Dear WeAreTeachers,
I teach 9th and 10th grade math in Dallas at a school where 90% of the students are Black and Hispanic. In one of my classes, I have two students who laugh very loudly together—so loud it’s a distraction. I’ve redirected them nearly every day since the beginning of the year, but it’s still a daily problem. Last week, I jokingly told them they needed to learn how to laugh quieter, and one of them said that was racist. I pointed out that if I were racist, why would I be teaching at their school? That landed me in hot water with my admin. I’m not racist—at all—and am offended that apparently everyone except me gets to decide what my motivations are. How do I come back from this? —Colorblind

Dear C.,

Early in my teaching, I had to record a video of myself teaching and send it

contributed by Dr. Allen Mendler

While stress caused by common core concerns has dominated the recent education landscape, dealing with ‘difficult’ students remains the number one source of constant tension for most teachers.

Continual exposure to students who won’t behave or produce can quickly erode both confidence and well-being.

As a new school year approaches, the guidance offered by six ‘pillars’ can help you stay at the top of your game by dramatically influencing even your most challenging students to want to behave and achieve. Each pillar is explained followed by a few hands-on suggestions. Add or substitute other methods within each pillar to reflect your style and preference.

6 Strategies For Growing Closer To Your Most Challenging Students

1. Establish Trust

‘Difficult’ students may have difficulty trusting adults and authority figures, perhaps because they have been jilted in the past. Build trust so that you can build a real,

Excerpted from “Teaching Math to English Learners” by Adrian Mendoza with Tina Beene. Published by Seidlitz Education, 2022.

Embracing academic conversations in the math classroom becomes routine when teachers intentionally prepare content-based linguistic supports to guide and scaffold language. These opportunities for language are important because verbalizing thinking helps students with sense- making, analysis, and reasoning. When students process and engage in sharing, they gain problem-solving perspectives and address misconceptions or incompleteness in their ideas more than if they worked independently (Webb et al., 2014).

Structured conversations in a math classroom are especially crucial when teaching English learners (ELs) or students who may feel frustrated or anxious when classmates’ responses to questions bypass the problem-solving process and skip to the solution. When the EL has a different, viable perspective, they might struggle to communicate. There is still a misconception that the first to respond is smarter than the

I grew up in a time when the stereotyped portrayal of Indigenous people was that seen in early western movies. For example, as a child I would see a Plains tribal member being played by a non-Indigenous person speaking my own Díne language, when clearly the character was not of my tribe. And I honestly cannot think of one book that represented me when I was in school. In fact, I didn’t see a reflection of myself on television, in books, in school, or in educational materials. 

Now as an educator, I am excited to see the change in educational materials that elevate the diversity of Native peoples, and to see them become more available. I am also excited to be filling my shelves with books that represent my students—I am leading with an equitable lens so that my classroom represents my students and honors their Indigenous identity.

The

Note: This article contains references to suicide and mass shootings. If it’s better for you to avoid those topics right now, check out one of our other articles.

I was on a walk last weekend and stopped to chat with a neighbor. She asked what we were giving my 17-month-old son for Christmas this year, and I told her that a miniature cutting board and toddler-friendly chopper made the list.

“A kitchen set? For a boy?” she asked. I could tell what she was thinking by the way her eyebrows shot up. Since I know her well enough to joke with her, I jumped in before she could.

“Domestic skills are important for boys too, Marnie!” I chided her, smiling.

She laughed, and we talked about how “rules” about kids’ toys have changed since her children were young. She conceded that maybe it would have been good to let

What is the purpose of assessment?

The purpose of assessment depends on a range of factors, of course. Broadly speaking, the purpose can be whatever the teacher wants it to be. Like pacing guides, apps, books, and more, an assessment is a tool a teacher uses to help students learn.

There are other forms (e.g., multiple-choice, performance-based, etc.) and types of assessment–benchmark, criterion-based, and norm-referenced assessments like the ACT and SAT, for example–whose purpose is often beyond the classroom. Many of these forms communicate to the families of students how that student compares to other students. These are usually age-based in K-12, so all third-graders can be compared. The utility of this form of assessment is fairly limited, useful primarily as a general ‘sense’ of how that student’s development compares to ‘what should be expected’–the expectation (or ‘standard’) being the performance of other children.

The trouble with these forms

In a successful strength observation, you will ask questions, expect unconventional answers, and learn about the students’ worlds. Searching for strengths in your students might seem intuitive, but it’s not. Since most of us educators were trained to identify students’ deficits, we have to actively work to identify their strengths. Pay attention to the following:

• Does the student work better independently or in a group?
• When does the student show excitement, boredom, more energy or less energy, frustration, or sustained focus?
• How easily do they initiate tasks, shift between tasks, and stay on task?
• Are they inspiring or motivating others?
• Are they creative in how they approach a given task?
• Do they leverage resources or social capital in a meaningful way?
• What was challenging for the student?
• What seemed easy for the student?
• What patterns did you notice throughout the observation?

After the observation, review your findings with the student.