Give All of The Chances it Takes

I speak from the heart. I speak from experience. I speak as an educator, as a person who was lost in the system, and as a parent of a daughter adopted from foster care. I speak with compassion for those I teach.

I give second chances. Heck I give as many chances as it takes. Here is why:

Trauma is Often Hidden

Be a trauma informed educator. Escaping work and not caring about work are signs of trauma. The Child Mind Institute lists learning obstacles for students who have experienced trauma as: “trouble forming relationships, poor self-regulation, negative thinking, hypervigilance, and executive function challenges.” Those challenges may make a student look like they do not care- not about their teachers, not about the work, not about the zero assigned for missing the work. Students might not care because school is just another hard thing in their life.

Veteran Illinois special education teacher Kathi Ritchie shares with NEAToday what trauma affected students may look like in class: “ They tend to be forgetful. They don’t remember content-area ideas that have been taught to them; the next day it’s like they never were taught...It can look like kids are shutting down, but their brain is telling them, ‘you need to be safe.’” Teachers can help students affected by trauma find light in darkness, a purpose.

Would knowing a child has experienced brain changes due to trauma change how to a teacher should approach the student's learning? It shouldn’t because teachers and schools don’t always know when a student has faced trauma. Instead, treat all children with the assumption that there is a reason for their poor performance including a hidden trauma. Rely on Dr. Green’s philosophy that “kids do well when they can.” Provide the support and opportunity students need regardless of the reason it’s believed to be behind their behavior. They need something. Do not let a child develop lifelong habits of escaping work and getting by with little effort. Alter the course by supporting them with opportunities to get it right. US Berkeley’s Greater Good Magazine article Five Ways to support Students Affected by Trauma identifies that “teachers may be the only people who help these students learn what a healthy, supportive relationship feels like.”

Students Are In School to Learn, Teachers Are There to Teach

I am not sure if that statement has a limit. The statement is not: students are there to learn except when they don’t do their homework or study. When an assignment is not complete or a test is failed it is a sign that a child did not learn and/or the teacher did not teach. Even if it is by the student’s choice, we must try again. When the goal is learning, both the teacher and the child should try again.

To extend the opportunity for learning, provide support for a student to redo an assignment or turn it in late. Those actions say learning is important; learning is the purpose of school. Requiring students to complete work late or to redo a test teaches accountable. Eliminating extra chances eliminates learning as an option and lets students off the hook. It eliminates responsibility to their work. No matter the reason a child does not meet expectations the first time, learning is halted when a teacher turns his/her back. When a student is a repeat offender, it should be clear that assigning a zero did not teach the student a lesson, as one may hope.

Kids Need Guidance and Support

Meet students where they are and keep trying to deliver them to where they need to be. Assigning a zero in hope that it will teach a lesson is not guidance. When a student is failing tests and missing assignments it sounds as though they need support and guidance more than ever. Try to avoid the mindset of “I have done my part” or “I have done all I can.” Providing guidance when a student rejects it is frustrating. Do not give up. Keep sorting through options to provide supportive second chances. It is worth it.

Providing Extra Chances is Creating Discipline and Accountability

Giving additional chances is in many ways teaching students to be accountable. What is there to learn when a student doesn't do homework and they earn a zero? At best, students may learn on their own that a zero can lead to failure when they actually fail a class. Zeros and failures teach one how to fail a class, not how to pass a class.

What does it teach when a student passes a class with failed assignments or missing work, especially by a slim margin? It teaches and reinforces how to get by with little effort. Teachers can teach students to work hard by encouraging students to redo work. When a teacher does not provide support with additional opportunities the student is expected to become their own teacher. Students are expected to learn how to be more responsible and accountable on their own. Many students are not ready for that. Teachers have the ability to teach students to be responsible by teaching them to be invested in their work.

When teachers support learners in completing all assignments and redoing work that is done incorrect teachers are 1. Ensuring students learn the skill and information. 2. Teaching students to work hard. 3. Teaching students to never give up. 4. Teaching students about responsibility and accountability and 5. Teaching students they are worthy and the teacher is invested in them and cares about them.

The Real World is Full of Second Chances and Third and Fourth...

In the real world people get many chances to pass exams or do their job correctly. People can keep taking driver license tests, the SATs, the Praxis test, and the bar exam. Failure is a part of life, so is trying again. Teach students not only to get up and try again, but how to do that.

In the real world missed deadlines do not mean an opportunity is gone for good. Sometimes it means a penalty, a fee, a delay, or missing out, but hardly does it mean the end. So how would it prepare kids for the real world to have a policy of no late assignments? It appears such a policy would teach kids to walk away from something they should still complete.

Parents and teachers get chances everyday to do better, to be better. Treat students with that same understanding. They are developing; help them develop. Reinforce that difficult things are ahead and teach the skills needed to study, to participate in self-care, to prioritize tasks, and to learn from mistakes.

Be tough

There is always that anecdotal story out there about a student that thanks a teacher for being tough and not giving them another opportunity. That seems to be the exception because most students learn from modeling and action, guidance and support, not the absence of those.

A teacher can be hard on students and hold them accountable when giving second chances. In fact I encourage that. Hold on to high expectations, but provide support and teach students to do better, try again, and do what they tried to skimp out on. That is being tough. Being easy on a student is allowing them to dictate their learning and providing ways to escape their responsibilities.

Character

Choose a character that includes compassion and understanding. Choose not to focus on what students do as a way to determine personal character. Character should be unaltered by a student’s behavior. As difficult as it may be, do not give up, do not walk away, or mirror the student’s effort. Instead, find a new way to provide support, guidance, and a second chance to make it right. Model working through something difficult. Model strength. Model what caring looks like. Model the real world. Model until the student mirrors the adults. Have a character worth mirroring.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking kids are out to manipulate and take advantage. I’m not saying kids don’t take advantage. I’m saying when they try to, it’s important that teachers hold onto using second and third chances to teach them to be accountable for all of their work. Kids are always finding ways to escape work. Parents and teachers should always be actively teaching kids to re-engage in work, not supporting behavior that disengages students.

This article is not in support of blindly providing extra chances without support. A strategy that just provides more time on an assignment or an opportunity to retake a test without understanding what caused the poor performance or without an effort to correct the cause is not going to be very effective. Students need the support that goes along with the extra chances. Teachers should be asking what they can do to help, they should be reaching out to counselors and parents when the behaviors are a trend, they should be getting creative about how to support the child in class and out.

#WeAreHereToLearn #Education