teaching

The Mr. Anybody Lesson I have been known to ask educators and youth workers, "How do we get better at basketball or become better readers?" Without hesitation, they always tell me, "practice." Next I ask, "how do we get better at resolving conflict?" Almost always I am answered with silence. In some groups who are willing to be honest, I hear things like "You get sent to the principal's office" or "you get told to be quiet." The skills required to coexist peacefully with each other are the same skills that help us learn together and help us create healthy communities. Believe it or not, much of our time is spent convincing those who work with children that these skills deserve time and attention. If we know that a healthy school climate helps keep kids learning and keeps them in school, why don't we prioritize the learning which creates that healthy school climate? Maybe it's because teachers don't feel adequately prepared to do so. Maybe it's because teachers have been warned against taking a few minutes from curriculum, standards, and pacing guides to tune in to what is really needed in their classrooms. We at Peace Learning Center have found, after 18 years of working with youth,that a small investment in time and energy pays off in lasting and remarkable ways. The lasting value of peace education hit home for me, literally, when one of our facilitators worked with my daughter's