In the last post (yes way back in September – it’s been a busy fall!) we talked about setting boundaries. In this post, we will talk about what happens when students /children struggle even when structure and boundaries are in place. The premise of our  OJCS Behaviour Expectations model at school is based on Dr. Ross Greene’s notion that “Kids do well if they can”. At the OJCS, we have a cohort of teachers meeting monthly to dive deeper into this model. We have been studying together using the Lives in the Balance webpage to further our discussions. One thing we have learned is that, if students aren’t doing well then a lagging skill is present. It’s our job as adults, to help figure out and identify which lagging skills are present. We do this by filling out an Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems (ALSUP)

Once we have identified the lagging skills, we move through the next step of collaboration using proactive plan B. This step involves having a conversation with the student/child and teacher/parent. The first step is to invite the child in for a conversation with the intention of working together to solve a problem.

1. Identify the problem
2. Listen and empathize with the child
3. State the adult concern
4. Invite the child to come up with a solution that is mutually agreeable and realistic to achieve
5. Choose a solution with actionable steps
6. Reevaluate and repeat these steps as needed

When a student/child is invited to participate in problem-solving they feel ownership over solving their own problems (North Star Alert: We own our own learning). During this past session, we also saw how we can do a CPS (collaborative problem solving) discussion with an entire class. It is very exciting to see this model in action and I’m very proud of and thankful to the dedicated teachers volunteering their time after school to move this initiative forward.