Action Plan
Intervention and Rationale
Problem Solving Strategies
From researching, I discovered a variety of ways to approach teaching conflict resolution. I learned about conflict resolution strategies and ways to reinforce/practice these strategies with students. Now I had to decide which strategies and ways to reinforce/practice the strategies would be the most appropriate for my students. I had to organize how I was going to teach and implement conflict resolution in my classroom. My master teacher gave me permission to teach conflict resolution everyday after recess for twenty minutes so I decided I would do that for four weeks and make it my phase 1. Next, I had to decide how I was going to introduce conflict resolution to my students. The problem solving strategies introduced to students in the literature I read was I-statement and the 4 steps. With the I-statement strategy the student being bothered says to the student bothering him/her, "I am _______ when you ______. I'd like you to__________." The first blank is to be filled with the emotion the student is feeling, the second blank is to be filled with the action the other student is doing that is bothering the student, and the third blank is to be filled with what the student would like the student bothering them to do instead. With the 4 step strategy the students in conflict must engage in the following steps 1. Define the problem 2. Brainstorm solutions together 3. Pick a solution together and try it 4. Evaluate the solution they choose). I decided introducing both of these problem solving strategies to my students at the same time would be too confusing and overwhelming so introducing one at a time would be easier. I knew teaching the students to solve their social conflicts on their own instead of going to the teacher/ an adult to solve their social conflict was going to be a big transition for my students so I need to choose the strategy that would make this transition easiest for my students. I chose to introduce the I-statement strategy first because I felt it was simpler and would be a good way to get the students to verbalize how they feel when someone is bothering them. I would introduce it to them by modeling the structure of the I-statement and giving them various examples of when the I-statement could be used to solve a problem. However, I decided that after my students had a chance to practice and mastered using the I-statement to solve their social conflicts, I would introduce my students to the other way to solve social conflicts using the 4 steps (1. Define the problem 2. Brainstorm solutions together 3. Pick a solution together and try it 4. Evaluate the solution they choose).
Instructional Approaches
After deciding that the conflict resolution strategy I was going to introduce first to my students was the I-statement, I had to decide which methods from the literature I read I was going to use to reinforce and get the students to practice the strategy. Given that most children around the age of my students generally love puppet shows, I decided using the "Problem Puppets" would be a good way to reinforce and practice the I-statement strategy with my students. As the authors Carlsson-Paige & Levin suggested, I would role play the puppets having social conflicts I had witnessed my students having. I felt that the puppets would grab the interest of my students and help my students learn what kinds of conflicts can be solved with I-statements. I also decided I would use the other method Carlsson-Paige & Levin suggested of reading different books with conflicts to the students then stopping at each conflict and having the students discuss how the characters should solve the conflict. My hopes were that students would suggest characters should use an I-statement and give examples of possible I-statements characters could say. I felt that reading books like this aloud to the students would be a good method to reinforce and have the students practice the I-statement because reading books and having discussions about the books are already a part of the classroom routine so I know the students are capable of doing this. Reading books with social conflicts in them would expose the students to more kinds of social conflicts that can be resolved using the I-statement. Lastly, I decided I would reinforce the I-statement strategy by holding a "class meeting time". Holding class meetings like this is another method I read about in the Carlsson-Paige & Levin literature piece. During the "class meeting time" students I witnessed solving their social conflicts with the I-statement would be invited to share with the whole class the social conflict they had and how they solved it. I felt that this method would be a good way to acknowledge the students who have been using the I-statement to solve their social problems, encourage the other students to use the I-statement to solve their social problems and expose my students to more social conflicts where the I-statement could be used. I planned to use "Problem Puppets", reading stories with conflicts, and class meetings as my three main methods of reinforcing and having the students practice the I-statement. "Problem Puppets", reading stories with conflicts, and class meetings would provide facilitated practice in problem solving that I anticipate my students will later apply to solve their own social conflicts they encounter during the day.
