Strategies for Reaching Students at Risk of Failing discusses interventions for struggling students. It provides descriptions of common behaviors of failing students and suggests interventions like writing steps on the board, using color-coded organization methods, and showing models of excellence. The document also discusses building relationships through equitable treatment, praise, interest in students, and avoiding withdrawals like breaking promises. Finally, it proposes strategies like menu assignments, student conferences, and significant sheets to improve student achievement.

1. Strategies for Reaching
Students at Risk of Failing
“When students believe success is possible, they will try. If they
don’t believe they can succeed, it doesn’t matter how easy the
material or how smart the students, they will fail.”
- LouAnne Johnson, Teaching Outside the Box

2. Agenda
► Interventions
► Best Practice
► ArticleReviews and
Dialogue v. Discussion
► Student Incentives

3. Interventions
(10:00 – 11:00 am)
“You never really understand a person until you consider
things from his point of view…until you climb inside of his
skin and walk around in it.”
- Atticus Finch (Harper Lee), To Kill a Mockingbird

4. Do Your Failing Students Fit Any of These Descriptions?
 Are very disorganized, frequently  Cannot monitor their own behavior.
lose papers, don’t have signature,  Laugh when they are disciplined.
etc.  Decide whether or not they will
 Bring many reasons why something work in your class, based on
is missing or the paper is not done, whether or not they like you.
etc.  Tell stories in the casual register
 Don’t do homework. structure.
 Are physically aggressive.  Don’t know or use middle-class
 Like to entertain. courtesies.
 Only see part of what is on the  Dislike authority.
page.  Talk back and are extremely
 Only do part of the assignment. participatory.
 Can’t seem to get started (no
procedural self-talk).
- Ruby Payne, A Framework for Understanding Poverty

5. Hidden Rules Among Classes
Read and Respond –
What seems to be the disconnect and how can we re-connect?
Poverty Middle Class
► Money: To be used, spent. ► Money: To be managed.
► Food: Did you have enough? – Quantity. ► Food: Did you like it? – Quality.
► Clothing: Valued for individual style and ► Clothing: Valued for its quality and
expression of personality. acceptance into norm or middle class.
► Time: Present is most important. ► Time: Future most important.
► Education: Valued and revered as abstract ► Education: Crucial for climbing success
but not as reality. ladder and making money.
► Destiny: Believes in fate. ► Destiny: Believes in choice.
► World view: Sees in terms of local setting. ► World view: Sees in terms of national
setting.
► Love: Love and acceptance conditional, ► Love: Love and acceptance conditional and
based upon whether individual is liked. based largely upon achievement.
► Driving forces: Survival, relationships, ► Driving forces: Work, achievement.
entertainment.
► Humor: About people and sex. ► Humor: About situations.
- Ruby Payne, A Framework for Understanding Poverty

6. Possible Explanations of Behaviors and
Suggested Interventions
Behavior Related to Poverty Intervention
► CANNOT FOLLOW DIRECTIONS: ► Write steps on the board. Have
Little procedural memory used in them write at the top of the paper
poverty. Sequence not used or valued. the steps needed to finish the task.
Have them practice procedural self-
talk.
► EXTREMELY DISORGANIZED: ► Teach a simple, color-coded method
Lack of planning, scheduling, or of organization in the classroom.
prioritizing skills, not taught in poverty. Use the five-finger method for
Also, probably doesn’t have a place at memory at the end of the period.
home to put things so they can be Have each student give a plan for
found. organization.
► Write on the board all the parts of
► COMPLETE ONLY PART OF A TASK: the task. Require each student to
No procedural self-talk. Doesn’t “see” check off each part when finished.
the whole task. Show models of student excellence
on same task.
- J. Victor McGuire, Closing the Achievement Gap

7. I Understand…but Not All Failing
Students are Living in Poverty
“There are No Shortcuts. Be Nice. Work Hard.”
- Rafe Esquith, Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire

