Introduction

In the simulation we are allowed to observe the situation of two students who

have disagreements after failing to reach an agreement with a group work assigned to

them. One of the students has personal problems at home, which he expresses that his

father's illness has been an obstacle to being able to finish his part of the work on time,

however the other member of the group expresses annoyance, she says that everyone

have problems and, like her, that is not a problem for her and be responsible and

submitting the work on time. The situation relies on the teacher providing a solution so

that both parties reach an agreement and neither of the two students is affected.

Body

We as teachers are presented with this type of situation every day, many

students cannot reach an agreement, or there are even students who tend to

procrastinate their tasks and in the end they look for any excuse not to do their work

and be responsible. This is why as teachers we have to investigate and be empathetic

with both parties.

In this particular situation, it is possible to appreciate both affected and angry

students, I as a teacher, before starting, I would ask each student to take a minute to

breathe, I would do a little breathing exercise with them, after having done this, I explain

that everyone will have their turn to speak and that the space of the student who is

expressing his annoyance must be respected. After this I begin to listen to both parties,

in the case of the student who turned in her work on time, I let her know not to worry

that her grade will not be affected at all for being responsible and turning in on time.
 Regarding the student who has the problem, I would ask you to please write me

an email with the situation of his father's illness and with an epicrisis that supports that

his father is in serious condition and in this way to be able to verify if the student is

saying the truth. If it is true that the student tells the truth, in this case I would give the

group more time to deliver the work and I would give this student a couple of days to

finish his part of the work, and in this way no one is affected, However, if the student is

irresponsible and is making up this story to not turn in a job on time, then I would deduct

the points from the homework only for him so that the other members of this group are

not affected. Then I would try to talk to this student and let him know that he needs to be

responsible and in this way be able to get better grades and be a better student, we

would reach agreements and I would try to get him to complete his work on time.

The importance of learning how to deal and face this kind of situations in

the best possible way and do your best as a future teacher

Personally, I think that knowing how to handle this type of situation is essential

before pursuing a career as a teacher. This is because if we do not know how to handle

this type of situation, students could be emotionally affected and lose interest in being

responsible or not. In addition to this, we have to learn to be mediators and act as

equals, not take sides among students and know how to bring a successful solution,

and in this way avoid problems between students and manage to work on the strengths

and weaknesses of the group effectively.