Ask a trainer: What are your ideas for using state changes in the classroom?

WhyTry Training Consultant Steve Robinette answers:

When a teacher is actively using state changes in the classroom, time moves quickly, everyone has fun, and the students want to come back because they’ve had a great experience. But before we go into how to make state changes successful in your classroom, let’s talk about what they are.

What is a state change?
The whole idea of a state change is to get kids (or adults) engaged early and keep them engaged throughout your lesson. It’s continually switching the sensory focus from visual to auditory to body kinesthetic and back again. This keeps students’ attention and gives them the opportunity to learn more as they tap into all their senses.

Why do we need state changes?
Some studies have shown that elementary-age children have an attention span during lectures of four to six minutes. Our attention span grows as we get older, but even in adulthood, most of us struggle after 12 minutes.

When I ask teachers if they’ve ever lost students’ attention during an important lesson, they always laugh and say, “Yes!” So in WhyTry trainings, I tell them we’re going to model state changes during the training and move on. Halfway through the day, I stop. “OK,” I’ll say, “I want you to think back on the day so far and point out all the state changes I’ve used.” They’ll be surprised that the day’s already half gone, because I try to switch gears every 8 to 10 minutes to keep the group’s attention.

How WhyTry makes state changes easier
When you keep WhyTry’s 3 R’s in mind (Relationship, Relevance, and Resilience), state changes start to come naturally. For example, if I’m trying to develop a relationship with my students, I’m going to tell personal stories, engage them in activities that help me get to know them better, and encourage art and journal prompts that help me better understand who they really are. If I want to show them the relevance of what I’m teaching, I’ll use music that can help them make a personal connection to the lesson and show YouTube videos or movie clips that they can relate to. All of these things are state changes, and when we’re constantly engaging them in this way, it builds resiliency.

A few ideas

1. Use good framing.
Make everything you do exciting. Instead of using the boring frame of, “Children, we have an activity now,” engage students in activities by framing them as challenges, experiments, and competitions.

2. Do the unexpected.
When you start to lose students’ attention, do something completely unexpected to wake them up. For example, when I’m teaching the WhyTry lesson “Desire, Time, and Effort,” I’ll say, “OK, we have a personal challenge. We’re going for the world record and we have a maze we’re going to do.” Then I’ll run across the room throwing the papers everywhere and say, “You have 20 seconds! Go!” This simple state change gets them back on track, re-focuses them, and increases heart rate and oxygen flow.

3. Surrender the One-up Relationship.
Sometimes I’ll tell the kids, “Let’s not talk about ‘stuff.’ We talk about ‘stuff’ all the time. Can I just tell you a story about something that happened to me once? We’ll get back to ‘stuff’ later.” I go sit down with them and start talking, and suddenly we’re all just a group of kids. A lot of WhyTry’s “Surrendering the One-up Relationship” strategies are also great state changes.

4. Have them stand up.
A lot of times when I do an activity, I’ll have the students stand up whether or not the activity requires this. By standing up, they’re moving a bit and getting some oxygen flowing. This makes the time pass quickly and helps them focus.

5. Prepare in advance.
Have an arsenal of state changes prepared beforehand. If the kids are not making connections and you’re starting to lose them, it’s time to pull another one out.

6. Engage early and often.
My final piece of advice for creating a “state-changing classroom” is to engage EARLY, and engage OFTEN. It certainly requires more effort on our part, but as educators, I think we can all agree that the kids are worth it.

Steve Robinette is a WhyTry training consultant who has worked with youth and adults in a number of settings. For more information on state changes, contact us at 866.949.8791, or share your own state-changing ideas with us in the comments below.

Natural viagra alternatives

Ask a trainer: “What are some of the most common roadblocks teachers face with WhyTry?”

WhyTry Trainer Steve Robinette answers:

At almost every training, people seem to have at least one of three concerns:

1. How do I get everyone else on board?

2. How do I change the students who don’t want to change?

3. I still don’t feel prepared to go back to my school and implement this perfectly. What should I do?

In this article, I’ll be addressing these three roadblocks and hopefully helping you see your own personal roadblocks from a new perspective.

1. How do I get everyone else on board?

Not getting buy-in from teachers, administrators, or other staff members is one of the biggest roadblocks out there. People come to the trainings and say, “I feel like I’m the only one in my school that is really excited about this.” Often there’s a rift between teachers, counselors, and administration, or an administrator will task someone with the job of going to the training and implementing the program but doesn’t get involved in any other way.

It can be difficult to get a program up and running when you don’t feel support from colleagues. Program implementation is always more effective when there’s support and, more importantly, involvement from the top down, and in an ideal world there always would be. But when making change happen, you can only put your energy and focus on one person: you. Don’t worry about who else is jumping on board. Focus on making a change where you stand right now. You can control that.

