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Preparing for Cultural Diversity: Resources for Teachers

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Preparing for Cultural Diversity: Resources for Teachers

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By Matt Davis

This resource will provide teachers with a plethora of resources to support them in building a safe and inclusive environment. The article will help provide supports for teachers to work with culturally diverse students and their families.

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Preparing for Cultural Diversity: Resources for Teachers

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How can teachers prepare for diverse classrooms? There isn’t a definitive answer, but there is a wealth of resources online. Discover some helpful links for teachers.

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Teaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

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Teaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

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Produced by the School of Education, American University, Washington, D.C.

This resource provides teachers with strategies to help support culturally and linguistically diverse students and parents.

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Honoring the mandate to provide all students with an equal education requires adaptation. Shifting demographics in the United States have dramatically altered the ethnic and racial makeup of student populations, and a growing number of students do not speak English fluently. These changes present significant challenges for educators, requiring them to rethink their curricula and teaching strategies.

Examining the growing need for diversity and exploring ways to modify behavior in the classroom constitute a critical step toward creating linguistically inclusive and culturally sensitive learning environments.

The Growing Need for Diverse Teaching Strategies

US school districts are required to provide equal educational opportunities to language minority students, but meeting that standard has become more challenging as the number of students classified as an "English language learner," or ELL, has grown.

Generally, the term "English language learner" describes a student who is learning English in addition to their native language. Exact definitions of ELL vary, as do delineations between ELL and ESL (English as a second language), but by any measure, the number of students for whom English is not their first and primary language is growing as a percentage of all students enrolled in US public schools.

An average of 10 percent of students in US public schools are English language learners, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). In cities, the average is close to 15 percent. (NCES defines ELL students as those being served by programs of language assistance, including ESL, high-intensity language training, and bilingual education.) Among ELL students in the US, Spanish is the most common language spoken at home (75 percent), followed by Arabic (3 percent).

The increase in ELLs in public schools reflects a larger demographic shift. The percentage of non-white students in US public schools has increased significantly over the last decade, from 48 percent in 2010 to an estimated 54 percent in 2020. The percentage of Hispanic students enrolled in public schools grew from 23 percent to 28 percent over the same period.

While addressing diversity in the classroom largely consists of focusing on ELL students, cultural and linguistic divides are not exclusive to that segment of learners. In 2018, 47 percent of students and 79 percent of teachers in US public schools were white. This contrasts starkly with the student-teacher ratio for Hispanics (27 percent of students, 9 percent of teachers), Blacks (15 percent of students, 7 percent of teachers), and Asians (5 percent of students, 2 percent of teachers). Such disparities in representation of races and ethnicities among educators constitute a longstanding issue in US public schools.

Teaching Strategies for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

The first step in addressing cultural and linguistic diversity is to be aware. The very act of considering culture and language skills when developing curricula and activities makes it more likely that lessons will be inclusive. Teaching culturally diverse students entails the following additional steps:

Learn about your students' cultural backgrounds and demonstrate appreciation of those cultures. Teachers show students how to embrace different cultures by modeling respect and acceptance.

Learn more about students' lives outside of the classroom, and let that information inform lessons. For example, try to find examples that are relevant to students with different cultures and backgrounds.

Embrace diversity in teaching styles. Making an effort to accommodate different communication preferences, cognitive styles, and aptitudes results in lessons with a greater chance of reaching all students.

Encourage students to relate the benefit of a lesson to their own lives.

Bring diverse guest speakers into the classroom.

Educators can also benefit from the following tips for teaching linguistically diverse students:

Develop a relationship and work closely with an ESL teacher or interpreter.

Incorporate more group work. This allows students to practice their language skills in a more personal, less intimidating setting than the front of the classroom.

Make things as visual as possible by writing on the board, diagraming, and using pictures.

Allow ELL students to preview materials before a lesson when possible.

Understand that some students may experience a silent period. Students learning a new language commonly go through a period of several weeks or longer when they are taking in the new language but do not yet speak it.

