Practical Strategies for Teaching At-Risk Students Cindy Jones [email protected] Education Support Associates, Inc.

Greetings from San Antonio

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle. 1

Two Goals of Teaching • Make content comprehensible • Develop academic language

2

• In order to teach effectively, we must combine excellent curriculum delivery with effective behavior management techniques. • The two must go hand-in-hand.

3

Steps to Make It Happen by John Seidlitz 1. Teach students what to say when they don’t know what to say. 2. Encourage students to speak in complete sentences. 3. Randomize and rotate whom is called on. 4. Use response signals for students to monitor their own comprehension. 5. Use visuals, vocabulary, and sentence starters. 4

Teach students what to say when they don’t know what to say. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

5

May I please have some more information? May I have more time to think? Would you please repeat the question? Where could I find information about that? May I ask a friend for help?

Answer with a question… • • • • • •

Responses: May I please have some more information? May I please have more time to think? Would you please repeat the question? Where could I find information about that? May I ask a friend for help?

• • • •

Questions: What was the invention that made tall buildings feasible? What terrible disease devastated Europe in the 1600s? In what country was gun powder invented? 6

2. Encourage students to speak in complete sentences. Post PLEASE SPEAK IN COMPLETE SENTENCES in your classroom. • • • • • • • 7

I know… I noticed that… The first step is… I can describe ___ with the words… ___ is similar to… _____ resulted in… I predict ___ will because…

• If students can speak in complete sentences, they can write in complete sentences.

8

Burger King

Full sentences = job. 9

Sentence Stems • • • • • • •

I know… I noticed that… The first step is… I can describe ___ with the words… ___ is similar to… _____ resulted in… I predict ___ will because… 10

3. Randomize and rotate

whom is called on. When teachers randomize and rotate when calling on students, attention increases a great deal. The system that I use to call on students is ______________.

11

Ways to Randomize

 Number the desks or seats at the table.  Popsicle sticks with students’ names  Index cards with students’ names 12

4. Use response signals for students to monitor their own comprehension.

Written Response

-Hold-up Paper -White Boards (slick paper plates and a Vis a Vis) -Answers on Cards

13

Making Choices

-Open hand/Closed hand -Thumbs-up/Thumbs down -Pens up/Pens down -Number Wheels -Green Card/Red Card -Move to the Corner

Ranking

-Rank with your Fingers -Rank with your Arm (the higher the better) -Line up according to Responses -Knocking/Clapping/ Cheering

Response Signals Ready Responses  Hands up when ready.  Hands down when ready.  Thinker’s Chin (hand off chin when ready).  Stand when you’re ready. 14

 Sit when you’re ready.

Signals • Thumbs up: • Ask a question that is true or false. – Thumbs up equals true. – Thumbs down equals false. – Wiggle fist equals “I don’t know.”

15

True or False 1. The largest land mass country in the world is China. 2. The world’s largest reef is The Great Barrier Reef. 3. The Sea of Tranquility is on the coast of Finland. 4. The largest island in the world is Australia. 5. The U.S. state with the most islands is Alaska. 6. The capital city of Australia is Canberra.

16

5. Use visuals, vocabulary, and sentence starters in EVERY lesson.

17

Window Pane

18

Frayer Model

19

Word Wall  Display key words (alphabetically optional)  Revisit frequently during lessons  Have students use words throughout unit of study  Remove some words regularly in order to keep words displayed to a reasonable number 20

Social Studies Word Wall: The American Revolution • liberty • • concede flag

constitution

independence

declaration

notify

• no taxation without representation 21

Sentence Starters • Choose sentence starters based on the proficiency level of your students. • As students increase in proficiency levels, use Bloom’s Taxonomy to increase the level of the sentence starters.

22

• Improvisational Read Aloud: As a story is read aloud, students are to silently act it out. When the story is completed, a discussion is held regarding what cues the students used to determine their actions. • Backwards Book Walk: Students scan a section of an expository text looking at pictures, bold type, chapter headings, and captions before reading the text. They then discuss what they think that the text will be about. 23

Behavior Techniques 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 24

Build relationships. Stay out of power struggles. Use empathy. Draw firm boundaries. Teach replacement skills. Teach procedures. Make learning fun and meaningful.

