I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear... —Rosa Parks

Dear Educator,

The nation is grieving the death of a great lady...a lady who moved beyond her fear to change her reality from victim to victor.

I have faced many fears in my life, both personally and professionally. This quote is especially poignant for me...making up my mind to move beyond my circumstances is always 90% of the battle. But oh, what a difficult battle!

Our children face daily battles...the battle to succeed, the battle to rise above peer pressure, the battle to grow up, the battle to ask questions...sometimes, like Rosa Parks, the battle to challenge authority. Our job is to help them make healthy choices so they can win the appropriate battles.

Joseph Stalin has a more cynical quote: Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas?

We work in a powerful profession. Let us be about the business of shaping ideas into ideals. We want our children to live by something far more powerful than guns. May all your students SCORE for a noble cause!

For kids!

Sharon Marshall Lockett, Director
SCORE... For College and Career
sharon@score-ed.com

What to Do When...Nothing Can Be Done

When our students face their life crises, we are powerless to change their circumstances. However, we are not powerless to help. Here are SCORE's Top Ten Strategies for helping a student through tough times:

1. Listen. I know our time is valuable and listening isn't "fixing." But we can never fix their problems. Listening helps them find the strength to take action. Giving advice (even good advice) only makes them angry.
2. Incorporate real life experiences into assignments. When they can explore their dilemma in a writing assignment, for example, they will find answers they didn't know were there.
3. Be there. Jim Kok says 90% of helping is just showing up. A "thumbs up" sign, a nod, or a pat on the back may communicate far more powerfully than words.
4. Take notice. Let them know you miss their comments when they are quieter than normal, their thoughtfulness when they talk aimlessly, and their presence when they are absent.
5. Reach out. When they have withdrawn, sit beside them and quietly ask them for responses. When they disclose something to you, they are begging for someone to be brave enough to talk about it. Be that someone.
6. Offer to accompany them. You may find they need more help than you are qualified to give. Ask if they will go with you to the school counselor or a twelve-step. Offer to sit beside them while they talk to a parent.
7. Keep them focused. Life is full of tragedy, but life goes on. They must somehow learn to merge their grief or frustration with content so they stay on track academically. Teach them how to do that.
8. Beef up their study skills. Learning to use powerful study skills will help your entire class! Give them skills for dealing with distracting thoughts and managing anger.
9. Help them find their own answers. They get angry and shoot down all your great ideas, so don't give them! Instead, allow them to explore possibilities and find their own solutions.
10. Get help. No human being can meet all his/her own needs; we fall short when we try to meet the needs of even one other person. An entire classroom? Impossible. You never violate confidence when you seek guidance from a mentor.

SCORE offers centralized workshops twice each school year...or SCORE can come to you!  If you have more than 10 staff members to train, fill in the information on our contact form and we will send you a Training Options flyer, personalized to your site.

You can register now for the fall workshops:

Crisis, Grief, and Loss…and How to Help Your Students Through It: November 30, 2005

Grief is a fact of our students' lives (not to mention our own!).

When they are grieving, the way they learn changes. That means we need to reach them differently.

Attend the last SCORE workshop of 2005 to learn:

How to read the subtle signs of a student in crisis
(you already recognize their "not-so-subtle" messages!)
What to do about it, both in and out of the classroom
(you may gain validation and ammunition!)
Where to go to find help
(help for them is also help for you...your job will be so much easier!)
How to change your teaching content and methodology to accommodate crises
(and we teachers are always looking for a new strategy!)

Do you have a student in mind? They're invited! You can bring up to three students with you for half tuition. SCORE teachers often bring the "winner of the writing contest" with them to the workshop, using the following prompt:

Think about something in your life that caused you to grieve. Typically, that would be a death, a divorce, an accident, a handicap, or an illness. Include:

How life was before this event
How it felt
How you handled the event/crisis
How you are different now because of what happened.

You (and your attending students) will receive one copy of SCORE's great book, Crisis, Grief, and Loss...and How to Help Your Students Through It.

