Helping other people manage their conflicts is definitely not one of my greatest talents. It is something that I have really had to work at as a teacher because 5th graders tend to have a lot of conflicts. Gossip has been a problem in my classroom this year. I've racked my brain for ways to help these kids understand the damage that gossip can do.
Some experiences have been popping into my head lately. One was a date I went on in college with a boy named Ryan. He was double majoring in physics and philosophy and had really interesting ideas about things. We spent the entire date talking about Plato's Republic and I loved every second of it.
When I was flying back from Indiana this fall, I sat next to this lady from Ohio. We ended up talking for most of the flight about cognition, gender differences, and learning potential. It was a fascinating conversation.
I had dinner at the Barlow's a few weeks ago. The conversation turned to a discussion of some of the themes in a book we had recently read.
A few days ago, a possible solution hit me. I decided to challenge my kids to spend an entire day talking about ideas rather than other people. During class meeting we had a conversation about elevating the level of our conversations and the benefits of doing so. Then, I gave them the challenge to not talk at all about other people for an entire day at school. Most of the kids took the challenge today. I still haven't talked to them to get any feedback but I hope that it at least helped the kids think more about their conversations. I tried it today and it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I was tempted more than a couple of times to say something less than kind about another person. I am going to continue with the challenge and try to elevate my conversations.
You are welcome to try the challenge as well.
