Connecting for Success

“Connecting for Success”

One of the most important things I have learned when I first started supporting struggling students is that connecting is everything.  When trying to connect to students who have built up thick, towering, stone-laden walls meant to repel even the most valiant attempts at support, you have to get creative in your approach.  Just because a student is struggling academically does not mean your approach has to be all academic.  The same applies for students struggling with behavior, attendance, or other issues.  Chances are, the student has been inundated with conversations about “their problem,” and, “how do we fix this?”  The best way to reach out to this student is to give them a break from the conversations about their inadequacies.    

Use the rare opportunity of your first impressions to talk about non-school related topics and get to know the student.  Go for a walk around your school’s campus and have a conversation.  Let the student show you or talk to you about a hobby or interest they have.  Take the student to the gym or outside for an activity.  Show the student that you are there to support them, not just as a repairman to fix “their problem.”

I have also used these opportunities to foster a sense of ownership for students which, in turn, helped to solidify our relationship.  For example, one of my favorite ways to “break the ice” and get to know my students is to ask for their help in designing the room layout, a bulletin board, a word wall, etc.  Ask for their help and input, validate it, and use it.  It is amazing to see how much more students get into cleaning up the room at the end of the day, or putting words up on the word wall when they have had input into the process.  What is even more amazing is seeing that positive influence on other students when they want to join in and be part of it too.  For example, I have a positive behavior word wall that I started with just one student as a sort of ice-breaker activity.  Within two weeks, each one of the students I worked with from grades 6-8 wanted to be part of the word wall and was going out of their way to come up with their own words and participate.

Once your student sees you as a support and you have established a solid relationship, the sky is the limit.  Use your new-found knowledge of that student to help them achieve success.  Their path getting there may not be the same as other students, which is fine, if it were the same they would not have needed the additional support in the first place.

Getting to the Root of Misbehavior

I was recently invited to and attended a conference on Managing Children and Adolescents with Emotional and Behavioral problems put on by Dr. Ronald Friedman.

He shared a plethora of information throughout the 6 hours we spent together engaged in lecture and discussion.  While I gained a wide range of ideas and techniques to implement in my classroom, one thing Dr. Friedman said really stood out to me and continues to resonate in my mind.

In regards to student (mis)behaviors, if we as teachers are happy with simply saying, “That’s just the way they are,” what are we really doing here? (paraphrased from Dr. Friedman’s presentation)

All too often it is easier to dismiss a student’s inappropriate behavior and immediately respond with a negative consequence than to try and get to the root of the behavior.  This is not to say that inappropriate behavior should not result in some form of negative consequence or disciplinary action.  It is what we do in conjunction with and after that consequence that is the important part.

The challenge comes in getting to the root of the problem.  It takes a lot of investigation on the teacher’s part to find the answers or more-so hints, as to why their student is acting out.

Communication, observation, and data collection are the key elements to investigating student behaviors.

We need to be able to effectively communicate with our colleagues across the board.  Some of the most eye-opening information I have gathered in various cases has come from staff members I do not work or interact with on a daily basis.  It is all too easy to get caught up in “cliques” and only talk with the same people on a daily basis.  Information from all staff is pertinent and necessary when trying to get a complete picture of the student.

Observation and data collection go hand-in-hand.  Observations are useless if you do not collect and more importantly use the information (data) from that observation.

The observations do not have to be typical observations where you sit and watch what the student’s actions in a classroom are.  Observations should be:
·         watching a student’s interactions outside of the classroom (hallways, locker, lunches, bus area, etc.)     
·         academic based conversations (content understanding)
·         non-academic based conversations (how was your weekend, how are you doing, etc)

As a classroom teacher who spends most of their day in front of kids, taking time to record and share observations can feel like just another task.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  Take a team approach.  Reach out to your colleagues for support.  The key to the observations is that you have a wide berth of observable behaviors.  You need to find out how the student behaves in a variety of settings.  It may actually be more beneficial if you are physically not in the same space as the student while he or she is being observed.

To document your observations you can use a variety of techniques.  I have found it most useful to start with anecdotal notes.  This allows you to see the whole picture of what is happening.  From there, you can focus on narrowing down your observations and data to target specific behaviors.

Once you have found the root of the behavior issues it is much easier to address them.  In most cases I have found the best way to address behaviors and set up interventions is by using a team approach.  Having an established support team in your building is a great place to start.  Personally, I brainstorm with members of my building’s SAP (Student Assistance Program) team.  This provides me a nice cross-section of Teachers, Administrators, In-House Counselors and Outside Agency Counselors.  

As a team, we are able to set up effective, efficient, and creative interventions to help address problematic behaviors based on their roots.  Having a resource such as this team also helps to expedite processes that can sometimes be long and tedious and make sure that interventions are set up in a timely manner.

Getting to the roots of negative behaviors can be a laborious task.  Often times it is a long and bumpy road.  But as Dr. Friedman pointed out, if you’re fine with a student misbehaving and getting into trouble because “that’s just the way they are.”  What are we really doing here?

-         Chris Deily In-School Alternative Support Teacher