Fall 2015 School Age Training Recap, Part I

It was a full house at Imago Dei, where VHFLC’s school age staff settled in for their annual Fall Training. This training was a product of the combined efforts of Executive Director, Brenda Dengo, USDA & Project Manager, Carlena Marg, Regional Supervisors Jana Cabanban, Steven Dobrinski, Sophie Hilton, Stephanie Johnsen and Ann Pavia, as well as longtime teacher, Jill Taylor. Staff also received a special appearance by keynote speaker and professional storyteller, Anne-Louise Sterry.

Brenda kicked the day off with a short speech about our various personality types, and how in a team setting they can be likened to “the many shades of colors that come together to form a complete box of crayons.” She discussed the diverse power of color as a symbol, and its role in such instances as Dorothy’s transition from “the real world” into the Land of Oz and the blending of dimensions in The Sixth Sense. Sure enough, as Brenda’s creative prose continued and imaginations sparked, our eyes widened, heads lifted, and morning mode was left behind in favor of the day’s next step. Brenda then outlined what was to come throughout the rest of the training, and promptly handed the floor over to keynote speaker, Anne-Louise Sterry.

On Spreading Laughter & Joy Through Storytelling – Anne-Louise Sterry

“Children laugh roughly 200 times a day, where adults laugh only around 20 times. Let’s teach our children to embrace their laughter now, and they’ll be better at it as adults.”

Click to see Anne-Louise leading a "laugh session" with our teachers.

Anne-Louise bounced onto stage with a spark and giddiness that we immediately knew would set the tone for the next two hours of her segment. She explained that part of working with children involves a responsibility to show them that it is not only ok to rejoice in the things that make them happy, but it's a vital component to being a thoroughly developed human, and a tool for uplifting and motivating others.

She expressed that laughter positively impacts both the brain and the body (with laughter literally amounting to some degree of physical exercise), and that just by making a concerted effort to smile, the brain will be triggered into a state of increased happiness. She said joy is something that can be cultivated, and positive thinking a learned skill. “Encourage kids to be positive with their words and explain to them that if they say it enough (‘I am excited for school today!’) then eventually their brains will believe it. And the more this skill is practiced, the easier it will be for them to have optimism as their default state.” 

Anne-Louise then went on to talk about the merits of song and storytelling, and how both (combined or otherwise) can utilize the power of joy to positively impact and inspire students. She explained that one needs no true musical or storytelling ability to make use of these tools; even nonsensical words assigned to a basic tune can have a calming effect on the mind. What kids want, she suggested, is a storytelling experience that is both immersive and interactive. If children are able to participate in telling the story, this can have beneficial impacts on their self-esteem, social skills, and confidence in performing, among other things.

Click to see Buckman teacher, Ed, demonstrating his own song to the group!

Acknowledging the Child Through Song

“Kids learn through stories and everyone is a storyteller.”

Anne-Louise painted the scenario of a child crying because he’s hurt, and his parent brusquely telling him to stop crying and to suck it up. “The messages that sends is, ‘you should ignore how you feel’, and ‘I don’t want to take care of you’. By acknowledging the child through song, however [Anne-Louise begins strumming her guitar and singing her 'Owie Song’], you say it's ok to not feel good, it’s normal to want to express your pain, and the pain is something that will pass."

Teachers groove to the music.

Bridlemile teacher, Jeff, gives his own flair to Anne-Louise's segment.

In this same vein of thinking, Anne-Louise talked about how storytelling can be an excellent mode for teaching a lesson about life. “Kids learn through stories and everyone is a storyteller,” she said. “Rather than saying ‘Don’t do that’, tell them a story where that intent is communicated through the moral. You can even make it up on the spot,” she explained.

Props to Aid with Storytelling

There are a few props that one can keep around in order to help give visual flair to stories, and to boost their interactive component. These include paper cutting stories, where children can make their own characters with paper (you can put the finished products on popsicle sticks for sturdiness and then store for future use), and sock and finger puppets. Not only can props like this be used to represent characters in a story, but a collection of puppets or cuttings could be presented to the children with the prompt of creating their own story, or a story could be told from the point of view of one of the puppets.

Anne-Louise mentioned that she had a particular sock puppet that acted as a continual fixture in the classroom, with its own enduring character and personal sense of style (including frequently changing outfits). This puppet was a very useful tool for her and could come out during any number of instances in order to connect with a child, or to help them understand a difficult or new situation.

She finished off with some more song ideas and performances, as well as a demonstration showing that even something as simple as a string could be used as an excellent storytelling tool (the willingness to innovate is key here!).

Workshop – Student Voice, with Sophie

Next on the agenda was a collection of workshops offered by our Regional Supervisors (of these, I was able to sneak into two). Sophie, whose topic of interest was ‘Student Voice’, spoke to her attendees about how – like adults – children just want to feel that their voice is heard and that their perspectives and skills are valued by their peers and teachers.

