A step-by-step guide to dealing with conflict in the classroom

I see you every day working so hard.

I see firsthand the difference that you're making and the lives you're impacting, and it honestly leaves me in awe.

As teachers, we are often encouraged (subtly or overtly) to believe that we never want to have conflict in the classroom--no matter what.

When we think of conflict, we often think of something yucky and scary.
After all, we’re already surviving a tumultuous time marred by an economic downturn, political turmoil, social injustice, and awful natural disasters. If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed and anxious, and if the very idea of conflict and disagreement only increases that nagging, panicked feeling in the pit of your stomach, I get it.
But I have news: there is a way to embrace conflict that won’t leave you feeling even more stressed out and disheartened.
Maybe you're the kind of person who is more comfortable never having to confront anyone; you'd rather not turn something into a bigger deal than it needs to be, and you don't want to have to make mountains out of molehills.
While it’s true that yes, we do want to pick your battles, when we try to completely avoid conflict, we’re actually missing an opportunity.

Shutting down any conflict before it even happens means that we're not really willing to hear another person's point of view, and we (and our students) might be missing out on a chance to see and do things differently.
No, this doesn't mean compromising your beliefs or your integrity.
In this day and age, when much of what our students see can often be adults who are not able to have civil conversations with each other, and when what’s often modeled for them on the news or on Twitter are people barking back and forth with each other, we owe it to this next generation to show them a new way of engaging in discourse that is respectful, kind, and courteous--without having to cave in, suck in our feelings, or be a doormat.

In my latest Teach With Less Turbulence video, I’m offering you a step-by-step method to approaching conflict in the classroom. 

I hope you enjoy, and be sure to let me know what you think with a comment or by replying to this email. And before you begin your much deserved weekend, take a moment to remember how appreciated and valued you are, not just for all you do, but for who you are.

If nobody else tells you today, you rock!