- 500 Creative Classroom Techniques for Teachers and Trainers
- Copyright
- Introduction
- An Investor's Guide (1/2)
- An Investor's Guide (2/2)
- Chapter 1: 25 Ways to Have Participants Introduce Themselves
- 1. Use the course title.
- 2. Test their intuition.
- 3. Challenge them to tell why the course is important.
- 4. Assign partner-interviews.
- 5. Give participants a choice of questions to answer.
- 6. Have them explain why they’re studying this subject.
- 7. Make them think: What future use can they make of what they're about to learn?
- 8. Let them critique you.
- 9. Task the group with collecting knowledge.
- 10. Give one course-related word as a prompt.
- 11. Tell them to find an object that symbolizes themselves.
- 12. Ask for truth and lies.
- 13. Use pennies as prompts.
- 14. Provide examples of "try-umphs" and ask them to write their own.
- 15. Quote Drucker. Then ask them to ask questions.
- 16. Have them speculate about the agenda.
- 17. Activate change in their learning.
- 18. Help them define the course.
- 19. Involve them in their own learning.
- 20. Elicit a wish; make a promise.
- 21. Provide lists of words.
- 22. Supply a list of metaphors.
- 23. Tape flipcharts around the room.
- 24. Ask each person to stand, give his name, and state oneadjective that describes him well.
- 25. Prepare a list of incomplete sentences.
- Chapter 2: 25 Ways to Test for Understanding
- 1. Prepare at least ten questions.
- 2. Excerpt ten key statements from the curriculum.
- 3. Have each person record an important point.
- 4. Have them prepare exam questions.
- 5. Form groups of five.
- 6. Form groups of five again.
- 7. Let them "pig out."
- 8. List ten key terms related to the course.
- 9. Ask them to describe someone they know.
- 10. Lead them in stating a mission.
- 11. Omit a key point from your summaries.
- 12. Help them stratify.
- 13. Draw a body; use it for review.
- 14. Have them create an alliterative phrase.
- 15. Have them develop a rhyme.
- 16. Convert them into teachers.
- 17. "Idol"-ize them.
- 18. Develop their authoring skills.
- 19. Turn them into cartoonists.
- 20. Have them develop a rhyme.
- 21. Appoint them the "de-terminators."
- 22. Encourage group exam-preparation.
- 23. Ask for a signature attesting to their learning.
- 24. Appoint a roving reporter.
- 25. Give them a choice of questions to answer in a group essay.
- Chapter 3: 25 Ways to Add Humor
- 1. Incorporate a humorous bit of information.
- 2. Find fodder in the familial.
- 3. Use cartoons.
- 4. Use drama.
- 5. Ask a question that reveals something about you.
- 6. Self-deprecate.
- 7. Invite participants to share their relevant jokes.
- 8. Give a list-example; then ask for a list.
- 9. Show examples of typo-bloopers.
- 10. Show them how to refute criticism humorously.
- 11. Find a relevant, funny line.
- 12. Develop your own funny lines.
- 13. Use your own experience.
- 14. Capitalize on in-class humor.
- 15. Create two diametrically opposed outcomes.
- 16. Give them a common saying, and call for a response.
- 17. Encourage their cartoon-ability.
- 18. Have them create a saint.
- 19. Use animal phrases.
- 20. Type, copy, and distribute proverbs.
- 21. Make collective nouns a source of humor.
- 22. Spend $10 and get guaranteed laughs, forever.
- 23. Imitate Jay Leno or David Letterman.
- 24. Start with a funny greeting card.
- 25. Draw on their television viewing.
- Chapter 4: 25 Ways to Give Feedback
- 1. Prepare critique sheets.
- 2. Give them a choice: Invite them to one-on-one meetings with you, or with a partner of their choosing.
- 3. Make it a group thing.
- 4. Comment on a paper they have written.
- 5. Correct publicly.
- 6. Implement peer evaluations.
- 7. Invite an outsider in.
- 8. Go Greek: Use the Delphi Technique.
- 9. Ask participants to prepare a self-evaluation.
- 10. Use the old standby: give feedback yourself.
- 11. Give a private audience; prepare unique comments.
- 12. For the confident, ask groups to provide feedback.
- 13. For the super-confident, ask the whole class to provide feedback.
