Pic 0: A title screen appears which reads “When You Suspect Something’s Wrong,” before transitioning to Jackie in front of a white background.
Jackie: As educators, we play an essential role in creating safe and inclusive school environments, but our schools can sometimes be affected by issues we don’t directly see.
Pic 1: Jackie disappears and is replaced by an image of a student sitting at a desk with a book open in front of them. Red lightning bolts appear above their head.
Jackie: Students may have problems at home or conflicts with other students that make school stressful and disrupt effective learning.
Pic 2: The student appears in a box titled “Warning Signs.” The word “Academics” appears underneath them. A report card appears next to their head, with the letter “A,” and after a moment it changes to a “D.” Another figure appears, standing up with two red hash marks on their clothing. The word “Appearance” appears beneath. Another figure appears with their hands on their hips and anger marks above their head. The word underneath reads “Behavior.”
Jackie: You might notice drastic shifts in a student’s academic growth or performance, their physical appearance, or their behavior, such as emotional outbursts or constant worrying.
Pic 3: The visual changes to a box with an image of two figures, one taller and outlined in green and the other, smaller one outlined in orange. An arrow appears between them, pointing towards the smaller one.
Jackie: But when you sense that something is wrong, how do you approach that student and provide support?
Pic 4: The screen changes to a visual of a man with medium brown skin and glasses talking to a younger student. A text box appears which reads “Mr. Campbell, language arts teacher, sixth grade.”
Jackie: In the next scenario, you’ll watch Mr. Campbell, a sixth grade language arts teacher, navigate a conversation with a student named Stephanie.
Pic 5: The image transitions to one focused on Stephanie. Text appears next to her in bullet points which read “Stephanie: did well the first half year, made insightful comments, participated in class, submitted assignments, got along with others.”
Jackie: Stephanie did well in the first half of the year. She’s not very talkative, but she made insightful comments, participated in class, submitted her assignments on time, and generally got along well with other students.
Pic 6: The text disappears and is replaced with an image of a calendar titled “Stephanie’s attendance, February.” Most of the icons on each calendar date have grey check marks, but there are five red X marks scattered throughout the month.
Jackie: Yet, during the first six weeks of the spring semester, Stephanie has already missed five days of class. When she was present, she barely participated.
Pic 7: The calendar disappears and is replaced by a card titled “Early Dismissal,” which is filled out with Stephanie’s information and reads:
Student: Stephanie
Grade: Sixth
Has permission for early dismissal today
Reason: not feeling well.
Jackie: And some days she excuses herself to the nurse’s office right before the end of class, saying she isn’t feeling well.
Pic 8: The screen returns to Jackie.
Jackie: Today, Mr. Campbell has asked Stephanie to stay for a few minutes after class.
Pic 9: A text box appears titled “Your Goals” with two bullet points underneath: “One, help Stephanie open up, and two, Connect to Support.”
Jackie: Your goals are to help her feel comfortable enough to talk about what might be bothering her and then connect her to any support she may need.
Pic 10: The screen changes to a green one with planning diagrams on it. Four word boxes appear on the screen, “Neutral Observations, Open ended Questions, Empathy, and Summaries.” Each box is highlighted in white when Jackie mentions it verbally.
Jackie: There are tactics that can help you achieve these goals. First, make neutral observations about specific things you’ve noticed, and ask open ended questions to encourage her to share. Then show empathy for what she’s going through, and summarize what she’s saying to show that you're listening and you understand. Let's take a moment to read examples of these tactics.
Pic 11: This screen is titled “Tactic Examples” and includes the following text:
Neutral Observations: “I see that your reading log wasn’t updated Monday.”
Open ended Questions: “What has your experience in my class been like so far?”
Empathy: “It’s really hard when there aren’t many people to speak to.”
Summaries: “Here’s what I’m hearing:”
Pic 12: The screen returns to Jackie.
Jackie: As Stephanie’s teacher, Mr. Campbell can help create a safe learning environment for her.
Pic 13: The text box titled “Your Goals” appears again with its bullet points: “help Stephanie open up and connect to support.”
Jackie: This conversation could be the first step in getting her any help she needs and building her support network to be prepared for future challenges.