by Laurie Wasserman

We have all had those kids in our classrooms who we love for their excitement and enthusiasm, but who drive all of us crazy with their constant chatting while their classmates try to get in a word or share an idea.

Then there are the students who, sadly, don’t know how to interact with their peers, and so group work is a challenge for us when we pick kids to work together.

But the behavior I worry about the most is found in the silent, apathetic student, who may be concealing a brilliant and creative mind.

So, what do we do as teachers? How do we help all these different kids whose behaviors affect not only their classroom performance, but our frustration levels as we search and search and feel like we’ve tried everything?

Maybe it will help us to remember a time when we struggled ourselves. I don’t have to think back very far (a couple of days actually!) — to call up those feelings. So let me tap into my current personal experience and share some of what is helping me, the student whose behavior is affecting her classroom performance.

Learning that put me outside my comfort zone

Recently, I was honored to be chosen to be involved in a STEM grant in my district. As part of this professional opportunity, I would take online math courses for 18 months, get paid a stipend, be given a MacBook and an iPod Touch, and spend time each week working with other colleagues as we solved math challenges and created projects for our students.

I was always a good student as a kid. In middle school, I faithfully did my homework each night before watching The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family, as I sat at my little white desk with the pink flowers painted on it. My two favorite subjects as a student (and as a teacher) have always been math and English. Little did I know that the math in this STEM project would be way outside my experience and my comfort zone.

Our first “Kick Off” in August had me excited (like the first day of school for our students) as we met one another and were provided with a schedule of our two days of activities to prepare us for our coursework. We had been given our shoulder bag full of technology tools earlier in the summer, and I was so excited about learning how to use them. (I felt like our students with their backpacks filled with 3-ring binders, pens, pencils, paper, and notebooks).

I met my group — the teachers from throughout my state with whom I would be sharing my work for the next year and a half, as well as our facilitator, Sheree. I thought of this as my homeroom; they were the kids from different neighborhoods and Sheree was our homeroom teacher. I eagerly tried learning names and faces, and felt a little nervous. Then I saw a teacher from my building join our group, a familiar face. Is this how kids feel on the first day of school?

What it feels like to wait for help

In addition to learning about math, we would also need to utilize technology. As I sat beside my fellow students in our class, updating our software and learning how to share posts through a special site, I became lost. I couldn’t follow the multi-step directions. I reached out to a fellow student beside me who seemed to get it: “Can you help me? I’m so behind!”

I was reminded of my students who are talking in class while we’re teaching. As my fellow classmate tried to help me get caught up, I realized I was dragging her down, and our talking was distracting the other students.

As we continued to further update our laptops, I noticed there were “assistants” circulating the room helping other struggling students. I joined the signaling but the help was slow in coming. I became jealous and impatient because I couldn’t go further without their help. I wondered if this is how my students back at school felt when there were two teachers or a teacher and a para-professional, and 24 of them waiting to get help.

Eventually, thankfully, I got the help and completed my software updates. This was our last class for the day, ending at 9 p.m. I was so tired that night, but I didn’t sleep well, knowing that classes were starting the next morning at 8:45.

The next day was equally challenging: incorporating math, using the iPod Touch to videotape our students, and learning how to do a student interview. What saved me that day were two teachers who invited me to join their group and helped me navigate the iPod movie making. They reminded me of the kind and thoughtful kids who offer to help their classmates back at school. I actually gained confidence as they guided me to make videos of them.

Walking a mile in my struggling students’ shoes

When school started in September, we had our first STEM grant assignment due in one week! We had to learn about math concepts like function rules, rational and irrational numbers, and later dilations and translations. As I watched the videos of my instructors online, even with the luxury of pausing and rewinding the lecture I was  still struggling. I began to think, “So this is what it feels like to be paying attention and still have no idea what the teacher is saying.”

As I read, reread and highlighted the class notes I began to wonder, “Do I have some kind of math disability or reading comprehension weakness?” I read the words, I listened to the video, I even tried doing the problems along with the video, but still, nothing. No connection, no understanding, no lightbulb switching on or Aha moment. My mind was blank.

Then I did what my students who get frustrated sometimes do — I shut down. I logged off our website, angrily shoved all my notes into my book bag, and did all kinds of avoidance things: ate chocolate, drank MORE coffee, called friends and patted my kitties. Then this sick feeling came over me: if I don’t do this work, I have to give back the beautiful technology tools, I won’t receive my stipend, and (worst of all) I’ll let my math partner Aileen down.

I’ve had kids ask me as early as the first semester, “If I don’t pass, will I get kept back?” That’s how I felt: What if I fail?

This is the kind of work I need to understand each week:

T3(x) = x + 3:  T(a;b)(x; y) = (x + a; y + b): T( 4 , 1 ) (x, y) = (x+4, y+1)

 Yikes!

Here are some supports that are helping

I am very lucky that my math partner Aileen and two school colleagues, Lisa, another 6^th grade teacher, and 7^th grade teacher Carolina, are part of this grant work. We are required to meet weekly, and so Carolina, who tutors adults as her second job, offered to tutor us each week. She puts each problem on the board and explains it and clarifies it as we work to solve it with her guidance. Does this sound like after school help?

In addition to helping me understand the math, Aileen and Lisa help me navigate the laptop (we also have to format our work into PDFs, with graphs, etc.). Since Aileen and I co-teach together, she will make connections for me between what we’re learning in our STEM class and what we’re teaching our sixth graders. Oftentimes when we plan our lessons, we are also incorporating our interviews with students into our planning discussions. As a student, I am being called upon to “make connections to learning,” just as I expect (hope) my students will do.

Learning by doing

When I first started posting my assignments on our STEM grant platform, I would get e-mails scolding me for not posting in the right place or in the right format. This just added to my frustration. Pearl, our grant’s technology guru, offered to come to my school and work with me 1:1 until I understood what to do.

I am not joking that I cried with joy as she guided my hand over the MacBook touchpad and showed me how to click using my thumb (I learned clicking with a mouse on my old Gateway) and to scroll using my fingers. She had me practice as she guided me verbally on the various steps needed to post correctly, and made me practice until I was successful.

Putting my teacher hat back on…

Here is what I’ve learned as a student who struggles:

The people who were kind and patient gave me the confidence to take risks - My facilitator Sheree offers words of support: “You are on the right track. Your strategy for solving that was great! Let me show you where you made your mistake, so you can fix it.” She made me realize that when kids (and their teachers) struggle; they need a cheerleader in their corner. When we met at our Kick Off, Sheree gave us all her e-mail address. I felt better knowing I could write her privately when I was just about ready to give up. My students have all of my teammates’ e-mail addresses and my home number for this very reason.

Having support from peers - Our group posts our assignments to a Forum. Here people share their answers and voice their frustrations. Sheree again encourages, and she creates an environment that is supportive and respectful. In our classroom Aileen and I have the students sit in pairs. We encourage peer sharing and completing math investigations together. In addition, when we have after school help, we often have Grade 7 students who love to tutor the “new 6^th graders”.

Demonstration + Practice = Confidence - I realized I wasn’t any different from my students who struggled with new material: I needed someone to show me and then let me practice. The more I practiced the more confident I became.

Patience and encouragement – As I became frustrated and angry when I wanted to do the work, but couldn’t, what helped was encouragement, kindness, and most of all patience. Sometimes the student who interrupts us is asking for help; at 10, 11, 12 or 13, they haven’t learned how to self-advocate. They only know one thing: “I’m stuck, I’m confused, and I need help, NOW! “ Set up non-verbal signals for your classroom, thumbs up, thumbs down, thumbs sideways (I sort of get it, but not quite there). A wonderful Differentiated Instruction workshop I attended had kids make traffic signals they kept on top of their desks using a sheet of paper folded in thirds: green for go, red for stop, and yellow for slow down. I used this strategy when I first taught middle school math; if I saw too many yellow or red lights, I knew I was moving too fast.

