5 Ways to Help Students Get Along

As teachers, one of the challenges is teaching students to get along. If your students are like mine, most of the problems students have are during an unstructured time like recess or PE. However, the work that needs to promote student kindness and tolerance are done in the classroom.

1. Partner and Group Work

It is important for students to have many opportunities to work with other students. Whether it be in partner work or group settings, students need to work with different classmates to build the skills for learning to get along with others. They also learn cooperation and taking turns.

I am always changing the partners and groups up so students can work with friends and those they don’t necessarily know. I also ask students to help others. When a child needs help with a task, I will ask another student to step in. Usually, I am matching up those who normally don’t hang out together.

2. Read Alouds

Books are so powerful. I use many picture books and novels for read alouds. My two favorite novels are Wonder and Fish in a Tree. I usually read them at the beginning of the year so I can refer to them during the school year. I can’t tell you how many times I reference the way a character acts in the book to what is going on with my students. It always amazes me, how the students see how awful classmates treat Auggie, yet my kiddos do about the same thing. Students need the characters to model what is good behavior and how bad behavior is identified.

3. Morning Meetings

I just began implementing morning meetings this past year and I am so glad I did. It has been so valuable for my class. We have time to talk about issues that arise during the year and focus on things like growth mindset. We have time to share and morning meetings are a safe and respectful time.

We meet every morning for about 20 minutes and it allows us to learn about each other and things to work on. If you haven’t tried morning meetings, I highly suggest them.

4. Team Building Activities

Of course, many teachers begin the school year with team building activities, but it really should be implemented all year long. At the beginning of the school year, team building helps students learn about each other and generates friendships. But as the year goes along, team building can be used for positive interactions with fellow classmates. Team building activities can be incorporated in morning meetings too.

5. Peer Mediation

For older students, peer mediation is a great tool. Students get experience helping solve other’s conflicts. Some schools have organized programs for peer mediation and others have classroom run peer mediation systems. The idea is that if a few students have a problem, they present it to the peer mediators and they give solutions on how to solve the problem. Of course, the teacher still has to oversee the process and train the peer mediators. Having a forum to express feelings and frustrations and others giving objective advice gives the students a lot of power and can be very meaningful.

Teachers will always have students who struggle to get along, but using any of these strategies can help reduce those conflicts.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen