Youth Work Resources - Page 6 of 27

Building Apps And Websites – Youth Work Session Plan Idea

May 10, 2012 By Stephen Pepper Leave a Comment

Times are a-changing. When I finished school in 1996, we still hand-wrote everything and the extent of our contact with computers at school was a 1 hour a week IT lesson. No one really used the internet, cell phones were only just starting to become popular and Google was just a research project.

Nowadays, it’s so important for youth to have a good understanding of technology, as even the most basic jobs require some element of computer usage. Schools are now doing their best to prepare youth with computer skills, although this often simply involves learning Word, Excel, etc.

This week’s youth work session plan is aimed at giving them extra skills and – even better – is learning they may actually get excited about as it will help them build apps and websites.

Wait! Don’t stop reading! You may be wondering “How am I supposed to teach youth how to build apps and websites if I don’t know how to do it myself?” And the answer is – let someone else teach them.

This doesn’t have to mean bringing someone experienced in these areas to teach them these skills. There are a couple of new initiatives that teach anyone to code for free – all you need is computers for the youth to use and they’ll do the rest. If your youth work project has a limited number of computers available, these sessions may need to have restricted numbers of youth involved.

Code Year

Code Year is an initiative run by Codeacademy and gives free coding lessons each week. All you need to do when signing up is to give them an email address to send the lesson to – you could either have youth enter their own email address, or set up new ones for them using Gmail, Hotmail or any other free email provider.

Every Monday, Code Year will send an email with that week’s coding lesson. The email contains a link to that week’s lesson online – it starts with the basics that are nice and straightforward to learn, even if you’re a complete beginner. To make it even more fun, there are two parts to the lessons. The first part is based on learning code, while the second part teaches you how to built an app step-by-step.

Part of the genius of Code Year is that they’ve gamified learning how to code. The youth earn points for every task they complete successfully, as well as badges for different achievements (e.g. completing the first lesson, completing 10 exercises, completing 25 exercises, etc). This can greatly incentivize the youth into continuing the lessons as it gives them a far greater sense of achievement and provides them with the praise they need.

These lessons are currently set to go on for 52 weeks, so Code Year could basically be an entire year’s worth of youth work sessions, if building apps and websites is what you wanted to focus on with your young people. At the time of writing, the Code Year website advised that there are almost half a million people learning to code through Code Year, so there are many people getting a lot out of this.

Best of all – not only is Code Year free but it’s also available to anyone worldwide, provided they have a computer and email address. This kind of course could therefore help revolutionize tech learning in countries where youth would have no other way of gaining these skills.

Codecademy

As mentioned above, Code Year is run by Codecademy. If your youth enjoy the Code Year experience and are hungry for even more learning, they can skip ahead on the Codecademy website instead of waiting for the weekly emails.

These lessons are ultimately the same as the ones they’ll receive through Code Year, but it means they can complete far more exercises each time rather than having to wait a week for the next lesson. My understanding of Code Year though is that it gives a broader range of coding lessons each week, so would probably be more fun for youth than having them simply working through all the exercises on the Codecademy site.

Having said that, Codecademy enables young people to keep track of how well their friends are progressing (if they want to), adding a competitive element. They can also keep track of their own progress and see how quickly they’re moving through all the exercises – something else that will help keep them motivated.

If your young people keep at this, soon enough they’ll have learned the skills they need to start building apps and websites – skills that could be incredibly valuable in the modern world.

We have all kinds of other youth work session plan ideas in addition to this one to help you run programs for your young people.

Question: Have you had your youth use Code Year or Codecademy? If so, how did they find it? We’d really like to hear about your – and their – experiences in the comments below.

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How To Create A Youth Behavior Policy

May 9, 2012 By Shae Pepper Leave a Comment

Last week we discussed how to manage youth behavior and how a youth behavior policy can help with program administration. Creating a good behavior policy for your project is all about helping youth understand your expectations, acceptable and unacceptable behaviors and the consequences that will apply should the group agreement be broken.

Check out our guide below on how to create a youth behavior policy:

Set expectations from the start

This will create clear boundaries for youth to stay within. One way to do this is by having a written youth behavior policy that both young people and their parents review and sign. In our example provided at the end of this post, there is a space for both parent and youth signatures. When you create the group agreement, take the time to go over the youth behavior policy and make sure that all the young people involved in the project understand all parts of the policy.

Include positive expectations around participation. Outline exactly what is considered ‘participation’ within your project. Do youth just need to be present? Do they need to answer questions or participate in games? What does ‘participation’ look like for you?

Be specific when identifying both behaviors and consequences within the youth behavior policy

Let the youth know exactly what is going to happen should they break the team agreement. I’m a firm believer in being given an opportunity for a second chance. In my program administration, I work hard to provide clear boundaries and also opportunities for improvement, growth and change.