8. Relationships and Team Building
1) Calls on everyone in room equitably.
2) Provides individual help.
Teacher Expectations & 3) Gives “wait” time.
Student Achievement 4) Asks questions to give students clues
(TESA) identified 15 about answer.
behaviors that teachers 5) Asks questions that require more
use with good students. thought.
6) Tells students whether their answers
are right or wrong.
 The research study found 7) Gives specific praise.
that when teachers used 8) Gives reasons for praise.
these interactions with 9) Listens.
low-achieving students, 10) Accepts feelings of student.
their achievement made 11) Gets within arm’s reach of each
student everyday.
significant gains. 12) Is courteous to students.
13) Shows personal interest and gives
- T. L. Good, Two Decades of Research on compliments.
Teacher Expectations 14) Touches students (appropriately).
15) Desists (does not call attention to
every negative student behavior).

9. A successful relationship occurs when emotional
deposits are made, emotional withdrawals are
avoided, and students are respected.
DEPOSITS WITHDRAWALS
 Seek first to understand  Seek first to be understood
 Keeping promises  Breaking promises
 Kindness, courtesies  Unkindness, discourtesies
 Clarifying expectations  Violating expectations
 Loyalty to the absent  Disloyalty, duplicity
 Apologies  Pride, conceit, arrogance
 Open to feedback  Rejecting feedback
- Stephen Covey, The Seven Habits of
Highly Successful People

10. Intervention Strategies
:30 Speech
► Each of you will receive a
piece of paper with an
intervention strategy on it.
Please take two minutes
to read and consider the
strategy. If you would like
to write a reflection on the
back, please do. Be
prepared to share your
thoughts.
► To find your partner; find
a matching intervention.
- Carolyn McKanders, CMU Center for Excellence

11. Teaching Outside of the Box:
*How to Grab Our Students by Their Brains
“Students don’t care what you know, they simply
want to know that you care.”
- J. Victor McGuire, Closing the Achievement Gap

12. Menu Assignments
“Nothing more conclusively marks the well-
educated person than the capacity to run one’s
own brain, have clear self-insight, and follow
through on projects.”
- Zemelman, Daniels, and Hyde, Best Practice

13. Student Conferences
Method 1: Method 2:
► What do I need to do? ► What does your
► What do you need to current grade tell you?
do? ► What do you like about
► What do we need to class?
do? ► What don’t you like
about class?
► How would you
improve class?

14. Significant Sheets
► Great relationship You _____________________________
building exercise. Are significant because _______________
► Everybody likes to hear ________________________________
nice things about ________________________________
them. ________________________________
► Ifa student refuses, ________________________________
they must write four ________________________________
compliments to that ________________________________
student as an exit slip.
________________________________
- J. Victor McGuire, Closing the Achievement Gap

15. ELIMINATE THIS WORD!
Stop thinking you can’t do
things and start thinking
you can. It’s important to
eliminate negatives from
your vocabulary, especially
the word “can’t.” When you
begin to think positively,
you’ll find yourself
attempting and succeeding
at more things. Remember,
by eliminating the negatives
you’ll let the positives come
through.
- J. Victor McGuire, Closing the Achievement Gap

16. C- is Not Acceptable
► Inthis classroom, you
will do it over until it is
right.
- J. Victor McGuire, Closing the Achievement Gap

17. Not -7, but 7 Great Moments
► Expectation is to do
the best your first time
through.
► Focuses on where the
student succeeded
instead of where they
failed.
- J. Victor McGuire, Closing the Achievement Gap

18. Call the Culprit
► “Begin calling students
directly to discuss their
behavior. In most cases
these phone calls were
much more effective than
calls to parents, because
the students were
entirely responsible for
their behavior. Often
when the student
behavior improved, I did
call the parents – to tell
them how much I
enjoyed having their child
in my class.”
- LouAnne Johnson, Teaching Outside the Box

19. BANNED: “I don’t know.”
► New Response:
“I’m sorry Mr. Schoenborn.
I don’t know right now,
please come back to
me.”
*They get tired of saying
this.
- J. Victor McGuire, Closing the Achievement Gap

20. The Power of Choice:
An Exercise in Honesty
► Instructions: Finish the two sentences. Just fill in the
first thing that comes to your mind. This exercise is not
graded. You do not have to turn it in. You will not be
required to share your answers with anybody unless you
volunteer, so don’t worry about being personal.
I have to ________________________________________
I can’t___________________________________________
When you have completed the two sentences, put down
your pencil or pen to let the instructor know that you are
ready for the next step.
- LouAnne Johnson, Teaching Outside the Box

21. The Power of Choice:
An Exercise in Honesty cont.
► Cross out have and replace it with choose.
out can’t and replace it with don’t
► Cross
want to.