Efforts to better serve culturally and linguistically diverse student populations are not limited to the classroom. Developing responsive curricula and teaching strategies is critical, but a holistic approach that includes families and the larger school community promises better outcomes.

Working With Parents

Positive parent-teacher relationships can influence any student's success, but they can be particularly important for students whose culture or dominant language differs from that of the majority of their classmates. Developing a relationship with the parents of ELL students or any student who is outside the dominant cultural or ethnic group, or whose culture or ethnicity differs from that of the teacher, builds a sense of trust and acceptance among students and their families. Making the effort to build such relationships can be challenging for teachers, and in cases where there is a language barrier, it may be necessary to engage with a language instructor or interpreter for support.

Support From Schools

Schools can address linguistic and cultural diversity by working to recruit teachers of color and instructors who can teach and tutor in languages other than English. Demonstrating support for student diversity is also crucial. Measures such as providing school signage in different languages, encouraging students to speak their first language at school, and displaying non-English books and materials creates an environment of acceptance and appreciation that benefits all students.

Schools can also play a role in supporting more training designed to mitigate implicit bias. Research has shown that teachers are just as likely to have a racial bias as non-teachers.

Create Inclusive Classrooms

American University's Online EdD in Education Policy and Leadership prepares educators to shape education policy and create more inclusive learning environments.

The degree program provides future teachers and education leaders with the tools they need to transform the education system to benefit all learners. With a focus on building equitable learning environments, the curriculum emphasizes systems change, personal leadership, social justices and anti-racism, and policy and research.

Learn more about American University's Online EdD in Education Policy and Leadership.

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Teaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students | American University

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Students in US schools are increasingly diverse. Learn more about teaching strategies that address culturally and linguistically diverse students.

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Produced by the BASIC Fund

“The BASIC Fund is a privately funded organization whose mission is to advance education equity for low-income families by helping offset the cost of tuition at private schools in the Bay Area.” (BASIC Fund)

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Great Schools - General information about all levels of schools, with articles on how to choose schools and supporting children in their education

CalFresh - Provides monthly food benefits to individuals and families with low-income and provides economic benefits to communities. CalFresh is the largest food program in California and provides an essential hunger safety net. CalFresh is federally mandated and in California, is state-supervised and county-operated.

California Association of Independent Schools - Find an independent school in your area with their search tool.

Archdiocese of San Francisco - Resource for Catholic education and family support services in San Francisco.

Diocese of Oakland- Resource for Catholic education and family support services in Oakland.

Berkeley Parents Network - BPN - A nonprofit parent-to-parent network for the San Francisco Bay Area. It includes more than 26,000 subscribers from all over the Bay Area who use BPN to seek advice from other parents and exchange recommendations for childcare, schools, classes, camps, and many other local services. Parents subscribe to BPN for free.

One Degree- A list of thousands resources for low-income families and individuals in the San Francisco Bay Area; from urgent needs, to family, housing, education, legal assistance. Create free account and save a personalized collection of resoucrces.

Common Sense Media - Common Sense Media is dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in a world of media and technology. Browse our classroom lessons and parent education resources by grade level or topical area.

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Great Schools - General information about all levels of schools, with articles on how to choose schools and supporting children in their education CalFresh - Provides monthly food benefits to individuals and families with low-income and provides economic benefits to communities. CalFresh is the largest food program in California and provides an essential hunger safety net.

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Find Help: Parenting with Extra Challenges 

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Find Help: Parenting with Extra Challenges 

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Produced by First 5 California

This resource provides a list of websites, phone numbers and ways that different organizations can help support a student with a disability or mental illness. This is a great resource for teachers to have and have available to parents if it becomes or is a need for their child.

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Parenting with Mental Illness or Disability | First 5 California

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HomeFind helpParenting with Extra Challenges

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How Teachers Can Help Students with Learning Disabilities 

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How Teachers Can Help Students with Learning Disabilities 

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Produced by the Learning Disabilities Association of America

This resource provides many tools to help teachers support their students with learning disabilities. Some of the topics discussed in this resource are accommodations and strategies, partnering with Special Education Teachers, advocating for students, advice for general and education teachers.

