Kelso's choices

As part of the continuing work on learning to work as a group, our class spent some time today looking at Kelso's choice wheel.

Kelso's choice is a tool designed to have students recognize that they are capable and smart enough to resolve many conflicts that occur between peers in the classroom and on the playground. It emphasizes choices and distiguishes between small and big problems. This does not replace the role of the adult in mediating conflict, but it encourages the students to think about what choices they have in their own brain to resolve the problem.

We talked today about four solutions to common problems:

1. Go to another game - if students are finding it too frustrating in a game, simply leaving and going to play something else is a great solution.

2. Make a deal

3. Tell them to stop

4. Talk it out - this strategy encourages students to express their emotions to each other using "I feel" statements and ending with the questions "do you understand?"

Students shared stories of when they have used these strategies. We now know that if there is a small problem, we can try two solutions before getting a teacher to help out.