She asked us to consider our own perceptions of effective and positive leadership, and then opened the room up so we could converse with each other and share our ideas.

Substitute Teacher Derrick explains what he's seen work for student leadership.

                                                                                                                         _    Sophie then explained that a great way of honing in on what a particular student’s interests might be (and also a great way of boosting organization and expediency in the classroom) is to have students apply for classroom jobs that can be a focus for them during their time in aftercare.
 
Do you have a particular student with a green thumb? He can be the Plant Technician in charge of making sure the classroom plants are watered. Is there someone who likes to speak up? She can be the Public Speaker in charge of conveying important announcements to the group. Other useful job ideas that Sophie provided include a Recycling Director (who helps manage classroom recycling), a Snack Captain (who helps with snack time and clean up), a Backstage Hand (who helps prep materials for projects), and a Cabinet Crew Leader (who helps keep the cabinets organized) – among many other great job possibilities!

What’s more, by allowing children to fill out an application form (see pic below), they can have the satisfaction of knowing that their job is something they have earned and that their unique skills are being recognized by their teacher. Similar to this, Sophie mentioned that teachers could provide students with the opportunity to put their classroom suggestions in a suggestion box or post an idea board on the wall (note: there MUST be acknowledgement/follow-up in order for students to feel heard and for these tools to not backfire). 

Another helpful tool for allowing students to feel empowered is to ask them to fill out an “appointment card” when they have a request for you while you’re occupied. “When you have several students coming up and saying things to you, some important things can get lost in the noise,” Sophie said. “This ensures that your children feel they have a consistent platform for expressing their opinions.” 

Keep in mind that when you are speaking directly with a child, it is vital to maintain good eye contact and to listen actively without cutting the child off. You might also try repeating students’ words back to them and then following their response with “What do you think we can do about that?”

Some other ideas to boost involvement and morale include student-run clubs (Bridlemile’s long-standing student-forged diorama club comes to mind), conducting votes when it comes to choosing games and activities, and involving children in the practice of establishing a “classroom contact” – in which everyone together chooses the guidelines for what type of behaviors and rules are appropriate for your program.

Establishing goals as a group can help people to not only feel heard, but to feel connected with each other, and by moving towards these goals using rewards and visual cues (a marble jar, for instance), the class can feel like they are always steadily progressing towards an objective of their choosing.

Involve children in these ways, and they are bound to feel less like they are part of a rigid, authoritarian environment, and more like they are a vital piece of a community that is founded on respect, recognition, and working in harmony.

Parent School Relationships, with Ann

Ann began her workshop by provoking her attendees to think about whether they were familiar with the names of their school's staff: secretary, principal, janitor, etc. She said that each school community can be compared to a little town, and that it is crucial to establish positive relationships with as many of these figures as possible, “because these are the folks who will be a resource to us when we’re in a bind.”

Ann impressed that family and caretakers can play a significant role in helping us to understand the individual needs of our students, and that forging a personal connection with them often reveals clues about how best to help the child navigate your aftercare setting. In other words, parents have often spent enough time with their child's idiosyncrasies to have discerned which tactics work best in any number of scenarios.

As a group, we then discussed what we believed were the best ways for speaking to a parent about behavioral problems, or an area where a child appears to be struggling. “It's important to pay attention to your body language,” Ann said, “and be sure to exude a positive, welcoming demeanor. “You don’t want to go charging over to a parent and launch into what a child is doing wrong.” She said to keep the positives about a child in mind while talking to a parent, and where possible to lead with a positive and end with a positive. By doing this (as with giving constructive criticism to a peer), the parent is less likely to read bias into the situation or be under the impression that they are on the receiving end of an attack.

 

Ann has the teachers experiment with communication and body language.

                                                                                                                              _
Parents appreciate when you remember and use their name. Encourage them to talk to you about any concerns they have, and be sure to follow up with specific requests (to monitor a particular behavior with a child, their progress within an area, or something like homework completion). If there appears to be a language or cultural barrier, try to learn about that family’s culture, or ask Ann/your RS for help.

Think sheets were also suggested as a great way of helping children to think through an altercation or problem, and to have something concrete to present a parent with. If an issue arises, you always want to be sure that you speak to the parent first, so as to avoid them hearing about it only from the child.

Parent Nights can be another great opportunity for connecting with and involving the parent. Some teachers voiced past success with student shows, perhaps directly including families in the process by inviting them to help with their child’s costume or a prop, or maybe providing a feature like a parent-child photo booth for the event.

Click to see Brenda's on-the-spot solution to buying Jill some time to set up for the second portion of the training...

Be sure to check back for the second portion of our training coverage! Part II: Earning Money with Modules, On Kidz Lit & Readers Theater, and Leading & Engaging Group Games.