I'm happy to have another guest blogger today! Rachel Haltiwanger is an elementary ESL teacher in middle Tennessee, where she advocates for and works with English learners and refugees. She is passionate about helping English learners achieve their full potential. She blogs over at thecozylearningcottage.blogspot.com, where she shares tips and ideas for working with ESL students. You can also find her on twitter, pinterest, facebook, and teachers pay teachers. Rachel is sharing tips for supporting refugee students in your schools. ​

The refugee crisis has been in the news continually for months. As more and more people come fleeing violence, terror, and persecution, schools are encountering populations they have never worked with before. On my first day of teaching, fresh out of college, energetic, and starry-eyed, I walked into my room of second grade English learners only to discover that the majority of my students had relocated to the USA as refugees.
In some sense, refugee students are just like every other student in your school. They require high expectations, growth mindset, manageable goals, and quality and caring instruction but refugee students have some unique needs as well. School counselors are in a prime position to not only reach the needs of these children but to train and prepare their teachers and other staff at the school on how to work with these students effectively. Specifically, there are five areas in which refugee students may have different needs than their American-born peers:

The amount that US parents are expected to be involved in their child’s schooling is uncommon in many other cultures. As a result it may be seem that refugee parents are uninvolved, simply because they are used to a different level of parental involvement in school. Reach out to families early on, ideally with the aid of a translator/family liaison who can introduce parents to school policies and procedures, explain basic communication between school and home, and demonstrate how school "works" in your building. Parents have every right to understand what is happening at school and be supported in helping their children succeed. With their involvement and support students have a significant leg up in achieving their goals.

​By nature of their refugee status, many refugees have very few possessions and may have come from a significantly different climate than where they are now living. Students need appropriate jackets and shoes in the winter and may even need blankets for their homes. Keep an eye out for students who are wearing the same clothes every day or clothes that don’t fit, or perhaps lack basic school supplies. Students who are cold, hungry, tired, and dirty won’t be able to focus on their studies until their basic needs are met, so work on a way to provide for physical needs of these students (and their families) as well.

Refugee children have known fear and heartbreak in ways that their American teachers and friends may never know, and they have emotional scars as a result. Some refugees develop post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, from the trauma they have witnessed and experienced. I have created a “red flag” cheat sheet to check for signs and symptoms of excessive anxiety in school aged children. All refugee children will likely need some time to adjust and feel comfortable in school, and that is normal. School counselors can support school staff to identify red flags that indicate the child may need some more significant emotional and psychological help to process what they have lived through. Keep an eye out for these red flags in refugee children and share this document with their classroom teachers and others who work closely with them to be looking for as well. You can download the cheat sheet here.

​In addition to being unfamiliar with school culture, refugee students may not be familiar with other unspoken cultural norms. For example, in some cultures it is customary to stand much closer to another person while talking than it is in the US, and this may make some other students (and teachers) uncomfortable. In many other cultures, it is customary to point at things with your middle finger rather than your pointer finger. Rather than making fun of or humiliating the student, let them know that their way of doing things is good, but that we also do it differently here. Get to know students and learn as much about their culture as you can before assuming rudeness or defiance in the way they are behaving. In the same way, we can increase our cultural sensitivity by learning more about the child's culture and background.

 ​One of the best ways to welcome any new student into a class community is to let them share about things that are important to them and where they came from- the same is true for refugee students. Invite them to bring in any photos they might have or traditional clothing or toys. Let them teach the class how to say “Hello” in their language. Try some of the foods they may bring in for snack and lunch, and let the class ask them (appropriate, respectful) questions about where they came from and how things are different. Refugee children may being to consider their home culture and language as bad or “less than” American culture, which can pose problems in their homes and families as they grow. Celebrate the differences and diversity in your classroom and school.

​At the end of the day, refugee students are still students. They need to learn how to relate well to their peers, grow in knowledge and understanding, become confident in themselves as learners and as humans, and develop into their best and healthiest selves. There may be a few areas where they need extra support because of their history, but they are not too difficult or beyond helping. With the right help and direction, you will be amazed by how quickly they become thriving members of your classroom community.

Thanks so much Rachel! What a great reminder of the needs of refugee students as they enter our schools. If you haven't checked out Rachel's website The Cozy Learning Cottages, please do! You may have seen my pinterest feed lighting up with her many wonderful resources and I absolutely love the reason for her blog's name!

I am excited to welcome Mary Dournaee as a guest today. Mary is a math and science educator, curriculum developer, and blogger for New Math Teacher. Mary is a passionate lifelong learner who loves to grow that passion in others as well. She aspires to post creative and engaging ideas about math education and learning. Visit her TpT store or follow her on Facebook and Twitter for more ways to promote math learning in the classroom. Today she will be sharing how to incorporate creativity and social skills into STEAM education and a FREEBIE just for you. My mind is buzzing with ideas!

​STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education is certainly getting a lot of attention right now. Many programs seek to transform STEM into STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) with the belief that this will drive innovation. What these acronyms are still neglecting is the connection between social intelligence and STEM or STEAM education. More than ever, successful companies rely on effective social networking and creative marketing to reach the public and sell their products. How can we incorporate these essential social and creative skills into our STEAM educational programs?

Primarily, our educational systems need to focus on growing a student's social intelligence and critical thinking skills within the context of STEAM education. There are six key areas of social growth that can strengthen STEAM educational effectiveness: social communication, nonverbal communication, group dynamics, expression, problem solving, and managing conflict. A great way to incorporate these skills into a STEAM classroom is through group projects.

Social communication really is its own language. Communicating socially begins with simply introducing yourself to others. Students need to be able to concisely discuss their own unique experiences, values and interests to others. When getting to know others, they need practice valuing others as individuals. This includes remembering names and the experiences, values, and interests that others share with them. Students also need practice finding common ground between these experiences, values, and interests. Focusing on developing active listening skills and enthusiasm will help. Within a STEAM classroom, students in a specific group can assign themselves roles within the group based on personal interests.

Students may not realize that their expressions and mannerisms tell a lot about them. When working within a group, students may require support to realize that their voice, including tone and volume, needs to be clear and loud enough to catch the attention of all group members. Eye contact and facial expressions are also important so that a student can tell if those around her understand and agree with what she is saying. Finally, body expressions and posture can either convey confidence and enthusiasm for an idea or disagreement and doubt. It's important to address any differences in opinion right away so that they do not undermine the project later.

Within a STEAM project-based classroom, group dynamics play a key role. Both the whole classroom and each individual project team affect group dynamics. The group will better understand what is expected of them if a clear and concise rubric is used. The rubric allows for a great starting point for group conversation and produces better products overall. Students can practice skills like asking questions, sharing, and cooperating within the group to establish a group identity around common ground and accepted differences. It's important to note the importance of rules within the group dynamic as well. Some rules are strictly adhered to, like those that involve the safety and well-being of group members. Other rules are a bit more flexible, working through ambiguity within a group is a very advanced social skill and one that will serve students well in the workplace.

Expressing feelings within a classroom team is important for continued success down the road. Students should practice identifying and regulating their feelings while also empathizing with the feelings of others. Practicing constructive ways to deal with difficult emotions is key. For example, a student may feel frustrated that her part of a project is taking more time than someone else's. She might try using "I statements" like: "I'm frustrated that I found three pages worth of research while Jake found only one. I'm going to take a walk to the water fountain to cool off." Jake might empathize with her and offer to summarize her longer research while she summarizes his. This way, students resolve feelings in a way that helps build stronger relationships in the long run. The goal is that everyone within the team learns and grows from the experience of being in a group. The way this growth manifests may be different for each student. Students should feel confident and successful about the results of their project and want to do a similar one in the future.

Problem solving in a group setting involves a lot of collaboration and creating groups of students with diverse backgrounds often encourages unique and creative solutions. Within a STEAM classroom, this process should include some creative brainstorming, alternative solutions, and finally a best solution agreed upon by the team. Being able to identify problem causing behaviors and obstacles will allow members to refocus their attitudes when needed. The growth mindset is a great tool here. The growth mindset, recently popularized by Carol Dweck and Jo Boaler, postulates that intelligence is not fixed. Every time that we make a mistake, we find an opportunity for growth. This is true within a group project as well. The group may refocus their efforts if they realize that their original solution it not ideal. Improvement is a key aspect of innovation.

Managing conflict within a group involves several key social skills. Standing up for oneself is an essential life skill that can be practiced within a school group setting. This involves maintaining a positive self-image, dealing with bullying/teasing, and being assertive. Another life skill practiced in groups is the ability to compromise. This skill includes creating a win-win scenario for all those involved. It also involves identifying and negotiating for needs over wants. Everyone should feel like they gave something and got something in return. A final important life skill is the ability to revisit a conflict if the outcome is not satisfactory to all. This involves problem solving skills like analyzing outcomes and posing alternative solutions. Students in groups often need to manage conflicts that arise from uneven workload distribution. If a group realizes that one student is carrying most of the workload, the members should revisit their roles and reassign work as needed. Managing issues like this one helps everyone feel respected and allows for additional opportunities to work together in the future.

In summary, whatever acronym it uses, STEM and STEAM education can focus on growing a student's social intelligence and critical thinking skills within the context of a science, technology, engineering, art, or math group project.  A great way to incorporate these skills into a STEAM classroom is through well thought out and structured group projects like the sample lesson and project below. Individual student roles within the group and clear, concise rubrics for assessment help build these social skills into the educational framework.

Thank you Mary! For every counselor who has wondered where they fit into the STEAM picture, you now have a whole toolkit of ideas to create collaboration opportunities with your STEAM subject colleagues. Mary has been kind enough to share her FREE research group rubric with you! ​

My ENTIRE store will be 28% off using the code CELEBRATE. A great time to stock up on the already discounted bundles. Stay tuned, the much anticipated Counselor Planner will be up in time for the sale!