Creative ways to get kids to thrive in school | Olympia Della Flora

翻译人员: Reading Chan 校对人员: psjmz mz

This is an elementary school in Columbus, Ohio.

这里是美国俄亥俄州 哥伦比亚地区的一间小学。

And inside of this school there was a student named D.

在这间学校里， 有过一个简称D的学生。

When D started school here he was six years old:

他6岁时开始在这里上学：

cute as a button,

很可爱，

with a smile that brightened the entire room.

脸上带的灿烂的微笑 仿佛可以点亮整个教室。

But after a few months in school,

但在学校待了一个月后，

D became angry,

D开始变得易怒，

and that smile faded.

那笑容也消失了。

D began to do things like flip tables,

他开始做一些不好的事情， 比如掀翻桌子，

throw desks and chairs,

乱扔桌椅，

yell at teachers,

对老师大吼大叫，

stand in windowsills,

站在窗沿，

run in and out of the classroom

在教室乱跑乱窜

and even running out of the school.

甚至跑出学校。

Sometimes these fits of anger would put the entire school into lockdown mode

有时他这些愤怒的举动会让 整个学校进入警备状态，

until D could get himself back together,

直到D可以自己控制情绪，

which could sometimes take over an hour.

这有时需要超过一小时。

No one in the school knew how to help D.

在这个学校里，没人 知道该如何帮助D。

I know this because I was the principal at this school.

我清楚这些是因为我曾是 这间学校的校长。

And what I quickly and collectively learned with my staff

我和我的同事们很快意识到

was that this situation was more extreme

这种情况比我们之前受训过

than anything we had ever been trained for.

的任何情况都还要极端。

Every time that D lashed out,

每当D做出过激行为时，

I kept thinking to myself:

我都不停地反思自己：

what did I miss during my principal prep coursework?

我在校长培训课程中 是不是错过了什么？

What am I supposed to do with a kid like D?

像D这样的孩子， 我应该做什么？

And how am I going to stop him from impeding the learning

我怎么才能防止他干扰

of all the other students?

其他所有学生的学习？

And yet after we did everything that we thought we knew,

在我们做了我们认为 能做的所有事情后，

such as talking to D

比如与他谈话，

and taking away privileges

撤销对他的优待，

and parent phone calls home,

打电话给他的父母外，

the only real option we had left to do was to kick him out,

我们只剩下让他退学这一个选择了，

and I knew that would not help him.

我知道那样并不能帮到他。

This scenario is not unique to D.

这种情况不只出现在D身上。

Students all over the world are struggling with their education.

全世界的学生都为他们的教育困扰。

And though we didn't come up with a fail-safe solution,

虽然我们没有想出万全之策，

we did come up with a simple idea:

但我们确实想出了一个简单的主意：

that in order for kids like D to not only survive in school

要让像D这样的孩子不仅 可以在学校生存下去

but to thrive,

而且还能茁壮成长，

we somehow had to figure out a way

我们必须要找出一种

to not only teach them how to read and write

不仅教他们如何去阅读和写作，

but also how to help them deal with and manage their own emotions.

还能教他们如何去处理和控制 自己情绪的方法。

And in doing that, we were able to move our school

做了这些后，我们把我们学校的表现

from one of the lowest-performing schools in the state of Ohio,

从俄亥俄州表现最差的学校之一，

with an F rating,

即被评为F级的学校，

all the way up to a C in just a matter of a few years.

在几年内一路上升到C级。

So it might sound obvious, right?

这听起来很明显，对吧？

Of course teachers should be focused on the emotional well-being of their kids.

老师当然要注重他们 学生的情绪健康。

But in reality,

但实际情况中，

when you're in a classroom full of 30 students

当你在一间有着满满 30个学生的教室里，

and one of them's throwing tables at you,

并且其中一个学生正在向你扔桌子，

it's far easier to exclude that child

开除那个孩子会比起设法明白

than to figure out what's going on inside of his head.

他心里在想些什么要简单得多。

But what we learned about D,

但我们从D身上，以及所有像他一样的

and for kids like D,

孩子身上学到的是，

was that small changes can make huge differences,

小小的改变也可以产生大大的不同，

and it's possible to start right now.

并且现在就开始是可能的。

You don't need bigger budgets or grand strategic plans,

你不需要多大的预算以及 宏大的战略计划。

you simply need smarter ways of thinking about what you have

你仅仅需要更聪明的方法 去思考你现在拥有的东西

and where you have it.

以及它们在哪里。

In education, we tend to always look outside the box for answers,

在教育领域，我们往往 习惯从外界寻找答案，

and we rarely spend enough time, money and effort

我们很少花足够的时间，金钱与精力

developing what we already have inside the box.

去挖掘我们自身拥有的东西。

And this is how meaningful change can happen fast.

