Reach them before you teach them

Connecting to kids in crisis by creating classroom community

For twenty years, I’ve worked with kids identified as “at risk”; 17 of them as an English teacher in an alternative education program in Rochester, New York. It was there that I developed and directed what came to be known as Crossroads – a small learning community of 48 students in grades 9 – 12 set within a comprehensive high school of 1800. What my students taught me is what this book is about: how to create classroom community in order to reach kids who would rather be anywhere than in school. Like I tell the teachers I work with today in my role as an instructional coach: “You have to reach them before you can teach them.”

If you're interested in seeing more of this book and feel it may be something you'd like to use yourself or with your staff, please contact me.

And thanks for doing the hard work you do every day for kids.