Giving Feedback

Paul G. Young, Ph. D.
President & CEO
National AfterSchool Association

Mention the words “performance review”, and they often conjure up anxious memories of uncomfortable conversations with our bosses.  For many of us, those painful experiences ranked close to going to the dentist for a root canal. We’d do anything to avoid them. The documentation and feedback processes that were used often had little meaning.  Little good ever came from the experience.

The reality is, unfortunately, that many of us don’t conduct performance reviews with our staffs any better than our bosses. Most of us have never been trained in how to give supportive feedback. It's not a performance task in our long list of work responsibilities that typically gets perfected. We stress and worry about how to deliver unpleasant messages and respond to recipients’ reactions. So we tend to ignore or procrastinate until, quite often, pressure points build. When that happens, change often becomes unattainable.

In contrast, we all respond favorably to positive feedback. It has many benefits. It helps us all focus our attention and behavior. Giving it shows that we care and notice what others do. Since one of our primary responsibilities is to increase and enhance the skills of our professional staffs, providing feedback (positive or negative) is one of the most powerful tools we have as leaders. We need to learn to do it well.

We can learn a lot about giving feedback by observing what the great athletic coaches do. They train and mentor their players to improve, overcome mistakes, become a cohesive team, and achieve success.  Great coaches let their players know they care whether their feedback is positive or critical. They share strong interpersonal relationships. Expectations are clear. Feedback and ideas are communicated and exchanged in highly personalized ways. All players are given proper attention and training with opportunities to grow.

Our coaching work with afterschool professionals, hopefully under a lot less stress of most high profile coaches, is just as important. We can learn by observing them in order to improve our processes for giving feedback to our staffs. No matter our level of experience, we all have room for improvement.

We must focus more on observable work behaviors, less on attitude or personality traits. We must provide feedback in the moment, everyday, not days after the fact. It should be delivered in a short, informal, and mostly positive manner. We must encourage our staff members to provide peer feedback to each other, and just as in sports, to teach peer support processes to their students.

Furthermore, I encourage you to give feedback to your afterschool staff in this way. “Motivate on Monday” and give “Feedback on Friday”.  When your staff reports on Mondays, spend a few minutes outlining major goals and expectations for the week.  Allow time for questions. Provide encouragement. Highlight successes. Individualize as needed for each person. Be motivational. Set the tone for the week. Then, before everyone leaves on Friday, provide summary feedback that you haven’t otherwise shared throughout the week. Show people you care and how you will support them going forward.

Relationships are the key. Communication must be effective. Giving feedback, as challenging as it sometimes may be, is essential to grow and develop our staffs. Get involved with NAA where you will have many opportunities to listen and learn and further develop your leadership skills as an afterschool professional.

Flashbacks to Marching Band

Recently, a graduate from my high school posted an open question on Facebook, "You know you went to Fairfield Union High School if...". When curiosity finally got the best of me, I began reading the comments, many of which were from classmates I haven't seen or heard from in years. And since I was one of several graduates who returned to my high school after college to begin my teaching career (in my case as the band director), I became intrigued by what my former students were writing about me and my teaching colleagues from the 70s and early 80s. My former students now range in age from 45- 56.

I have to admit, what I've read has been fascinating. I feel like an evaluation of my work has been occurring all over again. Here's a sampling of what they recall:

·         I was tough and demanded the highest form of discipline.

·         I worked my students hard.

·         Students knew they were expected to perform and excel at a high level.

·         We held marching band practices in rain, snow, excessive heat, and bitter cold.

·         We were a family.

My former students remember incidences that I've long forgotten. But they remember the way I handled them as well as the people involved who became part of the school’s folklore. I remember some of the complaints and occasionally worried that perhaps my teaching style and rehearsal methods were too extreme. But time shapes our memories, in this case very fondly. Despite the love of music that they learned under my tutelage, it was the sense of discipline, work ethic, and pride that they valued even more. Many have described ways that those characteristics have carried them to success in their varied careers.

I wasn't their only teacher, of course. Facebook fans are also reflecting on the characteristics and idiosyncrasies of many other teachers and the pranks they pulled as part of high school. They remember how their teachers walked, talked, dressed, smelled - and cared. The smallest things made lasting impressions. It doesn't take much reading to discover the teachers that the students liked and who they didn't.