Kids often don’t believe their teachers have ever failed at anything. When a student shuts down, it helps to share your own stories of when you struggled (we’ve all had experiences of being challenged with learning something new: maybe trying to drive a car with a 5-speed manual transmission, or how to do Yoga or Zumba). Sharing the feelings of frustration or even embarrassment with your students is immensely empowering for them.

Kids may not join because they can’t contribute.  When kids don’t want to join in a group, there can be factors we aren’t even aware of: they feel inadequate, they feel they can’t contribute to their group. (I feel this way on a regular basis when I meet with my fellow Math Musketeers, all certified middle school math teachers, and me, the special ed teacher.) Students may be having difficulty socially with another member of the group; perhaps they used to be friends in elementary school but have now drifted apart.

Some of our students are on the Autism Spectrum or have Non Verbal Learning Disabilities. The thought of being in a group and being forced to socialize is as challenging for them as my course instructor asking me to present to my fellow teachers. My co-teacher teammates often give kids a choice if they come to us privately, and are very uncomfortable working in a group. We can check with the school psychologist to guide reluctant group members during counseling time, but if they aren’t quite ready, we allow them to work independently.

For these students, the task of completing the work overrides the need to work in a group. I think of one student we have this year who is often disengaged. He makes comments that can be offensive and draws or doodles when he should be working. Yet one day he brought in the most gorgeous project for his English class. I realized this is a boy who has that brilliant and creative mind but appears apathetic. He’s the one I invited to be interviewed for a week at lunch, as I struggled to learn how to do screen shots and audio recording (simultaneously) of translations and transformations.

The most valuable lesson

I realize that the most valuable lesson I’ve learned from this STEM grant wasn’t how to use the laptop, or navigate the math; it’s how I can better approach my students whose behaviors affect their classroom performance. I’ve broadened my perspective — I’m no longer seeing everything from the teacher’s perch. I’m also a fellow student, a person who sometimes struggles with learning and needs an understanding hand to guide me as I learn new ways to click.

by Laurie Wasserman

How do we help kids who may not have much help outside of school? In several previous posts, I’ve shared some midyear ideas on how to help kids with organization and assessment. Now I’d like to talk about things we can do when our students don’t have enough family or other resources beyond school walls to give them the extra support they need to be successful in the classroom.

“We didn’t do this when I was in school.”

For many of our students, the adults in parental roles are also their grandparents — folks who haven’t been in a middle school classroom in quite awhile. They will be the first to tell you, “We never did this when I was in junior high school (which was very different than middle school).”

Or: “My grandchild has to do a Power Point for History class; I can’t help him because he’s the one who taught me how to write an e-mail.”

We smile with understanding because we know their hearts are in the right place, but they truly don’t know how to help with many of the things we ask students to do today.

Different ways to help

I send home a letter at the beginning of the year, as well as posting a message on my schoolnotes.com page, and verbally tell my students to have the “adults you live with” check your agenda book each evening and sign it.

Since many of my students may live with a foster parent, aunt, grandparent or legal guardian in addition to a parent, the adult they live with acknowledges all the different kinds of parental relationships they may have. It  can provide a first step in assistance for the student, as well as finding a way to communicate between the home and school. I tell my students how “these are the people in your life who want to hear stories about your day. Describe to them what you did each period/subject/class, and show them as well.” Sometimes this simple task lets the student know that someone at home is checking on them.

When I call and e-mail families, I will ask them if they could please do this and feel free to write me a short note: “we bought the supplies for the history project,” or “Jose had a difficult time understanding the math.” When they engage, I learn something, and we all benefit.

Language barriers

Many of the students in my district speak another language at home, and their parents do not speak English, so they find providing assistance on assignments daunting. All of our documents sent home as well as information on our school and district’s web page can be translated into several other languages. In addition, we can contact the head of the ELL department to have an interpreter present for any parent meetings, as well as annual and initial review meetings.

