Training Aids:
Presented by Michelle Ellsworth and Shelly Conroy of e-Training Solutions,
Inc.
Are
you searching for new and creative ideas to breathe life into tired
programs? Do your participants need a shot of energy after a long
program? Does your curriculum need some new life without rewriting the
entire program? Have you ever used a story to start or end a
session? Ever wanted to use a story to enhance a learning point? Are
you looking for new games that are tailored to our industry? If so, this session will provide you with the
aids you’re looking for to enhance the learning experience.
Agenda:
1. Openers
2. Discussion Starters
3. Content Delivery
4. Closers
About the Speakers:
Shelley Conroy and Michelle Ellsworth are owners of e-Training Solutions, Inc. - a full-service training organization that provides classroom instruction, consulting services, instruction design and development, and e-learning solutions for the multi-family industry. Both women have been featured presenters for national events including the Multi-Housing World Conference and Sales and Marketing Magic Brainstorming Conference. Together, their combined training experience spans over 30 years. Their "tag team" training is described as energetic, engaging, upbeat, knowledgeable, and informative. They appeal to audiences large and small and at all levels within an organization.
www.e-tsonline.com info@e-tsonline.com 941-778-7033
Keep these guiding principles in mind as we discuss
the Training Aids:
1) Learning
involves the Whole Mind and Body
Learning
is not all merely “head” learning (conscious, rational, “left-brained,” and
verbal) but involves the whole body/mind with all its emotions, senses, and
receptors.
2) Learning is Creation, Not Consumption.
Knowledge
is not something a learner absorbs, but something a learner creates.
3) Learning comes from doing the work itself
(with feedback).
People
learn best in context. Things learned in
isolation are hard to remember and quick to evaporate. We learn how to swim by swimming, how to
manage by managing, how to sing by singing, how to lease by leasing and how to
train by training. The real and the
concrete are far better teachers than the hypothetical and the abstract.
4) The image
brain absorbs information instantly and automatically.
The
human nervous system is more an image processor than a word processor. Concrete images are much easier to grasp and
retain than are verbal abstractions.
Translating verbal abstractions into concrete images of all kinds will
make those verbal abstractions faster to learn and easier to remember.
1) Openers
Crowd-Breakers (for
large groups)
·
Cold Hands, Warm Introductions
In this fun activity, participants learn
interesting tidbits about their peers while racing against melting ice.
Pair
participants randomly with others they don’t know very well. Then give each
pair one piece of ice. (Make sure ice cubes are about the same size and shape.)
Explain that the object of the crowd breaker is for Participants to discover as
many things as possible about their partners... while melting the ice as
quickly as possible. Participants must learn basic things about each other such
as name, position, property, hobbies, and talents–but also something odd, such
as the color of their toothbrushes. If there’s time, each person should find
out one little-known or interesting fact about his or her partner.
Tell Participants creative ice-melting techniques will be rewarded. They might
rub hands, place it in their mouths, under their arms...wherever there’s
warmth. When a pair’s ice cube is melted, have them signal, and keep a list of
finishers in order. When everyone is finished, have Participants introduce
their buddies to the large group, sharing what they discovered.
Give
awards to the pair who melt their ice cube first, the person who’s found the
most interesting fact about his or her partner, and the pair who found the most
creative way to melt an ice cube.
·
Junk Mixer
Do you have a problem with cliques within your
group? Or, are there new employees in
your class? If so, use this crowd
breaker to get class members talking with each other.
Collect ordinary small
household items, such as a button, eraser, rubber band, Popsicle stick,
thimble, pencil or emery board. You'll need one item for each class member.
List the items on a sheet of paper with a line beside each item. Make one
photocopy of the list for each participant.
Put each item in an
envelope. As participants arrive, hand them each an envelope and a photocopied
list. Explain that each group member must somehow wear his or her item.
Instruct participants to find out who's wearing each item and write that
person's name on the list.
Ice-Breakers (for
small to medium sized groups)
·
Designer
T-Shirts
Bring a white T-shirt or white hat for each
participant. Have some extras available for visitors. After participants put
their names or initials on the inside tags, have them stand in a circle and put
their shirts in the center. One by one, have participants each pick one shirt
(not their own) from the pile. Provide fabric paint, glitter, buttons, needles,
thread, and scissors.
Tell
participants they each have 30 minutes to decorate and customize the shirt they
selected. Designs can incorporate the shirt owner's favorite property
management motto, property or company symbol, sport, and so on. If participants
don't know the owner, they should introduce themselves and ask a few questions.
When participants are finished, have each designer hold up his or her creation,
explain the design's significance, and present the T-shirt to its owner.
·
Label on Your Forehead (Great for Diversity or
Leasing)
Cut strips of paper
about an inch wide and 6 inches long. Place a 3-foot-long piece of string or
yarn on each strip, taping the string to the paper. On the paper, write the
names of various types of personalities such as shy, obnoxious, lonely, sad and
funny.
