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My targeted learners are sixth-grade girls who will be learning how to resolve clique problems inan appropriate and respectful manner.

My ID project's needs assessment falls into Condition A: There is a problem. I have workedwith junior high students for four years, and when it comes to conflicts, my students don't knowto handle themselves. This is especially true for my female students, who rely on clique

hierarchy and secretive backstabbing to solve their issues. I often hear the girls complain to (orabout) each other, and not a year goes by where I don't have a parent bring a concern to me.Moreover, school assemblies or teacher-directed anti-bullying lessons don't seem to beeffective in getting the behavior to stop. I am a firm believer in solving problems head on, so Iwant to impart that knowledge to my female students while addressing the problem that girls areunclear how to handle conflicts.

In doing a needs assessment, I will take the following steps Survey teachers and parents of girls in grades 6 asking if they feel there is a problem

between cliques that their girls belong to. If there is a problem, do others agree that it isan issue? Who would they say is most affected by the problem? How big of a problem iscliques?

Survey girls in grade 6 asking similar questions as above Identify how the school wishes students to handle conflict and how they achieve this

goal. This will be done through staff interviews and looking at the school handbook Determine what skills girls are deficient at in dealing with conflict through observation

and survey Identify the discrepancy between the goals and the deficient skills Determine and analyze learning goals based on feedback from parents and students

An assessment of the learning environment. Characteristics of teacher: The teacher who will deliver this seminar is, "Mrs. White," a

current teacher at the school where this seminar will be done. Mrs. White does notcurrently teach the students who this seminar is geared toward, although she has in the

past. She has a preference for group discussion and role-playing when a lesson'scontent deals with real-life scenarios. When dealing with material being deliveredthrough media or nontradition methods, Mrs. White reports that she is comfortable andloves the idea of approaching instruction in new ways

Level of experience: Mrs. White has been a classroom teacher for twenty-two years, withfifteen of those years working with fifth grade students. Of the eighteen girls she will beworking with, she has taught sixteen of them. She has mediated conflicts before(between both boys and girls, and across grade levels), but has not conducted a formalseminar on the matter.

Curricula: This clique seminar is not required to fit into any specific curriculum, althoughit could be used as a part of the religion curriculum as the school where it will be taughtis a Catholic school.

Hardware in the learning environment: The seminar will take place in the sixth-gradeclassroom, and the classroom being used offers the following equpment: a SMARTboard, 35 laptop computers for student use, 1 teacher computer, a DVD player, and atelevision.

Characteristics of the facility: The sixth-grade classroom which will be used isapproximately 50 feet wide and 40 feet long. This space houses thirty-five studentdesks which can be arranged to suit whole-class or group discussion; it is also bigenough to handle a role-playing scenario. The classroom is also spacious enough toallow the girls their own personal "bubble" for personal reflection

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Characteristics of the school community: The school community is a close-knit group,often with families sending multiple children through the school and with students beingin a class with the same classmates from kindergarten through eighth grade. Thus,families are very familiar with each other, and students often share the same sense offamiliarity. This familiarity can prove difficult, especially when conflicts arise as somefamilies and students alike remain hesitant to speak up for fear of "rocking the boat" and

upsetting the status quo.

Within the conext of my ID project, it is important that I look at the following: Developmental level Preferred cognitive processing style Prior experience Motivations to learn Attitude toward subject matter Beliefs Anxiety level Relationship with peers Moral development

Role models

These characteristics are important to assess for my ID project because I am dealing with apractical application toward conflict resolution. The aspects of developmental level and rolemodels will provide a background context for how the girls think it is appropriate to behave. Theother characteristics are important because this topic is often difficult to "get into" since girlshave the tendency to ignore problems or because of the anxiety involved in standing up to anaggressor. Moreover, in situations involving cliques, girls need to be in tune with how theyperceive the subject and how they wish to see themselves within a situation. Thesecharacteristics will help me to assess how the girls have been approached about the subject inthe past, the method of learning which will best suit them, and what they hope to achieve.

I plan to interview the members of my audience and ask the following questions: Sometimes girls don't get along with each ohter. What three words would best describe

any experiences you have had confronting a girl about something you did not agreewith?

Has an adult ever tried to help resolve any conflicts you have had with another girl? Have you ever been taught how to handle difficult situations that arise between girls? Would you find the skill of dealing with girls helpful? Why/why not? Rate your relationship with your friends. What type of role do you have within your group of friends? Which stage do you think you are in? A) I behave because I don't want to get in any

trouble from a parent, teacher, or friend. B) I want to behave because I want myparents, teachers, or friends to be happy with me. C) I want to behave because it is the

right thing to do Of all of the people you know (personally or a celebrity), who is someone that you want

to be like in terms of personality? Why do you want to be like them?

I also intend to read articles relating to young girls and cliques to understand how the socialhierarchy affects girls.