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A Q&A with Gregg French, special education teacher at Bullard Havens Technical High School and president of LDA Connecticut

Accommodations and Strategies
What are some accommodations and teaching strategies that can be used in a general education classroom to help students with learning disabilities?
I spent a lot of my teaching career focusing on differentiation of instruction, and how beneficial that is to not only students with IEPs and 504s, but students who are below grade level or at risk, and for students that are primarily non-English language speakers. So differentiating instruction is beneficial for many different types of students that we encounter in our classrooms.
What is differentiation of instruction? Differentiation of instruction is a teaching model that looks at explicitly teaching content in different ways. One of the strategies that I find very much used in my school is the gradual release of responsibility. I see a lot of teachers modeling new concepts and skills, and then teachers provide guided practice where students, once a teacher feels that they've modeled enough, have the students walk the teacher through how to complete a task, or do an assignment. And then based on the guided practice and working together, talking it out, the teacher can get a sense of, 'okay, I feel that this group of students can do it independently, go for it. Maybe this group of students need to be a little bit more supported with more guided practice or with modeling.'
I've seen teachers do rotating stations where there's a specific task at each station for an allotted time. And it might have a vocabulary visual station, a hands-on station, and a conference with the teacher, so you're kind of using a wide variety of different approaches to delivery of instruction, teaching and learning.

A lot of teachers I know use project-based learning, and giving students a choice on how they want to create a project is great.

Use students' strengths to demonstrate and apply a specific skill. I've seen teachers who use a lot of assistive technology, speech to text, and audio books. I've worked with students in looking at different software to create projects, virtually and digitally. I think COVID virtual learning allowed teachers to experiment with more digital programs and software that can be beneficial to students with LD or without a disability.

A lot of those accommodations that we look for in implementing the IEP can be beneficial for students who are not receiving special education services. Being a visual learner is something that I think each person enjoys, so using graphic organizers to break down large reading or writing assignments can be helpful for a student who's learning English for the first time, or students that just need that visual support.

Highlighting vocabulary terms and pre-teaching content specific vocabulary can be beneficial to many diverse learners, not just specifically students with learning disabilities.

I make the point to tell teachers that an accommodation you might see in an IEP can become a class-wide accommodation if you feel it benefits all of your students, because I think that's just part of good teaching.

Partnering with Special Education Teachers
How can general education teachers and special education teachers partner to benefit students with LD?
I really think that one of the most crucial pieces to supporting any student with a disability is the collaboration between the special education teacher and the general education teacher, because there may be a point where co-teaching needs to be embedded in the delivery of instruction, and so making sure that teachers have the opportunity to collaborate, and co-plan, co-teach and co-assess, and come up with a model that fits the classroom.

Working on building positive relationships between both teachers is very crucial, that line of communication needs to be consistent and clear. And both need to understand the roles in supporting the student.

It shouldn't be me versus them, it should be us working together to support the needs of the student. And so in the classroom, whenever I push in, I always let the teacher lead the classroom. With the delivery of instruction, I will float around and support all students. And I think that's really key.

Students who have IEPs and a learning disability don't want to be picked out in the crowd and have an adult hovering over them. I see my role in the classroom as supporting all the students, so I build relationships with all the students. I'll spend time working with students that aren't on my caseload, because I know that kids on my caseload are working independently and are perfectly fine.

So the classroom kind of sees me as a co-teacher that's there for everyone. I don't hover over a particular student, and that classroom climate and environment is positive. They see myself and the general education teacher as partners, as a resource to ask for help. I never would turn away a student asking for help.

I think it's also important that the co-teachers use common language and are on the same page of knowing that, 'Yes, I have five or six students in your classroom that have IEPs that are on my caseload that I'm supporting, but I'm also supporting the entire class'

Advocating for Students
If a teacher has a student with LD and they feel like their needs aren't being met, how can they advocate?
I think that goes back to the collaboration piece. When a special education teacher is not present in a classroom with a group of students who have a learning disability, and the general education teacher may be struggling with reaching those students or teaching a specific lesson, that's where collaboration and communication need to come into play.

