Learning Lincs

Tips for Trainers - No Props Required

noreply@blogger.com (Learning Lincs) — Tue, 04 May 2010 10:40:00 +0000

You are conducting an intervention with your participants and have been going for a while and you need to have a break. You have just the activity to change the focus of the intervention. Suddenly you remember that you have left your props in the car - the activity cannot work without those special props. What do you do?

The first thing you do is DON'T PANIC!

The second thing you do is the following:

Select an item in the room (or whichever venue you are using) that you don't think anyone has noticed.
Tell participants that you have selected an item in the room and they need to guess which one it is - you are testing their research skills.
They need to ask questions until they arrive at the answer.

(The objective is firstly to change the focus of the topic under discussion and secondly, it does help them with asking the correct questions when performing an investigation or research).

This is similar to I SPY but without any clues.

Another variation of this activity is to choose an item in the room and ask the participant to relate this to the topic under discussion.

For example:
You are discussing "Conflict Management" and the item you choose is an eraser. This is one idea:

When discussing our area of conflict, we can write it down with a pencil and then talk about it. Then we can erase it with an eraser in a symbolic gesture of "erasing" the conflict.

You will be amazed at the ideas that are generated.

Till next time...

à bientôt

Laticia

Tips for Trainers - Match, Tack and Candle

noreply@blogger.com (Learning Lincs) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:13:00 +0000

Hello Fellow Trainers

With the problems we have been having with Eskom over the last few months, this activity will put some fun into the darkness:

Give participants a box of matches, some thumb tacks (drawing pins) and a small candle. As the facilitator, you need them to mount the candle on the wall.

How will they do it?

ANSWER:

Empty the matches from the box and mount the sliding inside box on the wall with the thumb tacks. Then light the candle with a match and drip hot wax into the box to make a base to fix the candle. Instant light - no Eskom required!

Interesting Fact:

Psychologists have found that if you give participants these items separately, it takes them longer to find the solution. Of course, if you think that this activity is too easy, try adding a little pressure by giving them a stiff timeline like 5 minutes...

This tip was courtesy of Maximise Your Brain Power - Reader's Digest.

Go forth and light up the world.

à bientôt

Laticia

Tips for Trainers - Yay and Nay Sayers

noreply@blogger.com (Learning Lincs) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 09:44:00 +0000

Very often we have people who can only see the negative side of a topic and dare I say it, some that can only see the positive side and will ignore the fact that there may be a flip side to their view. Some say that "every cloud has a silver lining" which means that for every bad and uncomfortable event, there may be a positive outcome. Others say that "every rose has its thorns" which means that within beauty and perfection, there may be an area of dread.

I will introduce you to an interactivity that could help with seeing the positive and negative side of any issue. This activity will also help with examining the deeper details of an issue without intimidating the participants. It's called:

"The Yay and Nay Sayers" . Of course, you can name it whatever you like.

This is how it works:

Start with making a statement like: "We are getting into a bus." This is a neutral statement and does not incite any positive or negative feelings or views. You then ask the next participant to follow this statement with a negative one like this: "The bus has a flat tyre." The next participant MUST follow this statement with a positive one like: "We have a spare tyre." The next participant will then follow on with a negative statement like: "We have no tools to change the tyre." And so you continue until each one has had a chance to participate. You could record these statements as you go along if you want to visit them again at the end.

I have chosen a fairly neutral topic but you could choose one like: "The company will not be paying any performance bonuses this year..." and see what the responses will be - might be very interesting indeed! Because participants will be directed to either follow on with a negative or a positive statement, they may feel less intimidated to share their own thoughts for fear of being branded a "negative person" or a "Yes-brother". This activity also helps to keep the mind focused since the participant must listen to the previous one to follow on with their own statement.

INTERESTING FACT:

This activity also works particularly well with older children in a school setting or on a long journey.

LET'S GO.....

As with all interactivities used in a facilitated programme, it is essential for facilitators to experience it before using it during the programme. We will be experiencing this as a group of followers of Learning Lincs. You may need 5 minutes to register as a follower of Learning Lincs. Thereafter, you will just need to sign in each time you wish to post a comment.

This is how you will do it if you want to participate:

Step 1: Go to www.learninglincs.co.za/blog and you will see a list of all the blogs published by Learning Lincs. Click on the title of this blog. This will take you to www.blogger.com.
Step 2: Click on Google Follow to register as a follower of Learning Lincs's blogs (you will find this on the top left hand corner of the page). Follow the instructions.
Step 3: Once you have been registered as a follower, a text box will appear at the bottom of the blog labelled "Post a comment". And vóila! You can post your comment.

NOTE: If the previous online participant has posted a positive comment, you need to post a negative comment and vice versa.

To get started, I will start with this statement:

The soccer world cup will commence on 11 June 2010 in South Africa

To follow on, please follow steps 1 - 3 to hear what people have to say about this event......