这正是为什么有意义的改变 可以发生得如此之快的方法。

So here's what I learned about D.

以下是我从D身上学到的。

I was wanting to dig a little bit deeper to figure out how he had become so angry.

我很想搞清楚他是如何 开始变得如此暴躁的。

And what I learned was his father had left the home

然后我了解到他的父亲抛弃了家庭，

and his mother was working long shifts in order to support the family,

他的母亲不得不做长时间 的工作来养家糊口。

which left no adult for D to connect with --

这使得D缺乏家长的照料——

and he was in charge of taking care of his younger brother

并且当他从学校回到家后，

when he got home from school.

他还要负责照顾他年幼的弟弟。

Might I remind you that D was six years old?

我可能跟大家提过D才6岁？

Can't say that I blame him for having some trouble

我不能责怪他在适应学校环境方面

transitioning into the school environment.

遇到了一些困难。

But yet we had to figure out a way to help him with these big emotions

但我们必须想办法在教他 阅读与数学的核心技巧时，

all while teaching him core skills of reading and math.

同时也帮助他克服这些情绪。

And three things helped us most.

有三件事对我们帮助最大。

First, we had to figure out where he was struggling the most.

第一，我们必须找出 他在什么地方感到最困难。

And like most young kids,

像大多数小孩子一样，

arrival at school can be a tough transition time

初来学校有段艰难的过渡期，

as they're moving from a less structured home environment

因为他们从比较自由的家庭环境

to a more structured school environment.

来到了一个更制度化的学校环境。

So what we did for D was we created a calming area for him

所以我们为D所做是， 在我们的休息室里

in our time-out room,

创造一个安静的地方给他，

which we had equipped with rocking chairs and soft cushions and books,

在那里我们装了摇椅， 柔软的靠垫还有书籍，

and we allowed D to go to this place in the morning,

我们允许D早上去这个地方，

away from the other kids,

远离其他孩子，

allowing him time to transition back into the school environment

这使他有时间以他自己的方式

on his own terms.

去适应学校环境。

And as we began to learn more about D,

随着我们对D的了解越来越多，

we learned other strategies that helped him calm down.

我们知道了其他可以 帮助他安静的方法。

For example, D loved to help younger students,

比如，D乐于帮助比他小的学生，

so we made him a kindergarten helper,

所以我们让他当幼儿园的小助手，

and he went into the kindergarten classroom

去幼儿园的教室

and taught students how to write their letters.

教学生写字母。

And he was actually successful with a few of them

他很成功的教会了一些

that the teacher was unable to reach.

连老师都教不会的学生。

And believe it or not,

不管你相信与否，

D actually helped calm some of those kindergarten students down,

D确实帮助一些 幼儿园的学生安静了下来，

signalling to us that the influence of peers on behavior was far greater

向我们表明同伴之间 对彼此行为的影响

than anything we adults could ever do.

要远远超过大人对他们的影响。

We used humor and song with him.

我们用幽默与歌曲与他交流。

Yes, I know it sounds really silly

是的，我知道听起来这很蠢，

that the principal and the teachers would actually laugh with kids,

校长跟老师能真正的 跟孩子一起欢笑，

but you can imagine the shock on D's face

但是你可以想象得到D脸上的惊讶，

when the principal's cracking a joke or singing a song from the radio station,

当校长在电台讲笑话或者唱歌，

which almost always ended in a laugh,

并且几乎都是以笑声结束时，

shortening the length of his outburst

这些做法减少了他暴躁的时间，

and helping us to connect with him in his world.

帮助我们与他的世界连接起来。

So I know some you are like,

我知道你们有人会想

"It's really not practical to lay on this kind of special treatment

“这种特殊对待不是很实用，

for every student,"

起码不是对每个学生。“

but we actually made it happen.

但是我们确实做到了。

Because once we figured out the tools and tactics that worked for D,

因为一旦我们找到了 适合D的方式和策略，

our teachers were able to roll that out and use them with other students.

我们的老师就可以把它 用到其他学生身上。

We began to proactively address student behavior

我们开始积极应对学生的表现

instead of simply react to it.

而不是简单应对。

Our teachers actually took time during the lesson plan

在备课时，我们的老师会花时间

to teach kids how to identify their feelings

去教孩子们如何 认清他们的感受，

and appropriate, healthy coping strategies for dealing with them,

教他们用合适、健康的 应对策略去处理情绪，

such as counting to 10,

比如数到十，

grabbing a fidget spinner

抓住旋转的陀螺

or taking a quick walk.

或者散个步。

We incorporated brain breaks throughout the day,

我们把让大脑放松 环节融入一天中，

allowing kids to sing songs,

让孩子们唱唱歌，

do yoga poses

做瑜伽动作，

and participate in structured physical activities.

