Teaching is a passion-driven career. Most teachers go into this profession because you want to make a difference, you want to be a positive impact on students, especially those who need it the most. Most of us can remember our favorite teacher, or the teacher who had the biggest influence on our lives. That may even be the driving inspiration behind your career choice – an endeavor to pay it forward.
For some students, a caring teacher can make all the difference in the trajectory of their lives. But the responsibilities of teaching are time-consuming and tiring, and the tutelage of students who are at risk can leave you emotionally exhausted as well.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a little help with your students at risk? We’re going to look at some ways to provide better support for students who are at risk and help your students be successful.
How Can Teachers Help Students Be Successful?
An important goal of any educator is to provide the right tools to help individual students absorb the lessons they teach. This applies to the academic curriculum, of course, but K-12 students are also learning how the world works and how to behave in it. Without supportive environments and good models of proper behavior, either at home, in the school, or in the community, the challenges mount against our students who are at risk.
How can we help our students thrive when they feel the world is stacked against them? Here are some classroom techniques for providing a supportive environment for your pupils:
Utilize a democratic classroom model: Children need firm boundaries, but they also need freedom within those boundaries. When possible, give your students a say in how things are done. This tells them their opinions and decisions are important, and that they have value. By giving them ownership, we get their active participation and support.
Build personal relationships: Positive, personal interactions with students are huge for creating a supportive environment. Allowing open communication and celebrating achievements will, again, tell the student that their thoughts and ideas have value. Framing failures in a positive manner, such as “challenges” and “learning opportunities,” will help them succeed.
Connect with families: Keeping active, open communication with parents and caregivers connects classroom progress with the at-home environment. A back-and-forth with the parent helps show the student that everyone is invested in their progress.
While this advice is usually applicable to all students, for those who are considered at risk, these techniques are of particular importance. Having an accurate picture of the challenges the student faces is vital, especially for communication with caregivers. You can get a good sense of the student in personal interactions, but concrete data is also key to creating a full picture, and to conveying that information to caregivers and administrators.
Sifting through and compiling data on your students who are considered at-risk is extremely time consuming, but the good news is that there are software options to help you see trends in student behavior before issues emerge or escalate.
Incorporate Data Into Your Academic Success Strategy
A big advantage of the techniques listed above is that they fit nearly any budget. If your district’s budget has a line item allocated specifically toward managing student risk, you might look at additional training for teachers, or hiring a counselor specializing in students at risk.
Those might be great options for your school district. But implementing the right software program can be a highly cost-effective way to help every teacher and every grade with identifying and tracking students who may need extra attention and assistance.
With Eidex PRISM, our software module assesses data that you’re already collecting to help identify students who are at risk.
Take these concrete datapoints to improve your whole-child approach and apply the native reporting function to communicate status and progress. Using the built-in tools, you can:
Track chronic absenteeism and address the connection between attendance and performance.
Analyze behavior data and disciplinary action effectiveness.
Identify and address achievement gaps between peer groups of your choice.
Monitor the effectiveness of interventions, and even use the module for your at-risk (31a) reporting.
Generate clear, visually intuitive reports to improve communication with all the stakeholders, from parents to school boards.
Best of all, the extra time commitment is minimal. With the integrated data management, you don’t need to crunch the numbers, just react to the results.
Help Students at Risk With Extra Support from Eidex
Eidex is a company comprised of educators, which means we have been in your position and understand how challenging it is to support your students who are at risk. We offer extra support to make sure your at-risk strategy is as effective as it can be. The following resources are completely free, so even if you aren’t ready to partner with Eidex today, you are still more than welcome to check these out for more information.
Webinar: Simplify Tracking and Reporting 31a At-Risk Students With Eidex PRISM. Our latest 31a application provides prepopulated at-risk eligibility criteria, dynamic filter options, and a straight-forward reporting system.
Ebook: Using Data Analytics to Diagnose the Root Causes of Falling Performance. To avoid knee-jerk assumptions and pinpoint underlying root causes, administrators must rely on quality data and a sound data analytics strategy.
Data Coaches: Our experts know all the tips and tricks to PRISM and the at-risk modules and are just a phone call away if you need help. We’ll make sure you know how to optimally use PRISM to boost your students at risk when using our software. And if you’re not ready to commit to Eidex yet, you can contact us for a free demo.
With Eidex, You Can Be a Better Teacher for Students at Risk
We know that teaching is your passion. It’s ours, too. That’s why we spend our time building ways to make education easier. Every child is different, and with Eidex, we can help you address each child’s individual needs.
If you’re ready to start using data to impact your students — both those who are at risk and otherwise — more efficiently, let us know how we can help. Call us at 844-512-3282 or fill out our contact form and we’ll work with you on the best solutions for your classroom or district.