Teach/er/ing Quotes

I’d rather see a sermon Than hear one any day; I’d rather one should walk with me Than merely show the way. The eye’s a better pupil, And more willing than the ear; Fine counsel is confusing, But example’s always clear. I soon can learn to do it, If you’ll let me see it done; I can see your hands in action, But your tongue too fast may run; And the lectures you deliver May be very fine and true, But I’d rather get my lesson By observing what you do. For I may misunderstand you And the high advise you give, But there’s no misunderstanding How you act and how you live.

At the beginning of a class/course/seminar, show a glass 1/2 full of water. Ask, now is this glass 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Shows tendency towards pessimism or optimism. Do you tend to concentrate on what’s there or what’s missing? As far as class is concerned, want to encourage students not to look for what is missing during the course but how what is being presented can be used and what needs it can fill.

Educational Philosophy: I HEAR … I FORGET I SEE …. I REMEMBER I DO ….. I UNDERSTAND

A good exercise at the end of a class/course/seminar, is to divide the class into 2 teams. Have them physically group together at opposite sides of the classroom. Ask 10 questions on the major content items of the course. Keep track on which group correctly calls out the answers to the most questions first. Be prepare to have a tie-breaker. Could use an independent judge to determine who was right/wrong. Offer a prize of some kind (the undying gratitude of the instructor, or some such).

An instructor should not underestimate the value of up-front “disclaimers” before starting a class/course/seminar. For example “I know many of you are here simply to fill your requirements for management training. However, we might as well make this fun, etc.”

Good Opening Exercise at beginning of a class: have 1/2 of class form a line on each side of room- place hands on person’s shoulders in front- massage- turn around, massage person behind you (demonstrates “experiential” learning and effective communications “little higher”, etc.!!)

Use QUESTIONS as an effective teaching aid: Can you imagine trying to improve your target shooting if you don’t look at the target to see the results of each shot? Questions help you to see how well you are hitting the target.

To keep audience focus and attention during a presentation, do a “prize” give-a way every 20 minutes or so. Ask a review question on a pertinent point you recently made, first person with the correct answer gets the prize!

The Instructor’s Creed This I Believe:

• Teaching is not synonymous with imparting information. Today’s technology can do this more effectively and efficiently than I can.
• Learning is not a spectator sport. People learn best not by being told but by experiencing the consequences of their thoughts and actions. My role, then, is to arrange experiences that help people learn.
• The purpose of teaching/learning is to change behavior. I cannot say that teaching/learning has taken place until I see improved performance in the learner. A tape recorder can play back what I just told it (more accurately than learners can), but no learning has taken place.
• Learning objectives describe the performance I expect of learners upon completing a course. These objectives, or “terminal behavior,” must be the focal point of all the subject matter and learning activities that go into a course.
• The adult learner brings an impressive array of knowledge, attitudes, and skills to class as “entering behavior.” I must assess this, since it is my starting point. I cannot start from my level … or from zero. I can only build on my learner’s level.
• My role as instructor, then, is to close the gap between entering behavior and terminal behavior. This is the “value-added” dimension of my instruction. The learner and I share a responsibility for producing a return on investment.
• I regard the information to be taught as input, or Stimulus (S). The learner’s active Response (R) is the output that enables learning to take place. And the Feedback (F) that the learner gets serves to strengthen or modify the Response. Instruction can thus be viewed as a chain of S-R-F links.
• The question is my single most powerful tool for causing learning to take place. The responses it elicits helps learners to discover things for themselves … to internalize new concepts and skills … to learn how to learn. These responses also enable me to be learner-centered rather than information-centered or instructor-centered.
• When I teach, I learn. Initially my understanding of content expands with the first few offerings of a course. Thereafter, my process skills enlarge as I become more adept as a catalyst and facilitator of learning. When my own learning stops, I should probably stop teaching.

The shaping of behavior has been entrusted to me. It is an enormous responsibility, yet one filled with joy. Few things on this earth give me more satisfaction.

14 Tips to Making a Great Participant-Centered Training Program: 1. Clearly define the results you want from the program. What do you want people to know that they don’t already know? What do you want them to be able to do? How do you want them to feel? 2. Ask, “Why don’t we have these results already?” In other words, what are the barriers that stand in the way of the results? 3. Understand that training is a process not an event, the process is not over until we see results on the job. 4. Make sure that you involve the decision makers and stakeholders in every way possible. Make sure that they are part of the assessment. Make sure they review and sign off on findings, recommendations, etc. 5. Teach managers and supervisors to prepare participants to attend training programs. Why are they going? What are the objectives? What are they expected to bring back and use on the job? What kind of post-training action plan is expected? 6. Follow the 90/20/8 rule in building your program. Adults can listen with understanding for 90 minutes, and with retention for 20 minutes, we need to involve them every 8 minutes. Try to break your content into blocks of 90-minute units. 7. Build in a strong opening. The opening should break preoccupation, facilitate networking, and be relevant to the content of the course. 8. Vary the way material is presented. Blend short lectures with a variety of small group and individual activities. Build in a lot of variety. 9. Make sure you allow reflection time. Allow participants to individually think about what they are learning and how they can apply it to their jobs and/or lives. 10. Use physical movement. Adults are not used to being as sedentary, as a rule, as the classroom training makes them. Periodically build in activities that make them move about the room. Have them examine charts on the walls or add to them. Have them do standup activities in pairs or trios with people from other groups. 11. Make sure that you periodically review and reinforce the content. Find ways to have the participants tell you (and each other) what they have learned. They might create or complete a crossword puzzle, create or take a quiz, create and share with each other action idea lists, etc. 12. Create and deliver a strong close. The close will allow participants to celebrate what they have learned, make sure that each person has an action plan, and will tie things together. 13. Encourage an immediate post-session meeting between the participant and his or her manager. Together they review what was learned and ensure that opportunities are created to use the knowledge and skills on the job as quickly as possible. 14. Encourage participants to stay in touch with each other after the training so that they can continue to support each after the program is over.

A frustrated manager complained that every time he provided training, the now highly skilled employee was snatched up by a competitor. However, the only thing worse than training people and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.

Your knowledge is a tool not a weapon…use it as a lever not a cane.

You cannot teach a person anything. You can only help him or her find it within themselves.

You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. When the teacher is ready, the student will appear.

We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.

We become the best teacher by exposing what we most need to learn.

We are all part of a learning experience; we are all resources to others.

Today’s public education system is a failed monopoly: bureaucratic, rigid, and in unsteady control of dissatisfied captive markets.

To do right is wonderful. To teach others to do right is even more wonderful – and much easier.

Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately, it kills all its pupils.

There is no crisis to which academics will not respond with a seminar.

The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence.

The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil.

The schools ain’t what they used to be and never was.

The illiterate of the future are not those who cannot read or write. They are those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.

The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand.

Tell me and I’ll forget; Show me and I may remember; Involve me and I’ll understand.

Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others, it is the only means.

Personally I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.