Sunday, September 27, 2015

Be a Problem Solver, Not a Problem Maker

"We're all good people. Sometimes we just don't make the right choices."
- Khila

Khila's quote is a great example of how we wrapped up our "unit" on team building this week. Since the beginning of school we have really been focusing on how our actions affect others, how it's important to stop and think when we respond to situations, and how we all have choices when it comes to challenging situations.

One thing our whole class agreed upon is that when you are frustrated, upset, and angry, it's hard to stop and make the right choice. We also all agreed that nobody is perfect; even grown-ups could sometimes make different choices about how we respond when we are upset. But we all agreed that our goal will be to choose actions that will help solve problems that are happening instead of making more problems.

What does is mean to make more problems? The kids had some really great ideas not only about what problem solvers do, but WHY they do those things. Here is the chart we created together, and yes, these were all of the kids' ideas!


After we thought about how quick and easy it is to respond with a choice that make more problems, we brainstormed all of the things that problem solvers do. I think we could have probably filled up two or three charts, but these were the top answers and the "whys" behind them.


As Khila said, we all know that we will never be problem solvers 100% of the time. We are all humans and everybody makes mistakes. But if we can get ourselves to stop and think before we act sometimes, hopefully we will start solving more problems than making problems bigger.

This will continue to be a theme throughout the entire year, and you can use this as a reminder for your kids' at home. We are specifically focusing on the why behind the actions to help us better understand how to make a different choice.

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