Intentions

This week for 2nd Step, we met in our classroom community to talk about "intentions".

We talked about the difference between accidents (not done on purpose) and intentional acts (done with a purpose).

We had our characters, Steven (seated) and Gary (standing).

Our scenario ... After Recess, Gary found funny stickers all over his desk. He thinks someone is trying to make fun of him.

We talked about how Gary might be feeling (mad, confused, embarrassed) and how we could tell (His lips make a line, hand on his hip, stiff body).

We also talked about if Gary had enough information to know what another person intended. There may be many reasons for a person's actions. This leads to a long discussion ...

- What are some reasons why the stickers might be on his desk (They stuck to someone's sleeve, someone thought it was their desk, they though Gary would sincerely enjoy them) ...

- What does Gary need to know (Who and why) ...

- What might happen if Gary doesn't find out (He might stay upset) ...

Then we met Steven. Steven didn't intend to hurt Gary's feelings. Steven is Gary's best friend. He put the stickers on Gary's desk. His goal was to make Gary laugh, not make fun of him. Now he sees that Gary is upset.

- What should Steven do now? (Be honest and talk to Gary).

- How might he explain his intention? (He could apologize and offer to clean the stickers off.)

What should Gary do? (Accept Steven's apology. Tell Steven how he feels).

Next, we shared our own experiences when we unintentionally caused a problem for someone else and how we handled it.

Finally, we summarized our learning ... We don't always know what a person's intentions are unless we ask questions and talk about it. Our plan:
1.) Calm ourselves
2.) Gather more information by asking questions: Who did it? Why?

Sometimes we hurt or cause problems that we don't intend for other people. when this happens, we should explain our intention and apologize.

Our intention is to help students learn about social situations and help them develop strategies to successfully navigate their world. The BEST part about our community lessons, when you see students applying what they learned!