Having that open line of communication, where the general education teacher is comfortable to say, 'Hey, I did this lesson today, it didn't work out for the students, what can I do differently next time?' Or, 'Can you come in and maybe I'll reteach those students and you work with the other group of students and then we'll kind of do a split classroom.'

No teacher should feel that their hands are tied. And again, I think that goes to building positive relationships, communication, collaboration, and making sure that the special education teacher is also there to support the teacher. Because ultimately, the general education teacher spends the most time with their students.

Advice for General Education Teachers
Do you have any other advice for general education teachers who have students with learning disabilities in their class?
For teachers that find they have a large group of students primarily with LD, the number one thing is to reflect on your teaching practices. Because oftentimes, a lot of students with LD need things taught in a specific way that's really broken down, through scaffolding or chunking, and usually need a lot of visual supports.

So if you really implement differentiation of instruction, you build strong relationships with those students, you refer to those IEPs, you're an active collaborative member of the IEP team, and have a partnership with the special education teacher, you're pretty much meeting all the needs and requirements of effectively teaching students with a learning disability.

And also understand that a learning disability should not be the focus. We want to focus more on the abilities and the strengths of the students. Oftentimes teachers will say, 'Well, they have a reading disability, I'm never going to catch them up to reading at grade level.' Well, maybe that's not the goal, maybe the goal is to focus on what their strengths are, and using those to teach those areas of difficulty. And so it's flipping the equation, in not so much focusing on the dyslexia, the LD, the ADHD, but focusing on what the student is capable of.

And that's something to speak to on a personal level. I was diagnosed with a reading comprehension disability as well as a math disability in the fourth grade. And I received special education services throughout elementary school, throughout middle school, and up until junior year of high school. And I remember what it was like, being a student who receives services and had a co-teacher in the classroom, and feeling the stigma of having an IEP, having someone follow you and try to help you. And so my other word of advice would be it's okay to let the students be independent, because in the end, special education shouldn't be a life sentence.

And that's something I always try to tell parents too. I don't think it is talked about enough, but special education is there to support the student as much as is needed and appropriately. But if a student does find strategies that are effective and is compensating for those areas of difficulty, and they're doing well academically and socially, students can be exited from special education.

A student with a learning disability will have it their whole life, but can find strategies to really address the difficulties that they're having academically in school, and we shouldn't look at them any differently than any other student. And so I think really understanding where the student is and where they're coming from and building that relationship is crucial.

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How Teachers Can Help Students with Learning Disabilities

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A Q&A with Gregg French, special education teacher at Bullard Havens Technical High School and president of LDA Connecticut What are some accommodations and teaching strategies that can be used in a general education classroom to help students with learning disabilities?

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The Words Behind Our Work: The Source for Definitions of Digital Inclusion Terms

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The Words Behind Our Work: The Source for Definitions of Digital Inclusion Terms

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Produced by National Digital Inclusion Alliance

This source helps define digital inclusion, divide and equity. Within this source you can find ways to enhance digital navigators, broadband equity, digital foundational skills, and ways to develop a digital inclusion ecosystem. This source also provides a link to a list of affordable, robust broadband internet services.

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Digital Inclusion

Digital Inclusion refers to the activities necessary to ensure that all individuals and communities, including the most disadvantaged, have access to and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). This includes 5 elements: 1) affordable, robust broadband internet service; 2) internet-enabled devices that meet the needs of the user; 3) access to digital literacy training; 4) quality technical support; and 5) applications and online content designed to enable and encourage self-sufficiency, participation and collaboration. Digital Inclusion must evolve as technology advances. Digital Inclusion requires intentional strategies and investments to reduce and eliminate historical, institutional and structural barriers to access and use technology.

Digital Equity

Digital Equity is a condition in which all individuals and communities have the information technology capacity needed for full participation in our society, democracy and economy. Digital Equity is necessary for civic and cultural participation, employment, lifelong learning, and access to essential services.

