The authors: Julie Tollefson, managing editor, KU-Center for Research on Learning, and Jerri Neduchal, SIM Trainer, Orlando, Florida. This article originally appeared in the November/December 1999 issue of Stratenotes, a newsletter for SIM Professional Developers.
During the 1999 International SIM Trainers' Conference, longtime SIM Trainer Jerri Neduchal of Orlando, Florida, shared her knowledge and experience with newer SIM Trainers. Jerri packed her "Process of Presenting Learning Strategies" session full of hints, tips, and activities that provided great ideas for all trainers, regardless of experience level. The session covered every aspect of training, from developing a training outline to options for varying presentation modes to tips for tailoring a training session to fit a time limit. Jerri kicked off the conference session by introducing participants to PROCESS, a mnemonic she developed especially for this occasion. The mnemonic reminds trainers of steps they need to take to ensure a successful outcome to their training efforts:
This step encompasses the basics of preparing for a training session: ordering manuals, assembling all of your training materials (including your trainer's guide and overheads), and completing participant packets to be distributed during the training. It also includes making sure you have all of these items with you when you arrive to present a training session.
Beyond that, Jerri said, preparation means taking steps to prepare yourself to be a presenter:
Every trainer, regardless of experience level, will benefit from reviewing strategies before training sessions. No matter how many times you've presented a strategy in the past, your presentation will be strengthened if you review it again before you present it, Jerri said.
Jerri also warned new trainers that they will be asked to present training sessions on strategies for which they haven't been trained themselves. It is inevitable and will get easier with time, she said. All learning strategies share the same basic structure in their Stages of Acquisition and Generalization and will therefore likely lend themselves to the same basic training outline.
Jerri recommends developing two sets of objectives for your training sessions: one set for your participants and another just for you. Your participant objectives may be relatively generic, reflecting the fact that you don't always know everything about your audience. You may know your participants are teachers, for example, without knowing what they teach.
Always review participant objectives with your audience. If you distribute the objectives in the form of a handout, have participants pull out the handout and look at it as you go over it. If you provide the handout without explicitly reviewing it, some participants will not be aware of the objectives.
In contrast to your more generic participant objectives, your presenter objectives will be personal and specific. "You need to know what it is you want to accomplish," Jerri said. The following are examples of personal presenter objectives:
Note that presenter objectives are not affirmations; they are specific actions you plan to take during the training session.
A training outline is a tool you prepare to guide you through a training session. Although it contains information similar to the session agenda you distribute to participants, it will be more detailed and you are the only one who will see it.
In developing your training outline, consider your target audience. Plan for ways to involve participants in the session, and determine what content you need to present to the people you expect to attend. For example, a group of administrators will require a different kind of presentation than would teachers who plan to use a strategy in their classrooms. Administrators want to hear about the research on which the strategies are based and the results that have been obtained through strategy use. Teachers, in contrast, want to know how they can incorporate the strategies into their work with students for best results.
"I must be able to talk about myself." Jerri drilled this idea into participants multiple times in discussing trainer credibility. Though difficult, the ability to talk about yourself will set the stage by developing and enhancing your credibility, helping you to gain the confidence of your participants at the beginning of the session. You should start by telling participants a little about yourself, Jerri said. Generally speaking, they need to know that you are a teacher, how long you've been teaching, why you became a SIM Trainer, and how strongly you believe in the Strategic Instruction Model. Without taking these introductory steps, your presentation will be weakened by participants who decide from the outset that you've never been in the classroom and that you don't know what you're talking about.
Likewise, Jerri said, if you don't have personal stories related to strategy instruction, you need to get some.
"You can use other stories from other teachers' classrooms, but you must personalize and tell about your experiences using the strategies," Jerri said. "They need to hear that you have been there, done that."
A critical teaching behavior is an approach or skill that makes teaching any kind of lesson more effective, more rewarding, and more satisfying. The Center for Research on Learning has produced a video describing these behaviors:
The final step is to evaluate and sing "hallelujah" because you have successfully completed your training session. And, Jerri assured the less-experienced trainers in the room, it gets easier every time.
Jerri Neduchal was a high school teacher who taught Learning Strategies in her integrated English classroom. After teaching Learning Strategies for a couple of years, she was asked to become a SIM Trainer. She found the training very intense and, initially, she said, she wanted to drop out. But she stuck with it and, "You can't shut me up now about SIM," she says. Jerri is now a staunch advocate of the Strategic Instruction Model in her work as a Learning Resource Specialist with FDLRS/Action Resource Center in Florida.
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