Think-it Through

Purpose
Think It Through is a process in which students spend some quiet time refl ecting 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 confl ict, they individually
complete a Think It Through sheet, a process which involves:

■ Refl ecting 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 specifi c place in your
classroom where children can go to cool down and talk
out their problems.

■ Make alternatives available for the students who have diffi culty 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 confl icts. 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 confl ict, however, is that cut-and-dried. For some students, trying to
decide which complaint to address fi rst may itself become a point of confl ict.
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 confl ict resolution, review the Check It Out,
Confl ict Stoppers, “I” Messages, and Emotional Vocabulary sections.