Then, tie the strings
around each person's head with the label showing on his or her forehead. Make
sure no one sees his or her own label. Have participants mill around talking
with each other. Tell participants they may not tell each other what their
label is, that they must treat others according to the labels. As participants
talk, have them try to guess the label on their own foreheads by watching the
way people treat them.
·
Snap!
Crackle! P…uzzle! (Perfect for Marketing Class)
Mix and match pieces of cereal boxes to mix and
match the participants in your class. Cut off the front panel of several cereal
boxes—one for each group you want to form. Then cut up each panel into puzzle
shapes—one for each person you want in that group. Mix together all the pieces
from all the cereal boxes; then give one piece to each person. On
"go," have participants race to find the people with the pieces
necessary to complete their puzzle. When all the cereal box panels have been
assembled, have groups discuss the following questions:
- What was your favorite cereal
as a child?
- What's your favorite cereal
slogan or jingle?
- What cereal name are you most
like, and why?
- If you had an ad slogan or a
"list of ingredients" for yourself, what would it be, and why?
End
the discussion time with snacks—cereal, of course.
• Practice Makes Almost Perfect (Computer Classes, Maintenance)
You'll need newspaper
and a wastebasket.
Set the wastebasket in
the center of the room. As participants arrive, have them wad the newspaper and
shoot baskets into the wastebasket.
Say: Go ahead and shoot a few baskets.
Take your time and warm up. Challenge the people around you to a trick shot or
two.
After everyone's
arrived, ask: How did practicing help
you shoot better shots? Did you get better after you had time to practice?
Would you become perfect at shooting baskets if you practiced a lot? What else
have you done that's required time and practice to get better?
·
Hula
Heads (Use for Teambuilding or Orientation)
This
game requires little prep and will build unity in a group whose members don’t
know each other well.
You’ll
need at least two Hula Hoop plastic hoops. Have participants form small groups
of five to 10 people. Have groups stand in a circle, holding hands. Place a
hoop around one person’s neck. The object of the game is to have each team send
the hoop around the circle, passing it from head to head, without participants
touching it with their hands. After a few practice rounds, have teams race
against each other to see who can get the hoop around the circle the quickest.
·
Common
Ground (Diversity, Teambuilding, Leadership)
Form equal-sized teams
of three to six. Give each team a sheet of paper and a pencil. Tell teams their
challenge is to list everything they can think of that all team members have in
common. For example, team members might all belong to the same company; prefer
the same kind of music, or like the same brand of tennis shoes. The only rule
is that they can't list similar body parts, such as "We all have two arms,
a brain, and a nose."
Tell teams they have
three minutes to create their lists, so they need to work quickly. (Groups of
five or six may need more time, but don't allow more than four to five
minutes.) To add to the urgency and excitement of the game, inform teams when
there's one minute as well as 30 seconds remaining.
When time is up, find
out which team has the longest list and ask team members to read the
similarities they listed. Then ask teams who had similarities not already
listed to share them. To conclude, have the entire group discuss the following
questions. Ask:
How easy was it to discover something in common
with another team member? with every team member?
What does this reveal about the extent to which
we're alike? the ways in which we're all different?
How can our similarities draw us closer together?
How can our differences help us grow closer?
Variation Idea: Challenge teams to list things
members don't have in common - things that make each person unique. For
example, participants may have been born in different states, might go to different
restaurants, or might like different music. You might also challenge your entire
group to list as many things as it can that members all have in common
·
Target
Practice (Any Topic – Goal Setting)
Typically, we set goals at the end of a
discussion. But we can use goal-setting to start a discussion, as long as we
make those goals tentative. In fact, the process of modifying a tentative goal
can lead to lively debate.
For
example, let's say you're beginning a leasing program. You could ask
participants to set a tentative goal: "We want 100 percent of group
members to close 80% of all qualified
traffic by the end of this program." Then ask participants:
Is this a reasonable goal or should it be modified?
Use participants' responses to generate discussion. Don't stop
until the group has reached a consensus. The process can serve as a springboard
into talking about Goal Setting how-to's.
·
Just for Fun (Any Topic)
Use
the following questions to inspire interesting and fun discussions:
- What three things would you put
in a time capsule that your descendants would dig up in 100 years?
- Which one of Superman's powers
would you choose for yourself? Explain.
- Finish this sentence: "One
thing I want to do before I die is..." How can you make that
"one thing" happen?
- If you could listen in on a
conversation between any two people in history, who would they be? Why?
- How would your life be
different if music were outlawed? Movies? Television?
- What's something you'd never
order at a restaurant?
- What's something you'd never
do, even if someone offered you $1 million to do it?
- If you could make up a nickname for your
Instructor, what would it be?
