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• At some point, students should voluntarily share their observations in their journals
and discuss the positives and negatives of the involved students’ reactions. This
allows students to discuss specific incidents, without “outing” offenders.
This activity can be completed multiple times over the school year, ensuring that your
students are paying attention to their surroundings. This will also give you a better idea
of what’s going on in your classroom and how you can help and better implement conflict
resolution strategies.
7.22.3 Listening:
CHAPTER 7 : STUDENTS
Many conflicts start because of misunderstandings and miscommunication. Teaching
students about good listening habits can be an important tool.
• Start with a classroom discussion about recent student conflicts. You are likely to
hear things like “He wouldn’t listen.” or “They didn’t understand what I was saying.”
• This is a good opportunity to let students realize the power of listening. It also lends
itself to teaching “how” to listen.
• Teach them to:
o Look directly at the speaker and make eye contact.
o Let the speaker talk without interruption.
o Ask questions.
o Do not give advice or offer suggestions.
o Give the speaker positive reinforcement by nodding or smiling.
o Repeat what you have heard in your own words.
7.22.4 Writing about the Conflict:
• If there are conflicts in the classroom, having the involved students sit down to write
about it serves a couple of purposes. First, it serves as a time-out or a cooling-off
period. It also makes them reflect on the incident in an academic, proactive way.
152 Handbook for Teachers