In the example youth behavior policy provided below, you will see there are reminders and warnings before action is taken in the case of most negative behaviors (with the exception of zero-tolerance behaviors which are also clearly outlined in the policy, along with their immediate consequence). I choose to give reminders and warnings for each specific type of negative behavior, rather than just having negative behavior accumulate rapidly resulting in a youth’s loss of attendance.

Below is an example of how this looks in practice; you might find it helpful to open the example document and read along in the ‘Behavior, Attitude and Consequences’ section.

For example, Jon has been swearing and I’ve given him a verbal reminder; he then calls someone a name. Rather than jumping to provide him with a verbal warning, I will provide him with a verbal reminder about that specific behavior. If he swears again, he will receive a warning for swearing. If he calls someone a name he will then receive a warning for name calling. He won’t receive vague threats about what might happen. I clearly remind him at every step what the next step will be. “Jon, I want to let you know that this is your final warning about swearing, if you swear again, you will receive a written warning and that will mean you won’t be able to attend the project next week, but you will be able to return the following week. Keep that in mind, ok?” Whatever the behavior is that results in Jon getting a written warning, it will be outlined in the letter provided to him and his parents. He won’t receive a vague letter about ‘negative behavior’ – it will clearly outline what he did incorrectly, what steps were taken before his written warning and the exact incident that resulted in him receiving the written warning.

A good youth behavior policy should enhance your youth work and program administration, not make it more challenging. It should help you be a more fair and consistent youth worker, while also providing clear boundaries for the youth on your programs.

Here is the example youth behavior policy referenced above. We hope that it provides a basis for creating your own behavior policy for your youth work.

Question: What items would you/do you include or exclude from your own youth behavior policy? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

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How To Manage Youth Behavior

May 2, 2012 By Shae Pepper Leave a Comment

How to manage behavior in your youth group — Make sure there’s nothing foggy about your behavior management

Knowing how to manage youth behavior in your youth group is an important part of program administration. A group agreement outlines the expectations for the group and helps you manage youth behavior within the program (see yesterday’s post for more information on what a group agreement is).

Enforcing a group agreement usually happens within the group itself. The youth help create the expectations for the group and you help create the expectations for enforcement. When creating the group agreement, ensure the youth know that they’re responsible for helping each other follow it.

Unfortunately, positive peer pressure isn’t always enough. If you consistently have one or more young people who are struggling to follow the expectations of the group as set out by the group agreement, as the program leader you may need to have other ways to manage youth behavior. While each youth is different and therefore the exact particulars of their behavior management may be different, it’s important that youth know the overall boundaries and basic processes you’ll use when correcting unacceptable behavior.

Creating a behavior policy is an important step to manage youth behavior that often gets forgotten in youth work program administration. This can be particularly true within youth ministry and other faith-based programming, where the emphasis in interactions often focuses on giving second chances, forgiveness, grace and mercy.

That’s not meant as a criticism for those programs – those are important parts to any good youth work, not just faith-based programs. Sometimes for the safety, enjoyment and progress of the rest of the group though, there needs to be a clear understanding of ‘how far is too far’ and what will happen as a result of their actions.

A youth behavior policy should be based on your organization’s wider policies and procedures. Some programs may not allow smoking of any kind, so you should include that as a zero-tolerance item on your group agreement. Within your youth behavior policy, you’d then identify what happens when zero-tolerance behaviors occur and what the consequences will be.

Using a behavior policy as part of your program administration doesn’t have to be this oppressive, draconian thing that encourages youth to fear you. Transparency in the process of managing youth behavior, with both the group agreement and your program’s behavior policy, is the key to creating boundaries without fear or resentment.

Here are three things to remember when using a youth behavior policy and how transparency in the process will help your program administration:

Write it down – Everyone has a bad day. And when the same youth does the same thing for the 15th time, it can be easy to give a consequence that is disproportionate to the unacceptable behavior. By writing the policy down, it will help keep you on track – even on rough days – and provides security within the group by facilitating trust. They will understand that you won’t create new expectations on a whim, that you will do what you say you’re going to do and they will be be able to see it because it’s there in black and white.
Get signatures – Have both the youth AND their parents sign that they have read and understand the youth behavior policy at the start of the program. You can provide a copy of your written policy for them to keep when you give them their permission slips or entry forms for participation. Make sure that everyone has a good chance of understanding your policy by using appropriate language and phrasing. By getting signatures, you create accountability within the group. They won’t be able to say ‘I didn’t know that’ or ‘You never said that’. This helps make sure everyone is on the same page from the start.
Follow It – There’s no point in writing down a policy and getting everyone to agree to it if you don’t follow what it says. As I mentioned earlier, their uniqueness means you’ll sometimes need different methods for helping to manage youth behavior during the session. Following your policy creates fairness within the group. By following your policy fairly and consistently, you’ll help your youth see that you don’t play favorites or discriminate. Everyone recieves the same treatment.

Tomorrow, we’ll be providing a youth work session plan idea on how to create a group agreement with your youth. Next Wednesday, we’ll provide a guide on how to create a youth behavior policy and provide you with an example policy.