Happy posting!

Laticia

Tips for Trainers - The Tower Game

noreply@blogger.com (Learning Lincs) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 14:55:00 +0000

Adapted from Maximize Your Brain - Reader's Digest

This game is excellent for problem solving and lateral thinking. If you perform it in a group, it can be used to observe group dynamics

You need:
4 flat stones in a pile arranged from largest to smallest bottom to top (you need a pile per individual / group)

The Rules:
The pile of stones must be moved from point A to B.
Only one stone may be moved at a time and a larger stone may never lie on a smaller one otherwise the tower will fall down.
The stones can be temporarily moved to an intermediate storage place – designated point C.
The final sequence of the stones must be the same as the original tower.

Alternatives:
You can use coins or building blocks instead of stones, or anything that is stackable. For added fun, use large boxes if you have a big enough space to work with.

You can add some competitive fun if you give participants a time limit or if you have a prize for the individual / group that finishes first or has the least number of moves (in this case you need to appoint a tally keeper to record the number of moves).

Why not share these tips with your fellow facilitators and trainers by asking them to subscribe to Learning Lincs on www.learninglincs.co.za/blog.

à bientôt

Laticia

Tips for Trainers

noreply@blogger.com (Learning Lincs) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:37:00 +0000

Body Language

Physical contact is important for the survival of any human being yet we shy away from using physical contact during our learning interventions. Exploring physical contact is especially important when discussing topics dealing with interpersonal relationships.

To help with this type of intervention, try this activity next time you need to explore using the sense of touch.

Step 1: You need a participant and a partner.

Step 2: Ask the participant to close his/her eyes and extend the arm. If they are wearing clothing with sleeves, ask them to bare their arm as far as the elbow.

Step 3: The partner is to write a message lightly on the bare forearm using the back of a pen or pencil.

Step 4: The participant must guess at the message being written.

Step 5: Repeat this exercise reversing the roles between the participant and the partner.

Debrief:

Ask each participant and partner the following questions:

What did it feel like to have someone touch them?
Did they enjoy the sensory communication?
Did they know their partner and did this make a difference to how they felt about the exercise?
Would they feel differently if someone familiar to them conducted the exercise with them as opposed to a stranger?
How easy was it to decipher the message?

I'm sure you can think of a few more questions to generate your discussion. You can also progress from using the forearm to using more sensitive parts of the body like the back over a shirt or to the back of the legs.

WARNING:

You need to ensure that your audience is comfortable with the exercise at all times. You may not exceed anyone's personal physical threshold without their permission. This exercise should be used as an experiential activity to introduce the topic of physical contact.

Interesting Fact:

This activity can be used in a variety of settings using varying levels of physical intimacy. It can be used to discuss the messages we send each other in a corporate setting when using physical contact or it can be used in a more social context like reintroducing married couples who have become estranged or between parents and children.

Good luck with using this activity.

à bientôt

Laticia

Tips for Trainers

noreply@blogger.com (Learning Lincs) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:57:00 +0000

Have you ever been stuck for a novel way to introduce your topic which doesn’t take up much time to design? Well, try this one:

Alphabet Soup

Step 1: Open a document in MS Word or MS Excel - use the application you are most familiar with – and create a table.
Step 2: Select some words that are relevant to your topic. Include the letters of these words in each of the cells horizontally and vertically. Try to make some of the letters overlap or read from bottom to top or if you’re really very clever, diagonally from right to left or left to right. Fill in the blank cells with letters unrelated to the selected words.
Step 3: As an introduction to your intervention, ask participants to find the words which they think describe the topic or content you will be covering.

NOTE:
•Try to select a few descriptive words – try not to be too complicated which will frustrate your participants.
•Avoid using words that participants will only encounter during your course as you will be setting them up for failure and you will disinterest your audience before you’ve even started.

Step 4: If you really want to add some design elements, you can add pictures as clues or to make it easier, you could give them the words which they need to find in the grid.

INTERESTING FACT: This technique can be used very easily in a variety of contexts, viz. when preparing learners for a test or to add some interest in homework activities, like learning to spell.

This exercise will help participants focus on the topic of your intervention and will get their mental juices flowing.

I hope you have some fun using this simple, easy to design technique.

à bientôt

Laticia

noreply@blogger.com (Learning Lincs) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:27:00 +0000

WHY AM I AFRAID?
“Why am I afraid to tell you who I am?

I am afraid to tell you who I am because you may not like who I am – and that is all I have”. John Powell

In our battle to survive each day, we play multiple roles. We are parents, brothers, sisters, colleagues, business owners and corporate directors. And no one role defines us. But often behind each role are the fears and self doubt which prevent us from happiness and true love. We fear being discovered as “not good enough”, “a fraud”, as “living a lie”. None of us want to be a fraud or to live a lie but our fears imprison us and protect us from being vulnerable. So we wear masks and play at these roles. At a point it becomes virtually impossible to tell our real selves from our “roles”. We wear these shields to protect us from life’s battles. But we do it at the expense of true human encounters and self-discovery.

