Tough Subjects

How do you handle tough situations or experiences in your classroom? Just last week, one of my students showed up to class, sat at the back of the room, and began to cry. I went over to her, where she eventually told me that her boyfriend had been shot and killed just a few days ago. I literally did not know what to say, how does one respond to a comment like that??? I felt awful, and told I was very sorry, and asked if she would like to go to the office to speak to a counselor. She did, but I still feel like I could have somehow done more. The kids at my school seem to be dealing with way more serious things than I ever had to deal with when I was in high school. I have students who are pregnant, have one or two young children, have lost family members or close friends to violent acts, etc. Every time I hear about one of these situations, I feel even more like I just don't understand my kids. How I can help them?

Student Engagement

Ok...so we had an interesting scenario for our class last week...and it all centered around the idea of student engagement. I think this is a problem that every single teacher faces on a daily basis, no matter where you teach, what grade level, what subject area (well ok...maybe this matters sometimes), etc. I have found myself struggling with this problem, and I know that my mentor teacher also faces days (even though they are far less than mine...could be that experience! ha) where getting students engaged in the material is a huge problem. So, I pose a question to those out there...what can we do about this? I find that I try to relate all my lesson to real-world applications...to give my students a clear reason why they really do NEED to learn this material...it sometimes works...and it is often hard to remember to do every single day.

Any thoughts?