22. The Power of Choice:
An Exercise in Honesty finish
► After we have finished this exercise, take a few minutes to
think about what you wrote. What was your first
response? Did you change your mind after the discussion?
How do you feel now about your sentences? If you would
like to discuss this exercise privately with your teacher or
instructor, make a note below, include your name, and
turn in this worksheet before the end of the class.
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________

23. Dignity
-Bob Dylan
Fat man lookin' in a blade of steel I went down where the vultures feed
Thin man lookin' at his last meal I would've got deeper, but there wasn't any need Sick man lookin' for the doctor's cure
Hollow man lookin' in a cottonfield Heard the tongues of angels and the tongues of men Lookin' at his hands for the lines that were
For dignity Wasn't any difference to me And into every masterpiece of literature
for dignity
Wise man lookin' in a blade of grass Chilly wind sharp as a razor blade
Young man lookin' in the shadows that pass House on fire, debts unpaid Englishman stranded in the blackheart wind
Poor man lookin' through painted glass Gonna stand at the window, gonna ask the maid Combin' his hair back, his future looks thin
For dignity Have you seen dignity? Bites the bullet and he looks within
For dignity
Somebody got murdered on New Year's Eve Drinkin' man listens to the voice he hears
Somebody said dignity was the first to leave In a crowded room full of covered up mirrors Someone showed me a picture and I just laughed
I went into the city, went into the town Lookin' into the lost forgotten years Dignity never been photographed
Went into the land of the midnight sun For dignity I went into the red, went into the black
Into the valley of dry bone dreams
Searchin' high, searchin' low Met Prince Phillip at the home of the blues
Searchin' everywhere I know Said he'd give me information if his name wasn't used So many roads, so much at stake
Askin' the cops wherever I go He wanted money up front, said he was abused So many dead ends, I'm at the edge of the lake
Have you seen dignity? By dignity Sometimes I wonder what it's gonna take
To find dignity
Blind man breakin' out of a trance Footprints runnin' cross the sliver sand
Puts both his hands in the pockets of chance Steps goin' down into tattoo land
Hopin' to find one circumstance I met the sons of darkness and the sons of light
Of dignity In the bordertowns of despair
I went to the wedding of Mary-lou Got no place to fade, got no coat
She said she don't want nobody see me talkin' to you? I'm on the rollin' river in a jerkin' boat
Said she could get killed if she told me what she knew Tryin' to read a note somebody wrote
About dignity About dignity
High Standards. High Results. No Excuses.

24. Best Practice
► English – Bud Kanyo
11:00 – 11:15 am
► Math – Scott Slancik
11:15 – 11:30 am
► Science – Jason McIntyre
Lisa Poskey
12:30 – 12:45 am
► Soc. Studies – Josh Hicks
Eric Beckman
12:45 – 1:00 pm

25. Innocent
-Our Lady Peace
Oh, and Tina's losing faith in what she knows Remember losing hope
Oh, Johnny wishes he was famous
hates her music hates all of her clothes Remember feeling low
Spends his time alone in the basement
Thinks of surgery and a new nose Remember all the feelings and the day
With Lennon and Cobain and
every calorie is a war they stopped
A guitar and a stereo
And while she wishes she was a dancer
And while he wishes he could escape this We are, we are all innocent
And that she’d never heard of cancer
But it all seems so contagious We are all innocent
She wishes God would give her some answers
Not to be yourself and faceless We are, we are...
And make her feel beautiful
in a song that has no soul
We are, we are all innocent
I remember feeling low
I remember feeling low We are all innocent
I remember losing hope
I remember losing hope We are, we are...
I remember all the feelings and the day they
And I remember all the feelings and the day
stopped
they stopped We are (one day), we are all innocent
We are, we are all innocent We are all innocent (you’ll have to let it
We are, we are all innocent go)
We are all innocent
We are all innocent We are, we are (you’ll have to let it go,
We are, we are...
We are, we are... no..)
We are, we are all innocent
We are, we are all innocent
We are all innocent We are (one day), we are all innocent
We are all innocent
We are, we are... We are, we are (you’ll stand up on your
We are, we are...
own)
One day, you’ll have to let it go We are, we are all innocent (you’ll stand
You’ll have to let it go up on your own..)
No...
One day, you’ll stand up on your own We are, we are all innocent
You’ll stand up on your own
High Standards. High Results. No Excuses.