- 14. Provide reality-TV judges.
- 15. Have them select their own feedback.
- 16. Tape-record their presentations.
- 17. Do a mini-force field analysis.
- 18. Lift sentences.
- 19. Have them introspect.
- 20. Admit that turnaround is fair play.
- 21. Ask if they are confident enough to have their gradepublicly posted.
- 22. Use a scoreboard.
- 23. Have pairs critique other pairs.
- 24. Create a list of attributes, and have participants use it to deliver feedback.
- 25. Collect pictures or drawings of animals.
- Chapter 5: 25 Ways to Use Questions
- 1. Use questions for discussion.
- 2. Use questions for review.
- 3. Use questions for homework.
- 4. Use questions to reinforce.
- 5. Use questions to encourage introspection.
- 6. Use questions to ascertain the ability levels within thegroup.
- 7. Use questions to increase participation.
- 8. Use questions to compliment.
- 9. Have groups choose their own question.
- 10. Use questions to stimulate creativity.
- 11. Engage partners in questioning each other.
- 12. Allow them to stump the teacher.
- 13. Obtain questions from others.
- 14. Ask the "eternal questions" related to the course.
- 15. Tell the famous "Why?" story.
- 16. Force the questions.
- 17. Ask, "What have I not made clear?"
- 18. Draw up a list of questions.
- 19. Use the old questions in a new way.
- 20. Use questions to make them "bloom."
- 21. Use quotations about questions.
- 22. Have a Q & A session after every big module.
- 23. Compile a list of questions for those in authority.
- 24. Prepare a list of questions from popular songs.
- 25. Use questions from the world of sports.
- Chapter 6: 25 Ways to Use Quotations
- 1. Post the quotations around the room.
- 2. Ask group leaders to choose a favorite quote.
- 3. Use an especially pertinent quote to generate discussion.
- 4. Present opposing viewpoints.
- 5. Assemble familial wisdom.
- 6. Use quotations as examples of what not to say.
- 7. Have them decide quote-attribution.
- 8. Have them match quote and quotee.
- 9. Have them match a quote with an era.
- 10. Find quotable material within the class.
- 11. Have them quote you on that.
- 12. Go from the familial to the curricular.
- 13. Use ad agency talent to elicit student talent.
- 14. Let them paraphrase a famous quote.
- 15. Use participant-created chiasmus statements.
- 16. Take quotations from popular music.
- 17. Synthesize the course in a single quote.
- 18. Encourage diversity through quotations.
- 19. Use titles or phrases that have numbers in them.
- 20. Debunk myths or prevalent wisdom.
- 21. Have them stratify the course content and then recall quotes related to the stratifications.
- 22. Use multi-quote lists as stimuli.
- 23. Use quotations to end the class on a high note.
- 24. Use quotations as the basis for role-plays.
- 25. Assign quote-discovery for homework.
- Chapter 7: 25 Ways to Have Groups Report
- 1. Challenge them to condense.
- 2. Have them identify five key points.
- 3. Alternate the groups that report.
- 4. Call on groups at random.
- 5. Ask them to report to each other.
- 6. Post their reports around the room.
- 7. Have group leaders make a collective report.
- 8. Have group leaders decide which report the class most needs to hear.
- 9. Ask group leaders to report to different groups.
- 10. Involve all group members in the reporting.
- 11. Request the definitive definition.
- 12. Have them haiku it.
- 13. Stimulate report-thinking via vocabulary.
- 14. Provide the rubric.
- 15. Have them decide whether or not to report.
- 16. Have them present a wordless report.
- 17. Select a reporter by popular choice.
- 18. Call for the creation of a headband or bumper sticker.
- 19. Have them punctuate the report with sound effects.
- 20. Challenge them to create a portmanteau.
- 21. Have an individual do a collective report.
- 22. Read their written, flipcharted reports.
- 23. Play devil's advocate to their advocacy.
- 24. Gather supplies and have participants make storyboards.
- 25. Ask them to design a logo for their report.
- Chapter 8: 25 Ways to Get Through Printed Material
- 1. Tell them key words to underline.
- 2. Let them stop after finding two gems.
- 3. Have the group isolate the most important point.
- 4. Catch them off-guard.
- 5. Divide the material into sections.