I am not shy about asking a student to act as an interpreter to help me on the phone when my student may need assistance with finding materials for a project, organizing their materials at the kitchen table, or obtaining a snack so when they stay after school for help they will have something to eat.

I have found over the years my students love to assist me with this important role, and they will often teach me a few words in their native language as well.

Contacting Parents and Guardians via alternate methods

In today’s economy, many adults work long hours, sometimes going to two jobs to make ends meet, and they often aren’t able to help their children with homework due to work schedules. When they get home their children are already asleep or getting ready for bed.

Just this morning I was chatting with my assistant principal about a student who is struggling. My student is being raised by a grandparent, and I hadn’t had any luck contacting the home. We had a meeting scheduled but the grandparent didn’t attend. Miriam, our vice principal, had been developing a phone relationship with the grandparent due to some tardiness concerns and suggested I call her this morning.

To my relief, when I called I reached the grandparent, who followed up with a very insightful chat from work. I also e-mailed the grandparent at work and provided links to all of the grandchild’s teachers’ homework pages. We chatted about the upcoming report card grades, the important projects and tests next week, and the two days her grandchild could stay for extra math help each week.

It also turned out the family had moved, and the meeting notice had gone to the old address. Sometimes just verifying an address may explain why the adult didn’t come to a meeting as requested — they never received the notice. It’s helpful in the beginning of the year and again in midyear to verify if the family has moved, has a new phone number, etc.

If a student gets driven to school and picked up by an adult they live with, I may follow the student out to the parking lot at the end of the day and have the child introduce me to them through the car window. I give them a business card with my e-mail address, school and home number on it, and ask if they could call me when they have a chance, so we can get caught up.

It’s funny how meeting face to face in the parking lot — even for a brief moment — puts a face to a name and can open the lines of communication.

Being available before and after school

I recently found out that one of my students who was struggling had a baby with health difficulties born into his family. Mom had been spending many days at the hospital and appointments. When I contacted his parent, she asked if we could meet one day after school. We met that very day, with her infant in a carriage, and my student alongside. It was a wonderful chat as we mapped out how we could help her son, with input from him as well.

If you’re early to school, maybe a quick meeting over a morning cup before the parent/guardian goes to work is a possibility. I had a student last year who had serious emotional challenges. His mom would meet me briefly in the morning over coffee before she went to her job. It was only for a short period of time, but the meetings were so valuable. She could share if her son had had a difficult night, morning, weekend, etc. and I was able to use that information in our work with him.

After School Help / Homework Club / MOODLE / Tutoring

Many schools have after-school clubs. Our middle school provides homework club to coincide with the two days the late buses are available. Our students who stay late have access to printers and computers and support from National Junior Honor Society members. In addition, some of these NJHS students monitor our school system’s Moodle site, a secure place for the 7th & 8th graders to help younger grade students. They’ve learned the material in the past, so they can often provide peer tutoring in the evenings.

Our teachers, probably like the teachers in your school and district, provide afternoon help sessions several days a week (we do two). For many of our students this is a great time to reteach a lesson, especially in skill-based subjects like math and written expression, as well as technology skills. If a student has been absent for several days, this can also be a great time for kids to get caught up, watch a video they may have missed, or spend time in a quiet, structured setting to work on a project.

Our school librarian provides after-school help, and lunch time help as well.  Our principals also tutor students when they are in the cafeteria after school for detention. We’ve had kids come to the cafeteria to get help even when they don’t have detention. Our vice principal is a former middle school and high school math teacher, and our principal is a former middle school and high school science teacher. Nice skill sets!

These are some of the practices our teachers and school follow to help kids who need extra support and may not have enough of it outside of school. What are some other ways you, your team or school helps kids in similar situations?

by Laurie Wasserman

It’s the time of year when most of us are halfway through the term and some of our students are falling apart. The reality of their academic struggles is like getting into a cold car on a winter morning. It’s a wake-up call: we need to warm things up by making a plan for them and for ourselves.

