When I was a youth counselor in a 90 day emergency shelter I
dealt with young people in crisis on a day-to-day basis. One problem that was
consistent was their inability to concentrate. They often blamed themselves for
their family situation or were angry about the hand life dealt them. It was
hard for them to talk about and they lacked the maturity to deal with grown up
problems so many would handle it with violent or outrageous behaviors. Much of their experience in school
was with teachers who were reactionary and held low expectations. I noticed
that they seemed to sense it when someone failed to believe in them. It was
amazing to me how intelligent each individual was despite the terrible grades
they were earning at school. So, we worked closely with schools to help them
achieve their potential. What they needed was care, firmness, consistency, and
a listening ear.
The Successful Teacher
I noticed a constant pattern
among teachers who were successful with these students. They cared enough to
get to know the student and their situation. They also maintained a consistency
with their expectations. It never ceased to amaze me what high expectations
could do for these youth. Each student’s potential was infinite when given the
chance to prove it. The successful educator’s role is to see the students
learning as a partnership. Meaning they did their absolute
best to create a positive learning environment while expecting the student to
maintain his or her role (active participation). They also focused on the
positive aspect of each student rather than giving into the tug of war that is
negative attention. This served two purposes. It helped the child to see him or
herself as a success rather than a failure as well as seeing that more
attention would be given to them for their positive behaviors than their negative
behaviors. What I mean by expectations
is that praise was given for accomplishments and hard work not just for any
piece of work they turned in. The teachers also made use of a consistent behavioral
plan. These behavioral plans varied but were based on prevention and included
the entire class. Trust me the student noticed! Fairness played a major role in
their success. Because these students saw their life situation as unfair they
were highly sensitive to the fair treatment they received in school and often
saw themselves as targeted by the teacher.
In Your Classroom
This can be one of the most difficult tight ropes you can
walk because of the behaviors the student displays in the classroom. It is easy
to fall prey to the pitfalls of negative attention. Yes, it is true that if you
ignore their negative behaviors they only get worse and more outrageous
demanding your attention. So what can you do? In this case it is imperative
that you turn the behavior around...redirect. It is important to remember that
the name of the game is consistency, getting to know your students, and separating
the behavior from the person. It may not work right away and may take some
alterations. But if you stick to it I assure you it will work! I am attaching
links to several excellent articles discussing methods and behavioral plans
that in my experience have been proven to work. I hope you will find these
useful. I do value your feedback and you can always feel free to contact me if
you would like to brainstorm.
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