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I had a wonderful time serving as a breakout session presenter and the closing keynote speaker at the Oregon RTI conference. Here is a recap of some quick tips that I shared with them. How could you use these tips to strengthen engagement? Talking less and showing more is about getting your learners active and engaged. Remember these quick-tips to make learning sticky!
Tip 1: Use Humor Humor helps participants to focus. Humor can have an extremely positive effect on a meetings outcome or learning environment. It loosens up the participants and opens up the brain (Silberman, 1999; McNeely, N.D., Morrison, 2010). “We’re finding humor actually lights up more of the brain than many other functions in a classroom,” says Morrison, author of Using Humor to Maximize Learning. “In other words, if you’re listening just auditorily in a classroom, one small part of the brain lights up, but humor maximizes learning and strengthens memories.” Tip 2: Engage in Role Plays Role-playing creates realistic experiences and engages the brain. Physical performance is probably the only known cognitive activity that uses 100% of the brain (Jensen, 2005). Role play is applicable to all subject areas and uses spatial, linguistic, and bodily modalities to comprehend at deeper levels (Ginsberg, 2011). Tip # 3 Let them talk! If you want your learners to remember and apply the concepts, let them talk. A key question is: In my training, or in my lesson, “Who is doing the most talking?” Most teachers and trainers think they spend little time lecturing. Statistics show the opposite. Most trainers spend about two-thirds of the program lecturing, even though they don’t think they are doing all of the talking ( References Bowman, S. L. (2009). Training from the back of the room!: 65 ways to step aside and let them learn. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer. Jensen, E. (2005). Teaching with the brain in mind. Virginia: ASCD. McNeely, R. (n.d.). Using Humor in the Classroom. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/tools/52165.htm Morrison, M. K. (2010). Using humor to maximize learning: The links between positive emotions and education. New Delhi: Overleaf. Silberman, M. L., & Clark, K. (1999). 101 ways to make meetings active: Surefire ideas to engage your group. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
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