Tattling versus Informing

Even at the level that I teach (which, if you didn't know from my about me post, I teach 7th and 8th graders), tattling is a very big problem. It disrupts the kiddo's day, it disrupts the learning environment, and it really isn't productive for anybody involved. Then why is it such a big problem?! So, continuing on the lesson plan of problem solving and conflict management, I bring to you tattling versus informing. I have also seen this lesson called "Emergency or Non Emergency" which I totally love, too, but don't most kids think that it is an emergency if little Johnny won't play with them on the playground?

So I made this poster chart (Note: this one is not mine, but I never got to snap a picture!) with the different ideas of what is tattling and what is informing.

We watched this short video regarding the differences between informing and tattling to help solidify what I just said to them (for my visual learners).

Then, I made these fun little guys so that we could apply what we learned to scenarios.

Aren't these great?! Obviously, not my pictures again but I used Informing, not Telling on mine.

So some of the scenarios I used were:

• She hit me. (Inform)
• He threw a pencil at me. (Inform)
• She called me a name. (Inform)
• He pushed me on the playground. (Inform)
• She wrote on the wall in the bathroom. (Inform)
• She is drawing on her paper instead of working. (Tattle)
• She looked at me funny. (Tattle)
• He cut in front of me in line. (Tattle)
• He took my pencil. (Tattle)
• She won't play with me at recess. (Tattle)

The kids would raise their little Tattle or Inform signs to show me what they thought the person was doing. I might even use this another way by having the kids come up to me and say these things! Maybe draw them out of a hat and act out the scenario. LOVE IT! 

Obviously, there are tons of ways to do this lesson. I love the topic because it is so relevant. 

Problem Solving Part 2

Hello all you wonderful people! So here is part 2 of my problem solving unit. I will be using this on Wednesday of this week because our school psychologist comes in and gives a lecture at the beginning of every week (Mondays, sometimes Tuesdays depending on the block schedule).

When we left Problem Solving Part 1 we had some example scenarios that the kids could rate on the scale of 1 to 5 for problem severity. But do they know how to solve those problems? It's time to teach them the steps to problem solving!

Here's a cool printable for you:

So now... maybe given an example or two and then play PROBLEM SOLVING JEOPARDY! I made this jeopardy board and I would love to share it with you. Also, there are tons of tutorials out there if you want to make your own jeopardy games. Don't you love the Internet? 

Social Skills Jeopardy

Enjoy, PSR friends!

Problem Solving Part 1

One thing I think that many children struggle with is solving problems appropriately. And lets be honest... so do many adults! The ultimate goal for the first part of this lesson is to have kids determine the size of a problem and make sure their reaction size matches the problem size.

So to start off the lesson, a short video about exaggerated reaction sizes:

Then have a discussion on if this reaction was appropriate to the problem. "The way you react to a problem should match the size of the problem. When a problem is small, your reaction should be small. When the problem is big, your reaction would be much bigger. Why might you want to make sure your reaction is appropriate to the problem? (Answer: you could get people hurt, you could use valuable resources trying to solve a small problem, you could make people upset by blowing a small problem out of proportion, the list goes on!) So talk about what constitutes little, medium, and big problems. 

Here is a quick example...

And some example scenarios:

1) During silent reading time, the person next to you is drawing. 

2) You are at lunch and you hear people talking about a fight after school. 

3) Someone keeps poking you in the shoulder with a pencil during class. 

4) A classmate keeps annoying another classmate by kicking her desk. 

5) A person from class comes up to you and calls you a name and tells you that he is going to "get you". 

6) Someone in front of you in class is chewing gum. Chewing gum during school is against the rules. 

Problem Solving Part 2 to come soon! Here's a hint... it involves the steps to problem solving and a jeopardy game!