Digital Literacy

NDIA recommends the American Library Association's definition of Digital Literacy via their Digital Literacy Taskforce:
Digital Literacy is the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills. A Digitally Literate Person:

Possesses the variety of skills - technical and cognitive - required to find, understand, evaluate, create, and communicate digital information in a wide variety of formats;

Is able to use diverse technologies appropriately and effectively to retrieve information, interpret results, and judge the quality of that information;

Understands the relationship between technology, life-long learning, personal privacy, and stewardship of information;

Uses these skills and the appropriate technology to communicate and collaborate with peers, colleagues, family, and on occasion, the general public; and

Uses these skills to actively participate in civic society and contribute to a vibrant, informed, and engaged community.

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Digital Inclusion refers to the activities necessary to ensure that all individuals and communities, including the most disadvantaged, have access to and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

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Produced by National Partnership for Student Success

This document defines Digital Equity, the 3 A’s of Access, and Digital Inclusion. This source also shares many example barriers of digital inclusion and strategies.

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Produced by the Race Institute for K-12 Educators

This website has an array of resources for educators to use in the classroom. Lists of websites, films, literature and blog posts that can be used to discuss race, racism and privilege. There are also resources to support teachers when teaching about and responding to police brutality.

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Resources for teaching about and responding to police brutality

Literature for students

Films for Learning More

Powerful Blog Posts

Websites

Race: Are we so different? helps individuals of all ages better understand the origins and manifestations of race and racism in everyday life by investigating race and human variation through the framework of science.
Welcoming Schools, a curriculum of the Human Rights Campaign, offers tools, lessons and resources on embracing family diversity, avoiding gender stereotyping and ending bullying and name-calling in elementary schools.
Teaching For Change provides teachers and parents with the tools to transform schools into centers of justice where students learn to read, write and change the world.
Rethinking Schools advocates the reform of elementary and secondary education, with a strong emphasis on issues of equity and social justice.
Teaching Tolerance is a place for educators to find thought-provoking news, conversation and support for those who care about diversity, equal opportunity and respect for differences in schools.
GroundSpark creates visionary films and dynamic educational campaigns that move individuals and families to take action for a more just world.
News Stories
Racist Backlash Over Indian American Miss America: This article demonstrates how many White Americans still equate Americanness with Whiteness.
Ghetto Tracker - The app that helps rich avoid poor: Our country is so stratified by socioeconomic status, people are devising tools to ensure they do not stray into poor neighborhoods.
Aziz Ansari shows how to confront racist comments with humor: For people who are unsure how to respond to racism, Ansari is a master.
Re-imagining Disney Princesses: This page would be great for an art project imagining all kinds of Disney Princesses who aren't White. Might make a great lesson paired with the Miss America story above.
If Disney Princesses had Realistic Waistlines
Study: Doctors Less Likely to Give Painkillers to Black Children
Are College Lectures Unfair?
9th Grader Arrested After Bringing Home-Built Clock to School
12-Year-Old Boy on Cheerleading Squad Commits Suicide Over Anti-Gay Bullying
Study: Both Public and Police View Black Kids As Older And Guiltier Than Whites
A Therapist Goes to Middle School and Tries to Sit Still and Focus. She Can't... from The Washington Post
Basketball Players Stop Game to Defend Bullied Cheerleader
The "Model Minority" Is Losing Patience from The Economist
The Troubling Link Between School Funding and Race from The Atlantic
A Letter from the Vietnamese Student Association from The Daily Pennsylvanian (UPenn)
Informative Links
The Realities of Raising a Kid of a Different Race
Experiencing Racial Discrimination Causes Poor Health
Transgender Teens Speak To Their Future Selves
12 Queer Women in History
The Case for Black Doctors from The New York Times
Why Poor People Stay Poor
5 Lessons Black Girls Can Learn From
19 Things Black Girls Don't Hear Often Enough
How It Feels When White People Shame Your Culture's Food- Then Make It Trendy
How Our Brains Perceive Race
The Pain of the Watermelon Joke from The New York Times
How Diversity Makes Us Smarter from Scientific American
Why Schools Need More Teachers of Color- for White Students from The Atlantic
Tell-Tale Signs of the Modern-Day Yuppie from The New York Times
12 Essential Books About Race in America from The Huffington Post
I Was Raised As a Racist: 6 Weird Things I Learned
When Americans Lynched Mexicans from the New York Times
Harvard Implicit Bias Test
Implicit Bias Test Results from The Washington Post
US Study: Teacher Bias in Discipline towards Black Students
Ali Michael's Blog
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Race: Are we so different? helps individuals of all ages better understand the origins and manifestations of race and racism in everyday life by investigating race and human variation through the framework of science. Welcoming Schools, a curriculum of the Human Rights Campaign, offers tools, lessons and resources on embracing family diversity, avoiding gender stereotyping and ending bullying and name-calling in elementary schools.