26. Article Reviews and Dialogue v. Discussion
(1:00 – 2:00 pm)
“It’s not the job of the teacher to save a child’s
soul; it is the teacher’s job to provide an
opportunity for the child to save his own soul.”
- Rafe Esquith, Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire

27. First Turn/Last Turn, Text Rendering,
and Gallery Walk
► Nine Powerful Practices – Ruby Payne
► Turning On the Lights – Marc Prensky
► Sustaining the Fire – Barbara Bartholomew
► Reluctant Teachers, Reluctant Learners
- Julie Landsman, Tiffany Moore, and Robert Simmons
► The Wounded Student – Kristen Olson

28. “A-B” Each Teach
► Ways of Talking: Dialogue v. Discussion
► Usewith students during Student Conferences,
Brainstorming, Debates, etc.
- Carloyn McKanders, CMU Center for Excellence

29. Paraphrasing
► Paraphrasing is one of the most valuable and least-used
communication tools in meetings. Even people who
naturally and skillfully paraphrase in one-on-one settings
often neglect this vital behavior in group settings. Groups
that develop consciousness about paraphrasing and give
themselves permission to use this reflective tool become
clearer and more cohesive about their work.
- R. Garmston and B. Wellman, The Adaptive School

30. A Scaffold for Crafting Paraphrases
- Laura Lipton and Bruce Wellman, Divergent Ideas, Compatible People
► Turn to a shoulder
partner and discuss
the following using one
of the three scaffolding
techniques.
► Discuss your feelings
and experiences with
trimesters thus far.

31. Think/Pair/Share
► For the next 60 seconds, I
would like you to clear
your mind…try to think of
nothing…this is your
moment of Zen.
► On a post-it note, please
write comment about:
► How paraphrasing worked
for you and how it may
motivate students to
succeed.

32. School Climate Survey
- Sue Hoeft
“All of us are smarter than one of us.”
- Thomas Friedman, The World is Flat

33. We Can Work It Out
-The Beatles
Try to see it my way, Try to see it my way,
Do I have to keep on talking till I can't go on? Only time will tell if I am right or I am
While you see it your way, wrong.
Run the risk of knowing that our love may While you see it your way
soon be gone. There's a chance that we might fall apart
before too long.
We can work it out,
We can work it out. We can work it out,
We can work it out.
Think of what you're saying.
You can get it wrong and still you think that Life is very short, and there's no time
it's all right. For fussing and fighting, my friend.
Think of what I'm saying, I have always thought that it's a crime,
We can work it out and get it straight, or say So I will ask you once again.
good night.
Try to see it my way,
We can work it out, Only time will tell if I am right or I am
We can work it out. wrong.
While you see it your way
Life is very short, and there's no time There's a chance that we might fall apart
For fussing and fighting, my friend. before too long.
I have always thought that it's a crime,
So I will ask you once again. We can work it out,
We can work it out.
High Standards. High Results. No Excuses.

