The Path To Peace

Today I'm excited because we're having our counseling classes on conflict resolution this week outside on our Peace Labyrinth that former Bales Principal Jay Stailey and his friend Reginald Adams designed for us and helped us paint.

The lesson goes something like this:

First I share this funny and engaging Sesame Street clip, 

featuring the late Robin Williams, 

to show students what conflict is and what conflict isn't.

Then we watch this clip featuring a common conflict, a fight that ensued between two students after one cheated from another.

Before we head outside to the Labyrinth to role play what happens the next day between Jimmy and Max, we talk about what collaborating using the five steps to problem solving would look like on our conflict-resolution Peace Labyrinth.

It's interesting, because as they predict what the steps are, most of the students want to go straight to a solution. Instead, the steps include:

1. State the problem.

2. State your feelings.

3. State the other person's feelings.

{We're calling this one the empathy stop!}

4. Brainstorm solutions.

5. Choose the best solution.

So we head outside, and role play an easy one first, to review the steps: I want to eat at McDonald's, and the student who volunteers to walk the path with me wants to eat at Chick fil A. Then, we select a volunteer to play Jimmy and a classmate to play Max, and we let them walk the path to peace.

We're so happy even our Labyrinth is smiling!