·
Making
Impressions (Make-Ready)
Give
each person a sheet of paper and a crayon. Tell participants they have ten
minutes to collect ten “impressions” of both the inside and the outside of the
meeting area. Have participants place their sheets of paper over objects such
as carpet, a heater grate, or a keyhole and rub their crayons on the paper.
Tell participants to list each item they make an impression of on the back of
their papers. When participants return, have them take turns guessing what
objects the impressions are of. Then ask:
- How could you determine the
pattern that would appear on your paper?
- How could you avoid patterns
that you didn’t want on your paper?
- How can we make positive
impressions on our prospects and residents?
·
String of
Stress (Stress Management)
Supplies: a ball of string or yarn, scissors,
music, and a fun snack
Have participants sit in
a circle. Say: Today we’re going to talk about the stress in our lives. Let’s
pass around this ball of string. When it comes to you, name all of the stresses
in your life that you can think of. For each stress you name, pull out about a
foot of string. Once you’ve named all the stresses you can think of, cut off
the string. Start the string and scissors around the circle.
Once everyone has shared
and has a length of string, have participants form trios. Select a person in
each trio to be tied up first by his or her trio partners, using that person’s
string. (Be sure participants don’t tie string around someone’s neck.) Then the
second person can be tied up by the third person in the trio. You can tie up
the last person in each trio using his or her string.
Once everyone is tied
up, invite participants to a celebration across the room featuring music and
treats. Turn on the music, and invite participants to join in the fun.
Stop the music. While participants are still tied up, ask:
- How
do you feel about being all tied up?
- How
are the effects of the string similar to the effects of stress in your
life?
- How
does stress take away your sense of freedom?
- Is
it possible to live so that stress doesn’t have this effect on you? Why or
why not?
- What’s
the best way to deal with stress? Why is that hard to do?
- How
can we help each other reduce the stress in our lives?
Start the music again,
and have participants work together to set each other free from the string.
Turn the music down low, and ask participants to pile the string in the middle
of their trio and discuss together ways to be stress reducers for each other
this week. At the end of the meeting, let participants enjoy the snacks.
·
Brushes
with Greatness (Leadership)
You'll need wrapped
candies to give as prizes.
Have participants get
into groups of three or four.
Say: Tell the members of your group
the name of an important person you'd like to meet and why.
After a few minutes, say: Now talk
with your group about your "brushes with greatness"—about important
people you or someone you know have already met. For example, (describe your
own brushes-with-greatness experience). Remember, if your grandmother's
next-door neighbor's cousin knows someone, that counts.
Allow a few minutes for
participants to recall their brushes with greatness. Then invite groups to
share. Give prizes to the groups with the most examples, the least examples,
and the most far-fetched examples.
Ask: How did your life change as a result of your
brush with greatness? Why do we want to meet important people?
2) Discussion Starters
Movie Intros
Want to change participants' perspectives? Just press
"play." Now you can use popular movies to illustrate critical issues
participants face. Each clip includes "where-you-live" discussion
questions to get your class talking!
Plus, by teaching with a medium that participants relate to, you'll be
keeping your session relevant.
·
Clip Example for Leadership Course
(The Patriot,
·
Clip Example for Behavioral Styles
(Will and Grace or Seinfeld)
·
Clip Example for Training (Karate
Kid)
·
Other Movie Clip Resources
LEADERSHIP
A Bug's
Life: The bugs are
marching in single file at one portion of the movie and a leaf falls to the
ground in the path that the ants are going in. This creates a disruption and
the ants don't know what to do. Fortunately a leader comes along and shows the
ants that they can simply go around the obstacle. Great point in showing
leaders that they have the influence to give direction to inexperienced
students.
Added by Tommy Hall
A Bug's Life: In the beg. the ants leave food for
the grasshoppers, but it gets knocked off the mound.
Start the clip with the ants huddle
in their mound and the grasshopper lands. The grasshoppers get upset because
the food is not there. They break into the mound. The head grasshopper
"Hopper" statement is great for pointing out that leaders are always
at fault and need to take responsibility.
added by Sean Hart
The Patriot : Cue the scene about 2 Hours and 28
Minutes into the film. The last battle is taking place and when the battle
looked as though it was being lost, the men (the good guys) begin to yell
retreat and start running away. Their leader (Mel Gibson) grabs an American
flag and begins to frantically wave it around and tells the men not to retreat.
He exhorts them to hold the line, then he goes running up past all of his men
into the battle zone not to look back again, not knowing if anyone is with him
or not but he is on a mission to encourage and motive his team to ..."push
on to the prize (of the high calling)"...to win. He refused to be the
victim, he became the victor.
Added by David Breth
Leadership
– or - TEAM CHOICES
The Matrix: (see other Matrix write up under “Life’s Meaning”) I
used the bit where Neo has to make a choice about taking the blue or the red
pill. If he takes the blue pill, he goes back to the pretend world where he
won't know any different. If he takes the red pill, he will find out the truth
(no matter how uncomfortable it might be!). The clip is about 1 min 20.
Kiss of
Death: One of the
best movie clips showing the natural consequence that our choices can have.
(Most of you will need to edit this scene- it is very violent and has language)
Show the clip at the beginning of the movie when David Caruso's character is
being pressured into driving a stolen truck for his cousin (Michael Rappaport).
He says "no" at first- but after being pressured he finally gives in.
The "easy" job turns out to be bad, they all get caught, and he ends
up doing time. His wife visits him in jail and the pain of his decision is very
evident. Great Scene!
Planes,
Trains and Automobiles: Show the clip when Del Griffith (John Candy) and Neal Page (Steve
Martin) are finally driving the rental car together. It’s night and
Observations:
1. They didn’t know they were going the wrong way.
2. People tried to warn them- they didn’t listen.
3. They faced the consequences.
Questions:
1. What direction is your team headed?
2. Who are some people that might warn us? What might they warn us of?
3. What consequences might be lying out there for us if we continue going “the
wrong way?”
Relative Games
3 Rules of “the Game”
by Thiagi
- Anything that you can teach by using any method, you
can teach by using training games.
- Training games can be designed rapidly and
inexpensively.
- Training games engage the learners and produce
effective results.
I have slides for all of these
examples:
1.
Ghost Busting - Learners
write obstacles identified on large Casper-type ghosts that are then placed on
the wall. Learners in pairs or small
teams are then assigned specific ghosts to bust.
2.
Dragon Slaying - Obstacles
identified are placed on large cardboard dragons. Dragons are then stood up on the floor as
barriers in front of a poster representing the desired goals of the
session. Then small groups slay the
dragons - If the group agrees that the ideas will work, a member of the team
gets to shoot the dragon down with toy bow and suction cup arrows.
3.
Barrier Removal - Obstacles
are placed on large cutouts resembling stones which are then assembled on a classroom
wall, perhaps covering a stated goal or need.
Could use boxes to build actual barrier wall. Small teams brainstorm on ideas for removing
their assigned barrier from the wall.
·
Nightmares and
Dreams - Using a theme of dark and light, the trainers
decorated each side of the classroom accordingly. Learners spent the first half of the program
in the dark side identifying their fears about difficult calls and the last
half in the light as they learned to build confidence in handling these calls.
·
Fireside Chat
3) Content Delivery
3
Key Points
·
Trust
Your Learner
·
If the body don't move, the brain doesn't groove
·
Learning
involves the whole mind and body - Learning is not all merely "head"
learning (conscious, rational, left-brained, and verbal) but involves the whole
body and mind with all its emotions, senses, and receptors.
·
Learning
is Creation, Not Consumption - Learners
are not consumers of someone else's ideas and knowledge as much as they are
creators of their own. Course designs,
then, don't have to prescribe everything for the learners, but can concentrate
on creating a total learning environment where learners can create meaning,
understanding, skill, and lasting value for themselves.
Pre-Course Assignments
·
Use e-Learning to get the “basics” before class – allows
more time for application (e-University www.e-tsonline.com)
·
Pre-Course Projects
·
Pre-Course
Story Telling
·
Parables
·
Role-Playing (Free Form, Narrated, Prescribed, Simultaneous,
Stage Front, and Rational)
·
Create a Comic Strip
·
Murder Mystery "Who Killed the Customer"?
Murder Mystery
"Who Killed the Customer"?
–
Class
Invitation is a summons
to appear at an inquisition into the murder of a customer. The summons tells the participants that they
are suspects, and gives everyone a humorous alias. Ex:
Miss Informed, Rusty Skills, R.Q. Mentative, Miss DeLease.
In
the class, chairs are arranged in a horseshoe shape around the chalk
outline. Each chair has the alias with a
list of mistakes that contribute to poor customer service.
·
Making a Scene
Collaborative Review Games
Instead of
passively siting through the standard lecture, learners now tour 7 interactive
jungle ‘territories’ on the 7 inservice topics.
Learners
are greeted by a tour guide in a safari hat at a Red Cross Station in front of
the room. When a group of 10 to 12 learners has formed, a tour begins. (In peak
hours there are as many as three tours going on at once.) Learners are given
anti-malarial pills (Skittles candy), and a passport that has a short
True/False or Multiple Choice Quiz on each territory they will visit.
Then
learners enter the ‘jungle’ a large training room decorated with posters of
animals, palm trees and waterfalls painted on sheets, jungle sounds from a
tape, and other jungle items. The room is sectioned off by sheets so there’s
only one path through the jungle.
Learners
wind their way through the jungle’s 7 territories. Each territory has a leader
who takes learners through different learning activities. At the end of each
activity, learners orally go through the corresponding quiz in their passports.
The first
station is on Hazardous Materials (called Ailewa, the Nigerian word for
Safety). The tour bus (a shopping cart) bumps into the table and spills bleach.
To clean this up, the station leader reminds them of the correct documentation
they must access.
The second
station, Confidentiality (Da-Ke), takes them through a computer presentation on
confidentiality issues.
Then they
proceed to the next station, the Lion’s Crossing or Body Mechanics. First the
guide throws a net over a stuffed animal lion, then they attend to an injured,
bleeding dummy named Jungle Jimmy, and learn how to properly lift from the
knees.
Then they
carry Jungle Jimmy to the next station on Bloodborne Pathogens, a hospital bed
labeled the Lion’s Den. There learners see a demonstration on how to avoid
contamination with infected blood, how to dispose of contaminated clothing, how
to clean up blood spills, and how to fill out an incident report if any
contamination does occur.
Next
learners go under a waterfall to the Handwashing station, and then to a jungle
storage shed made of sheets, called the Hot Hut, to learn about fire safety.
The Hut is made from sheets. The territory leader knocks over a lantern to
simulate a fire, and then he shows them how to properly extinguish it.
At the end
of the tour, learners go past a paper river and valley to the Outbreak Clinic,
where they sit down for the first time in the whole program and learn how to
isolate TB and other infectious diseases. They are given a booklet with common
questions and answers, entitled ‘TB or not TB?’ The back wall of the Outbreak
Clinic, a structure of poles, has peripherals of various infectious agents and
how to isolate each one.
Finally
learners go to a debriefing station where they complete an evaluation, sign a
roster to verify they made the journey, and turn in their passports.
The results
of this program have been outstanding.
·
Crossword Puzzle (Tiagi)
·
Group Brain
Active
Sports Theme – Bob uses this active review game for maintenance techs. This active golf review
game that can be used when training virtually anything.
It’s been a
big challenge to teach Make-Ready procedures because the information is
typically tedious and boring, Bob says. This game helps make the procedures
stick because learners get enthused about reviewing them.
After a
quick refresher training for maintenance technicians, Bob gives learners a copy
of the procedures. He asks learners to study and write questions about them.
After he collects the questions, he ranks them into three levels of difficulty,
designating each question between 100 and 300 yards.
Bob divides
the class into two teams (the game works with three or more teams as well). He
tells them they’re going to play five holes of golf. Using an overhead
projector, Bob projects a bird’s eye colored diagram of the first hole on a
whiteboard.
They flip
to see which team tees off first. This team selects their desired difficulty of
question. Bob reads them the question, and if they get it right, they advance
the specified number of yards.
But to make
things more interesting, teams have to first pick a card from a deck to see
whether their ball lands on the fairway, or in one of the various traps on the
course. The card might just say Fairway, or it might say Water, Rough, or Sand
Trap, all of which add one stroke to the team’s score.
After a
team has its turn, they mark their spot on the whiteboard course with a colored
marker or magnet. Each hole has yardage markers already on it.
Teams take
turns answering questions until their ball lands on the green. At that point,
Bob asks them to draw a card from another deck. These cards specify how far
their ball is from the holeó between one and ten feet. Using a putting green
set up in the room, a team member has to putt their ball into the hole, adding
the number of strokes to the team’s total score. When both teams have sunk the
ball into the cup, they move on to the next hole. Bob then projects the next
golf hole transparency.
The winning
team, of course, is the one with the lowest score after they’ve made it through
all five holes. Bob says each team answers between 15 to 20 questions in the
course of a game.
The next
day, learners are tested on the procedures through both written and hands-on
evaluations. He says that the game has had ‘tremendous results’ because test
scores are so much better than before they used the game. ‘They’re forced to
read the procedures to get ready for the golf game, and they come away really
knowing them.’
Not only
that. Learners have a blast. He says the comments have been ‘nothing but
positive.’ Learners really get into the fun competition. When someone is
putting, for instance, the other team hoots and hollers, trying to distract the
putter. Bob says that some games actually are won or lost in the putting,
keeping everyone in suspense until the end.
·
Giant Floor Models
·
Sorting Cards
·
Snowball Fight
How to Introduce a Game or Exercise:
Be a PEESST
Purpose:
state clearly the
objective (what they will get from the experience)
Explain:
what they will
do, rule and roles everyone will follow
End Results:
tell them what you want
them to be able to do, say or produce as an
end product of the activity
Sample: do
a dry run, demo, or example so they can hear, see, and feel what
the activity is like
Say: repeat
it briefly
Time/Tracking:
use a timer to allot a
specific amount of time
4) Closers
What's a story without an ending,
a mystery without a solution, or a joke without a punch line? Incomplete,
frustrating, blah...and certainly unsatisfying. It's like a journey without a
destination. Unfortunately, that's how some of our meetings seem as we end with
a cheery, "Well, that's about it; see you next week" and then watch
participants drift out the door. A strong case can be made for the position
that the ending is the most important part of a meeting.
·
Full
Service Promise
Supplies: newsprint, a marker, tape, index
cards, and pencils
Tape a sheet of
newsprint to the wall. Have participants brainstorm ways to serve their
co-workers and supervisors and write these on the newsprint. Encourage
participants to be creative. For example, someone might say, “Bring lunch on
Friday for your team,” “Go with maintenance on a few service request” or
“Organize your desk drawer.”
Give an index card and a
pencil to each participant. Have each person pick one idea from the list to do
during the week. Have each person write his or her idea and name on the index
card. Collect the cards. Close by saying: Next week, we’ll briefly review the
cards to see how you did in following through on your plan to serve.
Remember to save the
cards and review them at your next meeting.
·
Commitment Closing
Invite
the participants to make a personal commitment or renew their commitment to
practicing their new skill or policy. Ask them to concentrate silently; then
write their commitment on a 3x5 card to hand in or take home; or to make their
commitments verbally in pairs.
·
Last Impressions
Count Too!
|
An effective ending has a direct relationship with the meeting's
goal. If the goal is for participants to build team relationships, an
opportunity for participants to work through problems they may have with
other group members is a good ending. The way a meeting ends can also set the
tone for future gatherings. An upbeat ending will make participants want to
come back. Some groups end with a mini-party to celebrate an obscure or
imaginary holiday, such as National Applesauce Week or the anniversary of the
first pizza. Ending meetings the same way each time builds a sense of
community. Some Instructors like to end all their meetings the same way -
with a special song, a cheer, a conversational motto or a favorite game.
However you choose to end your meeting, let the ending punctuate your meeting
with an exclamation point, not a question mark. |
·
Group Hug
This is
a good way to close a meeting in which group members have felt close. Have the
group members stand, form a line and place their arms around the people on
either side of them. Instruct the person at one end of the line to begin
rolling, with his or her arms still around the people beside him or her, into
the rest of the group-cinnamon-roll style. Once the group has wound up tightly,
say: One, two, three, hug! The group all squeezes at the same time, giving one
gigantic, mass hug.
·
Hat Tip Off
Put names in a hat.
Write the name of each group member (including the leader) on separate slips of
paper, and place them in a hat. Ask each person to draw a name and share
something he or she appreciates about that person. Instruct each group member
to keep the slip of paper and offer support to that person throughout the
coming week.
·
Surprise Party
Plan a
surprise party for your participants. After your regular meeting, surprise them
with a game- and food-filled party.
·
Positively
Promising
Beforehand, cut enough
paper strips so every participant gets two. On half of the strips, write one
negative statement from the following list, and on the rest, write one positive
statement. Make sure each strip has a match, and keep a master list for
yourself.
Hand one positive slip
and one negative slip (but not a matching pair) to each person. Then tell each
person to find the positive for his or her negative by asking others what they
have. When participants find their matching positives, they get to keep them.
(Their original positives go to the people who have the matching negatives.)
After everyone finds a
match, gather in a circle and take turns reading each negative, followed
immediately by its positive.
·
Letter to Myself
Give
each person a sheet of paper, a pencil, and an envelope. Ask participants to
think about the kinds of (salesperson, team member, etc.) they'd like to be in
a year, based on what they’ve learned in class.
Have each one write himself or herself a letter describing that person.
Ask volunteers to tell what they wrote, and then have participants seal their
letters in the envelopes. On the envelopes, have participants write their names
and "to be opened on (date one year from now)." Encourage
participants to keep the letters in their day timers so they won't misplace
them before it's time to open them.
·
Object Lesson
Reminders
Give the participants lesson-reminder
objects. For example, if you talk about TEAMbuilding, give them a coin with
TEAM inscribed. If you talk about being a Leasing Star, give them a
Star character to keep on their desk.
RESOURCES
ONLINE LEARNING FOR
MULTIFAMILY PROFESSIONALS
Callahan,
10 Great Games and How to Use Them, ASTD Infoline.
Epstein,
Robert. Creativity Games for Trainers, McGraw-Hill, 1996.
Greenblat,
C.S. Designing Games and Simulations, Sage, 1988.
Leogue,
James and Bob Preziosi. Icebreakers: Warm Up Your Audience, ASTD
Infoline, 1989.
Nilson,
Carolyn. Team Games for Trainers, McGraw-Hill, 1993.
Peyser,
Sandra. Warm Ups & Wind
Rohnke,
Karl. Silver Bullets: A Guide to Adventure Games and Trust Activities,
Kendall/Hunt, 1984.
