2012 Northeast Region 4-H Volunteer E-Forum Program
10/29; 11/5; & 11/12 evenings: 7-8:30pm
Monday, October 29th [Lauren Traister facilitating]
1. Managing a Club with Youth of All Ages
Presenter: Jan Scholl, Associate Professor, Ag and Extension Education and 4-H Specialist
Promo: How do you work with a club with a variety of youth of different ages and interests? A little organization and resourcefulness is key! Learn a variety of techniques to make your club work less hectic and more satisfying for the youth people and for you!
Learning Objectives:
· Participants will be able to list three ways to work with a group with a variety of interests and ages.
· Participants will demonstrate the use of common, inexpensive items to aid in their club efforts.
· Participants will be able to evaluate their resources and their successes.
2. Diverse Needs: Providing Common Ground
Presenters: Connie Goble, Laryssa Hook, Holly Brooks, Kathy Lechman, Vicki Schwartz
Ohio State University Extension Educators in 4-H Youth Development
Promo: Throughout life, challenges occur that sometimes makes things difficult. When working with special needs youth, these challenges can occur every movement of every day. 4-H is a program that allows all youth an opportunity to have positive learning experiences, whether for emotional, mental, cognitive, or physical needs. Ohio State University Extension has a solid reputation of making appropriate accommodations for young people so they may participate in 4-H in a positive and safe learning environment.
Learning Objectives:
· Learn how to include all youth in the 4-H Youth Development experience regardless of any special physical, emotional, mental or cognitive needs.
· Learn ways to make adaptations for special needs youth within project skill level requirements; to provide materials, supplies, and human resources to allow the special needs youth to participate in special project skill activities.
· Provide education and assistance to educators and volunteers through trainings and resources with ways of dealing with special needs youth and to allow parents to set realistic goals for special needs youth through appropriate 4-H activities.
Monday, November 5th [Lindsay Jones facilitating]
1. Shared Leadership in 4-H Clubs: The Role of the Teen Leader
Presenter: Lauren Traister, UVM Extension 4-H Teen & Leadership Program Coordinator
Promo: Many 4-H adult volunteers receive information and training on the "Ages & Stages of Youth Development" which offers a lot of reasons to avoid programming with a multi-age groups. However, as we reach out to youth in our neighborhoods and smaller communities, a 4-H club with multi-age youth is almost always the result. One way to manage this type of club is to develop a shared leadership approach by elevating teen members into leadership roles for club and project activities. This can result in a win-win for adult volunteers, the teens, and the younger club members.
Learning Objectives:
· Identify the pros & cons of working with multi-age groups
· Understand what is shared leadership and why it can be a win-win for all
· Identify ways to share leadership of the 4-H club with your teen members
2. Dealing with Difficult People
Presenter: Dr. Ken Culp, III Principal Specialist for Volunteerism, University of Kentucky Department of 4-H Youth Development
Promo: Love ‘em or hate ‘em, parents and other volunteers are an essential component in the daily life of 4-H volunteer leaders and agents and should be considered first when developing new programs and activities. Sometimes we can’t work with parents and other volunteers, but we certainly could never work without them. As long as we work with people, we’re bound to find some who are more difficult to work with than others. This session will focus on identifying strategies to deal with difficult or challenging parents and volunteers, will address alternatives to disengagement and will outline the steps to follow when remediation is necessary or disengagement is the final option.
Learning Objectives:
· Participants will be able to identify the characteristics of difficult parents and volunteers.
· Participants will be able to recognize why "good people" sometimes do "bad things" or make "poor choices." (Determining what factors make these people difficult.)
· Participants will be able to identify five types of difficult personalities.
· Participants will practice taking the appropriate corrective action in order to effectively deal with each of the five types of difficult personalities.
Monday, November 12th [Lindy Birch facilitating]
1. Dealing with Challenging Parents
Presenter: Dr. Jim Tweedy, Associate Director of Residence Life at University of Delaware
Promo: This presentation will outline a generational approach to understanding today's youth and their parents. Helping participants understand how the cultural and historical influences across generations influences behavior and attitudes will lead to strategies for preventing challenges and diffusing anger. The presenter will offer steps for conflict resolution and make recommendations for strategies for successfully working with today's parents and youth.
Learning Objectives:
· Understand the generational differences of today's parents and youth that contribute to their attitudes and behavior.
· Outline strategies for preventing conflict.
2. Positive Parental Involvement in 4-H Youth Programming
Presenter: Deborah Fajans, UVM Extension 4-H Family & Youth Program Coordinator
Promo: Do you struggle to include positive parental support into your 4-H programming? In this workshop, we will discuss the variety of conflict situations that occur in the 4-H programming environment, and focus particularly on conflicts that arise between volunteers and parents. We will discuss the types of volunteer-parent conflict, such as level of parent involvement, parent child relationship, and general miscommunication. As a group, we will share tips and techniques for resolving conflict situations and role-play scenarios to help us all learn how to recognize and manage conflict situations in positive ways.
Learning Objectives:
· Help 4-H volunteers identify and better understand behaviors and roles that affect volunteer-parent relationships
· Learn how to redirect and properly engage overly involved parents and shift them towards child-oriented behaviors to more positively support your club program.
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