The point of my writing about things such as this in this blog is to remind afterschool professionals that you, too, will someday be fair game for an informal evaluation by your students when they become reflective about their time with you. You probably won't discover their feedback about you via Facebook, but rather, some kind of communication media we can't even imagine today. After all, for my former students who are reflecting about me, the slide rule was high tech for them when we shared those special high school years.

Never waver from your values. Set high expectations. Kids will rise up and meet them. Communication is essential. Listen. Smile. Dress professionally. Show that you care. Have fun.

Kids are always watching. The realization that my former students  now respect (for the most part) what we collectively did to become a successful marching band creates a sense of pride within me that is worth more than any amount of money.

Paul G. Young, Ph. D.

President & CEO

National AfterSchool Association

Encore Careers

Dr. Paul G. Young
President & CEO
National AfterSchool Association

As a music major in college, I was taught what needed to be done before and during concerts so that my audiences would ask for more. It’s every musician’s aspiration to finish a performance and hear shouts of bravo! and encore!

As an educator, I’ve approached my professional work as I was trained to do by my musical mentors.  My high school marching bands, 4^th and 5^th grade classrooms, and schools where I served as principal were my ‘concert venues’ where my students, staff,  and I worked to meet the highest expectations and plaudits from our supporters. Our success bred success. The more we did together, the more we realized we could do.

Then in 2004, after many years and many ‘performances’ came the age for retirement. Once I did it, I discovered retirement to be very challenging. I would dress, but have no place to go. I had no audiences to perform for. There was a big void in my life.

But rather quickly, I was presented opportunities in afterschool. And during that time, the term encore career was made popular.[1] I soon discovered more audiences, performance venues, and reasons to work hard. Life was good again.

But we were also taught another lesson in music school. Don’t let an encore become another concert! After one, or perhaps two short, delightful encores, there is an appropriate time to stop. To extend beyond that point is to risk leaving audiences privately wishing your performance would end so they could get on with other business, no matter how good you might think you are.

That time has come for me. My encore is finished. I choose to leave before I begin hearing boos instead of bravo. There may be smaller gigs that I can play from time to time, but no more long concert programs. There are younger professionals that must be given those opportunities.

It is no wonder so many Babyboomers are writing their own second acts or performing encores. The rewards—at least in terms of personal satisfaction—can be tremendous. We are retiring and finding ourselves in good health with a desire to do more, and give back.  We are fortunate to find jobs that combine personal meaning, provide continued income, and have potential for social impact. But we can’t let an encore career become another career!

What we can do is mentor, consult, and teach. In those ways, we can maintain our performance skills and realize continued value from our experience. But we also have to get out of the way and allow those younger to enjoy the limelight of the stage.

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[1] work in the second half of life that combines continued income, greater meaning and social impact. These are paid positions often in public interest fields such as education, the environment, health, government sector, social services and other nonprofits.

The Value in Complete Sentences

Dr. Paul G. Young
President & CEO
National AfterSchool Association

 In addition to my other professional work, I've enjoyed teaching music theory classes for 30 years as an adjunct professor at a regional campus of Ohio University. Many of my students would best be described as nontraditional college undergraduates - and definitely non-music majors.  For some, perhaps because they've already experienced some of life's tough knocks and limitations in the workforce, they've enrolled in college with aspirations of positioning themselves for better opportunities. Many of them know all too well the hardships of poverty. Most are recent high school graduates, and for numerous reasons (most always poverty-related issues) have chosen the regional campus college experience. In general, most of our community's more advanced and privileged high school graduates attend college elsewhere. Yet, what I find in my classes are hard working students, but they've probably never been considered to be stellar students by their former teachers. 

Read more as to why I think they've come to be perceived that way.

As they present themselves, it’s apparent to me why their peers outshined them. Many do not know how to effectively communicate. They have weak verbal skills. They lack command of sentence structure. More often than not, informal social skills and cues necessary for success in the middle class are lacking. And most can't put a sentence together without using the word “like” and other forms of verbal graffiti. Added to those gaffes, they often fail to make good eye contact. And when they shake hands, they expose their lack of self-confidence. I hate wet noodles.