Silberman,
Mel and Karen Lawson. 101 Ways to Make Training Active, Pfeiffer &
Company, 1995.
Sugar,
S. Games That Teach, Jossey-Bass, 1998.
Thiagarajan,
Silvasailam. Games by Thiagi (a series of products),
LEARNING AND ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE
Davis,
Stan and Jim Botkin. The Monster Under the Bed, Simon & Schuster,
1994.
DePorter,
Bobbi. Quantum Business: Achieving Success Through Quantum Learning,
Dell, 1997.
Goleman,
Daniel. Working With Emotional Intelligence. Bantam Books, 1998.
Kline,
Peter and Bernard Saunders. Ten Steps to a Learning Organization,
Marshall,
Edward. Transforming the Way We Work: The Power of the Collaborative
Workplace, AMA, 1995.
Senge,
Peter & Team. The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for
Building a Learning Organization, Doubleday, 1994.
Zohar,
Danah. Rewiring the Corporate Brain, Berret-Koehler, 1997.
Gatto,
John Taylor. Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling,
New Society, 1992.
Healy,
Jane. Endangered Minds: Why Children Don’t Think and What We Can Do About
It, Simon & Schuster, 1990.
Macedo,
Donald. Literacies of Power: What Americans Are Not Allowed to Know,
Westview Press, 1994.
Bowers,
Saul,
John Ralston. The Unconscious Civilization,
Smith,
Page. Killing the Spirit: Higher Education in
Orr,
David. Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect,
CRITIQUES OF TECHNOLOGY-ASSISTED LEARNING
Healy,
Jane. Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children’s Minds for
Better and Worse, Simon & Schuster, 1998.
Oppenheimer,
Todd. "The Computer Delusion," Atlantic Monthly, July 1997,
pp. 45-62.
Postman,
Neil. Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology, Vintage, 1993.
Stoll,
Clifford. Silicon Snake Oil, Anchor Books, 1995.
Strassmann,
Paul. The Squandered Computer: Evaluating the Business Alignment of
Information Technologies, Information Economics Press, 1997.
Barzun,
Jacques. Begin Here: The Forgotten Conditions of Teaching and Learning,
Beniger,
James. The Control Revolution:Technological and Economic Origins of the
Information Society,
Einstein,
Firestien,
Roger. Leading on the Creative Edge, Pinon Press, 1996.
Muller,
H.J. The Children of Frankenstein: A Primer on Modern Technology and Human
Values,
Rose,
Colin. Master It Faster, Accelerated Learning Systems, 1999.
Scheele,
Paul. Natural Brilliance:Move From Feeling Stuck to Achieving Success, Learning
Strategies Corporation, 1997.
Schumacher,
E.F. Small Is Beautiful: Economics as If People Mattered, Harper
&Row, 1973.
Shalin,
Leonard. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and
Image, Viking, 1998.
Spretnak,
Charlene. The Resurgence of the Real:Body, Nature, and Place in a
Hypermodern World, Routledge, 1999.
Whyte,
David. The Heart Aroused:Poetry and the Preservation of Soul in Corporate
The possible choices of
music for classroom-based and individual learning are endless. Here are just a
few suggestions to get you started.
Music to Relax the Body/Mind
Classical
Pianoforte, Eric Daub (LifeSounds)
Dance of the Blessed Spirits, Gluck (from Orfeo and Euridice)
Relax with the Classics, vol. 2 & 3, (The LIND Institute)
CBS Dinner Classics (French, Italian, and other albums)
Piano Concerto No. 21 (K467), Mozart
Pachelbel's Canon and Other Baroque Favorites, Toronto Chamber Orchestra
Prelude a L'Apres midi d'un Faun, Debussy
The Baroque Lute, Walter Gerwig
Oboe Concertos, Vivaldi
Air on a G String, J.S. Bach
Contemporary
Oceans, Peacock (LifeSounds)
Christofori’s Dream, David Lanz
No Blue Thing, Ray Lynch
The Impressionists, Windham Hill Sampler
Piano Solos, Narada Lotus
Silk Road, Kitaro
Velvet Dreams, Kobialka (LifeSounds)
Crystal Silence, Chick Corea
Sunsinger, Paul Winter
A Piece of Heaven, Maia (LifeSounds)
Music to Energize the Body/Mind
Classical
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Mozart
Water Music, Handel
Music for the Royal Fireworks, Handel
Fanfare for the Common Man, Copeland
Gothic Harp, Speero
Fanfares, Mouret
Concerto for Two Pianos (K365), Mozart
Sonata 5 No. 7 in D, Giuseppe Torelli
Trumpet Voluntary, Jeramiah Clark
Suites for Orchestra, Bach
Invitation to the Dance, Weber
Trumpet Concertos, Haydn
Hungarian Dances, Brahms
Triumphal March from Aida, Verdi
Michala Petri Recorder Concertos
Violin, Harp, and Flute Concertos, Telemann
Baroque Music for Panpipes, Zamfir
Dance of the Renaissance, Searles & Yslas (LifeSounds)
Contemporary
Snowflakes are Dancing, Tomita
Deep Breakfast, Ray Lynch
Noveau Flamenco, Ottmar Liebert
Planet Drum (drum music from around the world)
