It may be a new year, but you are probably still dealing with the same
old "kid problems." The bad attitudes, disrespect, peer conflict,
lying, school failure or family problems didn't change when you flipped
the page on the calendar. Don't let last year's problems create another
difficult year. Resolve to stop using last year's failed solutions, and
instead substitute updated, more effective methods like those
contained in our books, instant ebooks, workshops and web site. This
may be the right moment to stop using methods that didn't work well
in 2005, and will fare no better in 2006. If you don't decide now to
switch to updated, more effective methods, you may continue to
find your job discouraging and frustrating, and your students may
continue to struggle and be very hard to manage. What better time to
make the switch than as you flip the page on the calendar? You might
actually discover that working with difficult kids doesn't have to be
so difficult. Resolve in 2006 to try these 6 new ideas to replace
some of those worn-out, failed interventions that you should
leave behind in 2005:

1. Chronic Problems Don't Have to Be Chronic

Classic chronic problems-- like students misbehaving when they
need help-- do not have to be "the way it is." You can change
chronic problem areas, and you should, because these problems
take a huge toll on you, and on your students.

RESOLVE to Stop Chronic Problems
Here is a brand new intervention to use with students
who act out when they need help in class: Teach your
students "1, 2, 3, Help Me." It's a system that students
can use to easily communicate with you when they
need help. "1" means "I can do it on my own." "2" means
"I need help starting," and "3" means "I'm going to need
help the whole way through." Now, even non-verbal
students can easily get help without acting-out.

2. Stop Guessing What to Do

Do you want your doctor guessing how to cure your illness?
No, you want her to know what to do. Are you guessing why
children are mute or absent? Do you wonder how to contain
severe acting out? Guessing is often ineffective and can be
dangerous. If you have to guess a lot, it may be a sign that
your training may not have sufficiently equipped you to
understand the increasingly serious emotional and behavior
problems that today's students present.

RESOLVE to Stop Guessing
If you use the same generic interventions with your entire
broad range of students, that's like having a single
wrench in your tool box. You would have to use that wrench
when you really needed a screwdriver or a hammer. How
well would that work? Upgrade your skills with your
students to fit all the different types of students and
problems that you work with. Start with conduct disorders
since conventional methods like character ed, can actually
make them much worse-- and these are already your
hardest-to-manage students. Visit this link to get the
introductory basics: http://www.youthchg.com/hottopic.html.

3. Stop Relying on Talk

Students only remember what you say for about 30
minutes, and even then, they tend to remember only about
about half of what you said. Verbiage is not the best
access channel to reach all students so stop making it your
sole or primary approach.

RESOLVE to Use a Wider Range of Modalities
Here is a dynamite intervention that doesn't rely on what
you say. It gets the job done better than mere speech.
It's our popular Poster #37, "If You're Rude, You're
Our Dude," reduced in size to become a handout. If
you click the link, you will be able to open the handout
and then print it to use with your students. It is from
our brand new "Behavior Change Handouts: Becoming
a Motivated and Prepared Student and Worker" ebook.
This series has nearly all our dynamic handouts and you
can own and print them in just seconds. You can find
the ebook at http://www.youthchg.com/printable.html.
You can get the handout version of Poster #37 right
here if you have PDF software on your computer:
http://www.youthchg.com/poster37.pdf. If you need
PDF software, get it free at
http://www.adobe.com/pro … step2.html

4. Explore the Endless New Tools that Exist

If your tool box contained just a wrench, you'd be so
happy to discover hammers and screwdrivers. That
analogy may apply to the tools you are using to teach or
counsel. Are you aware that there is an endless supply
of more effective interventions that could make your
job easier and your students more successful?

RESOLVE to Try 1 New Intervention Every Week
Here is an easy way to get 52 new methods incorporated
into your skill set. Add a new, improved technique each
week. Our Help and Solution Center at our site
(http://www.youthchg.com/favori.html) has hundreds of
methods that will work better than your old approaches.
Here is one to start: Some older students think they
"know it all already." Don't use the conventional method
of confronting that belief. Instead, ask them to explain
what "repair and deduct" means when said by a tenant
with a bad landlord. Few youngsters will know that
term even though it could be terribly important. (It
means that a tenant can arrange needed repairs when
a landlord has failed to do so-- plus the tenant can
deduct it from the rent. Don't know this? You might
have to live without plumbing or heat!)

5. Put Technology to Work Solving Your "Kid Problems"

You no longer have to go looking for answers. Now you
can make answers come to you. If you haven't heard
about RSS (Really Simple Syndication) you are missing
out on the hottest new way to put the internet to work
for you.

RESOLVE to Try RSS
It is so easy to learn about RSS. Start with our site's
sign up page at http://www.youthchg.com/education.html.
It will explain what RSS is, and let you sign up for our
feed. Every time we add new interventions, add a new
resource, post another free handout, or publish another
issue of this internet magazine, you will be the first
to know because you will be alerted by receiving an
RSS feed. No more hunting through our huge site to
find the new ideas or best methods, they will come to
you through RSS. Technology will have done a lot
of the work for you.

6. Make Technology Your Assistant
So many of you are being asked to do more with less.
Because of recent technological advances on the
internet, technology can do automated tasks for you,
freeing more time for you to work with students.

RESOLVE to Use RSS Feeds to Save Time
When you want to know the newest requirements of
"No Child Left Behind" or what decisions were made
by your state Department of Education, you now
probably take time to read the newspaper or go to
a web site to get an update. RSS Feeds can do that
work for you. For example, instead of going to the
Indiana Department of Ed site to hunt for the
update, you can set up a feed that brings the
update to you. You no longer have to read the
newspaper to get the news on schools and children.
A feed can bring it to you. An example of a news
feed that delivers just the news about schools and
children, is shown on our web site as an example
at http://www.youthchg.com/contact.html. Look
for the moving scroller that is most of the way down
the page.

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