Ideal strategy

IDEAL STRATEGY 2

IDEAL Strategy

The IDEAL strategy consists of five steps: Identify problems, Define goals, Explore

possible strategies, Anticipate outcomes and Act, and Look back and Learn. Identifying

problems can be more than just what we see in our text. As a matter of fact, our text tells us that

these are usually more than questions that are given to us and incorporate challenges that we face

on a day to day basis (LeFrançois, 2011). In a classroom, educators may face problems such as

the child who wants to act out, or the one who really just doesn’t understand the material. Once

we have identified the problem, we need to know what our goal is. By defining goals and

representing the problem, we eliminate any useless information while determining what our end-

state will be. For educators, this can involve identifying that some students who aren’t getting

the material will require more help. Exploring possible strategies involves looking at different

ways in which we can get from point A to point B. Educators will need to explore different ways

in which they will be able to help their students. Anticipating outcomes generally means to

conduct a hypothesis (LeFrançois, 2011). Educators will have to guess whether or not their

selected strategies will be useful. Once they’ve drawn their hypothesis, they will have to

implement it and put their strategy into action. Finally, looking back and learning can be one of

the most useful steps of the IDEAL strategy. “It’s important to evaluate the appropriateness of

each and by so doing, learn things that might be useful in the future,” (LeFrançois, 2011, para

6.7). You can take everything that you have learned during your previous issues and apply it to

new problems that arise.

Solving the Problem and Reflection

The problem seems simple; Bobby doesn’t like group activities. Since he is bright and is

able to fully engage in assignments independently, we can draw a record of his work. This is

IDEAL STRATEGY 3

important because we see that he can complete tasks as an individual, but not so much in a group

setting. This record may be useful if we need to approach his parents or utilize some other sort

of intervention in the future (Nunn & McMahan, 2000).

Obviously, the goal in this circumstance would be for Bobby to learn how to work in a

group. Not only that, but he will also need to learn how to not get angry if he isn’t being listened

to at the moment. The end state that we desire is for Bobby to not only learn the material and

accomplish the tasks, but also to be able to work in a group without getting frustrated.

In forming possible strategies, I feel that it would be important to speak with Bobby’s

parents to see if they know anything that could possibly help. Also, if there is a school

psychologist, they would probably be a good starting point too. There’s always the heuristic of

trial-by-fire. We can continue throwing him into group activities, hoping that he will learn what

he needs to. Of course, we will probably need to provide guidance and correction when needed

to keep him on track. Another, more reasonable, strategy would be to reduce the number of

members in his group. Start him off in a group with one other person. Once he is able to

complete his work and is acting in accordance with our standards, then we can