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3 Secrets of an Excellent Afterschool Program
Workshop by Marti Limbocker, M.Ed.
Workshop Presentation Requester: EarlyEdCon
Audience: Early childhood Afterschool professionals
Time allotted: 90 minutes - 120 minutes
Place: Marshall Simonds Middle School, Burlington, MA
When: Saturday, October 21, 2017, 8 am-3:30 pm
Introduction- 10 minutes
●Quiet music
●Introduce each other and discuss problems with Afterschool briefly
KeyNote Presentation - 5 minutes
Provides a quick overview of workshop
Focus on three areas specifically:
- Engaging students
- Homework help
- Mixing activities
SECRET #1 - Engaging Students - 30 minutes total
Play board game (Uno or checkers); Art activity (color mandalas); Play wellness game (physical) - 10 minutes for each activity. Workshop participants rotate through all three activities. 30 minutes total.
Discuss different kinds of activities and their appeal. What is appealing about each of these activities and why? How do they keep students engaged? - 10 minutes
SECRET #2 - Homework Help - 30 minutes total
We will discuss the bulleted points and I’ll give examples of each.
●Use timer to motivate
●Help, don’t do
●Work in chunks; do not do all at once
●Provide example to follow
●Use hands-on manipulatives
●Use graphic organizers
●Take pride in completed work. Praise whenever possible.
●Be aware - no child is lazy! Encourage, encourage, encourage!
●Take turns reading aloud; re-read directions with child
SECRET #3 - Mixing Activities - 30 minutes total
Participants will get a survey (15 minutes) to see what their intelligence is. We will discuss in detail when I introduce Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. This will provide a framework so workshop participants understand the reason why it’s necessary to mix it up for kids: that every child has a different way to learn and different strengths. Children will learn more easily when their strengths are targeted and there will be fewer disciplinary problems because children will be able to complete the required tasks.
●Provide mix of academics, hands-on exercises, interest-based learning and social skills-building. What does this look like? How does it work?
●Schedule activities; predictability preferred
Conclusion - Discussion, lingering questions, comments