Dusting off the Tool Box: Tips for Trainers
Section
2: Things to Do
To
Organize Before Beginning the Presentation
“If teachers are to set up classrooms where inquiry is encouraged, then they must be educated in ways that encourage inquiry. The willingness and the competence of the teacher to seek and find meaning through direct experience and reflection influences how she or he will structure and mediate that learning environment.”
—
Jacqueline Grennon Brooks, Teachers
and Students:
Constructivists Forging New Connections, 1997
Some things to consider:
• Review the session as it has been planned by the curriculum writers. Evaluate what methods you feel comfortable with and what you might want to change.
• Review the time allocated to teach this material and think about how to adjust activities or information to flexibly meet the needs of the participants.
• Review any additional elements you might want to be sure to integrate or stress: for example, relevant topic specific terminology and procedures, accreditation standards, or performance standards.
• Consider the balance of teaching methodologies so that lecture doesn’t predominate over processing, reflecting, and experiencing
• Consider the match between your considered training approaches and your desired outcomes (see Section 2: Handout 2).
• Consider how people learn about teaching (see Section 2: Handout 3).
• Organize your presentation in a way that fits with your personal style. For example, do you prefer an agenda for the session, outlines, or note cards? How should the handouts and overheads be organized? Should they be organized in a participant packet and distributed to each participant’s seat or handed out as information is discussed?
• Gather any props you might want to use to jump start the training, to spark creative, symbolic thinking, or to create a climate of fun and engagement.
• Pack a “survival bag” with additional materials, resources, books, and office supplies that you think you might want to have on hand during the training. The names, addresses, and phone numbers of agencies and resource people can also be very handy.
• Consider what structure and rules you might like to establish with the group (see Section 2: Handout 4).
• Review and revise your plan immediately prior to the session.
• Use Section 2: Handout 5 to make sure you are prepared.
What can you add?