segunda-feira, 6 de dezembro de 2010

Canton Rep

Mais uma do mesmo site

CANTON —

The misbehaving student at Belden Elementary School was sent briefly to the hallway with an instructor.

When she re-entered the room, she found teacher Jonathan Shaw with a circle of kids.

He held in his left hand what the class has come to know as the “talking stick.” In his right hand was a basket.

“Are you ready to join us?” he asked the girl. “Or do you need this first?”

She stretched her arms out, toward the basket. She took it and made her way to a bean-bag chair on the opposite side of the room. She plopped down and pulled a stress ball from the basket.

“If you have anger inside, then it is not good,” Shaw told the class of 5- and 6-year-olds. “This ball is here to help you get those feelings out in a safe way.”

It’s an approach Canton City Schools’ officials are hoping will help students deal with the anxiety and stress that may carry over from their home lives and, ultimately, interfere with learning at school.

Belden Elementary School, located in the city’s northeast end, isn’t without its share of challenges, namely poverty. More than 95 percent of the school’s 300-some students are considered economically disadvantaged by the state. Twenty percent have special needs, such as a learning disability or physical handicap.

The school, rated in academic emergency, was the district’s poorest performer on this year’s state report cards.

Turning that around requires innovative thinking, Principal Mallory Floyd is the first to acknowledge. That is why she has worked to institute a new program, the first of its kind in the district and in Stark County.

FORWARD SHIFT

Barbara Oehlberg admits the program is a little controversial — among educators at least. It’s a group that doesn’t often blur the lines, stepping outside the bounds of their own research, she explained. Oehlberg’s research centers around neuroscience, the scientific study of the nervous system including the brain.

Oehlberg, a retired Cleveland City Schools family life counselor, said she feels strongly that the neuroscience field holds the key to both learning and behavioral issues.

“Urban children move frequently, especially if they are living in poverty,” explained Oehlberg, a child trauma specialist and educational consultant. “Multiple changes in the family, people coming and going, can all be very traumatic for little children.”

The instability at home can, in turn, affect a child’s ability to learn, according to Oehlberg. Trauma, she said, doesn’t necessarily mean a child is abused verbally or physically; it just means a child has gone through a situation that has caused him or her to be fearful — for whatever reason.

“Trauma affects brain development. We know this,” Oehlberg said. “The brain is designed to help protect us from trauma, but this brings about some changes in the way the brain functions. It impacts the neural connections in the brain.”

The trick: Increasing these connections and helping children realize they can take control of their emotional and intellectual growth.

Enter the “Growing Your Brain” project. The pilot project at Belden aims to do just that by helping students bypass barriers to learning: Namely stress and anxiety.

“We are trying to increase children’s ability to remain self-regulated,” Oehlberg said. “Kids who have flare-ups in schools are not doing it by choice. Flare-ups show a child is experiencing stress in their life. It is not simply misbehavior.

“What we are talking about here is a total paradigm shift in how we deal with kids.”

REWIRING BRAIN, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Instead of being sent to the principal’s office, Belden students who are acting out go to what is considered the “safe place” in the classroom. There, they nestle into a bean-bag chair. They try to relax, and, as Shaw’s kindergarten students put it, “Get the angry out.”

Floyd hopes the pilot project’s impact on student achievement will be reflected on state report cards next year. In the classrooms that have implemented alternate ways to deal with misbehaving students, achievement has increased.

“We are doing what we can to promote safety, heal relationships and teach students self-managing and coping skills,” said Floyd, adding that teachers regularly incorporate discussions about feelings and emotions into the classroom.

“Positive experiences can allow us to ‘rewire’ the brain,” she said. “And, when we do that, cognitive, emotional and behavioral difficulties in school are reduced, and our school is better as a result.”

Nenhum comentário: