Classroom Teachers, Home School Teachers, Sunday School Teachers, Business & Industry trainers, College Professors, Professional Speakers, Preachers, or anyone who teaches or does presentations in any capacity can benefit from these techniques.
The Mind Opener
A technique that builds enthusiasm in the teacher and eagerness to learn in the learners
1. Select a Quote that ties in with your topic that session or with ways to learn that topic.
2. Share that quote with your learners.
3. Ask if any recognize the author and ask them to share what they know.
4. Share the significance of the author from your and your topic’s perspective.
5. Discuss the implications of the quote for the learner’s lives.*
*Remember that discussion is two way not just you talking, so draw out your learners with questions that stimulate them to think.
6. Ask them to write down one or more ideas or skills that they will apply to their activities that day.
The “What Have You learned?” Closure
A technique that places responsibility for learning on the learners
Tell learners what they will learn – Tell them that they will be held accountable – Get feedback at the end of the session (Not tomorrow or next week)
1. Outline or list what they are going to learn that session. (Not what they can learn or will have opportunity to learn but what they will learn.)
2. Tell them what will be expected at the end of the session. (See below.)
3. Present what they are to learn.
4. At the end of the session ask each, or at least several, to tell one specific thing that they learned that day and/or that they are going to apply in their lives that day or week. (Or also ask each to write one or more things down and turn it in. Or provide stamped envelopes that they are to self address and put this in. Then you mail it to them in a week.)
I have been collecting techniques that I and other master teachers and speakers have used to add power to teaching and speaking.
Techniques that are available include:
- The Mind Opener - A 10 minute daily exercise that prepares the teacher to teach enthusiastically and students to learn eagerly
- A work cycle that empowers students to take charge of learning and frees the teacher to really teach
- A goal setting system that encourages students to want to learn
- A class organization that does away with monotonous classroom routine
- Content organization that lets the teacher and the students know what to expect
- A 15-20 minute daily exercise that grows the teacher’s own natural abilities
- An approach to teaching that reaches out to students who are growing up in a digital age
- The "What Have You Learned?" Closure - A technique that places responsibility for learning upon the learner
These techniques will raise any teacher’s level of teaching.
These techniques have been used to teach High School, Continuing Education, Sunday School classes of all ages, from the Pulpit, business and industry classes, in multiple languages, and even online.
For more info you can contact me at mark@markclemons.com or go to www.clemonscreativelearning.com