Besides providing them with an introduction to music theory, I also teach ‘Communication 101’ to help address these issues and provide them an advantage. Some get it, others don't. Those that don't work to improve will be perpetually held back and continue to fall to the bottom of the class or any other professional setting. They will fail to reap the rewards of their college training, not because they can't master the basic content, but because they can't express themselves during important high stakes, middle class conversations, such as a job interview.

One of the most important gifts we can give our afterschool program participants is an awareness of the importance and mastery ability to speak in complete sentences – in English. Teaching and modeling proper verbal communication skills should take place every minute of every day in every afterschool program. It won’t cost anything extra. It simply requires a staff with a clear vision and commitment of purpose to equip kids with one of the most important and essential life skills. But achieving the desired outcome requires focused teaching, modeling, and relating language and communication experiences to the real world. It demands persistence over time. Kids can learn how to properly shake hands. They can make eye contact. They can speak with proper inflections, nuances, and grammatically correct usage of nouns, verbs, and adjectives if they are continually encouraged and reinforced by caring and nurturing adults.

I'm convinced that many of my college students will eventually become fantastic workers. But they'll pay a huge price and wait a long time to see a return on the investment of their training if they don't learn how to speak. I recognize that many possess a warm personality and intelligence. But without self-confidence (which comes from teaching and practice), their verbal skills will hold them back.

Please provide your kids with that time to practice and gain confidence speaking in complete sentences. In the end, that may be more of an important edge for them than mastery of content knowledge or a high test score.

Don't let kids leave your programs until they can confidently talk their way out of it.

Just Do It



Register for the GO FAR race
 at the 2012 convention



Nike's iconic trademark and motto are universally recognized. They convey an image and message of self-reliant athleticism that leads to success. Buying Nikes is easy, but it’s the regular usage of them that is not so much fun for some.

I think that most people I know and meet in the world of afterschool education are knowledgeable. But I find too many that fail to act as effectively as they can on what they know. Most of us know what's right to do. We understand what actions and behaviors will lead to desirable outcomes, but we often fail to act on what we know is right. Like our kids, we sometimes just need some gentle (or perhaps not so gentle) reminders. That's really the essence of most of my blog entries - practical, common sense advice and reminders of things most of us already know. My intent is that with a little nudge, these reminders will prompt you (and me) to take action and realize significant change as professionals.

Take exercising, for example. Or even more so, consider how the role modeling of good exercise, eating, and healthy living habits impacts your kids. Do you have an interest and commitment to reduce the incidence of childhood and adult obesity?

We don't lack for knowing what to do about that issue. We lack for doing something about it.

When I get on my soapbox about this issue and gently (or not so gently) nudge, I sometimes stir up anxieties and feel tension within my audiences. I observe a consensus that afterschool professionals intellectually know what they should do, but they allow too many barriers or obstacles to get in the way. And more than any other barriers, our self-imposed choices get in the way and prevent us from adopting a healthier lifestyle.

My blogs are also intended to push your mind-set, challenge your methodologies, educate, encourage, nudge, and help you achieve success regardless of your circumstances. It's my hope that reading my words will enlighten you to move beyond the information I share (much of which I know you already know) and inspire you to take action.

So again, let’s reflect on exercising, personally and with our program staff and participants.  Most of us would like to increase our personal level of fitness. We can't refute or deny what the research says. Most of us are informed and know what we should do, we just don't do it. We lack conviction to embrace change. But with a collective effort, I think most of us can make changes necessary to improve our health – and many other facets of our personal and professional lives. It is imperative that we teach our kids how to do so, both in school and afterschool.

At last year's NAA convention, we partnered with the North Carolina-based GO FAR (Go Out For A Run) Club to sponsor a 5k race/fun walk as part of our convention. This year, we anticipate 750-1000 kids from the Frisco, TX, schools and other nearby areas to participate in our second event (all those little people might trample us old folks). I envision a glorious spectacle. Afterschool program leaders, particularly in Frisco, have embraced the 10-week eating and fitness program from GO FAR as an actionable way to inform, teach, engage, and actually do something alongside their kids to create change. You can, too.

Check out this inexpensive program at http://www.gofarclub.org/.  Start a club in your afterschool program. Create change. You'll have many reasons and outcomes to celebrate after just 10 weeks.

Come on, just do it!

Paul G. Young, Ph. D.

