Entertrainment
Tips for Teaching Success
Author: Todd Anthony Bell
Published By: Todd Anthony Bell
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2012 Todd Anthony Bell
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
“Teaching is knowledge transfer. An effective teacher must take their own experiences and understanding of a topic and relay that information to a student in a professional, easy to understand method. Entertrainment, Tips for Teaching Success was written to illustrate a teaching methodology that has been proven to be successful and gets results.
The techniques discussed in this book are designed specifically for teachers, however other professions will benefit from these methods as well. These are basic public speaking skills that should also be applied to help the salesperson or public speaker in the performance of their respected profession. Whether you are looking for increased sales or better results from your students, Entertrainment is an outstanding method to maintain the attention of your target audience.
The key to success is consistent application of what you learn. You must be tenacious in your approach and be willing to make changes in your teaching style to see results. This is not a “quick fix” solution, it will take time and practice to perfect. If you make a personal commitment to improving your teaching skill set, the reward will be better retention for your audience and you will have the knowledge that you’ve made a positive impact on someone’s life.”
Please visit www.entertrain.co for more information.
Todd Anthony Bell
WHO WANTS TO BE A TEACHER?
When I was a young boy, I had aspirations of becoming a fighter pilot in the Air Force. I dreamed of pushing myself and the plane I flew beyond the limits of its engineering capability. It was a dream I shared with many of my friends. This was a common desire of young boys and girls who grew up on Air Force Bases as dependants who were constantly bombarded with the sights and sounds of high flying fast moving fighter jets.
The sound and aroma of jet exhaust filled the air around us as we rode the bus to and from school everyday past the flight line. I had just about every new airplane model kit that I could afford to buy and I built them all only to wreck them as I “flew” them around the house in mock engagements with the enemy. It was an innocent dream that was not to be.
Easily distracted, a poor attention span and lack of interest in school doomed me from the beginning; there was no way my grades would get me into a good college and without a good education I didn’t have a chance of qualifying for a pilot slot in any branch of the military. As with so many dreams, flying a plane began to fade as adulthood began to take shape.
Almost as soon as I was able, I enlisted in the Navy. It wasn’t a choice my Father was happy about since he was a career Air Force man; however he and my family supported my decision. It was time for the apron strings to be cut and me to begin a new chapter in my life.
I signed up to be a Sonar Technician and was going to be assigned to Submarines once I had completed my training. Training consisted of almost two years of highly compressed technical information that would test my limited tolerance of the classroom environment. I had to somehow overcome my dislike of being in school to succeed or else I would find myself chipping paint off the hull of a freighter in the middle of some God forsaken ocean.
Motivation wasn’t the problem; it was my lack of focus. Throughout my high school years I had become increasingly agitated with the entire learning process, I couldn’t sit still. I was never a bad student; in fact I was very respectful to all of my teachers. I just had no interest in things that didn’t seem to be important.
This lack of focus killed my grades. Instead of paying attention to the discussion at hand I found it more productive to watch the snow fall outside the window. This trend got worse throughout the years and unfortunately for me, wasn’t corrected. Back in those days ADHD wasn’t something people talked about or even tested for, I was simply labeled as a below average student that just happen to barely make the grade to pass through the system.
To this day I don’t believe I have ADHD; however I can tell you from my experience raising a child who has been diagnosed with the affliction that I definitely had the symptoms. As I matured, I did learn how to overcome this lack of attention to detail and become a better student. It is my belief that this is a direct result of the many instructors I had as a student in the Navy’s Technical School system.
My redemption came as soon as I entered my first classroom environment under military direction, Basic Enlisted Submarine School in Groton, Connecticut. From day one, my instructor recognized that I and many of my classmates had trouble with the curriculum. He did something that none of my previous teachers every thought of doing, he injected humor into the equation.
This guy was hilarious and always seemed to have a joke or one-liner to get us laughing and easily steered us back on topic. No matter how hard we tried to lose interest, he tagged us with a gut wrenching analogy that always seemed to get the message across. Mission accomplished, I graduated Submarine School with some of the best grades I had ever seen and never thought I was capable of achieving.
I left Groton for San Diego, California for my next training facility with a new found confidence. Sonar Class “A” School was to be more demanding but as with my Sub School training, no problem. Again, the instructor I had was phenomenal. His personality captured my attention from the beginning and made it easy for me to learn new concepts that I honestly thought were beyond my comprehension.
