Teachers and Counselors Here’s the #1 Intervention That Difficult and At Risk Students Can’t Resist
Here’s a hint: It’s an intervention that everyone has, but many
of us forget to use. It’s a method that is practically guaranteed
to capture your students’ interest and attention, and to make
them more likely to receive and remember your message. What is it?
It’s the same thing that just motivated you to keep reading this
article: Curiosity. It’s such a powerful technique, yet so
seldom used. Reaching troubled and problem youngsters is
tough. We need to be sure that we are utilizing all the best
techniques, so here are a few new strategies that use curiosity
to hammer home your message:
Street Closed, Details at 11
Don’t you hate those teases that the local news
channels do? They tell you that a major street
is closed by saying “Main thoroughfare shut.
Will you be able to get to work tomorrow?
Find out at 11.” You are dying to know if the
closure will affect you, aren’t you? Curiosity
truly can compel your attention. Adapt those
news previews to your site. For example, you
could make an announcement or post a sign that
says: “Get an ‘A’ on the next quiz. Find out how
3rd Period.” or “What silly joke will Mr. Gomez
tell during Math? Be there to find out.” These
easy-to-do interventions will not only generate
a buzz, but a side benefit is the way they can
create a welcoming, fun or warm atmosphere
for your students. Counselors, it’s easy to
adapt this device for group counseling sessions.
To develop team spirit and to help group
members become more open, you could make an
announcement like this: “Within the first 5
minutes of Group, Ms. Leeds (the counselor) will
reveal one of her most embarrassing moments
in high school. Be on time to find out.”
A Voice From the Future
Normally in life, there aren’t very many
opportunities to actually to learn from the
future, so this intervention is a curiosity in that
regard, but also in other ways. This intervention
can be implemented in a high tech manner, or a
lower tech way. Ask students to write letters to
themselves from the future. So, for example,
ask freshman to write letters to themselves as
though they were graduating seniors. The low
tech implementation requires that you save the
letters and mail or deliver them in several years.
The high tech method is easier. There are services
that will deliver the letter at whatever time you
select. One such service has been in the news
lately: http://futuremail.bensinclair.com. When
students are writing their letters, steer them
to craft thoughtful, emotional, or inspirational
creations.
There’s No Substitute for This
This has been an incredibly popular method.
This strategy can instantly improve the
behavior that your students show when they
have a substitute teacher in their classroom–
and their curiosity is the reason why this
technique almost never fails. The day before
you anticipate having a sub in your classroom,
get enough envelopes so that you have one for
each student. You will also need a roll of duct
tape. When your students arrive the next day,
there should be an envelope taped to each
youngster’s desk. Have the sub inform the
class that inside each envelope is some type of
goodie. All the students who have good behavior
will be allowed to open their envelopes when the
teacher returns, and will get the goodie. All the
students who have problem behavior will not
get the goodie, and will not be allowed to even
look inside the envelope. It is your choice what
to select for goodies. You can offer extrinsic
rewards like “Get Out of Class Early” passes, or
intrinsic rewards like going for a walk together,
or you can offer a mixture of both types. You
should customize each goodie to fit each student.
Substitute teachers absolutely adore this approach,
and report that it completely transforms the
behavior they get in the classroom.
The Phrase of the Day
This is an intervention that is so much fun
and you can use it every day. This strategy
has several benefits. First, it creates a
wonderful, friendly atmosphere. Second,
it can lessen the tension that some youngsters
can feel during the time they spend in a
difficult class. Third, students will begin
paying careful attention to the verbiage
that occurs because they are curious
about what is going to happen, and when.
Here’s the intervention: Each day, ask
one student to select the “Phrase of the
Day” from the verbiage heard in class.
Give that student a loud bell or air horn
to signal the class at the moment someone
has spoken the new “Phrase of the Day.”
The selection is completely up to the
student, but the entire class will be
expectantly waiting for the alert that
the phrase was selected. At the end of
class, students can compete to see who
still remembers the exact “Phrase of
the Day.” You can consider offering a
prize to the winner, or even better,
let the winner be the person who gets
to choose the next day’s “Phrase of
the Day.”
What Might Be
Ask students to detail the activities that they
don’t want to do at your site. Have students
list those activities in a column on one side
of a page. Next, ask your students to
determine what they would be in life if they
could be anything they wanted. Have students
list those responses in a second column. Next,
write this sentence on the board, and read
it to your students: “My job is to get you to
do what you don’t want to do so you can
become what you do want to become.” Discuss
the sentence in conjunction with the students’
two columns, assisting students to realize
that your job is to help them reach their goals,
and their job is to remember that, and act
accordingly.
Want More Creative Strategies Like These?
We have hundreds more, many of them completely free
to view and use. Visit our web site http://www.youthchg.com
if you want much more free follow-up information and strategies.