves as vice chair of the Exemplary Teacher Advisory Council.

Tanya arrived late to class and told me that Chris pushed her into the bushes because he thought it was funny. Although I asked Chris about this in a calm and non-accusatory tone, he became confrontational, yelling and dropping F-bombs.

This incident occurred a couple weeks into the school year, so I didn’t know Chris very well yet. Because he was so easily provoked, I went to the office to check his discipline record. I discovered that this middle school student had several documented disciplinary incidents, ranging from aggressive behavior, defiance, v

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