The answer to our fears is true communication. Communicating to each other that “I can help you to accept and open yourself mostly by accepting and revealing myself to you.” The beauty of being fully human is that we are constantly changing. The thing that defines us as being ourselves is constantly changing. To be fully human implies a dynamic process, so if you knew me yesterday, this does not mean that this is the same person you are meeting today. And so communication becomes the essential medium of experiencing this change.

So when we meet each other each day, let’s approach each one with a sense of this change. We have changed, grown and have a little bit more life experience.
William Shakespeare identified this truth when he wrote”

"This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou cans't not be false to any man ",
Hamlet

noreply@blogger.com (Learning Lincs) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 07:10:00 +0000

A LESSON IN PERSEVERANCE

Have you ever observed the behaviour of birds in the face of adversity? For days and days they make their nests, sometimes gathering materials brought from far away and when they have completed the nest and are ready to lay eggs, the weather, or the work of humans, or some animal, destroys it, and it falls to the ground, all that they have done with so much effort. Do they stop? Bewildered, and leave the work? No way. They start over, building the nest again and again until they have eggs in the nest again.

Sometimes, and very often before the chicks are hatched, an animal, a child, or a storm destroys the nest once again, but this time with its valuable contents. It hurts to go back to begin again…even so, the birds do not ever stop, they continue to sing and build, and keep singing and building…

Do you sometimes get the feeling that your life, your work, your family is not what you had dreamed? Do you sometimes want to say “enough”, the effort is not worthwhile? It is all too much for me! Are you tired of it all? Do you feel that the daily struggle is a waste of time, your trust has been betrayed, your goals not reached just as you were about to get them?

Life strikes you down sometimes, but do you go on, say a prayer, put your faith in hope, not darkness? Do not worry if you get injured in the battle, that is to be expected. Gather yourself together and rebuild your life, so that it runs well again. No matter what happens…do not shrink back, but move forward.

Life is a constant challenge, but it is worthwhile to mostly accept it…and never stop singing.

Tongue Twisters

noreply@blogger.com (Learning Lincs) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 22:00:00 +0000

Does your tongue do the twist when you have to deliver a dynamic course or presentation to your audience? Your thoughts are focused but your tongue won't co-operate........

Try these tongue twisters to help loosen up those wayward lickers before you start your presentation!

The bear could not bear the boar.

The boar thought the bear a bore.

At last the bear could bear no more.

That boar that bored him on the moor.

And so one morn he bored the boar –

That boar will bore the bear no more.

How about this one?

A tree toad loved a she-toad

That lived up in a tree.

She was a three-toed tree toad,

But a two-toed toad was he.

The two-toed toad tried to win

The she-toad's friendly nod,

For the two-toed toad loved the ground

On which the three-toed toad trod.

But no matter how the two-toed tree toad tried,

He could not please her whim.

In her tree-toad bower,

With her three-toed power,

The she-toad vetoed him.

This is my favourite and one I think you are familiar with:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper.

A peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked.

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper,

Where is the peck of pickled pepper

Peter Piper picked?

From "A Twister of Twists, A Tangler of Tongues" Alvin Schwartz.

Enjoy doing the tongue twisting twist!

Laticia

The Educating Fraternity

noreply@blogger.com (Learning Lincs) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:31:00 +0000

Recent publicity around the education system in South Africa has brought much wrath against educators and learners. Parents are up in arms - what is happening to our children? What are teachers being paid for?

I hope that the following extract, received from a friend of Learning Lincs, provides some salve on the wounds of teachers:

THE CREATION OF THE TEACHER (Author Unknown).
The Good Lord was creating teachers. It was His sixth day of 'overtime' and He knew that this was a tremendous responsibility for teachers would touch the lives of so many impressionable young children. An angel appeared to Him and said, "You are taking a long time to figure this one out."
"Yes," said the Lord, " but have you read the specs on this order?"

TEACHER:…must stand above all students, yet be on their level
... must be able to do 180 things not connected with the subject being taught
... must run on coffee and leftovers,
... must communicate vital knowledge to all students daily and be right most of the time
... must have more time for others than for herself/himself
... must have a smile that can endure through pay cuts, problematic children, and worried parents
... must go on teaching when parents question every move and others are not supportive
... must have 6 pair of hands.