参加有规划的体育活动。

And for those kids that struggle with sitting for long periods of time,

对那些无法长时间坐着的孩子们，

we invested in flexible seating,

我们投入灵活的坐椅，

such as rocking chairs and exercise bikes,

比如摇椅和运动单车，

and even floor elliptical machines,

甚至是地板椭圆机，

allowing kids to pedal underneath their desks.

这可以让孩子们在书桌下蹬脚。

These changes encouraged kids to stay in the classroom,

这些改变鼓励孩子们呆在教室里，

helping them to focus and learn.

帮助他们集中注意力学习。

And when less kids are disrupting,

当比较少的孩子捣乱时，

all kids do better.

所有的孩子都做得更好。

And here's the magical thing:

神奇的是：

it didn't cost us a whole lot of extra money.

这样做并没有花费我们 很多额外的资金。

We simply thought differently about what we had.

我们只是用不同的方式去 思考我们拥有的资源。

For example, every public school has an instructional supply line.

比如，每间公立学校都有 指导性的教学供应。

An instructional supply could be a book,

可以是一本书，

it could be a whiteboard,

可以是一个白板，

it could be flexible seating,

可以是灵活的座位，

it could be a fidget spinner,

可以是旋转陀螺，

it could even be painting the walls of a school a more calming color,

甚至可以把学校的墙壁 涂成更平和的颜色，

allowing students to thrive.

使学生们茁壮成长。

It's not that we didn't invest in the academic tools --

我们并非没在学术工具上投资——

obviously --

很明显——

but we took the social tools seriously, too.

我们只是同样认真采取了社交手段。

And the results speak for themselves.

效果显而易见。

By taking the emotional development of our kids seriously

通过认真对待孩子们的情绪发展

and helping them manage their emotions,

和帮助他们管理情绪，

we saw huge growth in our reading and math scores,

我们看到了阅读与数学 分数上的巨大进步，

far exceeding the one year of expected growth

远远超过预期的年度增长，

and outscoring many schools with our same demographic.

且超过了同地区的许多学校。

The second thing we did to help our kids manage their emotions

第二件我们帮助孩子们 管理情绪的事情

was we used leverage.

是利用杠杆原理。

As a not-so-funded public school,

作为一间资金不足的公立学校，

we didn't have the support staff

我们没有支持人员

to address the chaos that our kids might be facing at home,

去解决孩子们在家里的糟糕情况，

and we certainly weren't trained or funded to address it directly.

我们当然也没经过训练，也缺乏 资金支持去直接解决这些情况。

So we started to reach out to local groups,

所以我们开始与当地组织，

community agencies,

社区中心，

and even the Ohio State University.

甚至俄亥俄州大学接触。

Our partnership with the Ohio State University

我们与俄亥俄州大学的合作

afforded us college students

不仅为学校的大学生

not only studying education

提供学习教育学的机会，

but also school psychology and school social work.

还有学校心理学与 学校社工的机会。

These students were paired with our teachers

这些学生与我们的老师一起

to help our most struggling students.

去帮助我们在学习上最困难的学生。

And everyone benefitted

每个人都受益匪浅，

because our teachers got access to the latest college-level thinking,

因为我们的老师可以接触到 最新的大学思想，

and those college students got real-world, life experiences

那些大学生则可以获得教室中的

in the classroom.

实践经验。

Our partnership with our local Nationwide Children's Hospital

我们与当地国家儿童医院的合作，

afforded us -- they're building us a health clinic within our school,

——他们在我们的学校里 建立了1个健康诊所，

providing health and mental health resources for our students.

为学生提供健康与心理健康资源。

And our kids benefitted from this, too.

我们的孩子也从中受益良多。

Our absences continued to go down,

我们的缺席率持续下降，

and our kids had access to counseling

孩子们在教学日可以

that they could access during the school day.

获得咨询服务。

And perhaps the biggest change was not in D or in the kids at all.

可能发生了最大改变的 还不是D，或者其他孩子，

It was in the adults in the room.

而是在房间里的大人。

Teachers are typically good

老师们非常擅长

at planning for and delivering academic instruction,

备课和灌输学术教导，

but when you throw in disruptive behavior,

但当你面对破坏性行为时，

it can feel completely outside the scope of the job.

往往会觉得这项工作 超出了你的能力范围。

But by us taking the emotional development of our kids seriously,

但通过认真地对待 孩子的情绪发展，

we moved from a philosophy of exclusion --

我们从排斥的原则——

you disrupt, get out --

谁捣乱，谁出去——

to one of trust and respect.

转变成一种信任与尊重的方式。

It wasn't easy,

这并不容易，

but we felt at heart,

但我们真心觉得，

it was a positive way to make change,

这是一种引领改变的积极方式，

and I'm in awe at the teachers that took that leap with me.

