Think-it Through

Purpose
Think It Through is a process in which students spend some quiet time reflecting and self-talking their way through a problem before they attempt to jointly craft a solution that works for everyone involved.

Breaking It Down
When students are involved in a conflict, they individually complete a Think It Through sheet, a process which involves:

■ Reflecting on the problem that needs solving
■ Identifying their feelings about the problem
■ Communicating those feelings through an “I” Message
■ Proposing one or more solutions to the problem

Once each child has completed a Think It Through sheet, the students involved can then move toward a peaceful resolution using Talk It Out or Check It Out.

Fine-Tuning the Technique
■ Keep Think It Through sheets in a specific place in your classroom where children can go to cool down and talk out their problems.

■ Make alternatives available for the students who have difficulty with written activities. For example, a tape recorder which the students can use to record their answers will prevent these students from becoming frustrated with the Think It Through sheet and rejecting the problem-solving process.

■ Because students come to class with a variety of different problem-solving models, some of them more appropriate for school than others, you will need to model, discuss, and consistently reinforce your expectations for resolving classroom conflicts. Review these expectations periodically throughout the year—particularly after a vacation or after an unusually disruptive incident.

■ The students must identify and agree on a single problem on which to work. Not every conflict, however, is that cut-and-dried. For some students, trying to decide which complaint to address first may itself become a point of conflict. To facilitate the process, consider working with the students to list their various issues and come to some agreement about how to proceed. Then turn the process back over to the students.

■ For more details on this stage of conflict resolution, review the Check It Out, Conflict Stoppers, “I” Messages, and Emotional Vocabulary sections.