KA Problem Solving Circle

The kindergarten teachers at Sir Isaac Brock have begun a teacher inquiry that will drive our program for the rest of the year and into next year as well.

Our inquiry question is:

What impact does teaching our students problem solving strategies, within our play-based program, have on their ability to solve problems independently during play?

In Kindergarten A, we began by asking the children what a problem could be.  We made a list.

The list of problems we made as a class was compiled during a focused group learning time.  We encouraged the children to identify problems they had in class.  The list includes:

• people screaming in your ear
• stealing
• hitting, punching, poking
• kicking
• pushing and shoving
• wrestling
• hiding toys
• when you're hurt or sick
• not including others
• not being nice
• not showing respect
• not being responsible

As you can see, this is where we first introduced the idea of a circle.  The children were very receptive to the concept.

Of course, the next step was to identify what problem-solving actually means.  Most students immediately said that problem-solving means saying you are sorry.  There was only one problem with that: what if you are NOT sorry?  Mrs. Piquette and Mrs. Proud role-played a scenario where it was okay to not be sorry.  After all, a lot of the time, children are not sorry for what they do.  We emphasized that it is okay to not feel sorry but that the problem still needs to be fixed.  Then we brainstormed ways to solve problems without saying sorry.  This list includes:

• telling someone to stop
• using your words (and being specific - don't just say "stop," rather say "please stop [doing that action] because ...)
• share your feelings (e.g., when you [do that action] I feel...")
• change something (a behaviour, the words you are using, etc.)

Our Original Problem-Solving Circle

This was the original circle that we came up with as a class. We first talked about how problems make you feel: sad, angry, frustrated, disappointed (all words from our students) and how USUALLY you feel happy when a problem is solved.  Mrs. Piquette wondered if you ALWAYS feel happy when a problem is solved, and the students agreed that you don't.  For example, when solving a problem means giving up a toy that you really wanted, you may not feel happy, but it was the right thing to do.

The children talked about what pictures we could use to put in the circle, and they also agreed that they should try using the circle two full times before going to an adult for help.

In our Professional Learning Team, we have come up with the following summary of our inquiry:

Student Learning Need:  Students have difficulty solving problems independently and with peers in the play-based learning environment.

Purpose Statement:  The purpose of this inquiry is to investigate the social problems that arise within a play-based program and to explore a variety of problem solving strategies with our students in order to determine the best model for our students.  Our goal is to give our students the tools to solve problems independently in a play-based learning environment.

Inquiry Question:  What impact does teaching our students problem solving strategies, within our play-based program, have on their ability to solve problems independently during play?

Is it Working?

We have been focusing on this inquiry in our class for a few weeks now.  As a team, Mrs. Proud, Mrs. Piquette, and Ms. McCormick have been tracking the instances of problem solving in our classroom.  We keep a tally each day of the number of times a student comes to us to help them solve a problem that could be solved independently using the Problem-Solving circle.

Our numbers are encouraging.  That is to say, we are noticing that since we introduced the finished problem-solving circle to the class and sent a copy home for parents, we have seen a dramatic decrease in the number of problems that are brought to us.  We are hoping that the next step will be an increase in instances of independent problem-solving (as pictured on the right).  We will share our data once our observations are complete in a few weeks.

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