- 6. Let there be contrapuntal movement.
- 7. Assign reading for homework.
- 8. Allow choices based on your designation of what thematerial covers.
- 9. Have groups do the dividing and titling.
- 10. Assign paragraphs in round-robin fashion.
- 11. Provoke deep thinking.
- 12. Add variety to the two-point theme.
- 13. Have them create headlines.
- 14. Call for outlines of the reading passage.
- 15. Do a mix 'n' match.
- 16. Ask them to develop a test.
- 17. Have them report only new knowledge.
- 18. Have them choose a word or concept from the reading selection and report on it.
- 19. Request prioritized nuggets of information.
- 20. Elicit "fire" analogies.
- 21. Have them create questions.
- 22. Have them express the concept in terms of sports, books, or television.
- 23. Ask them to assign a numerical rating to each paragraph.
- 24. Take an approach from psychology.
- 25. Apply Zipf's Law.
- Chapter 9: 25 Ways to Choose Group Leaders
- 1. Ask about longevity.
- 2. Appoint on another "long" basis.
- 3. Alphabetize their names.
- 4. Celebrate and appoint a leader at the same time.
- 5. Ask who needs the practice.
- 6. Rotate the role.
- 7. Ask for a volunteer.
- 8. Give them a topic related to the course.
- 9. Make an acronymic appointment.
- 10. Place a star on one set of materials per group.
- 11. Use a hiring technique.
- 12. Distribute a list of leadership traits.
- 13. Identify those who have not served.
- 14. Do the usual: Appoint.
- 15. Appoint co-leaders.
- 16. Assign roles.
- 17. Enlist judges to help you choose.
- 18. Experiment: Have a leaderless group.
- 19. Have them make lists.
- 20. Divide and compare.
- 21. Have them vote on you as their leader.
- 22. Use world-famous leaders as exemplars.
- 23. Prevent deep-vein thrombosis, and find a leader in the process.
- 24. Have group members listen and decide.
- 25. Develop their ability to "read" other people.
- Chapter 10: 25 Ways to Fill "Odd" Moments
- 1. Do an assessment.
- 2. Have them walk in a curriculum-designer's shoes.
- 3. Employ metaphoric assessments.
- 4. Utilize a musical comparison.
- 5. Elicit ideas for applying knowledge.
- 6. Have them respond to a parent's or boss's question about what they have learned so far.
- 7. Have them write a "singles ad" to attract others to their school or firm.
- 8. Distribute a sheet of animals from cartoons or a coloring book.
- 9. Stretch them to develop a course definition.
- 10. Have them write sentences with repeated key words.
- 11. Teach vocabulary and a course concept at the same time.
- 12. Skim the material covered, and give an impromptu vocabulary test.
- 13. Play course-charades.
- 14. Use a continuum.
- 15. Use punch lines, phrases, and anecdotes.
- 16. Have them make their own learning profile.
- 17. Give them phobias.
- 18. Use letters of the alphabet.
- 19. Ask for famous-in-the-field bios.
- 20. Elicit improvement ideas.
- 21. Ask them to create ground rules.
- 22. Relate action verbs to the course.
- 23. Use an old standby from IQ tests.
- 24. Develop one-minute teachers.
- 25. Develop course-related brainteasers.
- Chapter 11: 25 Ways to Deal with Reluctant Learners
- 1. Take him aside.
- 2. Pair him with an enthusiastic learner.
- 3. Give a mini-lecture on the importance of learning.
- 4. Give him the choice to leave.
- 5. Ask him, and four others, what aspect of the course would be most appealing.
- 6. Make your expectations clear from the outset.
- 7. Point out that your job is to teach.
- 8. Ask a direct question.
- 9. Try to determine what his problem is.
- 10. Use the "Crawford Technique."
- 11. Give an imaginative assignment.
- 12. Share a personal anecdote.
- 13. Appoint him as leader.
- 14. Share some research.
- 15. Have him hold up signs.
- 16. Use the K-I-N-D approach.
- 17. Confer with colleagues.
- 18. Invite someone important to the class.
- 19. Leave a funny card or note.
- 20. Place relevant quotes around the room.
- 21. Ask about his easiest learning modality.
- 22. Observe him carefully.
