1. Helping our Teachers and Schools Support Students Experiencing Homelessness Jani Koester Madison Metropolitan School District Transition Education Program (TEP) TEP Resource Teacher

2.  I have not met a student that has chosen to become homeless – even youth that have left home have done it for good reasons  Homelessness is a trauma but usually another trauma has caused homelessness  Don’t lower your expectations, scaffold how to met them – don’t modify– don’t dumb them down.  I would never want a teacher to feel that they could not teach or support a homeless student  I firmly believe that our student voices are the thing that changes hearts and minds My Beliefs…….

3. Should Teachers be told that their student is experiencing homelessness?  Let Teachers know  that assignments may need adaptation  to check in  to give an extra smile a little extra attention  understand trauma has occurred  they may need support from colleagues  transportation may need attention  tutoring or after school activities may need connections

4. Mobility and Homelessness Interventions  Attitude is Everything!  Make sure students feel welcome, wanted and safe!  Be Prepared all year for new students  Build Community in school and classroom  Family Centered Enrollment  Be Observant – you may be the first to notice  Keep expectations high - academic, attendance, behavior

5. Mobility and Homelessness Interventions  Homelessness is a Trauma – be trauma informed  Establish School wide practices  Use Best Practices in Classrooms  Develop Awareness in schools and community  Know the resources: in both school & community  Know your district policies

6. Working with Classroom Teachers  Share what I do and Hear what they do  Help make connections to their students and families  Talk about trauma and being trauma informed  Explore and discuss their classroom  Build awareness both with them and for their classroom community  Explore resources and supports  Check Back in

7. Look together at the classroom  Cultural competence  Welcoming  How do they help with students feeling wanted  Routines visible  Support systems for new students’ homework expectations  Transportation  School supports afterschool, tutoring,  Parent engagement  Schools involvement  Community connections  Local community services  Support staff support and connections  Explicit teaching opportunities

8. Professional Development  McKinney Vento training for all staff  Meet individually with staff  Brainstorm about individual specific students  Understanding Mobility and Homelessness Class – 6 week course  Phone consultation/technical support  Train POC in each building  Bi-monthly email newsletters to SW and POC  District wide leadership/conversations  Community awareness and collaboration

9. TEP Program Specific  Provide library with variety of materials teachers can use to talk about mobility, change, homelessness  Facilitate classroom discussions on homelessness and mobility  Provide opportunities for homeless youth/parents to share their voices/stories  Service learning opportunities for TEP/ community sites

10. Family Engagement  Families experiencing homelessness had many challenges school engagement is not their priority – that doesn’t mean that they are not supportive or not wanting opportunities to be engaged  Meet them where they are – mentally, physically, emotionally  Ask more than once, in fact ask over and over and over, continually provide opportunities of all kinds.  Be a Welcoming School  Provide Transportation & meals when needed

11. Who We Are: Voices in Our community  Day Away Opportunity for students that have experienced homelessness to come together on UW campus  Spend time networking and writing  Create materials to use building community awareness and sell for donations for TEP  Book – 2 volumes  Tree of wishes  Media of students reading their writing and of the day

12. Activities I use  Youth Activities  What Is Your Day Like?  How Vulnerable Are You?  Garbage Bag Activity  WWA-sharing youth voices  Adult activities  Mobility Shuffle  Mobility Tic Tac Toe  Unaccompanied Youth Quiz  Can be modified for either  Switch  Making Change  Poverty simulations

13. SELF CARE  Build it into your practice

14. Sharing and Questions.

15. Contact Information  Jani Koester, Med, ME  Madison Metropolitan School District  Transition Education Program  401 Maple Ave.  Madison, Wi 53703  608-204-2063  jkoester@madison.k12.wi.us jkoester@madison.k12.wi.us