500 Creative Classroom Techniques for Teachers and Trainers
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10.
U
se questions to stimulate creativity.
Having participants consider possible consequences of various scenarios is an excellent
problem-solving/strategic-planning tool. As a prelude to such heavy-duty thinking, post a
generic list of “What if . . .?” questions (several follow) to spark their creative embers. Have
them formulate and share their answers. Then, ask about what-if consequences in relation to
issues impacting the learning.
Examples: What if teachers earned as much as rock stars?
What if women ruled the world?
What if elephants could fly?
What if no one were allowed to earn more than $100,000 a year?
What if all students were free to choose their own course of study?
What if all celebrities had to donate five hours a week to a charitable cause?
What if all politicians had to sign an ethics pledge?
What if war were declared illegal?
What if there were no music in the world?
What if leadership had to be shared?
What if the driving age was restricted to ages 20–60?
What if America had to “adopt” another nation?
11.
E
ngage partners in questioning each other.
The instructor is not the only source of knowledge in a classroom. Nor should the instructor be
the singular source of questions that test participants’ understanding of the course material.
Have individuals or small groups prepare questions covering what has been taught. Then call on
each, in round-robin fashion, to ask their questions of others in the room. Continue until all
participants have had to answer at least one question and/or until all questions have been asked.
Option: Organize the session into a competition that ends when only one team is left standing.
Appropriate prizes could be awarded to the winning team. (See the Appendix for a copy of a
letter to managers. It could easily be adapted to send to parents.)
Brainteaser:
You have only five seconds to figure out the answer to the sample problem.
(Others will follow on later pages.) Look at the sample now and try to solve it.
Which of the five possible answers makes the best comparison?
“Meat” is to “team” as 7892 is to:
(a) 2987 (b) 9872 (c) 8278 (d) 2897 (e) 2978
Answer: d (2897). If “meat” is a 1-2-3-4 sequence, then “team” is sequenced 4-2-3-1.
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