Afterschool Answers

I would like to share a few tips with you on assigning students in your Afterschool program to teams.  It seems like having one team for each grade level would make life easier, but it does not.  It actually limits your options when it comes to accepting new students into your program to fill empty slots.  Take a look at the tables below.

Table 1: Assigning Students to Teams by Grade Level

Table 2: Assigning Students to Teams with Mixed Grade Levels

In Table 1, you only have room for one team of second graders – probably 20 students at the most.  What happens if your program suddenly becomes very popular with second graders?  In Table 2, you have room for about 30 second graders.  Mixing grade levels across teams also allows you to move students from one team to another if needed, and that can be a great relief if a conflict arises.

Here’s another tip:  schedule one or two extra students on every team.  If you are working from a grant – as so many Afterschool programs are – you probably need to meet a particular attendance requirement every day to get your maximum funding.  No matter how hard you try and how good you are at getting students to show up, someone will always be absent.  If you overbook your teams by one or two students each, you should hit your desired/required numbers every day. 

Camille Diaz Logistics, Scheduling Logistics, Scheduling, student teams

Holidays are great.  Everyone gets to celebrate and there are always loads of fun crafts to do.  While you’re gearing up to do some of those crafts, take a moment to teach at the same time.  Put together a lesson that includes a history of the holiday or one that focuses on a new art technique or style.  Perhaps you could discuss some family traditions or several different cultures.  Don’t fall into the trap of just cutting out big hearts or shamrocks or stars or whatever to decorate and stick on the wall.  The holiday gives you a hook to get students interested – don’t pass up a golden teaching opportunity.

Camille Diaz Curriculum Curriculum

How do I get my students to complete their homework?  We offer homework help every day in the cafeteria but it seems like some students are just sitting there and never finish.

We all know that homework is the one thing parents want Afterschool programs to get done before the students go home – and this is a reasonable request.  To meet this need, many Afterschool programs have all the students sit down in a large room and take as much time as they want to get homework done.  The thought behind this strategy is good, but the fact is that it doesn’t really work.

Yes, I just said that unlimited homework time in the cafeteria does not get homework done!  Students talk to each other.  They get bored.  They get distracted.  They daydream.  And, they don’t get their questions answered quickly enough.  How many times have you seen a child laying with their head on the table and their hand in waving in the air waiting and waiting for help?

There is a better way!  The problem is that the focus is gone from homework time.  If there are three hours to get homework done, homework will take three hours.  So, how do we fix this?

Regain Focus

Divide your students into smaller groups and get them into smaller quiet rooms.  Then give them only one hour to complete their homework.  Stagger their schedule so some students do homework the first hour, some the second hour, and some the third hour.  Students will focus on their homework and finish because they know they only have limited time to work.

Get Professional Help

Hire one person like a credentialed teacher to help with homework.  With smaller groups, that person will be able to help the students who need help fairly quickly.  That person should know how to group students based on their assignments for the day and tutor several at a time if they have similar questions.

Eliminate Distractions

Have pencils and other supplies at the ready so time is not wasted on searching.  Keep all the students quiet and engaged.  Provide reading books and coloring sheets for those who are finished so they do not get bored and start talking.

You and your students do not need to be slaves to homework.  These changes may take time, but by changing your homework strategy you can really improve your program.  You can be more effective in helping students complete their homework accurately and you can free up more time for other wonderful activities.

For more specifics on how to make homework time a success you can check out my article, “Seven Secrets to Making the Most of Homework Time” on the Curricubits website.

Camille Diaz Homework Homework, Logistics, Scheduling

Thanks for your great ideas on hiring, it’s very helpful. What I would like to hear about is how to keep staff after you’ve hired them, and how to help them stay interested, involved and keep their energy high for the program?

The key to retaining staff and keeping them happy is building a community.  Here are some suggestions on how to begin.

Teambuilding Activities

Find a way to turn your staff into a team.  No, not by doing “teambuilding” exercises from a book, but by consistently doing things together that everyone enjoys.  In one of my entry level jobs, all five people in our office would have lunch together almost everyday.  It gave us a chance to talk and get to know each other.  Over time, that camaraderie translated to our work.  If one person was trying to finish a project, another would ask if they could help so everyone could leave on time.  Find something fun you and your staff can do together on a regular basis.

Provide Useful Training

Most of your group leaders are not planning Read more…

Camille Diaz Staffing leadership, staff retention, staff training

Camille, I loved your post on conducting an interview.  Could you give us a sample of the questions you used in your group leader interviews?

You mean could I post the exact questions we used so you can copy them?  Of course!  Glad to help.  Just make sure you edit them to fit your program specifically, so you will get the most out of your interviews.

On our interview sheets we included notes to ourselves to make sure the interviews ran smoothly and we didn’t forget anything important.  Those notes are in italics.  The basics were included at the top: name, date, two phone numbers.  We also included a little note to self, “May we leave a message at this number?”

1.  Review application and ask any relevant questions. Then say the following …

You have applied for a position as a youth leader. This means you would be responsible for a group of 17 – 20 elementary school students. We would train you on curriculum and behavior management before you begin. Your schedule, lessons, and materials will be provided for you. Your job will be like a teacher.

We are hiring for positions Read more…

Camille Diaz Staffing hiring staff, interview questions, interviews, staff testing

Hiring Part 1: The Application

Hiring Part 2: Testing

Hiring Part 3: The Interview

Hiring Part 4: The Decision

Now that you have put in so much time and effort into testing and interviewing your newest batch of potential group leaders, how do you choose who to hire?  First, make sure you have a folder for each applicant with everything related to that person in it including their application, test, and all of your interview notes.  Then have everyone involved in the interview process sit down together and review each applicant.

 To speed up the decision process, start with your “no’s”.  Run through your list and separate out anyone who is definitely out.  Then move to the definite “yes” pile.  Are there any standouts that you don’t need to discuss much?  Now it’s time to consider the “maybe” pile.  Review their entire folder with the group.  Ask those who completed the interview with that person to share their views.  If the group is split, there is one question that you can ask to help move the process along. Read more…

Camille Diaz Staffing hiring staff