Grades have come out for some students or are about to for others, depending on their age. But here we have a chance to look at what the students are doing (or not doing). And again, every year we sit and watch things unfold with students.
Now with students in more different places in their academics than ever, it will be quite a challenge in the coming months to get students to reach the same conclusions academically as we have had in the past.
But fortunately, we have resources for that.
- Start with “I don’t know that yet.” Getting students reoriented to being at school is important for all students. They are not going to remember everything they were trying to cram in since they started school.
- Have a plan to help people up. Maybe more brain breaks, maybe more processing time. These are going to be situations that are going to look different daily. Some students like routine. Some students like a novelty. Some students will act like this does not matter: it does. They’re just too cool to say so.
- For students who do not have families who are supportive of their academic progress, you get to be their sole cheerleader. This is hard. You will be separating out the push back you will invariably get from the mixed messages the student is trying to decipher in their life. Sometimes it will be you sitting in the void asking and begging for them to respond. Sometimes it will be you sitting by wondering where they stored all that information and they are just getting it out. And other times, you will wonder why you are trying. It is all right. You can do this. We know it makes a difference.
Remind students that they can change and make adjustments to how they perceive themselves and allow others to think about them. And this is hard, especially for students with disabilities. Many students understand they don’t understand things and are reluctant to share that they do not understand something. Reaching out in chat when a teacher is hammering the class for responses (even copied responses) is not exactly useful to keep up when the chat scrolling by.
Remind students that they can change and make adjustments to how they perceive themselves and allow others to think about them.
ParaEducate
Do you have any comments about this week’s blog? Do you have a question for us? Would you like to have an opportunity to pilot some materials at your campus? Find ParaEducate online here, here, here, here, and on our website. ParaEducate is a company providing materials, information, and strategies for people working in special education inclusion settings for grades K-12. ParaEducate, the blog, is published during the academic school year on Mondays, unless a holiday or announced day off. ParaEducate shares their findings at conferences, through their books, and their academic adaptations.
