The following is a list of some ideas and general principles that can be applied when communicating with young people:

• All young people can learn, but not in the same way or at the same time.

• All young people can benefit from a caring adult taking the time to be helpful.

• All young people need to have positive experiences in school. Grades are not the only measure of success at school.

• All young people need to develop thinking skills, not just problem solving and remembering facts.

The basic rules of communication with young people can be summarized as follows:

1. Attend the speaker: - Give nonverbal clues you are listening, solicit continued input through verbal acknowledgement, and make contact. If you are doing other things while you are listening, then you are not really listening. This is the message you transmit to a person. Listening is the basis of good communication.

2. Paraphrase the speaker: - Report in your own words what you have heard from the speaker. This reduces the likelihood of misunderstanding and shows the person that you have been listening.

3. . Reflect the speaker’s feelings: - This is quite a difficult skill to master but really simple once the basic premise is understood. Success here requires you to be able to paraphrase content and then go to the next step by adding a feeling statement on the basis of what you have understood. I.e. If Mary says “I do not want to go home I hate my brother” a paraphrase would be “you hate your brother” If you want to turn this into a reflection of feeling statement add something like this “ When you talk about not wanting to go home because you hate your brother I get a real sense of fear”.

4. Summarise the conversation: - A brief summary of a conversation allows you to make sure that you have understood all the most relevant points being made by the young person. It is also another chance to eliminate misunderstandings.

5. In you role as a teacher, use self disclosure only for the benefit of the young person: - Self disclosure refers to talking about self, reporting personal experiences, sharing opinions and offering personal perceptions. In helping relationships with young people self disclosure should benefit the young person. I.e. if a young person tells you they are lonely you may say “when I went to school I was so lonely sometimes I would cry”.

6. Interpret behavior: - You must interpret or synthesize clues through personal filters. Then judgments can be made and opinions formed. Remember though to be careful do not confuse opinion with fact. This leads to conflict. But communication with young people requires you to gauge more than just the spoken word.

7. Probe sparingly: - Try to ask open ended questions with young people when probing. Avoid those types of questions that simply allow a yes or no answer. A question like “What happened to you today?” is likely to gain much more information than did you have a good day?”

8. Give constructive feedback: - The goal is not confrontation. You should try to give constructive feed back. Build on the positives do not just criticize. Do not give feedback in unsolicited circumstances unless it is your role to do so.

.About the Author:

Gary Hadler B.Ec, Dip.Ed, MBA Has had over 15 years teaching experience. He is a qualified teacher and an IB assistant examiner. To read Gary’s latest article visit http://www.tuition.com.hk/common-entrance-exam.htm http://www.tuition.com.hk/common-entrance-exam.htm” target=”_new”>UK Common Entrance Exam Information about the UK Common Entrance exam.

Posted: December 22nd, 2007 under Children, Communication, Education, Schooling.
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Raleigh, N.C.-Rosen Law Firm, one of the largest divorce firms on the East Coast, now offers its clients and their children a new therapeutic resource, Earthquake in Zipland by Zipland Interactive Ltd.

It’s the first research-based psychological computer game aimed at helping children ages 7-13 cope with divorce.

“We’ve already worked with several clients who’ve used the game with their children,’’ says Lee Rosen, a board certified family law specialist and president of Rosen Law Firm. “ When parents split, they often find themselves in challenging situations on how to communicate with their kids and Earthquake in Zipland provides them with a unique tool.”

Through the main character, Moose, the game takes children and their parents on an interactive, exploratory quest where they face challenging tasks that uncover emotions including anger, loneliness, and conflicts surrounding loyalty. The game is designed to help children better cope with their parent’s separation through improving their communication skills.

“This is a tool that recently separated or divorced parents can utilize in effectively guiding their children through a smooth transition,” says Jennifer Coleman, life transition coach with Rosen Law Firm and a national certified counselor with a background in marriage and family counseling. “Children will have fun playing this interactive game while addressing some of the emotional issues they face concerning their parents’ divorce.”

Earthquake in Zipland is based on techniques and insights drawn from a variety of fields including clinical psychology, family counseling, and child and divorce/separation therapy.

