Student Contributor: K. Reed
This tool allows the teacher and student(s) to have a meaningful conversation addressing concerns from both parties about issues that have arose. The Walk and Talk strategy also pushes the student to take responsibility and determine a solution to fix the issue. This tool is helpful because it addresses and aims to correct the issue without damaging the student-teacher relationship.
During an appropriate time of the day, such as a recess, the teacher and student walk around a designated area and have a discussion regarding a problem such as misbehavior in the classroom. Walking allows the student to move and burn off pent up energy while they work on finding a solution for the problem. During the discussion, the teacher and student should both share their concerns and explore possible causes for the problem. Then the teacher helps the student brainstorm possible solutions to resolve the issue. This allows the teacher and student to collaborate and work together to correct the problem. This tool can also be used to address conflicts between two students. The teacher acts as a facilitator rather than a judge passing out consequences and leads students to have a calm discussion about how they feel and how they can solve and prevent this problem in the future. I have been able to use this tool with second graders. When having a Walk and Talk discussion with a student who had trouble staying on class and talking during instruction, I was able to find out that they struggled to pay attention when they were sitting in the back of the classroom. This student decided that the best solution would be to remain at the back table, but move up and sit on the carpet during instruction time so that the rest of the students were behind him and he wouldn’t get distracted.
I have placed this tool in the corrective phase because it is intended to be used after a problem like misbehavior has occurred and aims to find a solution to correct the problem. This tool does not relate to the other phases apart from aiming to prevent a continuance of the issue being addressed. The Theory of influence this tool fits best is collaborative because the teacher and student are expected to work together and collaborate about their concerns regarding the problem, explore causes together, and agree on a possible solution to correct the issue. This puts the responsibility on the student to be accountable for their actions and make the appropriate steps to reach a resolution.
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Tool Source: This idea was inspired by my mentor teacher with a few adjustments made by me.
