Do you ever feel like you go a different route than your classmates when it comes to school projects? It is indeed fun to reminisce your pre-school and kindergarten days when things seemed so simple. One instruction from your teacher and you and your classmates would team up and work like clockwork to achieve a goal.

The good news is having disagreements with your peers about school work is completely normal. The bad news is—well, it depends on your perspective, really—there are ways around these disagreements that would help you still work in harmony to reach your goals. Below are some tips to follow:

Listen to what others have to say.

At times, you may become easily frustrated when your peers do not agree with you right away that you end up repeating yourself just to try and make a point. Instead of you repeating yourself, be sure to give the others a chance to share their side of the story. Maybe then you can meet halfway.

 Practice empathy and understanding.

At times, you may be self-involved and you do not realize that one of your classmates may be grieving over the death of a beloved household pet or that he or she might be undergoing some issues at home that he or she is not ready to talk about. You may be mere classmates working toward the same goal, but maybe you can try to be a friend too.

Apply the theory of democracy whenever possible.

Students will always have their own approach to completing schoolwork. Sometimes, certain factors come into play like personal preferences or tastes. For instance, if you were tasked to do a choral reading with a group of 10, and you want to do The Raven as you are a big fan of Edgar Allan Poe, but someone suggested that you do The Walrus and the Carpenter because everyone is familiar with that poem; you can put it to a vote.

Be open to compromise.

Learning how to compromise with your peers does not develop overnight- it is tough. However, if you open your mind to it, in due time, you will master the skill. Remember, collaboration skills learned at an early age will help you go far in life when you are old enough and working in the real world.

Conflicts take place, you can’t deny that. Not everyone can say yes to what you say. The trick is to always take things in stride and remember that team effort can be powerful when trying to accomplish a common goal.

SOURCES:

http://kidshealth.org/en/teens/tips-disagree.html

http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=240&np=296&id=2095

https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/coaching-children-in-handling-everyday-conflicts/

http://www.parents.com/kids/development/social/deal-with-arguments/