One thing we know is that some students feel alone and lost with no friends and no teacher to turn to. Successful students always have at least one memorable teacher who made a difference in their lives; dropouts and troublemakers have none. In the “old days” of study halls and homerooms, there was one period each day where observant teachers could get to know students—observe how they were feeling, check on attendance, patterns of homework, etc. We may say that schools are too big now, but the teacher-student ratio has remained essentially unchanged for years. If you want to make a real difference in every kid’s life, make sure every kid has a teacher they can turn to as a friend and advocate. You do this by tracking and making sure every child has such a teacher.
Article taken from NorthStar for Principals.