Bigger overall implementation can feel daunting at times, especially without the support and involvement you’re hoping for, but here’s what you do: Find a child and create a positive moment. Then find another child and create another positive moment. That’s something you can do every day without any outside help. And before you know it, you’ll have a collective set of positive moments that combine to create positive momentum. Others will see what you’re doing and want to join you. That’s the essence of change: Focusing on controlling yourself, then watching as your sphere of influence starts to expand.

A quick note to administrators here: When you’re actively supporting and engaged, you’re an asset to change in your school. When you are limited in your involvement, you’re a liability. Don’t limit yourself and blame your staff. Get involved!

2. How do I change the students who refuse to change?

Again, we can’t control when the student changes or even if they will change for the positive. The reality is, some kids will never change. Our reality is, we don’t know whom or when, so we don’t give up on any kids. We never know what student will hear something we say on a particular day and have an “a-ha” moment in their life that sparks a change. So we stay positive. We stay focused. We stay engaged with every child every day, so when that moment happens, we’re prepared.

It’s easy to get frustrated about our inability to control the decisions and actions of our students. The main change that needs to take place is with yourself. Let the curriculum become part of who you are. When that happens, your kids will respond in miraculous ways. They’ll see the change in you. They’ll feel your caring and understanding and intent to help them rather than change or fix them.

This roadblock and the previous one both come down to changing your mindset. When I explain this to people, I see a big sigh of relief and this expression that says, “Oh, so I don’t have to change the world.” Because you can’t. But you can change you.

3. I still don’t feel prepared to go back to my school and implement this perfectly. What should I do?

After attending a training, many teachers worry that they won’t be able implement the program exactly like their trainer showed them. The truth is, we trainers have had years of practice. There’s no way you can be totally prepared to teach perfectly after two days of training. The only way to get better is to put your fears aside, roll up your sleeves, and get in the game. You’ll get better as you go. But as long as your intent is always to help the kids, they won’t recognize your improved delivery. They’ll be focused instead on your constant intent to “surrender the one-up relationship” with them. That’s the first and best thing you can do when you’re getting started.

Don’t be afraid to stumble a few times. In the “Jumping Hurdles” lesson, we teach students to learn from their mistakes, and we should do the same. Pick yourself up, shake off the dust, and keep learning. We don’t get better by sitting in the sidelines waiting to become perfect.

Again, I challenge you today to create a positive moment in a child’s life. Then I challenge you to do it again. I promise this will create positive momentum, spreading your influence from yourself to the entire community.

I realize that some of the roadblocks are technical. Don’t be afraid to call the WhyTry Office for help. Other roadblocks have to do with teaching. Don’t be afraid to call your trainer. We’re here as your resource for life. Let us be on this journey with you.

Steve Robinette is a WhyTry trainer and professional consultant. For help with your own WhyTry roadblocks, contact us at 866.949.8791.

Meet the WhyTry Training Team

They love what they do. They’re passionate about youth success. And they’re wholly converted to the WhyTry Program. Here’s what this talented group has to say about what they see in WhyTry:

Chris Brown:

“I truly feel that the WhyTry Program is the umbrella and/or starting point of a comprehensive education. Aristotle said, “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education… WhyTry is about the HEART and Relationships. It’s about life skills and how math, english and the sciences must be relative to understanding and appreciating each of our worlds. It is about courage and getting up every time we get knocked down. Rocky said it best in this clip: http://youtu.be/_Z5OookwOoY”

Gina Purcell:

“WhyTry is a program designed to motivate children and youth (as well as adults) using videos, music, visual analogies, and activities. It is unusual in the sense that the methods implemented are very effective yet rarely used. I used the program with youth for 9 years and it was very effective in motivating youth, helping build relationships with them, and teaching them basic life skills. One of my favorite things about this program is that it’s not just giving kids skills to get kids through school, it’s giving them skills to get through life.”

Steve Robinette:

“WhyTry is much more than social/emotional curriculum for youth who are at risk. WhyTry helps kids and adults at all levels in life to take a look in the mirror and build a game plan for their future starting day one. Many educators have told me that their experience with WhyTry has not only helped how they work with their kids but has been a life changing experience for them as well!”

Bruce Bushnell:

“This program teaches social and emotional life skills in a multi-sensory approach, catering to all the learning styles. We’re helping students look at their challenges differently and helping them turn their challenges into positive motivation. Essentially, we’re helping them answer the question, “Why put effort into life?”

Mark Fuller:

“The key in helping our youth is to make today relevant. That’s what most teachers are trying to do for their students day in and day out. And the WhyTry Program helps them meet that goal.”

To learn more about the varied and inspiring backgrounds of the WhyTry trainers, click here.