Pre Work
What to Know Before You Teach
Pre-work in Sexual Violence & Teen Dating Violence Prevention
Pre-work is vital to adapting and implementing SV/IPV Prevention and Healthy Relationships programming in your school. We know that region to region, agency to agency, school to school, and even class period to class period, our strategies in teaching must adapt to the needs and engagement of our students. We must acknowledge the diversity and socio-cultural norms of our students, maintaining a youth-centered approach to our prevention.
Talk to your teachers!
o Assess the classroom size and setup before entering the school.
o Assess any insights into group dynamics (issues that may come up, cases within the district, sensitivity to particular students, etc.)
o What are school or classroom policies that may interfere with your material/the way you deliver your material?
Learn to engage with various learning styles.
o Some classes love lecture. Some classes love skits. Some classes hate school. How do you work with each?
o Do any of your classes have students of different learning abilities?
Know your own presentation style
o Can you use humor without seemed too cheesy, inappropriate, or insensitive to the topic?
o Do you need to stick to your script or are you spontaneous?
o Do you like to use story-telling as part of your prevention?
o Q&A? Skits? Group work? Other activities?
o Are you working with a co-presenter? Are you both prepared and comfortable with each other?
Know how to read the room!
o Are your students distracted? Engaged? Is it test week? Are they tired? Are they participating?
o Be prepared to adapt lecture, activities, Q&A, etc. to different classroom dynamics. Have a plan for each possibility.
Be prepared for the hecklers and hasslers (note: this is not always a student).
o Learn how to manage comments and questions dealing with: politics, religion, assumption/accusation, high-profile cases, judgments, victim-blaming, etc.
o Have a plan in place when hot button issues pop up (ex. Bill Cosby, Trump, Brett Kavanaugh, etc.)
o You will occasionally have a devil’s advocate. Learn how to manage arguments effectively.
o Don’t take heckling personally!
o Know your audience—if there are difficult students or strongly opinionated teachers, have a plan in place to address those comments appropriately and respectfully without deterring from your message of prevention.
Work smarter, not harder.
o The internet is a powerful resource.
o Your coworkers are valuable resources.
o Preventionists throughout the state will become your most solicited contacts.
o Working in advance means less stress and less work on the day of your presentation.
Rehearse your timing. Know it will rarely turn out as rehearsed.
o Be prepared to scale down and move on if there are lots of questions and stories being shared.
o Activities always vary in length depending on student enthusiasm, knowledge, and engagement.
o Have an estimate but be prepared to make cuts or lengthen conversations where needed to suit student interest and need.
Be prepared for technological difficulties.
o Will you have access to wifi/internet?
o Do you bring your own computer or use one that’s already hooked up to present?
o Do you send the teacher the slides in advance or bring a flashdrive?
o Do you need speakers or any other extensions for videos or activities?
o What do you do if your laptop dies? If the computer crashes? If the school loses electrical power for half of your day?
o Are you able to present material or engage in activities without the use of technology?
o Have handouts prepared and a plan for loss of presentation abilities.
Know your curriculum like the back of your hand.
o Be familiar with your program’s evidence base and logic model.
o Know your sources and additional resources for students with lots of questions that you might not have time to answer.
o Where are your stats from?
o Know the “why” behind “why do I have to know this?”
o Discussing cases? Know the full story, but tell the important part.
Be prepared for disaster
o How did your agency and school(s) adapt to COVID-19?
o Do you feel prepared to adapt to a pandemic? A power outage? ALICE drills? A horrible, worst nightmare, foot-in-your-mouth blunder?
o Have some self-care or take-a-break moments/activities prepared for your students AND you.
Prevention Links
Resources You Can Use
Resources for Providers
The Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence is a statewide coalition that supports rape crisis centers around the state of Ohio. This page lists several resources for preventionists, including links to curriculum, videos and evaluation materials.
Prevention
The Prevention page for ODVN lists resources for SA and DV prevention with links. There are also links provided to prevention toolkits and training modules.
Prevention
NSVRC provides research & tools to advocates working on the frontlines to end sexual harassment, assault, and abuse with the understanding that ending sexual violence also means ending racism, sexism, and all forms of oppression. This page contains links for theory and education for preventionists.