- 23. Hand out classroom dollars.
- 24. Switch activities every 15 minutes.
- 25. Give him a chance to prove himself.
- Chapter 12: 25 Ways to Make the Subject Matter Relevant
- 1. Find newspaper articles.
- 2. Have table groups do "brain dumps."
- 3. Lead a discussion.
- 4. Invite a guest speaker.
- 5. Find fascinating factoids.
- 6. Reflect on your own student-experiences.
- 7. Have them make a five-year projection.
- 8. Have them imagine themselves as award recipients.
- 9. Have them list ten negatives often heard in relation to training or schooling.
- 10. Challenge them: What is the most important word (or sentence) in the world of education?
- 11. Appoint a designated listener.
- 12. Distribute skewers or chopsticks.
- 13. Make a game of relevant words.
- 14. Make journalists out of them.
- 15. Turn them into subject-matter-experts (SME's).
- 16. Capitalize on the scrapbooking craze.
- 17. Prepare a time capsule for the next class.
- 18. Have them determine an "oops" moment.
- 19. Call on each person to repeat the objectives.
- 20. Distribute an evaluation form halfway through.
- 21. Explore two types of structure.
- 22. View the course from the eyes of a famous figure.
- 23. Orchestrate a chorus.
- 24. Have them personify a course concept.
- 25. "Columnize" their persona and the way the course impacts it.
- Chapter 13: 25 Ways to Review
- 1. Have them determine MSF's (most significant facts).
- 2. Use an outline.
- 3. Assemble and moderate a panel.
- 4. Pop-quiz them.
- 5. Draw a body on flipchart paper . . .
- 6. Have each one teach one.
- 7. Use forced fits.
- 8. Obtain permission to create a rock garden.
- 9. Create a fill-in-the-blanks letter.
- 10. Have them take an analogy test.
- 11. Twist popular phrases into course-related ideas.
- 12. Use the "been-there/done-that" phrase to review.
- 13. Draw inspiration from the Great Communicator.
- 14. Ask them to connect national issues to the subject at hand.
- 15. Make the review an emotional experience.
- 16. Do list compilations.
- 17. Be the fact-finder and ask them to be the fact-embellishers.
- 18. Use birth order to bring order to the review.
- 19. Ask them to make anonymous admissions.
- 20. Ask them to be lie-detectors.
- 21. Let reporters report review-news.
- 22. Produce a class video.
- 23. Make masks and use them to liven up a review.
- 24. Seek partial if not total recall.
- 25. Have them itemize benefits.
- Chapter 14: 25 Ways to Encourage Participant-Learning After the Course Has Ended
- 1. Write a letter.
- 2. Appoint a scribe to send updates.
- 3. Seek a ten-minute commitment.
- 4. Ask partners to exchange e-mail addresses at the end of the course.
- 5. Call on them to become one-person teachers.
- 6. Have them do an action plan.
- 7. Build a library.
- 8. Set up a schedule for pairs or triads to reconnect with class members.
- 9. Conduct a post-class survey.
- 10. Encourage participants to ask themselves questions.
- 11. Optimize e-feedback.
- 12. Invite them to come up with their own ways to continue the learning after the class is over.
- 13. Encourage journal-keeping.
- 14. Invite participants to visit your Web site or the organization's Web site.
- 15. Extend an invitation to group leaders to make a presentation in the next course.
- 16. Distribute a reading list.
- 17. Use the walls for hanging.
- 18. Arrange informational interviews.
- 19. Develop connections with former students.
- 20. Use completion certificates as bribes.
- 21. Have them create a game board.
- 22. Find a course-related competition.
- 23. Create a hook to entice them to keep on learning.
- 24. Poll the class regarding pedagogical proclivities.
- 25. Collaborate with another instructor.
- Chapter 15: 25 Ways to Encourage Managers, Principals, and Parents to Continue the Learning
- 1. Extend an invitation to the most senior person in the organization.
- 2. Seek funds for an annual consortium.
- 3. Help them find advocates.
- 4. Send a monthly e-newsletter.
- 5. Organize a competition.
- 6. Create a Hall of Fame.
- 7. Start a "concept club."
- 8. Collect loose change and subscribe to a trade journal.
- 9. Make eponyms part of the organizational culture.
