How To Work with Young Learners - A Volunteers' Guide

General Tips for Working with Young Learners

What do you do when the kids you're working with don't engage, or aren't paying attention, or fight? Our volunteers often raise questions about classroom management. 

Here's a list of tips on how to work more effectively with young students. We hope you find them useful. Feel free to add more hints, tips and stories in the comments section. 

#1 Rule: SHOW THAT YOU CARE.  

·        Show that you are a real human being who cares about your students as human beings.  You might be surprised just how much this means to them.

·        Get to know your students as more than grade-producing machines.  Talk to them about their lives and share what you are comfortable sharing about yourself.

2) LEARN THE STUDENTS’ NAMES. 

·        Make permanent nametags for the volunteers and students.  Make sure these nametags are available at the centre for every lesson.

3) WORK TOGETHER TO SET EXPECTATIONS. 

·        Involve students in setting clear guidelines, expectations, and rules for your sessions.

·        Make sure all volunteers and students are clear about the specific rules you all have for your program.  Discuss the rules amongst your volunteer team to make sure everyone understands what the rules are and why they exist.

·        Make a pledge and write it down in a public space in the centre.  Start each session by reciting the pledge together, and reference the pledge when praising good behaviour and correcting bad behaviour.  Examples of what can go on in the pledge: “I pledge to be punctual, to be kind, to be respectful, to have one conversation at a time…”

4) BE FIRM, FAIR, AND CONSISTENT.

·        Be firm, fair, and consistent in how you enforce #3. 

·        Treat all students respectfully when you do this, whether the student is the best student or the worst student.

5) HANDLE OR REDIRECT.

·        Resolve urgent situations (fighting or hitting) right away.  Ignore attention-seeking behaviour.

·        Separate students who are fighting and calm them down.  When the students are calm, bring them back together and ask them to explain to each other, quietly and respectfully, what ACTIONS the other student did and how it made them feel.  Focus on the action, not the person, and stop them and correct them if they make personal attacks or become too emotional.

·        If students seek attention, then redirect their energy with an acceptable activity, or ask them quietly to hold their idea until later when they can answer/participate/talk.

6) ALL EYES AND EARS ON ME.

·        Do not talk over students.  Wait until they are paying attention before you begin.

·        Create a standard signal, such as raising your hand and slowly counting down with your fingers, to get everyone refocused.

7) DIVIDE AND CONQUER.

·        Separate students into one-on-one situations or very small groups to promote engagement and good behaviour.

8) PRAISE THE RIGHT WAY. 

·        Praise hard work, not intelligence to show students that hard work and effort is the key to success. 

·        Be generous with your praise because many of our students do not get much positive reinforcement.

9) USE POSITIVE LANGUAGE.  

·        Always use positive language when you give feedback to students.

·        When you give feedback to a student, please phrase things positively instead of negatively.  Emphasize that the student can and should exhibit the correct behaviour as opposed to telling the student what NOT to do.  For example, “please have one conversation at a time” instead of “stop talking!” 

10) STUDENT-FOCUSED OBJECTIVES COME FIRST. 

·        When crafting lesson plans, follow these simple guidelines:

o   Craft a few clear objectives first.  Your objectives should clearly state what you want the students to learn or develop.

o   After you craft your objectives, then plan your activities.  Your activities should directly enable you to achieve your objectives.  If the activities do not lead to accomplishment of the objectives, then change the activities.

o   You should include some way to assess whether the objectives have been met.  This DOES NOT need to be a test, but rather some product or demonstration that enables students to learn and show what they have learned.

o   BIG POINT – remember that the activities are not the main goal of working with children, the objectives are!  Be flexible and focus on the objectives, the student learning, and the student enjoyment.  Finishing the lesson with no student learning is not nearly as important as students learning.

11) LEARN FROM EACH OTHER.

·        Your greatest resource is the team of volunteers around you. 

·        Make sure to observe volunteers who successfully work with difficult students. 

·        What strategies do they use?  How can you adopt some of these strategies? 

·        Be sure to regularly discuss issues and possible solutions with your volunteer team.

12) FAMILY INVOLVEMENT IS KEY.

·        Reach out to the families of your students to share good things and bad things.  Work with your Beyond Staff to decide the best platform and approach for this.

·        Ask your Beyond Staff to follow up with parents when students miss lessons.  Build student and family accountability.

·        Use ClassDojo (or a similar tech platform) to record observations about the individual student. That way, other volunteers who are also working with that student can build on your work. When doing so, focus on your observations and try to avoid judgement. Saying a students as "naughty" or "obedient isn't helpful. Instead, record what she or he did, his or her learning style, what worked or didn't work - and what we should work on the next time.

Most of all - HAVE FUN!