Conflict Resolutions

I feel like we so often forget how hard it can truly be to be a student.
I have noticed that my students have had some struggles with
understanding how to deal with social situations they are faced with.
So I decided that I would have my students practice how to deal with the everyday
social situations that they are often faced with.

In groups I gave my students multiple cards that featured different scenarios
that I know my students face. Some scenarios took place in the classroom, lunchroom,
or out at recess. I was surprised to see that some of the situations I thought would be easy,
and they would deem as small problems, really were difficult for the students to work through.
We stressed the importance of empathizing in these situations and putting ourselves in the shoes
of the other person.

What was great about this activity was when I had us reflect later on that week on
how they dealt with conflict themselves. They were able to talk about how they worked through
the problem. A lot of them were excited to share and seemed very proud of themselves when they
talked about how they were able to handle the situation on their own without telling a teacher.

I would definitely do this activity again.
The students were engaged and did a great job at showing me
that they know how to handle difficult situations without shutting down or being mean to one another.