- 10. Enlist the aid of others significant in participants' lives.
- 11. Initiate an organizational Kwanza.
- 12. Move into other realms.
- 13. Create a boon box.
- 14. Invite participants and stakeholders to a Serendipi-Tea party.
- 15. Send course-related birthday cards signed by their supervisor or leader.
- 16. Hold a benchmarking meeting.
- 17. Award a prediction prize.
- 18. Make a verbal necklace with pearls of wisdom; get leaders to use or display it.
- 19. Publish a collective poem.
- 20. Get rid of mental and physical white elephants.
- 21. Pave two-way streets via personification.
- 22. Take a hint from secretaries.
- 23. Invite collaboration on M-Proves.
- 24. Use class products as part of new-employee orientation.
- 25. Celebrate Janus, organization-wide.
- Chapter 16: 25 Ways to Develop Study Habits
- 1. Skim the material.
- 2. Make use of typographical aids.
- 3. Interact with the material.
- 4. Use advance organizers.
- 5. Get some sleep.
- 6. Take breaks.
- 7. Snack healthfully and helpfully.
- 8. Visualize.
- 9. Create an environment conducive to learning.
- 10. Record those stray thoughts.
- 11. Make good use of your alarm clock.
- 12. Add variety-spice to your study recipe.
- 13. Schedule a review every 20 minutes.
- 14. Expect discomfort.
- 15. Pep-talk; self-talk.
- 16. Take advantage of chronobiology.
- 17. Make discuss-able notes.
- 18. Make your learning murally visible.
- 19. Deliver a speech to an empty house.
- 20. Do a soundless, sightless review.
- 21. Become a teacher, if only for a day.
- 22. Steal a memory trick from the ancient Greeks.
- 23. Borrow from the Greeks again: Go mnemonic.
- 24. Create a song.
- 25. Make a tape recording.
- Chapter 17: 25 Ways to Conduct Non-Threatening Competition
- 1. Ask groups to decide if they want to engage in competition.
- 2. Reward speed at the end of the day.
- 3. Announce in advance that group membership will change with every assignment.
- 4. Compile a list of daily competitions.
- 5. Exonerate the winners from the homework assignment.
- 6. Extend favored status to every participant.
- 7. Limit the competition.
- 8. Make it real via reality television.
- 9. Use job applications as an example.
- 10. Discuss the origin of the word "competition."
- 11. Take them to Olympian heights.
- 12. Distance yourself from the decision.
- 13. Define "winning" and "losing."
- 14. Use the Ben Franklin columns.
- 15. Tell some "loser" stories.
- 16. Distribute bricks for an educational edifice.
- 17. Conduct informational relay races.
- 18. Use the sumo strategy.
- 19. Have an ongoing series of challenges.
- 20. Encourage comparisons to favorite sports teams.
- 21. Develop self-competition tendencies.
- 22. Draw the name of a group from a hat and issue a challenge.
- 23. Ask them to choose their game preference.
- 24. Give the competition a metaphorical twist.
- 25. Have them create a motto.
- Chapter 18: 25 Ways to Make Take-Home Assignments Relevant
- 1. Have them watch television and draw a parallel to class.
- 2. Give them a choice of a homework-discussion partner.
- 3. Take them one step beyond the reading.
- 4. Have them make a game out of the assignment.
- 5. Have them evaluate the material in a "love-to-hate" vein.
- 6. Have them sum it up in an insect analogy.
- 7. Have them interview the first person they see after class (in a safe setting) regarding the upcoming take-home assignment.
- 8. Make the last thing the first thing on the next day.
- 9. Bring antiques off the road and into the classroom.
- 10. Follow the Hans Selye example: Give choices, give control.
- 11. Elicit anonymous feedback for anonymous reports.
- 12. Use props to help them discuss the assignment and to develop listening skills at the same time.
- 13. Pass out puzzle pieces.
- 14. Elicit freely associated words in relation to the take-home assignment.
- 15. Give them a chance to advocate.
- 16. Make use of the titles that rock their worlds.
- 17. Employ circles to summarize.
- 18. Have them design a greeting card.
- 19. Ask for a midway assessment.
- 20. Give them assessment choices.
- 21. Ask them to write a letter.
- 22. Garner ideas for a survival kit.
