The complete set of 198 Hints are available in paperback from the CYC-Net Press store.
Listen to this
When we work regularly with certain kids, or see a lot of them during a day, we can get used to them and therefore perhaps not see what a casual visitor might see at a glance.
Muriel (15) has had the mutters for the past day or so, so when she comes in to breakfast this morning looking rather sulky we don’t notice – she just looks the way Muriel has been looking for a while.
Here is a quick – and wholly unscientific – exercise. Before you start your time with your group, go through their names in your mind, and for each one pull out the current mental snapshot you have of them. When you look at this snapshot, is the youngster smiling or not, happy or not ...
When you think of James here and imagine his picture, what do you see? Think of three or four words which describe his snapshot: "worried", "unsure", "down" ...
When you think of Sharon, what do you see on her snapshot? Some words: "comfortable", "OK", self-assured" ...
And then when you think of your mental snapshot of Muriel? "Irritable", "short-fuse", "ill-at-ease" ...
If we regularly use our objective observation skills, we will have realised that Sharon is doing fine, and that James and Muriel need our special attention. But in a busy program we may be too group focussed or activity focussed to notice. Check them out before you get immersed in the work – look through your mental snapshots.
