Tag Archives: problems

Focus on School Adjustment Problems

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Focus on School Adjustment Problems:
INVEST NOW . . . OR PAY LATER!
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Some students experience difficulties adjusting to new classes (content and standards), new schools, new teachers, new classmates, etc. It is particularly poignant to see a student who is trying hard, but is disorganized and can’t keep up.
Over the first few weeks, teachers realize quickly who has and hasn’t made a good adjustment to their classroom and to the school. This is the time to address the problem before it gets worse. If adjustment problems are not addressed, student motivation for school dwindles, and behavior problems increase. Misbehavior often arises in reaction to learning difficulties.
The first month is the time to be proactive. This is the time for staff development to focus on the type of strategies that enable good student adjustment, as well as identifying and addressing problems as soon as they arise. This is the time for student support staff to work with teachers in their classrooms to intervene before problems become severe and pervasive and require referrals for out-of-class interventions.
While some schools already have a proactive approach to student adjustment problems, many do not. These are the type of concerns that are regularly addressed by a transformed system of student and learning supports.*
Making it Happen
(1) To facilitate a strong focus on school adjustment, use a staff development session to encourage structured staff discussions about what teachers can do and what other staff (e.g., student support staff, resource teachers, etc.) can do to team with teachers in their classrooms to enhance school adjustment. Also clarify ways to use aides, volunteers, peer tutors/coaches, mentors, those in the home, etc. to help with additional strategies designed to enhance social, emotional, and cognitive engagement.
(2) Establish September as “Addressing School Adjustment Month – Getting the School Year Off to a Good Start” (see Is the School Year Off to a Good Start? — http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/goodstart.pdf )
(3) Let staff know about the following free and easily accessed Center resources:
• Supports for Transitions – Chapter 4 in Transforming Student and Learning Supports: Developing a Unified,
           Comprehensive, and Equitable System–  http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/book/book.pdf
            • Addressing School Adjustment Problems — http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/adjustmentproblems.pdf
• What Schools Can Do to Welcome and Meet the Needs of All Students and Families –
• Welcoming Strategies for Newly Arrived Students and Their Families –
• Welcoming and Involving New Students and Families – http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/welcome/welcome.pdf
• Learning Supports: Enabling Learning in the Classroom — http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/rtipract.pdf   
For more, use the Online Clearinghouse Quick Finds to link to other Center resources and to online resources across the country. For example, see:
>Transition Programs/Grade Articulation/Welcoming – http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/qf/p2101_01.htm
>Classroom Focused Enabling – http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/qf/classenable.htm
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Push for No More Tobacco

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tobacco-figure1

From http://www.hhs.gov./

Source: Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2014). Monitoring the Future national survey results on adolescent drug use, 1975-2013: Volume I, Secondary school students. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan.

Over the last 40 years, the use of tobacco has steadily decreased due to many enforcement of laws, regulations, government and local support, and established health awareness programs. But the concern is now focused on teens and adults who are still buying and using tobacco in different forms. Once someone has used tobacco, they could eventually or become immediately addicted to nicotine.

So what are the trends of using tobacco besides smoking tobacco:

  • Oral tobacco products that dissolves in the user’s mouth; they still contain tobacco properties that puts the user’s health at risk and they can come in different forms and flavors.
  • Hookah is a mouth piece smoking pipe that is commonly popular among teens and is used among groups where they pass it on to each other. Not only is it not sanitary of bodily fluids, it is technically like smoking a cigarette where the toxins are released and inhaled into the body.
  • Smokeless tobacco is in the form where tobacco can be sniffed and chewed. “For smokeless tobacco use, the highest rates of initiation are in the seventh through 11th grades. Although approximately equal proportions of male and female adolescents smoke cigarettes, users of smokeless tobacco products are nearly all males.” – http://www.hhs.gov/
  • E-cigarette is a cigarette that can be used electronically to vaporized a liquid that gives off the feeling that one is smoking tobacco. Although e-cigarettes has no tobacco, they still contain nicotine.

Sometimes, people don’t understand the consequences of using tobacco. The fact that tobacco was scientifically proven to lead to other cancer diseases and cause the user to have other health related problems is already a concern. We can’t stop the production of tobacco, but at least try to educate the public what tobacco can do to the body.

  • Increases the risk of almost every organ disease such as the mouth, bladder, stomach, lung, heart, kidney, and more.
  • Worsen asthma symptoms
  • Nicotine is scientifically proven to be a addictive stimulant and can cause people to rely on it for temporarily relaxation
  • Affects the body’s sexual, thyroid, pituitary, and adrenal hormones
  • Affects the production and sensitivity of insulin that could lead to type 2 diabetes and other potential health issues
  • Trying to quit smoking tobacco can cause physical reactions such as strong cravings for the substance, an increased appetite, insomnia and sleep disturbances, gastrointestinal problems and mood-related complaints including anxiety, anger and frustration, depression, irritability and restlessness. –  [source: MayoClinic]” – http://science.howstuffworks.com

So before using tobacco in any way of any form, think about how it could affect you, your body, and your health in the long term.