Question: What do you think about creating a behavior policy for your youth program? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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What Is A Group Agreement?

May 1, 2012 By Shae Pepper Leave a Comment

Youth group agreement — Creating a group agreement means everyone is setting expectations together

Q: What is a group agreement?

A: A group agreement (sometimes also called a youth group contract) is a document that outlines what the expectations of the group are for the time they are meeting together.

You might be thinking to yourself, “Wait, isn’t a group agreement just ‘the rules’? I already have those, so check you later Youth Workin’ It.”

Some might consider a group agreement, ‘the rules.’ The key difference between a group agreement and ‘rules’ comes in the creation and enforcement.

Rules are often top down. They’re usually created and enforced by the person in charge. A group agreement though is created by the entire group. They decide what goes on and discuss why it’s important for the group.

Creating a Group Agreement

Creating a youth group agreement takes time and discussion. It needs ownership and participation from all the youth to work well. You’re a part of the group as well and can therefore make sure that any zero-tolerance items end up on the list. But again, do so conversationally. For example, with a no alcohol ‘rule’, explore why it’s important to the youth that everyone comes sober.

When creating a group agreement try to keep items positive. Instead of a list of ‘NOs’, try to create a list of positive activities that everyone agrees to. From our previous example, instead of ‘No alcohol’, try ‘Come to group sober’. Instead of ‘No put-downs’, try ‘Speak kindly’. The youth will probably give you a list of ‘NOs’ – take the time to help them create a list of ‘YESs’.

Once a group agreement is created have everyone sign it. Yourself included. When new group members join have them review and sign the agreement too.

Enforcing a Group Agreement

Enforcing a youth group agreement is just as important as creating one. Don’t always be the one to enforce the expectations set by the group. It’s the group’s agreement, not your rules. Everyone is encouraged to give positive peer pressure to adhere to the group agreement they created together. If you have a youth team leader on a project within your program, encourage them to also take the lead in helping remind the group about the group agreement.

Refer to it often, even when no one is breaking it. Praise the group when they are following the agreement. It’s often easy to only notice when a youth is breaking a part of the group agreement, but take the time to praise individuals and the group when they’re working well and following the group agreement.

Tomorrow, we’ll talk about how group agreements help manage youth behavior. On Thursday, we’ll provide a youth work session plan for creating a group agreement, so check back!

Question: Do you think a group agreement is different from ‘rules’? Why or why not? Share your answers in the comments below.

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3 Free Online Storage Options For Youth Workers

April 25, 2012 By Stephen Pepper Leave a Comment

Are you tired of never having access to the files you need for your youth work? Do you get home from work, only to realize a document you need is saved on your work computer? Or you’re at work but the document you need is on a USB flash drive in your coat pocket at home?

Or even worse – your computer’s crashed and you hadn’t backed it up, meaning all the important documents on your hard drive are gone forever. Templates, youth work session plans, photos from youth events – gone.

Don’t put yourself through this. There are so many free online storage options where you can backup all of your important youth work documents, there’s no need to risk a hard drive failure wiping all your work. The best thing of all is that these online storage options enable you to access your files from any computer. No more getting home and not being able to access your documents because they’re on the work computer.

Here are three of the most popular and trustworthy options. As with all things though, it’s best not to put all your eggs in one basket. I’d therefore suggest taking advantage of all three of these online storage options. You could do this by keeping all your documents saved on all three services, or splitting your documents out so that photos are on one service, templates on another, etc.

1) Google Drive

Google Drive has finally been launched – there had been rumors of this service for years and it’s finally here. At launch, they’re offering 5GB of storage for free. You can pay a monthly fee to increase the storage space, ranging from $2.49 a month for 25GB to $799.99 a month for 16TB of storage (kudos if you own enough documents to necessitate that much storage space!)

Here’s a brief video from Google that explains what Google Drive is about:

2) Dropbox

Dropbox is a service we’d featured previously in our list of online tools to help your youth work. Dropbox is another online storage option that offers 2GB of free storage, but is great due to how simple it is to use.

You can increase the amount of online storage you get with Dropbox in a couple of ways. One is to pay for it – $9.99 a month for 50GB or $19.99 a month for 100GB.

The other way is to get free storage. You do this by referring other users to Dropbox – you get 500MB for every referral, up to a maximum of 16GB. Not only do you get a bonus 500MB, but the person you referred also gets 500MB free. If you’re planning on signing up, feel free to use this link for both of us to get the 500MB free.

3) Skydrive

Skydrive is the online storage option from Microsoft. With Skydrive, you get 7GB of free storage, so the most of the three options we’ve listed.

Similar to Google Drive and Dropbox, Skydrive offers larger storage space if you’re willing to pay – $10 a year for 20GB, $25 a year for 50GB and $50 a year for 100GB. These prices therefore compare very favorably to Google Drive and Dropbox.

Question – Which of these online storage options do you use for your youth work admin? Let us know in the comments below.

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