ADHD • The student may know what to do, but is too impulsive to do it. • In the U.S., this condition affects between 2 and 10% of the population. • It occurs 5 times more in boys, than girls. • In girls, ADHD may present at depression, low self-esteem, or anxiety. 25

Strategies for ADHD • Employ movement and interaction during lessons • Provide organizational tools such as checklists, schedules, and outlines • Color-code folders • Provide an assignment notebook • Provide fidget tools • Break lectures into segments with movement and activities throughout 26

Prefrontal cortex Limbic area

Adderall Less holes in the prefrontal and limbic areas

No meds

Ritalin Less holes in the prefrontal and limbic areas

27

ADHD • Causes: • Heredity (DRD4 Repeater Gene) • Physiology (Frontal lobe and basal ganglia is about 10% smaller and less active) • Environmental Toxins (lead) • Neurotransmitter deficiencies in the brain stem • Chemical dysregulation (Dopamine levels are too low.) • Head injury (Damage to Prefrontal impulse control area) • Frontal lobe symmetry (Lobes are the same size. In normal brains, the right lobe is larger which indicates a tendency for stronger impulse control.) • Other (Family history of alcoholism, low birth weight) 28

ADHD Tips • Frequent breaks. Give brain breaks in which • • • • • • • • • • 29

students can stop and do something different. Social skills training Class and individual schedules Private offices More movement Fidget accommodations Hands-on activities Reduce long written assignments Ability to drink water when needed Changing seating options: floor, bean bag, sitting or laying on floor Working with a partner or group

In dealing with ADHD students, NO YELLING! Many people with ADHD are conflict or excitement seeking, as a means of stimulation. They are sometimes very good at making other people angry. If they get you to explode, their low energy prefrontal cortex lights up and the brain likes the feeling produced. Do not let you anger be their medication. They can get addicted to it. 30

For a whole class response cost, start with 10 pieces of popcorn in a cup. Each time someone in the class stops your instruction, one piece of popcorn is removed. At the end of the period, or the end of the day, students are given candy or free time based on how many pieces of popcorn are left in the cup.

31

• Use distraction by directing to another activity. • Use empathy like “It looks like you are tired of working.” • Find some behavior to praise. • Use picture cards illustrating what you would like to see. • Shorten the periods of work. 32

Techniques • • • • • • • • 33

Proximity control Planned ignoring Silence Teflon responses Cueing Choices Routine Humor

If you don’t want people to get your goat, don’t let them know where you’ve got it tied!

34

Teflon Responses When verbally intervening, do not get into a power struggle. Power struggles tend to damage relationships and escalate the situation. Instead, use Teflon Responses to respond to students’ inappropriate comments. These are some examples: For yes/no questions, just answer the question.

• • • • • • • • 35

Thanks for noticing. Thanks for sharing that. Perhaps you are right. That’s an interesting point. I see. Hmmmm….(nod head) I’ll have to think about that. I’ll be interested to see how that works out for you. I hear what you are saying.

Bummer. That’s really interesting. That’s really sad. I hate it when that happens. Great first draft. I know you wish you could… Because we’re all different and we all get to succeed. • Help me understand why this is so important to you. • You must be really angry to say that. We’ll talk about it in a minute. • It is okay to be mad. It is not okay to say that. We will talk about other ways to let me know you are mad without using those words. • • • • • • •

36

More Ideas • Fogging (like a Teflon Response) – You may be right – Thanks for sharing – That’s possible. Let’s talk about it later.

• To you-to me • To you it’s not important. To me, it is. Go ahead and get started. • Broken record – Repeat the directive until the student complies. 37

• Closed end questions – Is that what you are supposed to be doing? Yes or No

– Don’t stay engaged longer than 10 seconds.

– Body position – – – –

Not nose to nose Stay out of personal space Use a quarter turn Or, stand beside the student

– I don’t say

– I need you to – I understand 38

Wrong, Right, Praise Tell the student what he is doing wrong, what you want him to do, and praise for any compliance. You’re talking loudly, please, lower your voice…. Thanks. You’re tapping your pencil, please, put it quietly on the desk…. Thanks. You’re standing up. Please sit down in your chair. Thanks. Not “Will you please?” or “Stop” or “I need you to…” 39

Post-Its • Sticky Notes can be used to give positive comments such as “Good job. You started on your work right away!” • They can also be used to give corrective feedback. An example would be a • Sticky Note with a redirect such as “Get started on your work.” • The note should be placed quietly on the student’s desk. Then, the teacher should walk away and continue teaching. • If a 2nd sticky note is required, write “I need to see you after class.” • Then, talk to them after class (or after the lesson). 40

Interventions

I Know and the Sooner Student is crying or pouting: I see that you are sad, and the sooner you stop crying, the sooner we can get this worked out and you can get back to your friends. Student is yelling: I can see that you are upset, and the sooner that you calm down, the sooner we can get this fixed and you can get back to your group work. Student says “I’m not doing this stupid work.” I know that you think this is stupid work, and the sooner you finish it, the sooner you can do something else you really like to do like finish read your book. 41

• Thanks for sharing your time with me. • Please email if you have questions. • [email protected] Cindy Jones San Antonio, TX