- 23. Require them to write two questions.
- 24. Provide materials for creating gems of homework-knowledge.
- 25. Challenge them to start a tradition or establish a legend in relation to the homework assignment.
- Chapter 19: 25 Ways to Think on Your Feet
- 1. Paraphrase.
- 2. Take note (literally) of classroom interactions.
- 3. Watch television—especially political debates.
- 4. Practice by taking the last word spoken and using it to start your own sentence.
- 5. Explain a quote—without hesitating.
- 6. Practice having a questions-only conversation.
- 7. Take a word and make an association.
- 8. Circumvent.
- 9. Define.
- 10. Expand your repertoire of examples.
- 11. Think F-A-S-T.
- 12. Have lines ready for use.
- 13. Practice with odd questions.
- 14. Count backwards.
- 15. Choose a letter and ask for words.
- 16. Toss it back; gain some time.
- 17. Plant red flags.
- 18. Anticipate objections.
- 19. Improve concentration.
- 20. Take ten; give five.
- 21. Elicit prevarications.
- 22. Practice giving impromptu speeches (if only to yourself).
- 23. Expand your vocabulary.
- 24. Create creative lists.
- 25. Use the P-P-F Technique.
- Chapter 20: 25 Ways to Develop Self-Confidence
- 1. Have them describe incremental journeys.
- 2. Ask them to list who's or what's.
- 3. Alter their perspectives.
- 4. Offer leadership opportunities to each participant.
- 5. Develop "autabe" leaders.
- 6. Have them step into the positive (spot) light in which others see them.
- 7. Quote Darwin.
- 8. Develop their confidence by moving from small to large.
- 9. Give them a chance to self-propel.
- 10. Let Friedrich fuel them.
- 11. Assign the reading of a biography.
- 12. Begin emotional self-examinations for them.
- 13. Adopt the "Fish philosophy."
- 14. Have them go from 0 to 10 within hours.
- 15. Express appreciation for hard and soft knocks.
- 16. Have them create their own success-formulas.
- 17. Encourage collective accomplishment.
- 18. Suggest individual projects.
- 19. Write a note to each person.
- 20. Give clues to a mystery to the quietest members.
- 21. Nominate yourself or others for a standing "O."
- 22. Delineate serve-possibilities.
- 23. Compile a list of shatter-able myths.
- 24. Take (and give) lessons from parenting texts.
- 25. Use the government's list of competencies.
- Appendix
- List of Collective Nouns
- Discussion Questions About Feedback
- Sample Grammar Test
- Sample Grammar Test
- Sample Intuition Quiz
- Selected Quotations on Leadership
- Thought-Provoking Proverbs
- Sample Letters of Commendation
- A Training Checklist
- About the Author
500 Creative Classroom Techniques for Teachers and Trainers
288
8.
C
ircumvent.
You certainly don’t have to answer every question that is put to you. Learn to sidestep as
graciously as the young lady in the following example did.
Example: A lovely young woman had just been crowned a beauty queen when a reporter tossed
an intrusive question at her. “Are you a virgin?” he demanded to know. She thought just a
moment and then smiled sweetly, “I don’t believe that question is relevant to the duties that
await me. May I have the next question, please?”
Caution: You may wish to use a different example more appropriate for the age of your
students.
Brainteaser:
How do you interpret this amusing bit of Yiddish wisdom?
“The man who marries for money will earn it.”
1. You have to work hard when you marry a wealthy woman.
2. It helps to be wealthy before you marry into wealth.
Answer: 1.
9.
D
efine.
Especially during interviews, you can gain some thinking time by either giving or asking for a
definition. The responses provided below were given by two different quick-thinkers during
actual job interviews.
Give-definition examples:
Interviewer: “Tell us about yourself.”
Applicant: “If you really want to know who I am, I must tell you that I am a non-conforming
conformist. Certainly, I will conform to your rules and regulations. But if I am
ever asked to do something I consider unethical, I will not conform!”
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Interviewer: “How do you know you are intelligent?”
Applicant: “To me, intelligence is knowledge. And I know more today than I knew
yesterday.”
Seek-definition example:
Interviewer: “What are your views on participative management?”
Applicant: “By that, do you mean ‘democratic’ management?”
-
No Comment
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.