"Six pair of hands, "said the angel, "that's impossible"
"Well, "said the Lord, "it is not the hands that are the problem. It is the three pairs of eyes that are presenting the most difficulty!"
The angel looked incredulous, "Three pairs of eyes...on a standard model?"
The Lord nodded His head, "One pair can see a student for what he is and not what others have labeled him as. Another pair of eyes is in the back of the teacher's head to see what should not be seen, but what must be known. The eyes in the front are only to look at the child as he/she 'acts out' in order to reflect, "I understand and I still believe in you" without so much as saying a word to the child."

"Lord," said the angel, "this is a very large project and I think you should work on it tomorrow".
"I can't," said the Lord, " for I have come very close to creating something much like Myself. I have one that comes to work when he/she is sick.....teaches a class of children that do not want to learn....has a special place in his/her heart for children who are not his/her own.....understands the struggles of those who have difficulty....never takes the students for granted..."

The angel looked closely at the model the Lord was creating.
"It is too soft-hearted, "said the angel.
"Yes," said the Lord, "but also tough. You can not imagine what this teacher can endure or do, if necessary".
"Can this teacher think?" asked the angel.
"Not only think," said the Lord, "but reason and compromise."
The angel came closer to have a better look at the model and ran his finger over the teacher's cheek.
"Well, Lord," said the angel, your job looks fine but there is a leak. I told you that you were putting too much into this model. You can not imagine the stress that will be placed upon the teacher."
The Lord moved in closer and lifted the drop of moisture from the teacher's cheek. It shone and glistened in the light.
"It is not a leak," He said, "It is a tear."
"A tear? What is that?" asked the angel, "What is a tear for?"
The Lord replied with great thought, "It is for the joy and pride of seeing a child accomplish even the smallest task. It is for the loneliness of children who have a hard time to fit in and it is for compassion for the feelings of their parents. It comes from the pain of not being able to reach some children and the disappointment those children feel in themselves. It comes often when a teacher has been with a class for a year and must say good-bye to those students and get ready to welcome a new class."
"My, "said the angel," The tear thing is a great idea...You are a genius!!"
The Lord looked somber, "I didn't put it there."

Best wishes for 2010!

Off the beaten track

noreply@blogger.com (Learning Lincs) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:04:00 +0000

Hi Everyone

In today's learning environment, we often hear about "objectives" and "outcomes". As educators, we need to ensure that our audience reach the goals we have set for them by our learning programmes. We decide what their journey should be and what they should learn along the way.

Cynthia U Tobias quotes Dr Holland London in her book "The Way they Learn" when describing the learning journey. Dr London says

"People often ask me why I take so many detours when I speak. I just tell them it's because those I'm trying to reach don't live on the highway".

So what could this mean? Very often, as educators, we develop the "highway", the learning path, the journey. We determine what must be taught and indeed, learned, and how it should be done. We develop curricula and learning programmes and outcomes with assessment tools to measure them. We set the destination, we determine the route and off we go! We try hard to keep everyone on course to reach our destination in record time, having all seen the same sights along the way.

So how about encouraging our audience to reach the destination by making a few detours? Encourage them to discover a new route to the destination; to forge a new path if they choose to - to be a Christopher Columbus or Nicholas Copernicus! To learn is to discover. Instead of trying to make our audience follow our route, how about enabling them to take a few personal detours? Let's allow them to discover their inner route, their learning journey. Who knows, there may be new worlds to be discovered off the beaten track.

As one of the most inspirational speakers of our time, Dr Wayne Dyer said:

"When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It's to enjoy each step along the way".

Enjoy the journey!

á bientôt

Laticia

What Memory Research tells us about Studying

noreply@blogger.com (Learning Lincs) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:47:00 +0000

There are a number of techniques one can use to make study methods more effective. However, study methods depend on the type of material being studied. E Bruce Goldstein in his book Cognitive Psychology (2008) indicates 5 ways to improve learning and memory:

1. Elaborate and Generate

When studying, you should try to think about what you are reading and try to relate it to a current experience or to things that you know. When reading material, make up some questions relating to the topic being read which you can answer once you have finished studying. Get feedback on your answers to further support the learning process. By doing this you generate your own understanding of the material which improves your memory. Another form of this "elaboration and generation" effect is to pretend that you have to explain the material to another student who knows less than you do about the topic.

2. Organise

Memory is better when organised into a framework that helps relate information to other information. A useful technique is to create mind maps, hierarchies and diagrams. Grouping smaller chunks into larger ones improves memory. Organising information reduces the load on your memory.

3. Associate

Associate what you are learning with what you already know. Your prior learning creates a structure on which to hang new information. Creating images that link what you are learning can be a useful technique.

4. Take Breaks

Study in shorter sessions rather than trying to learn everything at once. It is difficult to remember all the material in one sitting. Studying after a break gives you a better idea of what you can remember.

5. Matching learning and testing conditions

Memory is better when the learning and testing conditions match. However, this is not always practical or suitable. A solution to this may be to study under a number of different conditions. Research has shown that people remember better when they have studied in a number of different places.