Building resiliency in adolescents in poverty

The research question addressed is, what are the most effective teaching strategies to build resiliency in students through adolescence with their learning and future goals in sight? Working in a small, northern Minnesota school with high poverty levels inspired the work found in this Capstone. Many students within classrooms face adversity in their daily lives. In order to survive and succeed in their future, the author was compelled to provide these students with resiliency skills to carry them positively forward. Key influences included former and current students along with colleagues and faculty in the small district, and experts such as Wolin and Desetta, Walsh, and Ungar. The study involved direct teaching of resiliency for a seven week period in a fifth/sixth grade multi-age classroom. The instruction also consisted of shared readings of adolescent resiliency stories paired with journal responses and discussion