Just Friends, Oliver Jones Trio
Brotherhood, The Gene Harris Quartet
Compact Jazz, Stan Getz
Chase the Clouds Away, Chuck Mangione
Dukes of Dixieland Live
Switched on Bach
Saving the Wildlife, Mannheim Steamroller
Music from Riverdance
Earthbeat, Paul Winter
Rondo 2000, Rondo Veneziano
FreshAire, Vols. 2, 3 & 4, Mannheim Steamroller
Music for Mental Imagery and Meditation
Spectrum Suite, Steve Helpern
Natural States, Steve Halpern
Velvet Dreams, Kobialka
Music for Imagining, The LIND Institute
Relax with the Classics, vol. 3, The LIND Institute
Adagio for Strings, Samuel Barber
Tunhuang, Kitaro
Music for Airports, Brian Eno
Silk Road, Kitaro
Inside the Taj Mahal, Paul Horn
Music for Concert Reviews
Christofori's Dream, Lanz
Dance of the Blessed Spirits, Gluck (from Orfeo and Euridice)
Sleepers Awake, J.S. Bach (from Maurice Andre, Back for Trumpet)
Sheep May Safely Graze, J.S. Bach
Brandenberg Concertos Nos. 2 & 5, J.S. Bach
Oceans, Peacock (LifeSounds)
Obtaining a Permit for
Public Performance
To assure that you are not
violating copyright by playing a specific piece of music in the classroom, you
can obtain permission from the publisher to use it. For details on this, check
with the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) in
Playing copyrighted music
in a classroom or training seminar constitutes a public performance of
the work, requiring that you obtain permission from the owner of the music or
his or her representative. There are a couple of exceptions. According to
ASCAP, permission is not required for music played or sung as part of a worship
service, provided that service is not broadcast by radio or television. Neither
is permission required if the performance is part of a face-to-face teaching
activity at a nonprofit educational institution.
ASCAP has hundreds of
different licensing arrangements covering a wide variety of situations. Not all
of them are costly or financially prohibitive. Ask an ASCAP representative to
propose a licensing agreement that fits your unique situation and see what
happens.
When visiting the ASCAP Web
site, you can check out ACE (ASCAP Clearance Express) which contains a
searchable database of information on musical compositions, writers,
publishers, and recording artists.
Sources of Classroom
Music
LifeSounds (1-888-687-4251,
music@flite.net) offers high-quality classical and contemporary music that is
sold with rights for public performance in a classroom at no additional fee.
In addition, you can
contact the following organizations directly. All of these organizations,
together with LifeSounds, have been associated with the Accelerated Learning
movement in the
Accelerated Learning
Systems (GA), 404-446-3852
Barzak Educational Institute (CA), 415-898-0013
The LIND Institute (CA), 800-462-3766 or 415-864-3396
The Mozart Effect Resource Center (CO), 800-721-2177
Steven Halpern’s Inner Peace Music (CA), 800-909-0707
Superlearning (NY), 212-279-8430
There are other organizations
marketing royalty free music to the training community, but some of it is often
shallow, trite, and of low quality according to people musically trained. But
don’t give up on this avenue. You might be able to find pieces here and there
of sufficient quality and appropriateness to work for you.
Music Videos
High quality videos of
relaxing nature scenes with music backgrounds can be used for breaks and to
accompany some learning activities. Excellent award-winning videos like
MOVIE CLIPS
According to the Federal
Copyright Act (Public Law 94-553, Title 17), videocassette clips of copyrighted
movies may not be shown publicly without a licence from the copyright owner.
This applies equally to for-profit and not-for-profit organizations (including
schools). For more information about this, check the Web site of the Motion
Picture Licensing Corporation (www.mplc.com/index2.htm). Or you can call them in Los
Angeles at (800) 462-8855 to make arrangements for licensing the movies or
movie clips you would like to use as part of a training or educational program.
Occasionally a training
design might call for party favors, materials to embellish a theme, or special
decorations. If that’s the case, here are some organizations that might help
you find what you need. Just call for their free catalogs.
Into
the Wind Kite Catalog, Boulder, CO: 800-541-0314.
Kipp
Brothers,
800-428-1153.
Oriental
Trading Company,
800-227-1092.
Trainers
Warehouse,
800-299-3770.
US
Toy Company,
Books
and Resources on the Brain and Learning
ASCD,
The
Brain Store,
800-325-4769.
Herrmann
International,
Zephyr
Press,