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Resources for Teaching About Race and Racism With the New York Times

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Resources for Teaching About Race and Racism With the New York Times

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By Nicole Daniels, Michael Gonchar, and Natalie Proulx

This source has 75 lesson plans, writing prompts, short films and graphs pertaining to racism and racial justice. It is broken down into 5 parts: identity, prejudice, inequality and racism, history and legacy, connections to current events and taking action.

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Resources for Teaching About Race and Racism With The New York Times (Published 2021)

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A curated collection of over 75 lesson plans, writing prompts, short films and graphs relating to racism and racial justice.

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5 Ways Teachers Can Address Socioeconomic Gaps in the Classroom

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5 Ways Teachers Can Address Socioeconomic Gaps in the Classroom

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By Jessica Hayes

This resource includes 5 ways teachers can support students of socioeconomic backgrounds. These 5 suggestions include the following: teach with their social needs in mind, address health concerns, be creative, include and challenge them.

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5 Ways Teachers Can Address Socioeconomic Gaps in the Classroom - Social Studies

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For my first permanent teaching position, I was lucky enough to fill a history position at a small K-8 school in a rural community.

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Cultivating Respect: Safe Schools for All

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Cultivating Respect: Safe Schools for All

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Produced by A Program of PFLAG National

This resources supports teachers and their efforts towards making their school safe for all students. It goes over facts, information to understand the language, ways to stop bad behaviors, supports to set policies, suggestions on planning a school-wide activity, ways to be public, stop cyberbullying, training and education, ways to support a comprehensive health education, and other resources.

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Resources on Gender-Expansive Children and Youth

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Resources on Gender-Expansive Children and Youth

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Produced by the HRC Foundation

This resource provides families with an array of information. There are surveys, FAQ pamphlets, guidance suggestions, organizations resources, books, and videos that parents can use when supporting and understanding their child.

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Resources on Gender-Expansive Children & Youth

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Check out HRC's resources on gender variance in children and youth.

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Enhancing Your Toolkit for Empowering Parents and Caregivers

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Enhancing Your Toolkit for Empowering Parents and Caregivers

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by Jennifer Salerno, DNP, CPNP, FAANP Possibilities for Change

This resource is a 20 minute video that helps empower the role of parents and caregivers in reducing youth risk.

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Enhancing Your Toolkit for Empowering Parents and Caregivers

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How to Support At-Risk Students in Your Classroom 

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How to Support At-Risk Students in Your Classroom 

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by Michelle Bouslog  EdTech teacher, M.A.Ed. in EdTech, Concordia University St. Paul, MN.

This resource provides strategies for teachers on how to support students that are at-risk in their classrooms. Supports include the following: prioritizing relationship building, incorporate a democratic classroom model, use a check-in/check-out system, and a communication log with parents.

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Finding ways to support the diverse groups of students in your classroom can be one of the biggest challenges a teacher faces. From their academic needs to their social and emotional ones, education is about supporting the whole child (not just their reading and math scores). One particular group of students that requires much thought, planning, and attention are the at-risk students. What is an at-risk student, what are the challenges they face, and what are some ways to support at-risk students in the classroom?

What is an At-Risk Student?

