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Last Call for Instructor Workshop! Posted on May 5th, 2008 by Pug Scoville Our popular instructor-training workshop - “THE LEARNING-CENTERED INSTRUCTOR” - will take place this coming Wednesday and Thursday, May 7-8, 2008! If you want to improve as an instructor, trainer, or speaker, this is YOUR opportunity! This two-day, practice-intensive instructor-training program is sponsored by TAR and TREEF. Recent attendees have included company trainers, local association instructors, pre-licensing instructors and others …ANYONE who wants to polish their teaching and/or speaking skills. For more information, click HERE! As of Monday (5/5/08), there is still room left. As a bonus for TAR DIGEST and TREEF Center readers — if you will call Sally Cummings at the TAR office (615-321-1477 in Nashville) and mention this notice — she will register you with no late registration penalty!  Stop punishing the innocent Posted on April 22nd, 2008 by Steve Champion How many times has a student been told that class will start back in 10 minutes and find that 15 minutes later, the instructor is in a sidebar conversation with someone and has lost track of time? I have been that waiting student and…yes, I have been that instructor! Is it a big deal? Maybe it is not a big deal if it happens once but I find that it often happens again and again. Recently, I had the opportunity to take a class just for the learning. I observed another fellow student who was in her chair at the appointed time looking around to see when the class would resume. Seeing that she was one of the few honoring the clock, she took out her phone and started a new text message. After she finished that short task, I took the opportunity to ask her how she felt about returning on time to be put on hold for an indeterminate period. Top 10 Reasons to Use Humor in Training Posted on April 16th, 2008 by Elizabeth Hurd Drumroll, please… 10. It cuts down on those pesky drool stains on the desks. 9. It’s a chance to actually use the jokes flooding your inbox…the clean ones, anyway. 8. Laughing is better than crying. 7. It may create the illusion of a sense of humor. 6. It’s good practice in case you ever decide to pursue a second career as Jimmy Kimmel’s sidekick. 5. It boosts your self esteem. (Some students may be under the impression they are required to laugh.) Sometimes cheat sheets are OK! Posted on April 11th, 2008 by Pug Scoville The term “Job Aid” might be new to some instructors, but we’ve used them for a long time! A job aid can be any kind of performance support tool or reference document that you use to carry out a task. After all, we don’t have to commit everything to memory. Much of life is an open-book test! To help out instructors and trainers — as you design and prepare your courses and presentations — we’ve created a new section of Job Aids on this site …and we’ve posted TWO that you are free to use! More will be added later. To access the new Job Aids section, click HERE! Digital immigrants vs. digital natives Posted on April 5th, 2008 by Pug Scoville First, a couple of definitions from Wikipedia:
Digital natives do more than just look at web pages and exchange occasional emails with others. They are participants, creators, and collaborators in an ever-changing digital world, learning and working – together – in ways that we couldn’t envision just a few years ago! I recently heard a presentation that emphasized the difference. I couldn’t help thinking about what this means for education in real estate. Am I nervous before I teach? Posted on March 29th, 2008 by Steve Champion Years ago, my Association Executive, Francie, informed me that as the newly elected President of the local Association of Realtors, I was automatically slated to give a speech to the Homebuilders Association. Accurately reading the “nobody told me about this part” look in my eyes, she proffered a book that she said was written for people like me. Two simultaneous thoughts entered my head: 1. How odd that someone would write a book for “Self-Inflicted Signer-Uppers” 2. I now understand at least one reason why I ran unopposed for this office. Next, my mind is conjuring up possible titles for this yet to be seen book. It was a rather long list all ending with “…for Dummies”.Finally, I shake loose my inner-thoughts long enough to accept her offer of help. It was a book designed to help speakers overcome nervousness and prepare for a successful presentation. Opening the book, the first page I read says, “No matter what you do, 2% of the audience will hate you.” Scaffolding your instruction Posted on March 28th, 2008 by Pug Scoville In the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen two major accidents/disasters involving cranes collapsing …in Miami and New York City. What do cranes have to do with good instruction? Well, for me, these two incidents underscore the importance of putting a student’s learning experience on a good foundation, and then building it from the ground up! In February at the ASTD TechKnowledge Conference in San Antonio, one of the speakers referenced “scaffolding” — a technique we can use to sequence training or instruction so that our lessons actually produce results! Clap three times… Posted on March 25th, 2008 by Pug Scoville When folks come back into the classroom after a break, have you ever had trouble getting their attention? It’s a rare instructor who hasn’t faced this problem at one time or another! Often, students enjoy each other’s company SO much that they want to keep visiting and chatting with one another, when you desperately need them to refocus. To paraphrase Robert Redford (from a movie that only older readers may remember: The Candidate), there IS a better way! Are you going to eat all of that? Posted on March 20th, 2008 by Steve Champion Monday night in Nashville, the waiter takes my dinner order and then asked if I would like to order a salad with my entree. Thinking that an affirmative response would be the healthful response, I ordered the salad in addition to the steak and vegetables. Everything that was brought out and put before me was of high quality and well-prepared. The only problem was that there was too much to digest. I would have benefited more had I been more selective. Instead, I left feeling a bit bloated by too much of a good thing. How many times have my students felt stuffed by my content rich (at least in my mind) delivery of morsel after morsel of “good” information? Why (oh, WHY) use case studies? Posted on March 18th, 2008 by Elizabeth Hurd Case studies have a unique application in REALTOR® training. Not only are they particularly useful in adult learning settings, they are arguably one of the best vehicles for building problem-solving skills among students – a primary objective in professional training programs. But WHY can’t I just tell them what I want them to know? Well, you can – but don’t expect them to remember much. Case studies, when properly used, allow the students to reach their own conclusions, increasing their retention of the material presented. Think about it – which do you most clearly remember: the first time you saw someone ride a bike or the first time you learned to ride your own? Next Page » |
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