I’m trying to do a better job keeping the peace with my seventh and eighth graders this year.

Peacekeeping happens as much through proactive structures as through problem-solving strategies after the peace has been broken. To create a cooperative classroom climate, I have been using as many structures as I can to blend social and academic learning in all my classes, and I’ve found that the problem-solving meeting is one of the most effective in middle school.

Problem solving in any number of formats develops cognition. I use problem-solving meetings for the times when there’s a specific behavior—or set of behaviors--I want all my students to exhibit, but many are not. After I’ve modeled, reminded, remodeled, used reactive strategies, and modeled some more in an attempt to keep things peaceful , some of my students may still appear unwilling or unable to meet my expectation(s). Rather than quitting my job and enrolling in a nearby dental-hygienist certification program, I hold a problem-solving meeting! Here’s how I conducted one recently, and what we came up with.

Background
I’d been struggling with two things: students’ slow response to the signal, and time-out. I had modeled, remodeled, reminded and redirected several times over a number of weeks to try to fix these areas, and had social-conferenced with several students about their apparent lack of commitment to our rules. Still, too many students were taking too long to respond to the signal for quiet, and side conversations were ruining the integrity of our time together. Worse, some students were returning from time-out and repeating the off-task behavior that prompted me to tell them to sit out in the first place. Knowing I had to do something to restore the respectful behavior that is a basic element of a healthy learning community or face a rapidly declining peace, I decided to try holding a problem-solving meeting.

Hold everything
Near the end of first period on Tuesday morning, while assigning homework, I stopped everything. Students had been somewhat unresponsive to my verbal/auditory signal throughout the period, and some kids had been asked to sit out multiple times for side talk.

I told my students we couldn’t move forward because there were some things happening in class that were making it impossible for me to teach. I added that we had to try to fix the problems together before moving on together.

Starting the meeting
We remade the circle (it wasn’t round); I told students to place all learning materials on the floor beneath them.

I then said that too much time was being wasted while most of us waited quietly for a few to respond to the signal, and that some kids weren’t taking sit-out seriously enough, and were sitting out two or three times for the same mistake.

We went around the circle, one student at a time. I asked each student to state whether s/he noticed these problem areas, and realized they were problems. Every student said “yes,” although many added qualifiers like, “I guess,” or “it’s a little problem.”

I asked students to take a look at our classroom rules and see which ones were being broken when the problem behavior was exhibited. They quickly came up with “be respectful,” “be responsible,” and “have fun.”

Next, we brainstormed reasons why we were having trouble in those areas. Students seemed to hesitate for a moment; then, one student stated that she thought I should give them more opportunities to move around in class, so they could focus better when they needed to. Another said she wanted to talk to other students more and listen to me less! There seemed to be general agreement (nods, affirmative gestures) on this.

I agreed with the two students who had come up with these reasons. I vowed to do a better job of moving them and breaking them into small groups for academic purposes, and told them that solid educational research supports these ideas. I thanked those who brought up these issues. But I also told the class that they needed to do a better job of responding to the signal so we could transition more quickly, and that they needed to take sit-out more seriously so we could avoid the distraction of kids parading to and from the sit-out area without noticeable improvement in their behavior.

I then restated our collective solution brainstorm: I agreed to move them more and give them opportunities to work more frequently in small groups and less often in whole-class discussions. I asked them to agree to respond much more quickly to the signal, and to use sit-out as it was intended: a quick, simple means of fixing a loss of focus or minor mistake.

Reaching consensus
Then came the big moment—a consensus decision. Students indicated whether they agreed to the above-mentioned changes (we used a simple thumbs up or thumbs down to indicate our preference). All but two kids agreed to the changes. When asked to clarify their opposition, the two who had had thumbs down quickly agreed to the changes. I confirmed the unanimous consensus decision.

We closed the meeting with a quick acknowledgement of the students who spoke up during the meeting, and of those who had the courage to assert themselves against the majority. There were smiles all around.