After I felt my students had enough of a chance to practice the I-statement and had mastered using this strategy to solve social conflicts with their friends, I decided they would be ready for the 4 step conflict resolution strategy (1. Define the problem 2. Brainstorm solutions together 3. Pick a solution together and try it 4. Evaluate the solution they choose). I would model each of these steps for them so they understand them. I would model this for them by role playing a typical social conflict with my master teacher and solving it using these steps. However, since this strategy involves multiple steps, I thought my students would have a difficult time remembering each step. Therefore, right after teaching this strategy to them, I would present my students with a set of cards containing each step and having them sequence the steps in the right order. This was another method use to reinforce the strategy that was mentioned in Stevahn & Johnson's piece. I would also reinforce and have my students practice using this strategy with the same methods I used to reinforce the I-statement: "Problem Puppets", reading stories with conflicts, and class meetings. Lastly, after a few days of practicing this strategy, I would set up a "conflict resolution circle" area in my classroom for the students to go to solve their problems. There would be a ring placed there for the students in conflict to grasp as they work towards a resolution. The circle they grasp would represent the "conflict resolution circle". There would also be a poster posted in this area with the conflict resolution strategy steps and visuals of each step to remind the students how to go about solving their problem. This method was also mentioned by W. Heydenberk, & R. Heydenberk as a way to get students to practice a conflict resolution strategy that was taught to them. I felt teaching my students both the I-statement strategy and the 4 step conflict resolution strategy would provide students with concrete ways to solve their problems on their own. I had faith that with time and practice all my students would be able to successfully apply and use these strategies on their own to solve their social conflicts.
Data Collection and Assessment Methods
Next, I had to decide how I was going to analyze and assess my students ability to apply and use these strategies to solve their social conflicts. In thinking about this, I decided it was going to be really difficult and overwhelming to keep track of all 25 of my students ability to problem solve using the strategies introduced to them so I decided to only assess a portion of the class but conduct all of the conflict resolution lessons with the whole class so everyone could learn them. I choose to collect data on and assess only seven of my students. These seven students were chosen randomly in order to give a more accurate representation of my classes ability to solve problems independently. Given that my students are five and six and can barely read and write, I felt the best way to evaluate and analyze the ability of my students to solve conflicts on their own would be by my observations and individual conferences with each student. I used two tools for this:
1. Observational Guide
To keep track of my observations, I created an Observational Guide to fill out every week. The observational guide was set up like a chart. I had each of the students I was assessing on one axis and every day of the school week on the other axis. Each day when I witnessed these students having a social conflict with another student, I recorded what they did to solve the social conflict. Every week I would fill out a new Observational Guide so I could compare their development with independent problem solving week to week. This served as a way of informing me what kinds of social problems my students were having, if they were using the problem solving strategy I taught them to solve the problem, and if they were able to do the strategy on their own.
Problem Solving Strategies
From researching, I discovered a variety of ways to approach teaching conflict resolution. I learned about conflict resolution strategies and ways to reinforce/practice these strategies with students. Now I had to decide which strategies and ways to reinforce/practice the strategies would be the most appropriate for my students. I had to organize how I was going to teach and implement conflict resolution in my classroom. My master teacher gave me permission to teach conflict resolution everyday after recess for twenty minutes so I decided I would do that for four weeks and make it my phase 1. Next, I had to decide how I was going to introduce conflict resolution to my students. The problem solving strategies introduced to students in the literature I read was I-statement and the 4 steps. With the I-statement strategy the student being bothered says to the student bothering him/her, "I am _______ when you ______. I'd like you to__________." The first blank is to be filled with the emotion the student is feeling, the second blank is to be filled with the action the other student is doing that is bothering the student, and the third blank is to be filled with what the student would like the student bothering them to do instead. With the 4 step strategy the students in conflict must engage in the following steps 1. Define the problem 2. Brainstorm solutions together 3. Pick a solution together and try it 4. Evaluate the solution they choose). I decided introducing both of these problem solving strategies to my students at the same time would be too confusing and overwhelming so introducing one at a time would be easier. I knew teaching the students to solve their social conflicts on their own instead of going to the teacher/ an adult to solve their social conflict was going to be a big transition for my students so I need to choose the strategy that would make this transition easiest for my students. I chose to introduce the I-statement strategy first because I felt it was simpler and would be a good way to get the students to verbalize how they feel when someone is bothering them. I would introduce it to them by modeling the structure of the I-statement and giving them various examples of when the I-statement could be used to solve a problem. However, I decided that after my students had a chance to practice and mastered using the I-statement to solve their social conflicts, I would introduce my students to the other way to solve social conflicts using the 4 steps (1. Define the problem 2. Brainstorm solutions together 3. Pick a solution together and try it 4. Evaluate the solution they choose).
