of communication, with each chapter sharing an essential part of the process.
Imagine classrooms full of resilient students focused on their learning, where respectful behaviors are commonplace and caring relationships between teachers and students are the norm. Educators can improve student behavior, and the best, most successful among us are already doing this.
About the Book
This book provides the tools and strategies educators can use to build the very sort of classroom atmospheres and cultures in which they dream of working.
Chapter 1 focuses on the many academic and social benefits of teacher-student relationships and encourages educators to adopt a relationship-building mindset. Chapter 2 explores ways adults in school settings can show students that they care about them. And chapter 3 shares evidence-based research about ways educators can improve the culture of their school by creating an atmosphere in which all students feel welcomed.
Chapter 4 discusses why teachers should not take negative student behavior personally and how they can consistently build teacher efficacy to avoid becoming a teacher-attrition statistic. Good teachers are far more than subject-matter instructors, and chapter 5 highlights the importance of classroom management and why it is necessary for teachers to foster and earn respect.
Chapter 6 explains how teachers can connect through content and how students at risk are more likely to engage more in school when they see authenticity and relevance in the curriculum. To continue the conversation, chapter 7 looks at how to take something a student is interested in and relate it back to real life.
Chapter 8 discusses the different approaches interventionists have taken to support students at risk, from the epidemiological model to the social constructivist model, all leading to the comprehensive ecological model. It also explores the benefits of taking an ecological approach, and educators will learn how to effectively use this approach to help students at risk succeed.
Chapter 9 discusses how teachers can develop empathy for students at risk. We explore research into conducting home visits and the connection between these and a more empathetic approach. Following this realistic look at the home environment of students at risk, chapter 10 highlights the importance of teaching students at risk life skills as they contend with arduous living conditions and navigate through crises. Since many of these students have a catastrophic worldview and possess little or no hope for their futures, I introduce research demonstrating the importance of countering fatalism. Featured is a resilience program that worked to infuse hope in the students at my school.
Chapter 11 discusses the psychological approach necessary to increase the self-esteem of students at risk, and chapter 12 discusses techniques educators can use to get to the root of a problem.
Chapter 13 reveals how the most effective educators use empathetic listening, active listening, and reflective listening with students at risk. After listening, educators must be willing to open up, which is the subject of chapter 14. Educators who open up and share their own personal experiences with students at risk build trust and can use these opportunities as teachable moments. No one is perfect; students at risk need to know that we can all bounce back from mistakes.
Chapter 15 shows how educators and teachers can promote social bonding among all students, especially students at risk, and emphasizes the importance of maintaining strong teacher-student relationships once they are established. The epilogue concludes the book and makes the case that building relationships with students at risk works. Its importance to the academic prospects and general well-being of students cannot be overemphasized.
Each chapter in this book appears as an imperative, emphasizing the to-do factor. Educators must put forth the effort to bring about the achievement of their students at risk. The beginning of each chapter briefly introduces the topic of the chapter. The chapter then explores the research supporting the imperative. We will look at how the topic plays out in the real world with examples from firsthand experience. Then the text turns to the reader, encouraging you to reflect on a number of questions to both understand where you are in relation to the topic and where you want to go. The final section of each chapter charges readers to implement their new learning through a series of action steps. Note that while the stories in this book are true, I have used pseudonyms to conceal the identities of teachers, students, schools, and school districts.
Many students put up barriers to avoid relationships with teachers because they have experienced abuse, neglect, or have been let down by an adult in the past. This puts students at risk. They need understanding, support, nurturing, and encouragement from their teachers and other school staff to be successful in school. This book gives teachers the tools to build the bridge to fill the gap between risk and promise and engage students through the power of relationships to help them succeed in school and in life.
{ CHAPTER 1 }
Develop the Mindset
Many students at risk have sundry issues that prompt them to believe avoiding relationships with adults is in their best interest. They may have experienced tumultuous relationships with adults in their past. They may have been let down, betrayed, abandoned, abused, or even assaulted. Their lack of positive adult role models can foster behavior patterns that serve only to deepen their at-risk status.
While some educators work to build supports for students at risk, some students work to build walls to avoid relationships with teachers. During this time, teachers must not give up on trying to reach their troubled students. By adopting a relationship-building mindset, educators will make a commitment to persevere, be relentless in showing their students that they care about them, and go above and beyond to build trusting relationships with them.
The Glossary of Education Reform (Great Schools Partnership, 2013a) defines the term students at risk as:
Students or groups of students who are considered to have a higher probability of failing academically or dropping out of school. The term may be applied to students who face circumstances that could jeopardize their ability to complete school, such as homelessness, incarceration, teenage pregnancy, serious health issues, domestic violence, transiency (as in the case of migrant-worker families), or other conditions, or it may refer to learning disabilities, low test scores, disciplinary problems, grade retentions, or other learning-related factors that could adversely affect the educational performance and attainment of some students. While educators often use the term at-risk to refer to general populations or categories of students, they may also apply the term to individual students who have raised concerns based on specific behaviors observed over time that indicate they
