Classroom Corner

ScholarCentric works with teachers across the country to deliver our Success Highways program and we want to share how teachers are using the tools from the program to improve student achievement. Each month, we will feature one teacher who is delivering the Success Highways program and find out how their students are benefiting from the program.

March Teacher Spotlight:

“The program gave me better respect for the students, and what they were going through, and it gave the students better respect for me.” LaKisha Johnson Teacher Broward County Schools

LaKisha Johnson has been a teacher for 9 years, and has been with the Broward County School System for 5 years. This is her second year implementing the Success Highways program. See below how she uses the Success Highways program to help her students.

How has Success Highways affected you as an educator?
Success Highways has opened my eyes to the needs of the students. They need strategies for dealing with stress and for setting goals for themselves. The program has really shown me that these needs are real, and that I can help. It also gives me time to work one-on-one with each of them, and that has been so important to their improvement.

What do you like best about the Success Highways program?
I like that I can get an understanding of each of the students as individuals.

What is the best thing that the Success Highways program does for your students?
A lot of the students I work with only think about their day-to-day plans. They don’t think about where they want to be one year from now or five years from now. Success Highways has shown them that you have to plan ahead if you want to reach your goals. They are looking toward the future now.

How have you seen Success Highways change one of your students?
I had one student who was a gang member. He didn’t seem very engaged in the program. He just kept his head down and seemed to not be paying attention. Then in the middle of the program, he asked to talk to me. He said that after being in the program and learning that you have to start thinking about where you want your life to go, he began to realize he didn’t want to be in a gang anymore. He knew he didn’t want his life to go down that path. He decided that he wanted to do better. Now, he’s going to trade school, and he’s almost done with his high school credits.

What part of the lessons do your students seem to like the most?
They love the race car theme in the lessons. I tell each student that they are a race car. As a race car, they have to maintain themselves, set a path for themselves, and make sure that they are driving in the right direction. A lot of students respond to this concept. They love it!

What was something unexpected that came out of the Success Highways program?
When we talked about managing stress, I didn’t expect the students to talk to me about all the problems they were facing. I expected some details, but I was amazed at how much they opened up. It was really great because they felt like they could talk about the issues that were causing them problems in school and work toward a real solution. The program gave me better respect for the students, and what they were going through, and it gave the students better respect for me.

Resiliency in Action: Motivation

If your students are asking how did motivation help someone meet their goals, talk to them about NFL Quarterback Kurt Warner.

Warner graduated college with dreams of playing football in the NFL but wasn’t drafted after he left college. To make ends meet, Warner turned to working the night shift as a stock boy at a local grocery store. But he didn’t give up on his dream! He kept playing football and went from being in the Arena Football League, to the NFL Europe, to finally being signed with the St. Louis Rams as a backup quarterback. When the starting quarterback was injured, Warner took over leadership of the team, and led the team to win the Superbowl in 1999. Warner again led the Rams to the Superbowl in 2001 and took his current team, the Arizona Cardinals, to the Superbowl this year! Warner’s story is one of the greatest comebacks in football history. He is a great example of how hard work and the motivation to meet your goals can help you realize your dreams.

Teacher Tips

The Importance of Connecting to Kids
How well we connect with students plays a role in their success. Take a look at this article for some practical tips on how to connect with the students in your class and methods for working with other teachers that can improve student performance. http://www.aasa.org/publications/confdailyarticle.cfm?ItemNumber=10017

Improving Group Work
Getting students to work effectively in groups can be challenging. One strategy to encourage productive group work is through assigning roles within groups. Check out the article below for some examples of role assignments you may want to consider using to improve the quality of your Success Highways discussions.
http://cte.uwaterloo.ca/teaching_resources/teaching_tips/tips_activities/group_roles.pdf

Do you have a tip?

We’d love to hear it! If you have teaching tips or ideas you would like to share to benefit our Success Highways teaching community, please share them at customersupport@scholarcentric.com, or 800-995-8779.

ScholarCentric News

More Success Highways Activities are on the way
You’ve spoken...and we’ve listened! ScholarCentric is proud to announce the development of supplemental Success Highways activities, which have just been released. The activities were designed in part to provide students and teachers with a more kinesthetic approach and/or to expand on the themes addressed in the Success Highways lessons. To learn more about the supplemental activities, or if you are interested in using them in your classroom, please inquire at customersupport@scholarcentric.com, or at 800-995-8779.

Announcing our newest school partners

We’re pleased to welcome our new Success Highways schools this semester: Pulaski High School, Bradley Technology and Trade, Agape High School, Como Parks Senior High, East High School, North Slope Borough, Arthur Ashe Middle School, Boyd Anderson High School, Dave Thomas West, Lauderdale Lakes Middle School, Lauderhill Middle School, Pine Ridge, and Whiddon Rogers.

Have news you’d like to share? E-mail us at NewsEditor@ScholarCentric.com
(mailto:newseditor@scholarcentric.com)

About this Newsletter

Success Highways News is brought to you by ScholarCentric, publisher of Success Highways, a dropout prevention program for students in grades 7-9. You can reach us at info@scholarcentric.com, visit our Web site at http://www.scholarcentric.com, or call us at our toll free number 800-995-8779.

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