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-- Calling All Teachers and Trainers!

Calling All Teachers and Trainers!

Hey!

So I was just promoted to trainer of my department (which is awesomely awesomeness... ).

Anyway, I have taught elementary aged children and I have taught a few segments of the material I will be training, but I would love to hear from those of you who are experienced what your techniques/tips are.

How do you handle bad students?
How do you do prepare your lessons?
What do you do to make it fun (I am working with adults)?

My teaching material is far from thrilling/exciting. In fact, it is really hard stuff to learn. I am currently creating a common commands and codes acronym glossary for them so that they have something to refer to (I am teaching a DOS based program).

Any suggestions are appreciated...

P.S. No, I will not teach naked

Wear Booty Shorts to your first day of class.

training and teaching are two separate animals. Luckily I've done both. The key to training, keep it short, keep it interesting, and keep it short.


but if you really want to train them on a system, break it down into small steps...small steps. Ask engaging questions that they have to think about the process, not just yes of no or shake your head. All this takes up 80% of your time. When facilitating do a few steps for them first, then have them complete it. and of course ask your questions throughout.


for disruptive people, at a break talk to them. let them know whats up and what they need to do (e.g. shut the Eff up).

Always start off by meeting everyone and learning names. as they walk in shake hands and exchange names and ask a good question. Have name tents, and walk around the room.

and to make it fun, always, always, always have an ice breaker. Something to get their blood flowing and to engage them with the other students. however this is hard when training a DOS based system cause usually the ice break has to semi-somewhatily relate to the topic.

one cool ice breaker was never have I ever. stand in a circle, hold all all your fingers, and one person starts by saying something they have never done. Then if someone has done that they put down a finger. do this til there is one left and give them a prize...(a piece of gum or a pencil).



lol, i write too much.

Re: Calling All Teachers and Trainers!

quote:

Originally posted by Theresa How do you handle bad students?

What kind of bad students?

quote:

Originally posted by Theresa How do you do prepare your lessons?

Roughly speaking, I divide them into three parts:

1. Introduction: I tell the students what it's going to be all about and start talking about the basics.
   
2. Exercise: I don't know if this is relevant to you but I try to have the students practise as much as possible in order to learn the concepts I introduced.
   
3. Conclusion: Once I'm sure that the students learnt whatever it is that I taught them, I review the most important concepts and tell them to go home
   

soooo your officially training at Taco Bell?

rape is a good discipline tool.

People still teach DOS? That's so 80s.

Ask me anything about DOS... edlin, chkdsk, copy, etc....

quote:

Originally posted by Abercrombie People still teach DOS? That's so 80s. Ask me anything about DOS... edlin, chkdsk, copy, etc....

It's a DOS *BASED* program; the GDS (Global Distribution System) referred to as Sabre which is used to manage flights.

Thanks a lot for the tips so far

Bad students = disruptive, don't pay attention, etc. and yes, there will be time that they will get to use the program and practice on it.

Unfortunately, I have a very small amount of time to teach a lot of material, so I wont be able to do a whole lot of "let's meet each other" stuff. Luckily, most of them have already met each other as they have completed basic training. I am doing advanced training.

I am pretty excited about the whole thing though... I am being flown to Montreal and Ottawa to teach classes and will be given a rental so I can commute to another city and teach there as well.

YAY

They actually let you teach people something? That is a scary thing.

quote:

Originally posted by nchs09 They actually let you teach people something? That is a scary thing.

LOL!



Silly Mexican

OK, Sabre... now I know what material and age group you're going to have. So you're not dealing with children here. You'll have an easier time teaching today than if you would 10 years ago when it comes to computer technology.

So you're dealing with new travel agents or wannabes. All adult classes (or any) you still have to get the ice broken. Make 'loot bags' for them, which could include a notepad, copies of your key course material (or ppt slides), swag/logo'd pen, and one of those folding paper name plates for each of them to write their names on (oh yeah, like what Boomer said). Speaking to them by name keeps their attention.

Start your course with introducing yourself and your qualifications (as well as a something personal and interesting about yourself, you are human) and the summary and outline to let them know the course of your material, as well as expectations of when the coffee/smoke breaks as well as the lunch break. Guage your audience from time to time for signs of fatigue, and mind your intonations. Changing the tone of your voice keeps them interested.

Make activities, put them in groups to solve a problem, role play, or task once in the morning and another in the afternoon.

Changes like this keeps them from getting bored. You can even start off with an activity to get them excited! It doesn't have to be course-related. For example, break them out into teams and have them list all the parts of the body which only have 3 letters (I think there are 11 of them, there will always be a few the whole class misses like lip). You can make it course related like "Name all popular airlines with 3 consonants". I'm sure if you google for all the answers, you'll have some they didn't mention, and you'll get lots of OOOs and AHHHs.

I don't think you'll deal much with unruly students. Unlike high school, they're not there because they have to, they're there because they want to. For chatterboxes, you can always ask them by name a question on their opinion on what you just talked about to get their attention back.

You got butterflies, but remember you're a social butterfly Theresa, just go out there confident and outgoing like you are here, and in real life.

montreal...

Re: Re: Calling All Teachers and Trainers!

quote:

Originally posted by Lira Introduction: I tell the students what it's going to be all about and start talking about the basics. Exercise: I don't know if this is relevant to you but I try to have the students practise as much as possible in order to learn the concepts I introduced. Conclusion: Once I'm sure that the students learnt whatever it is that I taught them, I review the most important concepts and tell them to go home

This is critical to any training! The most basic of training outlines:

1. Tell them what you're going to tell them.

2. Tell them.

3. Tell them what you told them.

Additionally, when you do your icebreaker or introductions be sure to tell them *why* you are qualified to be teaching the material. Even if you have to make something up, it adds weight to your message and helps command the classes attention. "I am Ygrene, I've been selling appliances for 6 years and am experienced in x, y, and z categories. I've been involved with a, b, and c initiatives and here is how all of that relates to the material we are discussing today....".

Another tactic I use is to make my presentation memorable. Be it by sharing stories to make a point or by carrying a theme throughout the session. The more memorable your pitch is, the more memorable the material will be. I use comedy, often at my own expense, to keep sessions light and entertaining and memorable.

Lastly, caffeine and sugar can be critical - particularly if you are training after lunch. The downside is that once you introduce those two items you have to keep them going so they don't crash during your presentation. I use the snack size Snickers, Reeses, etc as a reward for good questions and interaction for the audience.

Re: Calling All Teachers and Trainers!

quote:

Originally posted by Theresa Hey! So I was just promoted to trainer of my department (which is awesomely awesomeness... ). Anyway, I have taught elementary aged children and I have taught a few segments of the material I will be training, but I would love to hear from those of you who are experienced what your techniques/tips are. How do you handle bad students? How do you do prepare your lessons? What do you do to make it fun (I am working with adults)? My teaching material is far from thrilling/exciting. In fact, it is really hard stuff to learn. I am currently creating a common commands and codes acronym glossary for them so that they have something to refer to (I am teaching a DOS based program). Any suggestions are appreciated... P.S. No, I will not teach naked

I teach adults. The first month of our course is all lectures. Some instructors do it better than the others. At the end of my lecture yesterday i was "Thanks" by one of the students. He said that I am the only instructor that makes teaching fun. The rest of the instructors put the students stright to sleep.

A guide to keeping students awake (and in turn learning):
1. KNOW YOUR LESSON PLAN! Be very comforable with it. Do not rely on notes. If you keep looking at notes, it just looks like you don't know what you are doing and in turn makes the students fall stright to sleep.
2. Have great voice inflection. Your voice must be able to carry out. If you have a low or monotone voice, your students will be sleeping in not time.
3. Walk around. If you stand in one place only the students heads do not move at all, in turn they will start to nod off.
4. Actively engage the students. If they start to fall asleep then call on them and ask them a question. Constantly require feedback from them.
5. MAKE IT FUN! its ok to joke with them. It goes a long way.

Bad Students:
Depending on the degree of the offensive i will do different things. If they are constantly falling asleep i will put a chair in the front and center of the room of the room and have them look straight at the powerpoint presentation. Any type of arguments i will try to break them before they start. Anything else, I will send them to the main office. Its kind of like sending them to the principal office, but worse.

