This ERIC digest focuses on students who are commonly described as shy (inhibited, lacking in confidence, socially anxious) or withdrawn (unresponsive, uncommunicative, or daydreaming). Symptoms of shyness or withdrawal may appear as part of the student's overall personality or as a situation-specific response to a particular stress factor. Strategies for coping with shy or withdrawn students include: (1) peer involvement (e.g., involving shy students in cross-age tutoring programs); (2) teacher interventions (e.g., changing the social environment or minimizing stress or embarrassment); and (3) other kinds of psychological interventions (e.g., encouraging children to join volunteer groups or recreational organizations outside of school). The following are specific teacher strategies for coping with shy and withdrawn students: (1) use interest inventories to determine their interests, then use these interests as bases for conversations or learning activities; (2) display their (good) artwork or assignments; (3) assign them as a partner to a classmate who is popular and engages in frequent contact with peers; (4) check with shy students frequently if they are prone to daydreaming; (5) help shy children to set social development goals and assist them by providing training in social skills; (6) provide them with information needed to develop social insight, suggesting ways for them to initiate productive peer contacts or to respond more effectively to peer initiations; (7) provide them with a designated role that will give them something to do and cause them to interact with others in social situations in which they might otherwise become shy and retreat to the fringes of the group; (8) teach them social "door openers" for greeting others and speaking to them in person or on the telephone; (9) make time to talk with them each day and listen carefully and respond specifically to what they tell you; and (10) use bibliotherapy materials. (LPP)