PS. Still not sure? Listen to what students say:

I learned that grief will not go away, and when you go through depression do something.
I learned to be responsible and make good decisions.
This week I know not to take my anger out on someone else and not to argue so much.
I think you should go over this every year because it can help other people like it helped me.
I think that if it wasn’t for me, my friend would’ve joined his mother on the other side. (Student participant one year after training)

PSS. Want it for all your students? We can come to you!

Tell us what you need at http://www.score-ed.com/contact.htm.

SCORE 101:  Adoption Workshop:

• Re-think the way you do business with a focus on “What Works” for reaching high-risk students.
• Discover SCORE’s proven strategies for creating systemic change.
• Develop a customized program to accelerate the achievement of high-risk youth.
• Receive curricular materials to assure successful implementation.
• Leave with an Action Plan tailored to your site.

SCORE has helped us to focus the many facets of our educational program to provide a more concerted effort toward higher student achievement.  Classroom teachers are enthusiastic!–Site Administrator

Want it for your restructuring team? We can come to you!

Tell us what you need at http://www.score-ed.com/contact.htm.

Study Skills:

You will gain skills and resources to:

• Increase student retention
• Improve reading speed and comprehension
• Identify learning preferences
• Enhance student interest level
• Help students listen and ask effective questions
• Teach effective memory techniques
• Improve test scores

I left thinking I had a wonderful few days.  I got home and realized it had been a life-changing experience!–High School Teacher

Want it for all your teachers? We can come to you!

Tell us what you need at http://www.score-ed.com/contact.htm.

At any given time, between 30% and 100% of our students can be somewhere in the grief process. When they are in crisis, their behavior and their capacity to learn changes. Our techniques for reaching them must change too.

This book provides crisis intervention techniques, referral procedures, a synopsis of research on the grief process, principles for helping students through crisis, and a bibliography for classroom teachers, counselors, tutors, and parents to use in the aftermath of crisis. Every teacher should have a copy. It is written around 4 topics:

Understanding Grief Reactions
Principles for Helping
Guidance Tools
Guidelines and Curriculum

Can't attend the workshop? Buy the book! Focus: Teacher K-12

SCORE Celebrates 25 Years of Improving Student Achievement!

SCORE is a comprehensive systemic change program, validated for effectiveness by the United States Department of Education. SCORE provides inservices, technical assistance, and field-tested materials, all proven to result in increased student achievement. To request specific information related to your site, visit: http://www.score-ed.com/contact.htm

• SCORE is not a "packaged program;" rather, school teams design a custom implementation that meets the SCORE success criteria and allows local ownership.
• SCORE is successful in helping language minority and Title I students achieve university eligibility by the time they graduate from high school.
• SCORE empowers students through a variety of strategies, enabling them to adapt learning to their strengths and their teacher's presentation style.
• SCORE's Study Skills curriculum is unequalled, and should be made available to all students. SCORE's primary focus is grades 6–10, but it has been adapted to meet the needs of both older and younger students.
• SCORE's Guidance Curriculum, available only through the SCORE 101 workshop, empowers schools to meet accreditation criteria and empowers students to take personal responsibility for their learning.

What do Others Say?

While school reform is a hot topic of conversation, many educators have not implemented practical programs that can help students live up to their full potential. I strongly recommend SCORE for your school. This is too good a program not to give it to everyone!

Maeva K. Hutter
Title 1 Coordinator
Willard Intermediate School

I can't say enough about how SCORE has positively impacted our Indian Education program. The SCORE program builds pride back into our students by helping them see good points, bring out their strengths, and talk about what they do well while they achieve success in school. Students have recently commented that they wish all their classes were taught like the SCORE class, "school wouldn't be boring." This is the most comprehensive model of student assistance that I have ever used. Yokoke, thank you to the SCORE staff for all of the support that we receive in helping our American Indian students realize their dreams.

Michael Folsom. M. S.
Counselor, Indian Education
Huntington Beach Union High School District

The SCORE staff, eager to support you in your quest to improve academic performance, is always as near as your mouse click, fax, or telephone:

Educational Innovations/SCORE
30100 Town Center Drive
Suite O, PMB 379
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
http://www.score-ed.com

949-363-6764 Voice/Fax

sharon@score-ed.com