 A school-wide challenge at Anfitz-Gerald School was challenging behaviors occurring during recess. Specifically, teachers felt overwhelmed and unsure about how to best manage the children when they came in from recess upset about something that had happened. I think the big problem we were trying to resolve problems is they had limited language. They had, I was mad, I was sad. They couldn't further express it, were you feeling annoyed with that person? Were you frustrated? Was it jealousy? Now the kids are able to use that language to really understand how they're feeling, what made them feel that way so that they can better resolve the issue. At Anfitz-Gerald School, classroom meetings is a school-wide strategy used to support children in developing pro-social skills that will facilitate their ability to handle their own problems. The use of classroom meetings helps to alleviate stress felt by teachers and the children because there is a structured time where concerns will be addressed. So a classroom meeting in my grade one classroom, it looks like a chance for students to be heard. So a classroom meeting is their chance to learn problem-solving skills and it is their opportunity to speak out to their friends, let them know maybe how they made them feel. A lot of times kids go a whole day without anybody knowing that they're upset. So a classroom meeting is their opportunity to say, I didn't like when this happened and we work together as a classroom community to solve those problems. Over time, the classroom meetings expanded to learning how to process their emotions and learn to solve many different problems that occurred during the day. Classroom meetings foster a platform for healthy and respectful relationships to be developed. To initially set up a classroom meeting, it's very important that the kids understand what respect looks like. So that was our first lesson when we started a classroom meeting. So you teach them how you sit, how you listen to a friend, how you respond when a friend speaks. The next step of setting up a classroom meeting is a conversation piece. So you look at a friend, how you respond to a friend when they're talking to you and then from there you can develop the problem-solving skills. There is a consistent routine followed in conducting a classroom meeting. The routine can be developed by a teacher to match the needs of the classroom. At Anfit's Gerald, these include arranging chairs in a circle discussing problems the children write down in the class binder and ending with a compliment circle. Key points that lead to a successful classroom meeting include creating a space where students feel safe to share scheduling meetings to occur at consistent times of the week following steps for solving problems and incorporating role-playing to teach skills students might be lacking. As classroom meetings were used consistently, teachers noticed the power of children being able to hear the impact of their own behavior on others. Listen to others' perspectives, develop social language as ways to communicate problems feel listened to and empowered and ultimately ready to learn knowing that their problems will be heard. I think for this group of students it's just help them be kinder to each other. Initially a classroom meeting in my grade one class would be about 40 minutes as time has gone on they have gotten shorter. It's rare that we need to have them daily anymore because the problems that the kids are having they're able to solve before they come inside for the classroom meeting. It just gives them an opportunity I think to be heard to know that they're being heard. I've just found that they're extremely beneficial. I would always have them regardless of the age I teach I think they're a really important tool to be using in the classroom.