A Classroom Protocol for Analyzing a Problem

A Classroom Protocol for Analyzing a Problem l Miss Rae's Room

Calling all teachers!!!!  Does this sound familiar???

“Suzy isn’t friends with me anymore.  She called me a bad name at lunch.” ...or...

“Boys and girls, we have been so chatty in our groups that we are not finishing our work.”  ...or how about...

“Johnny keeps cutting me in line.”  ...or...

“Class, the rule is that we are silent when we travel as a class in the hallway.  We have been late to lunch all week because our line has to keep stopping and waiting for students to stop talking.”

 And how about these???

“I read this math problem.  Now what? How do I solve this math problem?”

“Why did the American Revolution happen?  I don’t see where it says it in the text.”

“Who knows why the character chose to do that?  What was she thinking?”

And then, there are the questions we ask ourselves:

How do we teach our students to independently problem solve???

How do we teach them how to solve their social conflicts???

How do we teach them to challenge themselves in their own learning in order to grow as a learner???

Our students do not know how to solve problems!  They have not learned how to analyze problems before jumping right in!

So, here is what I do! 
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I use the Analyzing a Problem Classroom Protocol!  And I use it in my academic content area instruction AND for solving classroom management issues!

Analyzing a Problem Classroom Protocol includes a step-by-step structured approach for students for analyzing problems prior to attempting to solve them!  This protocol gives educators an approach to follow to work together in order to solve classroom community and academic problems!

Analyzing a Problem Classroom Protocol:
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-Presenter describes the problem and asks a focus question.
-Group members ask clarifying questions.
-The Facilitator facilitates Response Rounds, eliciting responses from each group member to the presented problem.
-The Presenter should take notes throughout the process and then reads the notes aloud.
-The Presenter asks “What options for solution did our group present?”
-Make a list of the solutions.

Optional:  Debrief the team process:  What were the team’s strengths? Difficulties?  What helped the team work together? How can difficulties be improved next time?

Happy problem solving!

​By Miss Rae

A Classroom Protocol for Analyzing a Problem l Miss Rae's Room