conflict resolution *Lesson one*
Today we talked about conflict. We learned that it means "a state of disharmony or disagreement." We learned that conflict is completely normal, especially when we spend a lot of time with someone in a limited space (like our classmates in our classroom-sometimes we spend more time with them in a day than we do with our family!!). When we experience conflict, most of us get a yucky feeling in our tummy; we want to fix the conflict but a lot of us don't know how. Today we reviewed 8 strategies we can try (see the handout below for more details). Not all of these strategies will work in every situation, but we should try at least 3 before getting an adult's help. If someone is hurt or in danger, we should never try to resolve things ourselves-we should get an adult's help immediately!
Mrs. Wilson wanted us to see what the different strategies might look like in real life so she gave a silly example about a conflict she had with her dog. Whenever she brings home a rotisserie chicken, she thinks it is for the humans in the house to eat for dinner. Her dog, Titan, always hopes that it is all for him. By going through the strategies, we found a few ways that she can resolve this conflict with her dog. Our conflicts will usually be with humans, but her silly examples helped us to remember all the strategies! To connect with your child at home, ask them how many strategies they can remember.
Mrs. Wilson wanted us to see what the different strategies might look like in real life so she gave a silly example about a conflict she had with her dog. Whenever she brings home a rotisserie chicken, she thinks it is for the humans in the house to eat for dinner. Her dog, Titan, always hopes that it is all for him. By going through the strategies, we found a few ways that she can resolve this conflict with her dog. Our conflicts will usually be with humans, but her silly examples helped us to remember all the strategies! To connect with your child at home, ask them how many strategies they can remember.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION *LESSON two*
Today we reviewed the 8 strategies. Mrs. Wilson taught us an action for each strategy to help us remember them. We were also asked to reflect on how we typically or naturally handle conflict. She shared with us that there are some strategies that almost always work best for us or that we are most comfortable using. We also each have a few strategies that are hard for us to do or often are not very effective for us. Mrs. Wilson shared that she is not good at taking a break and her best friend is really bad at apologizing to people!
Finally, Mrs. Wilson read us PART of the book The Best Friends Club: A Harold and Lizzie Story, and made us come up with our own endings, based on the different strategies the characters in the book might try. Some of our endings were happy and some were kind of sad, but it helped us see how a conflict can end (or not!) in a variety of ways, depending on the strategy we choose to use. Some strategies didn't even make sense to try in this situation, but with 8 options, there were still a lot to choose from. Some students argued that what might work for one person or group of friends may not work well for another, depending on personalities and dynamics, and Mrs. Wilson agreed that is often true.
Finally, Mrs. Wilson read us PART of the book The Best Friends Club: A Harold and Lizzie Story, and made us come up with our own endings, based on the different strategies the characters in the book might try. Some of our endings were happy and some were kind of sad, but it helped us see how a conflict can end (or not!) in a variety of ways, depending on the strategy we choose to use. Some strategies didn't even make sense to try in this situation, but with 8 options, there were still a lot to choose from. Some students argued that what might work for one person or group of friends may not work well for another, depending on personalities and dynamics, and Mrs. Wilson agreed that is often true.