Bridging a problem

I spend my days primarily in a Title 1 school which is failing to meet NCLB requirements and has a 99% free or reduced lunch rate. These kids are tough; they come from unimaginable backgrounds, and have very little parental support. I was shocked when I found out that the school had special liaisons to go to a student’s home to collect documents (registration, field trip, etc…) as the parents have no car. My heart breaks for these kids as I grew up in a similar environment. 

Perhaps because I do understand their background, I have been able to successfully work with some of the most difficult students that others have given up on. 

I LOVE the agreement bridge. My favorite part is the fact that it uses “we.” All too often, I hear teachers state the student has a problem. This is wrong. It takes two people to create a problem, if the teacher was not requesting/imposing A, there would be no problem. These students need to feel like someone is on their side, that they are a team. Together anything is possible! The agreement bridge provides this foundation. 

While the agreement bridge provides collaboration, negotiation, flexibility, and infinite possibilities, I do feel that the time it takes to set up the game and the continual time needed to play it could be an issue. Working with younger elementary students, I feel that I could use this with my students in a one-to-one counseling session for the first meeting during lunch or specials (only time to meet alone).

During this time I would meet with the student to create a game board using a laminated file folder. The center of the game would have a picture of a ruler and a bridge. We could each make a marker that represents us. No words or anything else on it. Then we can hang it up in a special spot in the room. This would serve as a reminder that 1) we are a team 2) we are working on meeting goals together, and 3) would provide a daily visual reminder of how we are progressing.

This allows the teacher and student to move the marker closer to the goals without having a meeting. I also think that the student and teacher should be able to move the marker backwards. Sometimes this simple silent clue, will let the teacher know we need some special time together. 

One of the things I do with my problematic students is that I set a new goal with them at the start of each day. Today we will complete 5 more math problems. Today we will not interrupt Mrs. Poland during her reading lesson. Today we will complete bell work.

I have found this simple 30 second talk helps my students. We high-five when they accomplish it. I make sure that if they get done early with a project we have some “Hello” time.

I think the most important thing that our most trouble students need to know is that we see them, that we are happy that they are there, and that we are a team. Together… we can make anything possible.

The agreement bridge documents our possibilities and our success. It also great for meeting IEP and 504 goals. We can look at those together, pick one to focus on and added to our bridge. The ideas are truly limitless!