The challenge is we really may not know where to begin. Do we contact a parent/guardian, conferencing on the phone or in person? Do we reread their files — maybe we missed something earlier in the year when we checked their school history? Or do we chat with last year’s teachers looking for some helpful ideas about what worked for them then?

For some kids the so-called honeymoon period is over. No more lollipops and roses — now we’re worrying about all those incomplete projects, failed tests/quizzes, and missing homework assignments. Some of those buzzing insects have stingers.

The projects and homework assignments are lost or lingering in the child’s “black hole of a binder,” along with the first-week-of-school welcome letters we carefully typed up but that never made it out of the inside pocket and into their family’s hands.

I think if we break down the list of where kids fall apart, we end up with categories that look something like this:

• Organization
• Difficulty on assessments
• Lack of support outside of school
• Rethinking accommodations
• Behavior affecting classroom performance

For my next several posts here at Two Teachers in the Classroom, I’d like to examine each of these areas and offer some ideas that might assist all of us in helping our students when things start coming apart.

Let’s Start with Organization

Organization is one of the most difficult challenges that face middle school kids, their teachers and parents/guardians. How do we teach organizational strategies that stick, so that kids can make a good start and then continue on their own?

Several years ago, I wrote an article for Ed Week Teacher with tips for helping students organize themselves at the beginning of the year. The ideas I shared apply anytime kids are demonstrating difficulty with organization.

If you are a content-area or homeroom teacher, posting a monthly calendar with upcoming tests and quizzes, project due dates, and deadlines for grade books to close for the term can provide kids with frequent visual reminders.

I have a homeroom this year which I love, since it puts me in contact with kids I might not normally teach. I remind all of my students about upcoming due dates and will tell them, “Make sure you make flashcards to help you study for Wednesday’s quiz in ELA!” or, “Start making a list of ideas for your 3-D project in History class.”

In addition, we have a homework board with the daily assignments written with due dates. Our paraprofessional usually updates it, but I also have a homeroom assistant who keeps an eye on it, if our para is absent. I also assign student jobs in my homeroom, which rotate each month. Two of my students take attendance for me; one answers the phone, another is my “handouts person” in charge of passing out all those end-of-the-day notices, as well as collecting fundraiser and field trip forms. The kids aren’t the only ones who need organizational help. :^)

The Homework Dilemma

For some kids, it can make a huge difference to have a teacher or paraprofessional check their agenda book each day or during each class to ensure their homework is written down correctly. Our principal also links each of our homework pages to the school website.

Schoolnotes.com is a great, free site, and it allows you to link documents such as project guidelines and homework. I link all of my colleagues’ sites to mine (that’s me hiking with a llama in Western Mass. If you’ve never done it before, I highly recommend it!)

Some kids may need further modifications than originally recommended on their IEP. We will circle required problems and questions that they must do; the rest are optional. Kids with reading and processing disabilities can often take twice as long to complete the 8 modified problems while their classmates can complete double the amount of work in the same time period.

I Owe You’s: Each of my colleagues and I keep an IOU area with kids’ names written on it if they’ve forgotten to complete or pass-in a project or they owe us a test or quiz. If kids are absent, each teacher has a system for notes that are missed, homework sheets, and Do-Now activities. My favorite is a teacher binder with sleeve protectors that includes extra copies of the work assignments. It sits on a counter with the sign, “Absent? Check here to see what you missed!”

I also keep a model notebook for kids to copy from in math. It has two purposes: first, to help kids who are disorganized and often don’t copy the entire problem down; and also to update  kids who were out. It includes the date, the goal and the problems. I leave a model science notebook with glued templates and organizers, completed worksheets, and the like, available as well.

You can find more organizational ideas in my article — and be sure to check out the ideas and links in this MiddleWeb interview with my Teacher Leaders Network friend Cossondra George, another middle grades special ed teacher.

Next post: I’ll share ideas on Assessments, and how to help kids who struggle with tests, quizzes and projects.