34. Student Incentives
(2:00 – 3:00 pm)
“Be secure in yourself and don’t obsess about what
might go wrong. Just try things first and then fix
the weak spots later.”
- Zemelman, Daniels, and Hyde, Best Practice

35. Incentive defined:
► Thatwhich moves or influences the mind, or
operates on the passions .
- Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

36. Academic Incentives:
Oak Park-River Forest HS
► Students who seek out tutorial help will accumulate points they can
cash in for compact discs, fast-food gift certificates, movie passes or
clothes from the Gap.
► It's not a bribe in exchange for a student's time, administrators at the
Oak Park school say. Rather, it's a way of enticing students to work on
problem subjects or learning skills, an incentive that eventually should
be supplanted by each student's own drive to achieve.
- Chicago Sun-Times

37. Reading Incentives:
Marietta HS – Georgia
► Grades 9-12
► Points Incentives
► 50 Starbucks card
► 75 Barnes and Noble card
► 100 i-Pod Shuffle and Honor’s Night Recognition
► 250 Principal’s Prize for the top reader with at least 250 points
- http://www.mariettareads.org/incentives-9-12.asp

38. Marietta Reads!
► The reading progress of our students is measured by the
accumulation of Marietta Points. Marietta Points may be earned
in a number of ways, including completing writing activities and/
or passing an Accelerated Reader computerized test with an
85% comprehension rate. Marietta Points will yield a single
semester grade recorded by the student's English teacher.
► The target for 9th, 10th, 11th , and 12th graders is 15 Marietta
Points per semester. All students who have reached or exceeded
their reading requirement will receive their incentives that day in
English classes.
► In addition, a Reading Reward party for students who have
earned 50 or more Marietta Points will be given at the end of the
school year. All points for incentives are cumulative throughout
the school year. There is no limit to the number of points that
can be earned.

39. Corners

40. Group Roles / Brainstorm Session
Group Roles (~3-4 members) Brainstorming Rules
► Team leader: keeps people on ► Rule 1: Postpone and withhold
task, assigns tasks (including your judgment of ideas.
self), and monitors time.
► Scribe: makes sure all criteria ► Rule 2: Encourage wild and
is met and writes ideas gathered exaggerated ideas.
from group.
► Project Monitor: creative
► Rule 3: Quantity counts at this
consultant who monitors stage, not quality.
structure, visual effectiveness,
and ► Rule 4: Build on the ideas put
plagiarism avoidance. forward by others.
► Wild Card: assists where
needed, runner, and assumes ► Rule 5: Every person and every
the role of absent members. idea has equal worth.

41. Brainstorming Session 1
(5 minutes)
► Discuss Extrinsic
motivation listing the
pros and cons of their
usage.

42. Brainstorming Session 2
(5 minutes)
► Discuss how extrinsic
incentives could be
earned and types of
incentives.

43. Bringing It All Together:
Hopes and Fears
(10 minutes)
► Thoughts on extrinsic incentives as academic
motivators.

44. Student School Climate Survey
- Sue Hoeft
“Curious, passionate kids are self-educators and
self-motivators.”
- Thomas Friedman, The World is Flat

45. Compare Results / Brainstorm Solutions

46. Purple Cows
☺ Use music as a timer.
☺ Place student names in story
problems.
☺ Incorporate “Fun Facts”.
☺ Motivational quotes on
assignments.
☺ Create nicknames.
☺ Use cell phone texts to gather
data outside of school.
☺ iTunes session to connect
musical lyrics to text.
☺ Brainteasers to promote
recognition of patterns.
☺ Introduce ethics into lessons.
☺ PowerPoint's + art + music =
personal connections to
concepts.

47. Better Not Look Down
-B. B. King
I've been around and I've seen some things You better not look down, if you want to keep on flying
People moving faster than the speed of sound Put the hammer down, keep it full speed ahead
Faster than the speeding bullet Better not look back, or you might just wind up crying
People living like Superman You can keep it moving, if you don't look down
All day and all night
And I won't say if it's wrong or if it's right I was walking down the street at sunrise one morning,
I'm pretty fast myself in London, England
But I do have some advice to pass along And there was a very large Rolls Royce limousine,
Right here in the words of this song pulling slowly along the street
And in that Rolls Royce was the queen of England,
You better not look down, if you want to keep on flying looking tired
Put the hammer down, keep it full speed ahead Just go back from a party, and the queen leaned out and,
You better not look back, or you might just wind up crying she said: "Aren't you B.B. King?“
You can keep it moving, if you don't look down She said: "Oh B.B., sometimes it's so hard to pull things together.
Could you tell me what you think I ought to do?“
An old girl friend of mine showed up the other day And I said:
That girl have lived in love and for love,
and over love, and under love all her life You better not look down, if you want to keep on flying
If the arrows from cupid's bow that had Put the hammer down, keep it full speed ahead
passed through her heart had been sticking Better not look back, or you might just wind up crying
Out of her body she would have looked like a porcupine, You can keep it moving, if you don't look down
And she asked me "B.B.
do you think I've lived my life all wrong?“ You better not look down, if you want to keep on flying
And I said: "The only advice I have to pass Put the hammer down, keep it full speed ahead
along is concealed in the chorus of this song", girl Better not look back, or you might just wind up crying
You can keep it moving, if you don't look down
High Standards. High Results. No Excuses.

