Debbie Daniel says:
It is important that teachers understand that teaching students how to treat one another is as important as what they learn in their academics. Teaching social skills, such as caring, cooperation, self-control, expected behavior, and self reliance are essential to a students academic and social success and should be tailored to meet the developmental needs of each student group.
Before assigning students that have a history of poor relationship skills and or experiences with one another to work together, staff will need to set clear expectations of behaviors for the group and closely monitor the students, especially during the initial period that they are learning these new skills. As success increases, introduce some self monitoring strategies such as paying attention to emotions, taking a cool down break when conversations begin to escalate, and asking for assistance from others.
Social stories can be a great and non-threatening way to teach social skills to students.
Best practice would be to be proactive with teaching and reinforcing social and relationship skills before assigning students with a history of conflict behaviors to work together. Teaching students how to assert their feelings and maintain respect for others takes repetition, but over time, most students will learn to resolve their own conflicts peacefully with minimal adult intervention.