Next was a maintenance course for the equipment I would be working on, the AN/BQQ5 Series Sonar Set. This was to be my final school and last hurdle to jump before I was to be assigned to a Sub, my schooling was almost complete. All I had to do is keep pushing and pray for another good teacher. Badaboom, once again I was rewarded with an incredible instructor who not only had an outstanding command of his classroom; he also taught our entire class the invaluable skill of learning on our own.
After nearly two years of back to back instructors who somehow managed to do the impossible, I left the training world and headed towards my first assignment as a bona fide Sonar Technician ready for the world. Armed with a new found knowledge and guidance from truly remarkable teachers, I had a real good foundation from which to build a career in the Navy.
I spent four years aboard two Submarines and also a two month “Special Operation” on a third. It was a wonderful experience that I will never forget and would never have had if not for the extraordinary men who taught me in those first two years. This was a common feeling shared among other technicians who had gone through the schooling offered by the Navy. They all had experiences that paralleled mine and often gave credit for their success to their teachers.
That’s when I realized what I wanted to do when my tour of duty was over at sea; I wanted to learn how to become a teacher. There was something special about them, how they conducted business and how they managed people. Somehow they all managed to understand how to teach the difficult student and instill confidence.
I needed to learn how they did this.
I got my chance in 1989 when I was assigned to shore duty as an instructor at Basic Electronic Rate Training, or as we called it BERT. I was going to have the opportunity to teach for the next three years and more importantly, learn the skills my instructors had displayed when I was a student.
The schooling I had received and my time as an instructor would forever impact my professional career choices from that point forward. I was to be a teacher of technology and help people to learn difficult concepts with my new skill set, something I continue to do to this day. Although I was now a teacher, I never stopped being a student. Each position I held after the military had its own unique challenges and new techniques to learn however they all had one thing in common, the goal.
The goal for every teacher, instructor and professor should be to keep their students mind in the game, hold their attention and keep them interested in the subject matter. This is the same mentality of a sales person, the parallels are undeniable. I would argue that a sales person and a teacher share the same skill set and ultimately have the same objective. They are trying to sell a product to their consumer, in our case the product is knowledge.
In the classroom, the consumer is the student. They must “buy” into the material being delivered to them for comprehension to take place. This confidence in the product, regardless of what the subject matter is comes directly from the teacher’s ability to deliver. It becomes even more vital in adult educational situations where the student may actually be paying for the material themselves.
If the teacher loses the confidence of their student, they lose their consumer. This may result in a student “dropping” the class and expecting a refund as well as future sales from potential students. Believe me when I say students talk, word will spread and enrollments will drop if word gets out that the teachers doesn’t do a good job.
From a business perspective, this is money being flushed down the proverbial drain and goes against every business model that exists. Regardless of how you may feel about schools, they are a business and they want to have “cheeks in seats”. No business wants to give back money once they have it in their account.
Many professional educators may disagree with my analogy, however I would challenge them to look past the public school system and find me a program that doesn’t look at the bottom line. They need to make money to keep the doors open, pay their staff and keep their investors happy. It’s that simple. A complacent instructor can definitely have a negative impact on the success of any school’s future and the careers of those around them.
Retention is the name of the game and all schools must play in order to be successful. The game starts with the instructors and their ability to deliver the material in accordance with the topic learning objectives.
That is the purpose of this book. I’m going to expose you to the simple yet often ignored or forgotten secrets that need to be put into practice every time you step in front of students. The techniques you’ll be exposed to may seem simple and honestly mundane however, they are absolutely essential in maintaining the attention of your student.
This is a win-win for you, the school you work for and most importantly your students. You will be a better public speaker, have better student retention in both numbers and knowledge and will increase if your fellow instructors practice the same skills reviewed in this book and your company will see an increase in their bottom line. End result, more profit for the company and your paycheck.
The ultimate result will be a classroom filled with happy go-lucky faces ready to absorb whatever information you wish to share with them. In addition, the reward of seeing your student succeed is one of the most satisfying feelings a teacher can have. The knowledge that you have helped someone to better themselves is indescribable. If you’ve had it, you know what I mean. If not, practice what I preach in this book and you’ll have a new found respect for the profession you have chosen.
