"Hands on, brains on!"

Last week, we held our annual teacher conference, in which we bring all our teaching and management staff together for a week of training prior to opening the school year.  Just as we expect teachers to provide active lessons and hands-on activities when working with students, our management team strives to model those same approaches when planning the teacher conference. Our teacher training sessions are grounded in research regarding adult learning.  For instance, the average adult can pay attention to a lecture style presentation for a maximum of 20-25 minutes before disengaging or becoming distracted.  Additionally, the most effective trainings are 30-40% presentation and 60-70% application.  Also, research tells us that it is critical for teachers to have a positive mindset and beliefs that the skills being shared in the training are attainable and will benefit their work and their students. 

One example of putting these principles into action was our eLearning session at the recent conference.  The chart below shows how the first hour of the training was structured using the principles of adult learning.  

The second hour of the eLearning training incorporated two additional components of effective adult learning:  demonstration and feedback.  During demonstration teachers are able to observe and see someone executing the task they are being trained in.  The feedback component encourages them to already start identifying their strengths and areas for improvement when it comes to implementing eLearning.  Feedback begins in the training session and is extended into the coaching visits and lesson observations that begin immediately after training. 

The chart below shows how the second hour of the training was structured using the principles of adult learning.  

We strive for all Impact Network lessons, whether it be for students or teachers, to be ‘hands on - brains on.’  We expect that by paying careful attention to the learning needs of our teachers, we will directly and positively impact the achievement of our learners!

-Annabelle