The term 'at-risk students' is frequently used to describe students who are academically struggling in the classroom. They have a higher probability of failing their daily work and tests or dropping out altogether. The term also encompasses students who face circumstances that contribute to their struggles, such as homelessness, parents in prison, health issues, violence, learning disabilities, or disciplinary problems. These learning-related factors can adversely affect the educational performance and overall success of students. Additionally, there are many other challenges that at-risk students face other than failing their classwork ( edglossary).

Challenges At-Risk Students Face

At-Risk students face many challenges throughout their school years, even on as regular as a daily basis. Instructionally, they don't always understand the whole group lessons. They need small group time where the teacher can scaffold the learning goals and re-teach them at the level the students are at. Listening to whole class lessons can leave students feeling overwhelmed, confused, and defeated. Because of this, at-risk students also need their confidence boosted. They need to know that they can get to the goal if they work hard and keep trying. They need to know their teacher believes in them and feel supported through their mistakes. There are many other ways that teachers can support their at-risk students.

Ways to Support At-Risk Students in the Classroom

Prioritize Relationship Building

Building relationships with at-risk students can impact the student more than imagined. For many at-risk students, most of their interactions with teachers and administrators are negative. This loses their trust in their teachers and makes the school environment a negative one for them. Instead, teachers should put a significant amount of time into fostering positive relationships. Get to know that student on a personal basis; what do they like to do outside of school, who makes up their family, what do they do for fun? Equally share these same things back with the student, so they can get to know you as a person and not just you as a teacher.

Incorporate a Democratic Classroom Model

One way to let students know that their opinions matter and their voices are heard is by using a democratic classroom model. This means that students get a say in building the classroom rules and consequences, get choices in how they show their learning, and may even help design the layout of the classroom. By giving students ownership in these areas, they are more likely to abide by the rules and accept the consequences, put forth more effort in their assignments, and enjoy the classroom space they helped design. Shareholders care more about their environment when they feel they were a part of the creation of it.

Use a Check-In/Check-Out System

The check-in/check-out system is designed to decrease disruptive behaviors by building a relationship with another adult in the school building (someone other than their current classroom teacher). How it works is that students typically check-in with this adult when they arrive at school. The adult helps set their day up for success by going over a predetermined goal sheet with them; talking about areas they may have had difficulty with the day before (think PE, transitions, independent work time, etc.), asking how their night at home was, and building their confidence that they can have a great day. Each check-in may take anywhere from 1 to 10 minutes depending on the age and needs of the student. At the end of the day, the student returns to this same adult to go over how their day went and send them home with something to reflect on, but also with something positive to think about. Most importantly, the check-in/check-out system should be personally designed to best meet the needs of the individual student.

Communication Log with Parents

Having an open communication log with parents can be another great way to support at-risk students in your classroom. This keeps parents in the loop about day to day events and lets the student know that everyone involved in their education is aware of their days. A communication log can come in a variety of formats. It could be the same goal sheet that is used for check-in/check-out. You can send that goal sheet home and have parents sign the bottom of it to show you they saw it. If an incentive is needed, reward the child with something small for bringing it back signed.

A notebook with quick notes about the day is another great communication tool. Jot down things that went well or things that can be worked on in just a few sentences (or have the students write down their thoughts as you help guide them in this reflection process). Leave space for the parent to comment or ask questions. This back-and-forth journal is a great way to communicate and can be easier than getting into a game of phone tag.

One of the biggest challenges teachers face is finding ways to support the at-risk students in their classroom. These students may struggle academically, socially, and behaviorally and it can be difficult to find what works to help these students excel. By prioritizing relationship building, using a democratic classroom model, incorporating a check-in/check-out system, or having a communication log with parents, it can greatly help set these students up for success and make them feel like contributing members of their classroom community.

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How to Support At-Risk Students in Your Classroom - TeachHUB

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Finding ways to support the diverse groups of students in your classroom can be one of the biggest challenges a teacher faces. From their academic needs to their social and emotional ones, education is about supporting the whole child (not just their reading and math scores).