Problem Solving

First thing I'd like to say is way to go Dylan and Lauren for an incredible presentation. You two seemed very confident and prepared for the class, were able to engage us as a class very well and I believe we were all able to come out of it with a greater knowledge and understanding on how to better help our coming students with their problems with either advice or interpersonal communication. I only hope that my presentation in about two weeks can be as successful as yours!

In chapter 5, I feel the four steps for interviewing will be the most applicable feature from this chapter that we will be able to apply to our students problems. 

The four steps include:

1. Asking open ended questions- leads to a greater depth of the problem and situation as a whole. Many times people will answer "yes" or "no" if ever given the chance. Any time you can get a few extra sentences allow the chance for better understanding.

2. Ask for clarification or expansion of specific points- not only do you need to ask open ended questions, but through listening, you need to come up with questions that will allow further insight. This not only gives you more information to help solve the problem, it also might help the student in self enlightenment by seeing the problem in a way they may not have seen it before. Plus, asking these questions also shows the student that you are listening, that you care, and that you truly want to help them find a solution. 

3. Using Paraphrasing and Summarizing-This forces you as the listener to listen even more intently, pick out the main pieces and relay them back to the student to ensure you understand the point correctly. Within this step anything that wasn't clear can become clear and anything that you understood incorrectly can be corrected and further remembered. 

4. Make a hypothesis about the problem- This allows the culmination of all facts of the problem so that the best possible solution, or next step, can be successfully assessed and sought. 

I think this needs to be the backbone of any interaction with our students in hopes of better identifying their needs, problems and goals so that we can guide them towards the most effective solution.