Instructional Approaches
After deciding that the conflict resolution strategy I was going to introduce first to my students was the I-statement, I had to decide which methods from the literature I read I was going to use to reinforce and get the students to practice the strategy. Given that most children around the age of my students generally love puppet shows, I decided using the "Problem Puppets" would be a good way to reinforce and practice the I-statement strategy with my students. As the authors Carlsson-Paige & Levin suggested, I would role play the puppets having social conflicts I had witnessed my students having. I felt that the puppets would grab the interest of my students and help my students learn what kinds of conflicts can be solved with I-statements. I also decided I would use the other method Carlsson-Paige & Levin suggested of reading different books with conflicts to the students then stopping at each conflict and having the students discuss how the characters should solve the conflict. My hopes were that students would suggest characters should use an I-statement and give examples of possible I-statements characters could say. I felt that reading books like this aloud to the students would be a good method to reinforce and have the students practice the I-statement because reading books and having discussions about the books are already a part of the classroom routine so I know the students are capable of doing this. Reading books with social conflicts in them would expose the students to more kinds of social conflicts that can be resolved using the I-statement. Lastly, I decided I would reinforce the I-statement strategy by holding a "class meeting time". Holding class meetings like this is another method I read about in the Carlsson-Paige & Levin literature piece. During the "class meeting time" students I witnessed solving their social conflicts with the I-statement would be invited to share with the whole class the social conflict they had and how they solved it. I felt that this method would be a good way to acknowledge the students who have been using the I-statement to solve their social problems, encourage the other students to use the I-statement to solve their social problems and expose my students to more social conflicts where the I-statement could be used. I planned to use "Problem Puppets", reading stories with conflicts, and class meetings as my three main methods of reinforcing and having the students practice the I-statement. "Problem Puppets", reading stories with conflicts, and class meetings would provide facilitated practice in problem solving that I anticipate my students will later apply to solve their own social conflicts they encounter during the day.
After I felt my students had enough of a chance to practice the I-statement and had mastered using this strategy to solve social conflicts with their friends, I decided they would be ready for the 4 step conflict resolution strategy (1. Define the problem 2. Brainstorm solutions together 3. Pick a solution together and try it 4. Evaluate the solution they choose). I would model each of these steps for them so they understand them. I would model this for them by role playing a typical social conflict with my master teacher and solving it using these steps. However, since this strategy involves multiple steps, I thought my students would have a difficult time remembering each step. Therefore, right after teaching this strategy to them, I would present my students with a set of cards containing each step and having them sequence the steps in the right order. This was another method use to reinforce the strategy that was mentioned in Stevahn & Johnson's piece. I would also reinforce and have my students practice using this strategy with the same methods I used to reinforce the I-statement: "Problem Puppets", reading stories with conflicts, and class meetings. Lastly, after a few days of practicing this strategy, I would set up a "conflict resolution circle" area in my classroom for the students to go to solve their problems. There would be a ring placed there for the students in conflict to grasp as they work towards a resolution. The circle they grasp would represent the "conflict resolution circle". There would also be a poster posted in this area with the conflict resolution strategy steps and visuals of each step to remind the students how to go about solving their problem. This method was also mentioned by W. Heydenberk, & R. Heydenberk as a way to get students to practice a conflict resolution strategy that was taught to them. I felt teaching my students both the I-statement strategy and the 4 step conflict resolution strategy would provide students with concrete ways to solve their problems on their own. I had faith that with time and practice all my students would be able to successfully apply and use these strategies on their own to solve their social conflicts.