Although I will be focusing my attention on the teaching profession, these skills can also be applied to other career paths. Sales, public officials, anything that requires you to speak in front of a group of people applies.
I’ve spent over 23 years teaching diverse curriculum as an employee of Hechinger Stores Company, Productivity Point International, Mastering Computers, Platinum Education, Computer Associates, Computer Learning Network and of course my own company, Bellcom Technologies. I’ve had classes as small as five students and as large as 1,300 packed into an enormous banquet room in a five star hotel. My clients have been the everyday Joe the plumber and fortune 500 companies spread throughout the country. I’ve taught in every major city east of Dallas, Texas and Detroit, Michigan. Regardless of the material I was lecturing about and where or who I was lecturing to; the skills I’ve learned and will be passing along in this book were the same.
Even though I’m considered a subject matter expert on this topic, I’m humble enough to know that there’s always something new to learn. I’ve always kept my eyes and ears open for new and interesting techniques to add to my quiver and share with my students. Remember, to be a good teacher you must also be a good student.
BE THE SME
You are the Subject Matter Expert. It’s your responsibility to know the material you’re lecturing on inside and out. Even if you are not a 20 year veteran, you must appear to be. In our world, perception is reality. Your students must have confidence in your knowledge base, without it your credibility is gone. Without credibility, it’s going to be a long day at the office.
In all reality, we all have to teach something we’re not comfortable with. There are many reasons for this, some of which are not under our control. There have been many times in my past when I was given the technical manual for a subject Friday and told that I would be picking up a class the following Monday morning. That made for a long weekend with my nose in the book trying to learn the material and prep for my delivery. The key is to look beyond what my students were going to learn and anticipate any questions that may be presented during my lecture. Sounds like something a fortune teller might be better equipped to handle, however you too can look into the crystal ball and prepare for the inevitable.
I found that as I mind melded with the material, writing down my questions as I went along helped me be prepared for those “where does the white go when the snow melts” questions. Of course I had to invest the time to research the answer and as I did, more questions would present themselves. It’s not easy and it can be extremely time consuming but well worth the effort. You will be surprised how many questions you will get that mirrored your own. Remember, you’re always a student no matter how many years of teaching you have under your belt.
Personally, I’ve become obsessed with prepping for my lectures to the point that reading for pleasure has always involved a new tech manual. In fact, the last novel I read was “It” by Stephen King back in 89’, ironically when I started teaching. I would love to pick up the latest best seller and read it front to back, however as long as there’s something new to learn that will make me a better teacher, that takes priority.
It’s this commitment to your area of expertise that will help you become the veteran your students want and expect you to be. I’m not saying in order to be a good teacher you must dispense with all pleasurable reading, far from it. I’m stressing that you understand the commitment required for you to become that Subject Matter Expert. Anything and everything you can get your hands on that will increase your confidence and comfort level is a must. Spend the time needed or you will be punished by your students.
Nothing is more embarrassing than going “aaaaahhhhhh” when a student asks you a question that is perceived by them to be simple for you to answer.
Of course there will be that question that you may not be able to answer, there’s always one. The answer is definitely not “aaaahhhhh, well, I’m not sure” or “I think…” NO, don’t ever use those as answers.
If you do not know the answer to a question, don’t panic. There’s always a way around looking like a complete goof as you stumble through your vast knowledge base trying to retrieve what you believe is the correct answer. What you need is time, time to look up the answer or ask a fellow professional.
One possible solution is to turn the question back on the class and use it as an assignment.
“That’s an excellent question Mr. Joe Bob, let’s see what the class can find out.” At that time you see if anyone in the class can answer this for him or break out the books or research it on the internet. Whatever resource you have available, turn the class loose and see what they can find out. Make sure that Mr. Joe Bob is actively involved in the search as well. Not only are you finding him the answer but you are also teaching the entire class how to research their own questions.
With determination and a little elbow grease the answer will present itself. Without losing the confidence of your class you have managed to answer the question, taught an invaluable skill, and also increased your own knowledge base from the work of others. It doesn’t get better than that.
Credibility for the most part is by default. You are the teacher and you will have the attention of your entire class the moment you present yourself to them the first time. Credibility is yours to lose and I’ve seen many crash and burn in the first few moments of class.
Comments made by instructors that got them into trouble are simple yet have major repercussions. As you read these you may think to yourself that these are common sense things not to say and I would agree with you. People however say the most surprising things when they are nervous or lacking confidence.