***

About Rosen Law Firm

Rosen Law Firm has offices in Raleigh, Charlotte, and Chapel Hill. Founded in 1990, the firm is dedicated to providing individual growth and support to couples seeking divorce by helping them move forward with their lives. Our staffs of attorneys and other legal professionals expertly address the complex issues of ending a marriage. Our innovative approach acknowledges that divorce is so much more than just a legal matter. Practice areas include child custody, alimony, property distribution, separation agreements, and domestic violence relief. For more information visit: http://www.rosen.com

About Zipland Interactive

Zipland Interactive is in the process of developing other high quality edutainment computer games, aimed at helping children deal with common emotional and psychological issues in day to day life. The combination of the two different fields within the group - psychology and game play - has helped to produce a unique approach that is both entertaining and effective. For more information visit: http://www.ziplandinteractive.com

Rosen Law Firm

4101 Lake Boone Trail Suite 500

Raleigh, NC 27607

www.rosen.com

Divorce is Different Here

.About the Author:

Posted: December 21st, 2007 under Marriage, Children, Kids, Divorce, Families, Law, Game, Separation, Transition, North Carolina, Rosen Law Firm, Family Law, Rosen, Firm, Raleigh, Family.
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The first step in developing a realistic stress management plan is for people to know their personal tendencies.

What works for them? What adds extra dis-stress? What is the most efficient way to approach things based upon how they learn and their personality. A learning style is a name for relatively consistent pattern of behavior showing how people learn or adapt to their environment. People are often a combination of more than one learning style, but one style usually predominates. Learning style is the way people prefer to learn. It does not have anything to do with how intelligent they are or what skills they have. There is no such thing as a “good” learning style or a “bad” learning style per se, and it is important for people to be aware of how their brain learns best in order to optimize their learning experiences.

Some environments cater more to one learning style than another. When this happens, people must know how to modify the situation to work best for them. Consider the last time you tried to learn a new computer program. Which method(s) work best for you: A) Reading the manual. B) Using the tutorial or just getting in and playing with it. C) Having someone tell you how to do it.

Another common example is getting directions. Do you find your way easiest by: A) Reading a map or written directions. B) You have to drive it to know how to get there or C) Having someone give you directions verbally (such as at a gas station). People who select “A” or “C” usually have a pretty good ability to visualize things in their head once they get the information. Their primary difference is the way the information is input–through their eyes or ears. People who select “B” are strong kinesthetic learners and benefit from actually doing things. There are three parts to the learning process: 1) cognition: how people acquire knowledge (seeing, hearing or doing), 2) conceptualization: how people process information (abstract, specific, memory pathways), and 3) affective: people’s motivation, decision-making styles, values and emotional preferences (how much does this information matter).

Learning styles (how people acquire knowledge can be conceptualized as auditory/hearing, visual/seeing, or kinesthetic/doing. . .

Tips for kinesthetic learners (learn by doing)

• Paraphrase and write-down important point as you read/talk/listen. (This is especially important if someone is trying to communicate something complicated)

• Manipulate the material through teaching or doing it whenever possible

• Use skits or acronyms to remember important ideas

• Volunteer to make posters or overheads for group presentations (or a training manual if you are learning a job)

• Manipulate the information by making multiple choice tests for yourself or applying it in different situations

• Try to relate it to something you already know how to do

Tips for auditory learners (learn by listening/hearing)

• Read your material out loud whenever possible

• Tape record your notes and listen to them while you drive, work Out etc.

• Try to partner with a visual learner if you need to borrow notes

• Listen attentively to lectures

• Try to block out extra auditory (verbal) interruptions.

• If possible, tape record the class so you do not have to worry about taking notes

• Discuss any material you are learning with a friend

Tips for visual learners: (learn by seeing/reading)

• When you read material, visualize it in your mind. Then, try to recite it from memory.

• Pay close attention to charts, graphs or diagrams and make your own

• You may find you “hear” better if people write you letters or memos

• Rewrite your notes in a format which is easy to visualize and learn such as: outlining, color coding, underlining…

• Take mental “pictures” of things that must be remembered

• Use flash cards to learn and test yourself

• Use visual memory tricks where possible: acronyms, “a friend is a friend to the end” is a way to remember how to spell the word friend

.About the Author:

Dr. Snipes received her Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling and Addictions and her PhD in Counseling and Education from the University of Florida. She is an ordained Christian minister . Currently she runs an online continuing education site http://www.allceus.com””> continuing education for rehabilitation counselors, addictions professionals, social workers and engineers and has a part-time private practice.

Posted: October 18th, 2007 under Children, Education, Teaching, Learning, Learning Style, Homeschooling.
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