48. Exit Slip:
What Students Want from Teachers
“Be careful. Everything you say, every single day, may be
recorded in your students’ hearts forever.”
- LouAnne Johnson, Teaching Outside the Box

49. Searching for Level VI:
Six Levels of Moral Development

50. Intrinsic Motivation:
Challenge
► People are best motivated ► Set personally
when they are working meaningful goals.
toward personally ► Make attainment of goals
meaningful goals whose probable but
attainment requires uncertain.
activity at a continuously ► Give enroute
optimal (intermediate) performance
level of difficulty.
- Malone and Lepper (1987)
feedback.
► Relate goals to learners'
self esteem.

51. Intrinsic Motivation:
Curiosity
► Something in the ► Stimulate sensory
physical environment curiosity by making
attracts the learner's abrupt changes that
attention or there is an will be perceived by
optimal level of the senses.
discrepancy between ► Stimulate cognitive
present knowledge or curiosity by making
skills and what these a person wonder
could be if the learner about something (i.e.,
engaged in some stimulate the
activity. learner's interest).
- Malone and Lepper (1987)

52. Intrinsic Motivation:
Control
► People have a basic ► Make clear the cause-
tendency to want to and-effect
control what happens to relationships between
them. what students are doing
- Malone and Lepper (1987)
and things that happen in
real life.
► Enable the learners to
believe that their work
will lead to powerful
effects.
► Allow learners to freely
choose what they want
to learn and how they
will learn it.

53. Intrinsic Motivation:
Fantasy
► Learners use mental ► Make a game out of
images of things and learning.
situations that are not ► Help learners imagine
actually present to themselves using the
stimulate their learned information in
behavior. real- life settings.
- Malone and Lepper (1987)
► Make the fantasies
intrinsic rather than
extrinsic.

54. Intrinsic Motivation:
Competition
► Learners feel satisfaction ► Competition occurs
by comparing their naturally as well as
performance favorably to artificially.
that of others. ► Competition is more
- Malone and Lepper (1987)
important for some
people than for others.
► People who lose at
competition often suffer
more than the winners
profit.
► Competition sometimes
reduces the urge to be
helpful to other learners.

55. Intrinsic Motivation:
Cooperation
► Learners feel satisfaction ► Cooperation occurs
by helping others achieve naturally as well as
their goals. artificially.
- Malone and Lepper (1987)
► Cooperation is more
important for some
people than for others.
► Cooperation is a useful
real-life skill.
► Cooperation requires and
develops interpersonal
skills.

56. Intrinsic Motivation:
Recognition
► Learners feel satisfaction ► Recognition requires that
when others recognize and the process or product or
appreciate their some other result of the
accomplishments. learning activity be
- Malone and Lepper (1987)
visible.
► Recognition differs from
competition in that it
does not involve a
comparison with the
performance of someone
else.

57. Imagine
-John Lennon
Imagine there's no heaven Imagine no possessions
It's easy if you try I wonder if you can
No hell below us No need for greed or hunger
Above us only sky A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people Imagine all the people
Living for today... Sharing all the world...
Imagine there's no countries You may say I'm a dreamer
It isn't hard to do But I'm not the only one
Nothing to kill or die for I hope someday you'll join us
And no religion too And the world will live as one
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
High Standards. High Results. No Excuses.