The most common things I’ve heard that you should never say to your class.
“This is the first time I’ve taught this class.”
“Let’s take turns introducing ourselves to each other.”
“I’ve never done this before but I’ve read all about.”
“I’m so excited to be here, this is my first time teaching.”
“Okay, let’s open the book to chapter one. We’re going to take turns reading.”
“Let me tell you something about myself.”
Don’t be that person. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first time, your students don’t care how excited you are to be in front of them and definitely don’t fall back on the “let’s take turns reading”. All of these are instant turn offs and that credibility you walked in with will be gone before you even knew it was there.
In my experience, the first hour in front of your class is the magic hour. As long as you appear confident and professional they will respect you. One great way to build your confidence and their comfort level with you is to talk about something other than the learning objectives.
Ease them into the material, build their interest, and throw teasers at them while discussing something else. A great example of this technique is displayed every night by a good news anchor. Next time you watch the evening news pay attention to how seamless they take you from one story to another through strategically placed transitions. They are subtle yet highly effective in carrying their audience’s attention through the news without the viewer ever noticing.
Teaching is like telling a story, you build up the plot by carefully laying the background on the characters and their relationships. After the tracks have been laid, you can ease the student into the gritty details continuing to build the story and eventually revealing the climax in an effortless manner. It’s that WOW moment that your students are paying for and will be very appreciative of, the process of learning without even realizing it.
This is the true talent of a Subject Matter Expert. They have the knowledge and more importantly the talent to transfer that knowledge to others regardless of how many years of experience they may or may not have in the field. If done correctly, the students will believe that you have done this countless times in the past and will freely open their minds to whatever you have to offer. After you have your first smooth delivery of material and have set the stage, the following topics should go much easier for you and your students. They’ll be less inclined to resist and more open to your teaching trusting that you have all the answers.
Here’s a fantastic example of projecting expertise when very little actually existed.
I was hired by a company based out of Scottsdale Arizona called Mastering Computers. They specialized in teaching highly skilled network administrators the art of preparing for and passing the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certification exams. This was a tall order for the students and had to be taught in a very limited amount of time. The students all had years of experience but needed that extra nudge to help them pass the difficult exams offered by Microsoft.
I had absolutely no experience at that time managing a network of any size and worst of all had never taken any of the certification exams that I was being tasked with teaching.
You may be asking why I was hired. Believe me, I often asked myself that same question when I was going though the prepping process before my first seminar. During one of my rigorous prep sessions with my boss I finally made the comment that I thought I may have been in over my head. It was one of those panic moments that everyone goes through when learning something new that seems so impossible. His answer surprised me and emboldened my resolve when faced with any challenge from that point forward.
“Anyone can learn technology, not everyone can learn to teach technology.”
He continued to explain that the company wasn’t looking for someone who could regurgitate information, anyone can do that. They wanted someone who could relate with the students and who understood the learning process. Mastering Computers could teach me what I needed to know about the systems fairly easy, it was my years of teaching they were after. It didn’t seem easy to me at the time however their process was very thorough and when my first seminar was scheduled, I was ready. I will discuss this process of prepping later.
My experience up to this point in my career was widespread. I had taught everything from Digital Theory, Boolean Algebra and Application Software to Human Resources and Employee Management. Although the material was diverse the one thing that had maintained throughout was my teaching methodology. Regardless of what I discussed, I never changed the WAY I taught. That is what Mastering Computers was after.
It was by blind luck that one of the classes I had while teaching Microsoft PowerPoint happened to have an employee of Mastering Computers who dropped my name to my future boss. They in turn had a few more looks at me in future classes and the next thing I knew, I was on a plane heading for Arizona for an interview.
This goes to show you that you never really know who’s in your classroom and that you should always teach as if you are being considered for future opportunities. Mastering Computers was an outstanding stepping stone and will be referred to many times throughout this book. The skills I learned and will be sharing with you were very rewarding and made me a very successful educator.
I went from zero experience in one discipline to a seasoned veteran within two months. In the eyes of my students, I had been a Network Administrator forever and they were lucky to have my company and I share our vast database of knowledge with them. Even though I never once declared that I was this “Master of Networks” they thought I was, their perception of me helped my class succeed. My classes had a 96% first time pass average of all the exams they learned about in my seminars.