Results
Since the meeting, I’ve been careful to provide my students with a daily dose of overtly kinesthetic games and small group work/play opportunities. I’m also holding them accountable for responding to the signal quickly and well, and using sit-out the right way. This is helping to develop a sense that our community works together to solve problems: we listen to each other, respond to each other’s needs, and try to live out a better vision that we all can see.

Reflection
I realize the importance of asking the students to reflect on how well they think the agreement is going. On a regular basis, I take a moment to check in with the kids and see if they notice improvement. One of the powerful things about the meeting is that it becomes a reading of the degree to which your classroom rules are being followed.

Sit-outs are being taken much more seriously, and far fewer kids are repeating negative behaviors. I’m supporting this improved behavior by occasionally reminding kids to take their break seriously as they walk to the sit-out spot. The students seem to feel better about our level of class cohesiveness: there are more smiles, and the climate is more peaceful and friendly. We’ve discussed how well the sit-out system has been working on two occasions. The kids realize the difference.

Rigor required
The signal rule was better respected for a few days, but one day I noticed that I had to remind students about the signal again. I said, “All but three or four of you responded to the signal very quickly. At our problem-solving meeting, we agreed to try to follow our rules about the signal. Let’s all remember to do so, so we can move forward together.” We practiced responding to the signal again, and they did it instantly. Like all sensible strategies, problem-solving meetings work, but when what was agreed upon starts to unravel, you have to intervene. I know that from now to June, I’ll have to regularly remind my students about our agreement, help them shore things up, or the agreement will disintegrate.

After the meeting, my first thought was, “Well, they certainly didn’t see the problem the way I did, and when I brought the issues to light, they tried to blame me!” If you try this strategy, be prepared to take some of the blame, and expect the unexpected when it comes to generating reasons why something isn’t working. Be flexible. I did not expect them to name anything I had been doing, or had failed to do, as a possible cause. But I’ve led enough of these problem solving meetings to see the importance of honoring their point of view whenever possible, and meeting them halfway. I got what I needed out of the meeting—better cooperation—and some helpful reminders about what middle school students need in the way of instruction.

A structure for thoughtful discussion
One structure I use to promote thinking and discussion is Inside/Outside Circle which gives students a chance to interact with a variety of classmates in a structured, engaged manner. To do this, I send half the students to the middle of the room, and have them face their chairs out, forming an “inside” circle. The other half creates the outside circle; each student faces inward, and matches up with someone from the inside circle. Then I ask students to discuss/teach/learn in that pair, for a short time (1-2 minutes). When time expires, I ask one of the groups—inside or outside—to stand, and move one or two places to the right or left. They then greet their new partners and discuss either the same prompt or something new. At the conclusion, several students can share with the whole group an idea that they expressed or heard. With this technique, a potential teacher lecture to a class of restless students becomes a lively discussion among interested learners.

Movement helps
Another method I’ve found for building a friendly climate in a middle school classroom is to give students more opportunity to move a bit. Playing games with lots of physical movement, both during the morning Circle of Power and Respect and as a quick break during transitions relaxes and focuses them. When asked which games they enjoy most, thirteen-year-old kids will usually mention kinesthetic, large-motor games like Ships Across the Ocean, Lemonade, There’s a Big Wind Blowing, Musical Chairs, Is This Seat Taken? Elbow Tag (or any tag game!) Kids are aching to move at this stage in their development; so I’m playing more games with a physical emphasis this year to try to accommodate that need.

To be a successful facilitator of movement-based games, planning before and processing after each game is critical. Kids need to know what our expectations are before we play, and they need to assess how well the game was played when we’re done. Playing games this way is fun for everyone, settles students into more focused academic routines, and helps develop the thinking skills of planning, reflection, critique, and problem-solving.

Chris Hagedorn teaches middle-schoolers at Clara Barton Open School in Minneapolis. He is a nationally certified presenter of the Responsive Classroom and Developmental Designs for Middle School workshops.

This article first appeared in Origins: A Newsletter for Educators, Winter 2005