STEAMed Magazine January 2017 | Page 26

9 Best Practices that will Support your At-Risk Students

By Typhani Harris

1 . Build the relationship

Investing in relationships is a goldmine , is your first line of defense when it comes to anything “ adolescent ,” and relationships will help when working with your at risk students .

2 . Meet them where they are and guide them to where you want them to be .

Your at risk students may be at risk due to their academic history , so it is important to meet them where they are . It ’ s like asking the students to put a nail in the wall and hang a picture , but then not giving them the hammer to do so . Maybe everyone else in the class brought their hammers , and by high school they should all have hammers ! But this student was never given a hammer , nor taught how to use one … and now you are asking them to hang this picture . Some of these kids are clever enough to “ MacGyver ” it and will do enough to appease you and get you to leave them alone , but some of them will shut down or become an even worse distraction . It ’ s not their fault they don ’ t have a hammer , but our actions may blame them for not ever having a hammer . So , we meet them where they are , hammerless and all , and help them find the tools to hang up that picture .

3 . Stay in contact with parents

All parents want the best for their child , even through our at risk students may have very little parental involvement or support at home , it is still very important to keep the lines of communication open .

4 . Empathize

You have no idea what these students are going through . If you are committing to building relationships with your students , you will have a few minor ideas , but often , these children are dealing with very adult issues , and they don ’ t like to talk about them . Listen when they share , even if it is the smallest of details , and try to understand their world .

STEAMed Magazine

26

January 2017 Edition