Data Collection and Assessment Methods
Next, I had to decide how I was going to analyze and assess my students ability to apply and use these strategies to solve their social conflicts. In thinking about this, I decided it was going to be really difficult and overwhelming to keep track of all 25 of my students ability to problem solve using the strategies introduced to them so I decided to only assess a portion of the class but conduct all of the conflict resolution lessons with the whole class so everyone could learn them. I choose to collect data on and assess only seven of my students. These seven students were chosen randomly in order to give a more accurate representation of my classes ability to solve problems independently. Given that my students are five and six and can barely read and write, I felt the best way to evaluate and analyze the ability of my students to solve conflicts on their own would be by my observations and individual conferences with each student. I used two tools for this:
1. Observational Guide
To keep track of my observations, I created an Observational Guide to fill out every week. The observational guide was set up like a chart. I had each of the students I was assessing on one axis and every day of the school week on the other axis. Each day when I witnessed these students having a social conflict with another student, I recorded what they did to solve the social conflict. Every week I would fill out a new Observational Guide so I could compare their development with independent problem solving week to week. This served as a way of informing me what kinds of social problems my students were having, if they were using the problem solving strategy I taught them to solve the problem, and if they were able to do the strategy on their own.
2. Student Self Report
In addition to my observations, I also wanted to get feedback from the students I was tracking on the conflicts they were having so at the end of every week I held individual conferences with each student . For the individual conferences, I asked each student if they had any conflicts with friends during the week, the amount of conflicts they had during the week, to describe one of the conflicts they had during the week, to describe how they solved it, if the resolution worked, and if they would solve it differently next time the problem occurred. To keep track of their responses, I created a Student Self Report form with these questions and recorded their responses there.
In addition to my observations, I also wanted to get feedback from the students I was tracking on the conflicts they were having so at the end of every week I held individual conferences with each student . For the individual conferences, I asked each student if they had any conflicts with friends during the week, the amount of conflicts they had during the week, to describe one of the conflicts they had during the week, to describe how they solved it, if the resolution worked, and if they would solve it differently next time the problem occurred. To keep track of their responses, I created a Student Self Report form with these questions and recorded their responses there.
Timeline
Phase 1:
Week 1: Nov 12-15
Week 2: Nov 18-22 (Min. days)
Week 3: Dec 2-6
Week 4: Dec 9-13
Phase 1:
Week 1: Nov 12-15
- Nov 12: Introduce I-Statement
- Nov 13: Read The Ugly Duckling and have a class discussion on how the ugly duckling could solve the conflict in the story
- Nov 14: Class meeting
- Nov 15: "Problem Puppets"
Week 2: Nov 18-22 (Min. days)
- Nov 18: "Problem Puppets"
- Nov 19: Class meeting
- Nov 20: Read aloud with conflict and discuss best way to solve conflict
- Nov 21: Class meeting
- Nov 22: "Problem Puppets"
Week 3: Dec 2-6
- Dec 2: "Problem puppets"
- Dec 3: Class meeting
- Dec 4: "Problem Puppets"
- Dec 5:Class Meeting
- Dec 6: Read aloud with conflict and discuss best way to solve conflict
Week 4: Dec 9-13
- Dec 9: Introduce Problem Solving Steps, Sequencing problem solving step cards
- Dec 10: Read aloud with conflict and discuss best way to solve conflict
- Dec 11: "Conflict Resolution Circle"
- Dec 12: "Problem Puppets"
- Dec 13: Class Meeting