Making it fun: First you have to have an outgoing personality. You can't make the class fun, regardless of what you do if you don't have the confidence and voice vitality. Once that comes around joke with them. I remember the last time i got evaluated on my performance, in the middle of my lecture i need to reinforce a particular subject that most people don't get. The best way for me to it was draw it out. I drew the world's worst picture. It literally looked like a pre-schooler drew it. Of course that was intentional. I knew the students would laugh, but most importantly...they will remember. When i got feedback from my evaluation I was told that i did an amazing job.

Wow, you guys are awesome I really appreciate the tips!!

I am working on editing a lot of the course material and am trying to figure out ways to make things easier to remember (mnemonic devices for codes etc.)

I think the first couple of days I am going to be really nervous. I have trained a couple of classes before, but this is different. I will be 100% on my own, and teaching all of the material instead of just some.

Gotta run, but I when I come home I have a few questions for some of you. Thanks again for the help

Whatever you do, don't give them any sex if they don't do their work!

quote:

Originally posted by Joke Abitch Whatever you do, don't give them any sex if they don't do their work!

She's not from Gatineau.

Re: Re: Re: Calling All Teachers and Trainers!

quote:

Originally posted by Ygrene Lastly, caffeine and sugar can be critical - particularly if you are training after lunch. The downside is that once you introduce those two items you have to keep them going so they don't crash during your presentation. I use the snack size Snickers, Reeses, etc as a reward for good questions and interaction for the audience.

I hate 1pm classes, and classes that break for lunch..is mucho hard to get them back into it all.

How do you handle bad students?
-You spank them, and you spank them HARD!

How do you do prepare your lessons?
-With Sex

What do you do to make it fun (I am working with adults)?
-See above answer

Do you guys have any good game ideas I could steal?!

I have come up with a few of my own, but I need more!!

Also... anyone in Ottawa or Montreal wanna meet me?! I am going to be in Ottawa probably next week!!

Re: Calling All Teachers and Trainers!

quote:

Originally posted by Theresa How do you handle bad students?

-Depends. Without some sort of meaningful punishment you can hand out (IE bad grade on a test, get them fired, whatever) you're really limited on what you can do, esp if you do not have a forceful or dominant personality.

quote:

How do you do prepare your lessons?

-Now I don't know if you gotta make up everything, or you have some sort of guideline material you already got, but each lesson should be 40mins max (about optimal time a person's attention span will last in classroom setting) with 10 min break between each lesson.

-Ensure each lesson has an intro, body and conclusion.
If the body has multiple points, make sure each point is covered adequately and linked to other points and if possible, other lessons.
-Ensure lessons go from intro to full product, and from simple to complex. Follow logical sequence.
-Ensure students have plenty of opportunity to ask questions.
-Ask questions at the end of each point, to ensure that students have been paying attention and that they fully understand the material.
A test or problems to solve at the end of each lesson (doesn't have to be long) ensure comprehension and understanding of the material

quote:

What do you do to make it fun (I am working with adults)? My teaching material is far from thrilling/exciting. In fact, it is really hard stuff to learn. I am currently creating a common commands and codes acronym glossary for them so that they have something to refer to (I am teaching a DOS based program). Any suggestions are appreciated...

-Give students as much opportunity to play with any training aid you have. (Like if you're using a program, explain and demonstrate, then allow students to practice on own)
-Know your material. You will refer to your notes once in a while, but if you don't know what you're teaching, you will lose your students. If you don't know answer to a question, don't fake or bluff. Tell them that you don't know but you will find out the answer later. And ensure you get back to them.
-If you're explaining a point or emphasis something, trying to use one of 5 techniques:
Comparison
Reasons
Example
Statistics
Testimony
to help your students understand better
-Have positive attitude. Your students will be turned off if it looks like you're not interested in teaching.
-Don't be dull in your voice. Have command of the class.

quote:

P.S. No, I will not teach naked

pity. you would have gotten everyone's interest quickly this way

quote:

Originally posted by Theresa Also... anyone in Ottawa or Montreal wanna meet me?! I am going to be in Ottawa probably next week!!

I might be there on the 27th for a kegger at my old frat house.

quote:

Originally posted by Abercrombie I might be there on the 27th for a kegger at my old frat house.

And of course I fly home on the 26th.

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