Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Getting to the Heart of Education and Listening to the Whole At-Risk Student

http://www.dare.org/power-one-role-d-r-e-officer-get-heart-education/

The above link is an article that appeared in the Fall, 2014, Journal of School Safety that is produced by NASRO.  This article has many useful tips for SROs, school administrators, and counselors for reaching at-risk youth in the school setting.  The initial thoughts on this topic come from the students themselves---which is always enlightening.  Then, the author offers insight on educating at-risk youth.  Great read!!

Note: This author was the keynote speaker at the 2014 NASRO School Safety Conference.    


11 comments:

  1. Yes this was a great article to read. It caused me to think about the fact that sometimes we need to listen and learn form those actually walking in the shoes. As the article stated, we need to teach the way the kids learn. Often times at-risk students will open up to those outside the classroom. Individuals like SRO's, counselors, social workers and nurses just to name a few. This article gave me some food for thought.

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  2. I agree with the findings in this article because if we don't reach these students, then we cannot help them become successful. Having worked in an Alternative School situation, I find that it is true that the counselor can reach a student better than the classroom teacher or the principal can. From my perspective, there should be a social worker in every system., At - risk students set forth the a challenge that every school is faced with.

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  3. I did like this because it shows different ways or avenues in which to reach students. Schools do offer a wide variety of clubs, groups and activities to be involved in which are sponsored by adults, maybe all school personnel should have a some training in counseling. Things to say and not to say.

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  4. This article served as a great reminder and provided several strategies for teachers to implement with their students. Our at-risk kids want to be seen and unfortunately hurt people do indeed hurt people. We have all experienced students that try to get our attention, often negative attention. They might throw paper, yell out, hit and talk back to teachers. Our immediate reaction is to punish them and when we do this we are only putting a band-aid on a symptom and this should cause a red flag for the teacher to try to determine what the actual problem is. Teachers guide instructional time so much that it often becomes difficult to solves individual student problems. However if teachers, school resource officers, DARE officers, counselors work together providing positive relationships built on trust and kindness you may see big improvements!

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  5. This article really lends itself at the heart of what teaching should be. Teaching kids does NOT start or end with books. What I took away from this article is that we need to pay more attention to the person and the personality of the student rather than the test scores. I believe that when we start looking more at the needs of individual students this is when true learning can begin. SRO’s or DARE officers have a unique role in schools and can sometimes help facilitate and bridge the gap for students that fall behind. These officers can create a relationship that may help the student open up and reveal problems and possibly solutions before it is too late.

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  6. This article spoke to my heart! What a great reminder of the impact educators can have on their students and the importance of forming appropriate and positive relationships with students. This article provided feedback from at risk students that can help educators in planning and implementing school policies and programs as well as implementing lessons within a classroom. These tips are for SRO's, but could be utilized by any school personnel.

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  7. I agree with much of what Dr. Sroka is saying in this article. Many teachers today use cookie cutter lessons to try and teach all of their students. These type of lessons don't reach all students and this is a shame. Many teachers find themselves teaching to the upper 10% of their classes and don't even realize that they are alienating students. Many of these at-risk students aren't "trouble makers" yet they still aren't getting everything they need from their educators. As an administrator, sometimes I sit in on classes and can't even connect with the material or teacher. As educators we have to realize that we are responsible for teaching the whole child and sometimes that means teaching love and compassion as well as A,B,C's and 1,2,3's. The old adage "they don't care how much you know until they know how much you care" still rings true and this article is proof of that.

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  8. This was a great article. Our students have so many issues outside of school. As educators, we have to spend time with our students to find out what issues are keeping them from learning. Teachers need to connect with their students to reassure them that they care. I really enjoyed this article. Walker Cook OMS

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  10. Thanks for the link. I am sure it will become my book for every situation with the at-risk youth, and it will be a great read for my students as well, I hope they will also have something to comment on the matter. I think it is very useful for teachers to share links like this because this way they all contribute to the greater good of our society. All that my students have been concerned about lately is where to buy an essay online and hope to find a useful link in the blogs too.

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