我很敬畏那些与我一起 改变的老师们。

As part of our personal professional development plan,

作为我们个人专业 发展计划的一部分，

we studied the research of Dr. Bruce Perry

我们学习了布鲁斯·佩里博士

and his research on the effects of different childhood experiences

针对不同童年经历对孩子

on the developing child's brain.

大脑发育影响的研究。

And what we learned was that some of our students' experiences,

我们所学习到的是 学生的一些经历，

such as an absent parent,

比如单亲家庭，

chaotic home life,

混乱的家庭生活，

poverty and illness,

贫穷与疾病，

create real trauma on developing brains.

会给正在发育的大脑 造成真正的创伤。

Yes, trauma.

是的，创伤。

I know it's a very strong word,

我知道这是一个很严重的词，

but it helped us to reframe and understand the behaviors that we were seeing.

但是这帮助了我们重新构建 和理解我们所看到的行为。

And those difficult home experiences

那些糟糕的家庭经历

created real barbed-wire barriers to learning,

给学习造成了真正的障碍，

and we had to figure out a way over it.

我们必须找出克服的办法。

So our teachers continued to practice with lesson plans,

所以我们的老师 继续改善课程计划，

doing shorter lesson plans with a single focus,

缩短单方面讲解的课程计划，

allowing kids to engage,

允许孩子们参与进来，

and continued to incorporate these movement breaks,

继续融入课间运动休息时间，

allowing kids to jump up and down in class and dance for two minutes straight,

给予孩子们两分钟的时间， 在教室里上蹿下跳和跳舞，

because we learned that taking breaks helps the learner retain new information.

因为我们了解到休息 有助于学习者获取新知识。

And might I add that the "Cha-Cha Slide" provides a perfect short dance party.

顺便提一下，"Cha-Cha slide" (歌名） 真是完美的广场舞曲。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I saw teachers say, "What happened to you?"

我听到老师们说：“你怎么了？”

instead of "What's wrong with you?"

而不是 “你有什么毛病？”

or "How can I help you?" instead of "Get out."

或者“我可以怎么帮你？” 而不是“出去。”

And this investment in our kids made huge differences,

在我们孩子身上的投资 取得了巨大的成功，

and we continue to see rises in our academic scores.

我们持续地看到成绩的好转。

I'm happy to say that when D got to fourth grade,

我可以很开心地告诉你们 当D升到四年级时，

he rarely got into trouble.

他几乎没有惹过麻烦。

He became a leader in the school,

他在学校里成为了小领导，

and this behavior became contagious with other students.

这种行为开始影响其他学生。

We saw and felt our school climate continue to improve,

我们看到也感受到我们 的学风正在持续改进，

making it a happy and safe place not only for children

这让它成为了一个令孩子们开心 和保障他们安全的地方。

but for adults,

对大人来说也是一样，

despite any outside influence.

尽管有各种外界影响。

Fast-forward to today,

快进到今天，

I now work with an alternative education program

我现在正着手针对高中生的另一个

with high school students

相似的教育项目，

who struggle to function in traditional high school setting.

这些高中生在传统的 高中环境中过得非常艰难。

I recently reviewed some of their histories.

最近我刚了解完他们的一些情况。

Many of them are 17 to 18 years old,

他们大多数都是17到18岁，

experimenting with drugs,

有过吸毒，

in and out of the juvenile detention system

进出少年拘留所，

and expelled from school.

被学校开除等经历。

And what I discovered was that many of them exhibit the same behaviors

我发现他们许多人都 表现出了我在6岁的D身上

that I saw in six-year-old D.

看到的类似行为。

So I can't help but wonder:

所以我忍不住思考：

if these kids would've learned healthy coping strategies early on

如果这些孩子早点学到 当日子变得艰难时

when times get tough,

的健康应对方法，

would they now be able to survive in a regular high school?

他们现在还会在普通高中挣扎吗？

I can't say for sure,

我不能保证，

but I have to tell you I believe that it would've helped.

但我必须说我相信 这应该会有帮助的。

And it's time for all of us to take the social and emotional development

是时候开始认真重视我们孩子

of our kids seriously.

的社会与情感发展了。

The time is now for us to step up and say what we need to do for our kids.

现在是我们站出来说需要为 我们的孩子做些什么的时候了。

If we teach kids how to read and write, and they graduate

如果我们教孩子们 读书写字，他们毕业了，

but yet they don't know how to manage emotions,

但却不知道如何控制情绪，

what will our communities look like?

我们的社区会变成什么样子?

I tell people:

我告诉人们：

you can invest now or you will pay later.

你可以现在投资， 也可以以后付出代价。

The time is now for us to invest in our kids.

现在是时候给我们的孩子投资了。

They're our future citizens,

他们是我们未来的公民，

not just numbers that can or cannot pass a test.

能不能通过测试不能只取决于分数。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause and cheers)

（掌声与欢呼）