President & CEO

National AfterSchool Association

Are You an Active Listener or a Multitasker?

Dr. Paul G. Young
President & CEO
National AfterSchool Association

I must admit, my attention span seems to be getting shorter and shorter. I'm like the kids in school and our afterschool programs that seem to have ants in their pants. But unlike those squirming youngsters, I know what I am doing. I allow myself to be distracted. I know the research proves that multitasking is a myth. But like a fool, I try to multitask anyway.

I don't like this characteristic about myself very much.

Do I have your attention?

If you're like me, you participate in lots of meetings, face-to-face or virtually using a phone and computer. If the agenda isn't relevant with engaging content, I start checking email, texting, doodling, thinking, creating a “to-do” list, or simply watching other people. If the meeting leader allows the flow of the meeting to drag, I get bored. I drift off and become distracted by my thoughts or any other environmental stimuli.

One of my college music theory professors once stopped his lecture and asked, “Paul, how many leaves are left on that tree outside our classroom?”

Multitaskers relish irrelevancy. Everything distracts and slows them down. Despite what they’d like to think, they don’t have an undivided attention span. They can remember very little of what distracted them, and as a result, they gain minimal benefits from participating in meetings. Research shows that our brains struggle to process more than one bit of information at a time.   Multitaskers waste time and productivity by constantly, compulsively, and actively switching between random activities.

Virtual meetings by conference call have become multitaskers’ play time.  Many people have come to view a regularly scheduled conference call meeting as a free opportunity to shut their office doors, log onto the calls, activate the mute function, and then start multitasking as they listen (or try to) to the meeting presenter(s). No matter how hard we try, the distractions that can occur during conference calls are tempting and too numerous to stay focused. Boring conference calls don’t work, because they just invite more multitasking without fear of being caught.

Let's commit to doing better. Afterschool professionals must adhere to meeting norms and expectations, and presenters must keep things moving with content that is relevant and engaging.

We can do better and get more done virtually. Our meetings can become the exception to the rule. We can be remarkable. We just have to try - and not multitask.

The Value of Piano Recitals

As I reflect upon those formative years when my daughters were elementary-age students, my favorite memories include their earliest piano recitals. My wife and I elevated these into important events in their young lives. Looking back, I hope we didn't create unrealistic expectations. But we never wavered from an expectation that they would participate and do their best.

Fast forward to today, both have become successful professional women with many accomplishments while performing and advancing in their chosen careers. Katie has become the principal oboist with the Florida Orchestra and Mary Ellen an editor with McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Both have developed confidence in the technical, professional, and political aspects of their work. But more importantly, they have acquired high levels of self-confidence, particularly when speaking or "performing" in front of others. I think the roots of that confidence and their ability to self-express can be traced back to their learning experiences during to those childhood piano recitals.

Without any doubt, our daughters benefitted from having two parents who themselves had both majored in music. But neither of us were pianists. Much more importantly, they had an uncompromising yet outstanding piano teacher (after school). Mrs. Seeley modeled confidence and performance skill and insisted her students do the same. Besides learning about music and the piano, our girls were taught stage presence, poise, performance skills, public speaking, and the skill of improvising and thinking fast in the present. They learned to deliberately focus their practice sessions (homework) on what required the most effort and improvement. They learned self-discipline and responsibility. Our daughters now know that these peripheral performance skills have greatly influenced their ability to succeed as adults.

And, as you would likely imagine, those life performance skills were learned after school!

I challenge our professionals to develop multiple opportunities in our afterschool programs so that all kids can attain these advantages. They can be learned in many disciplines besides music, such as athletics, clubs, extracurricular activities, and enrichment endeavors. Many kids can, and must, be taught these success skills without the benefit of parental support. And believe it or not, we can teach kids to perform while learning math and reading.

I encourage you to prioritize the teaching of the peripheral performance skills in your afterschool program. In every way you can, I encourage you to create opportunities for kids where they can show what they know and can do so in front of supportive adults. Encourage them to speak and express their own thoughts, to improvise, and to show poise under pressure. They will thank you for these valuable learning experiences after they have successfully interviewed for jobs in a competitive market.

Share your ideas and best practices with our members. Together, we can greatly add to the value of afterschool experiences.

Paul G. Young, Ph. D.

President & CEO

National AfterSchool Association