Classroom Management

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Something important to think about when volunteering in a classroom full of high school students is classroom management. While we haven’t had many issues with this we think it’s important to give you some tools to fall back on if our high school students are well, being high school students!

We also understand that it can be intimidating or nerve-wracking to lead a classroom of high school students. The good news is our students have signed up for our program so they want to be there! The flipside is they are still high school students so if they are displaying any behaviors that are disruptive to the class then here are some tips below. (Please also let us know if there are any issues and we are happy to help as well!)

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

• Set Expectations and Be the Leader

• Be Authentic

• Share Your Story

• Show You Care

• Have Fun!

Set Expectations and Be The Leader

• We have provided a list of “Expectations for the Classroom Sessions” in the student workbook before Session 1. We’ve also put in the instructor’s manual to go over this with students in session.

• You want to set the expectations from the very start so students know what the expectations are and how to meet those (we will be communicating this as well). Make sure to also be consistent or the expectations lose their power.

• Someone has to be in charge and that’s you. They will look to you to lead the session.

Be Authentic

• High school students can smell someone being inauthentic from miles away.

• If you are nervous, let them know you are nervous or if you make a mistake, own up to it. They will not only relate to this, they will respect you for it.

Share Your Story

• This closely relates to being authentic. The more you share your story the more students will feel comfortable opening up about themselves and really engaging in this program.

• Telling your story allows students to connect with you over related experiences and to learn from you in the areas that they differ.

• Often the feedback we get from students is they love to hear how our volunteers started their careers, what they love about their jobs, what challenges they’ve faced, and where they’ve traveled to for work (or pleasure!).

Show You Care

• While you are of course there to teach the session, as teachers know, being in high school can be challenging and students’ personal lives can sometimes creep into the classroom.

• If you see a student who is upset or seems to be dealing with something (if you are comfortable and able to) ask her if she is okay and if she wants to go talk just outside the classroom. If the student is facing something serious please let the school champion or us know and we will take it from there.

• Pro tip: If a student is talking about a big test they are studying for or a sports game they are looking forward to, remembering this and asking her how it went in the next session always scores major points!

Just because they may look uninterested, bored, or not listening doesn’t mean that’s the case

• High school students are social creatures so it’s hard for them to resist the urge to talk to their friend while you are talking or to remember not to have their phones out unless needed for an activity. Please see the next page for some tips on how to deal with these!

• Students have a range of personalities. Sometimes students are shy, some take a couple of session to open up, or they may just be tired! If they are showing up they want to be there

• The more you are enjoying yourself the more they will. Our lessons are guidelines so feel free to add your own spin on something or some personal flare.

Notes: