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Answers to Your Questions about At-Risk Students & Issues
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- Ask us your questions about acedmic, attendance, and behavioral issues
- Questions which address the needs of teachers of at-risk students
- Helping to solve the problems of potential dropouts
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What are some ways to approach difficult parents?
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Begin with the positive. Remember that no matter how hard a student has been to deal with, s/he is that parent’s child. Often, by beginning with the good news, it may soften the effect of the bad. Next, enlist the help of the parent. Ask for the parent’s help to solve the problem. After all, you wouldn’t be calling if you had been able to solve the problem on your own. If you are not calling to help solve the problem but only to seek revenge or punishment for the child, do not call. You will not help the problem dissipate but may now cause the student to punish you for your behavior, either overtly or covertly. The parent may tell the kid that the teacher was not interested in helping them and/or begin to shout at the child and then s/he comes to school and takes it out on the teacher.
Express that you care about the student and his/her success. If a parent has no suggestions, you may want to suggest a few of your own and ask if they think if these will help to solve the problem. The counselor, psychologist, or others in the school may also have suggestions to help.
If the parent has initiated the contact and is somewhat antagonistic or argumentative, you may want to acknowledge that you are human and therefore not perfect but that you would like to resolve the situation. Asking what the parent wants as a result of the conversation may bring it more quickly to a close. If the parent is aggressive or hostile toward you, you should enlist the help of an administrator. Don’t place yourself in the position of being alone in a room with someone when the situation could escalate and get out of hand.
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How can grades help at-risk students succeed?
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Grades can be motivators or demotivators. When a student feels that s/he can succeed, s/he often tries harder. If a student believes that there is no possibility of success, s/he stops trying. So, take the mystery out of grading. Share with students how their grades are derived – not just the grading scale, but what is graded, how it is graded, the impact missing assignments have on their final grade, how tests are weighted, and anything else that may impact their grade.
Grade only academic achievement. Leave attitude, behavior, and other items not related to academic success out of the grading. Tardiness, organization, participation, donations to the classroom are examples of items not to grade.
Don't use grades as punishment. When teachers do this, what they are teaching is that they have the power and control in the classroom and that the student may or may not succeed regardless of his/her efforts.
Do not use grades as rewards. By rewarding students with good grades for behaviors that you approve of, you are sending the message that only one type of student will succeed and that is usually one that is the least at risk.
Encourage at-risk students by showing them the improvement they are making, by sharing their grades with them often, giving opportunities to turn in late and missed work without punishment, and by allowing them to try again on an assignment that they were not successful on the first time. Give plenty of time and opportunities to learn skills before assessing the accomplishment of the learning.
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8th Grade Parent Survey
9th Grade Parent Survey
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Success4Teachers is a project by teachers and administrators to provide resources and practical advice to teachers of at-risk students. The partners in this venture have advanced degrees and over 30 years classroom experience including work with alternative high schools, middle schools, and regular high schools. In addition to being published authors, their accomplishments include educating new teachers at the university level and in the classroom, professional therapy and counseling of both teachers and students, coordinating a pregnant teen program, educational research, receiving major grants, developing and implementing innovative programs.
Furthermore, one partner was an At-risk Consultant and a Transitions Coordinator and director of a local community center. Another partner is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, and served a large school district as a school social worker and administrator in charge of special programs for at risk students. Programs created by Success4Teachers partners have received recognition and awards in the “Showcasing Public School Success” and the “Excellence in Education” Award presented for accomplishments on the county and state levels.
Success4Teachers.com does not warrantee the advice, direct or implied, that appears on the Success4Teachers website or related programs and/or documents. Success4Teachers is not responsible for the submissions, comments or advice of other persons not associated with Success4Teachers.com.
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