Dear Loved Ones,
Effectively supporting struggling students starts with expecting the expected, then planning the strategies to catch challenges before they surface.
Embrace the common and inevitable challenges that so many unique learners face within the traditional education setting. Let’s use our wise minds to expect the expected for the challenges ahead.
I invite you to build A Better Semester with me by predicting the challenges and planning the strategies that better support our struggling students with brilliant minds.
Introducing The Semester Lifecycle
There is a predictable pattern of trials and triumphs that struggling students cycle through each and every semester. If we tune into this pattern of high to low to high functioning, we are able to prepare and plan for the challenges.
Our struggling students need different forms of support at different phases of the semester. Each month brings a predictable set of challenges and changes. If we can predict the challenge, we can plan the strategy. This is where the magic happens.
(Month 1-2) Strong Start Phase
Expect a strong start, but don’t expect it to last. The newness of the semester is a powerful focus factor. Struggling students have brains that need stronger interest based stimulus to engage focus. The newness is a strong enough stimulus to get those brains firing.
Most struggling students are very interested in the discovery of new classes, things, schedules, teachers, and social dynamics. The new and novel at the beginning of the semester activates their brain, allowing them the ability to remember, organize, and plan (temporarily) well.
They remember their homework, they get papers in on time, and might even enjoy their school days. That is, until it’s all of this brain stimulating newness, is not "new" anymore.
Support and Strategy
Load up on supplies that are helpful to unique learners. Experiment with workspace strategies before the schoolwork gets challenging. Begin establishing the daily and weekly rituals around checking about grades and logging daily tasks. Time management also becomes a focus during this phase.
(Month 3) Mid-Semester Slump Phase
The third month brings emotions and motivation to an all time low. At this point, the newness of the semester has completely worn away, and the end of the semester is nowhere in sight. Struggling students take a big hit emotionally as all of their early efforts don’t pay off anymore.
From their perspective, doing school work feels a lot like paddling a boat in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight. They begin to push back, "this class is stupid." They begin to loose faith, "I can't. I'm too stupid. I don't care anymore."
Unfortunately long term assignments and bigger projects surface to be added to the backlog of assignments. The combination of unraveling self-esteem, stress, conflict, sleep disturbance, mixed with the depleting ability to focus creates the perfect storm for giving up.
Support & Strategy
Remember your role as a parent, and use your parent powers to prioritize and reset your student’s health and wellbeing. Address any mental health concerns that surface this month. Audit the homework habits and adjust the expectations to support healthier boundaries around the sheer amount of time devoted to assignments, in order to strike a healthier balance.
(Month 4-5) End of Semester Push Phase
The end of semester push brings a gradual uptick of mood, motivation, and productivity. It is a superpower and saving grace.
Either summer plans are being discussed (spring) or holiday decoration are appearing (fall). All signs that the end of semester is near. It is not so much a sense of urgency that kicks in, but more of a sense of excitement that sparks the brain function back to life.
The end of semester push supercharges the brain networks. Suddenly, three weeks of work are done in three hours. The closer to the end of the semester they get, the easier the work seems. It leaves us all puzzled as to why they couldn’t just do that in the first place, you know?
It boils down to energizing the sluggish brain by sparking that interest based system. Just as that strong start left you glowing with pride, the end of semester push will also amaze you. Enjoy it and celebrate your brilliant student!
Support and Strategy
Supercharge motivation with both short term and long term incentives. Get creative and active during study sessions. Use task management strategies to avoid overwhelm. Praise effort over result, as they will remember this, and it will keep them going when next semester’s challenges appear.
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Consider grabbing the free Predict and Plan Guide (link below) with a more detailed month by month roadmap for supporting struggling student through an academic semester.
