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Make your CFU experience a workshop instead of a seminar.
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Let
students work on something rather than simply listen to a lecture. Structure
your session to have as much interaction and hands on practice as you can.
Use your handouts to deliver background information. This approach takes
creativity to implement, but it pays huge dividends. An involved student is
a happy student.
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Don't start at the beginning! Start with a real nugget of content.
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Do
not think in pure linear-sequential terms where you begin with the
background or history and then move forward to the most current and valuable
information. Jump right into the good stuff, the practical stuff, the
"insider's secrets," and then backfill the foundation info. Teachers make a
mistake waiting for the last half hour of class to deliver the best content.
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Let
the class know where you are taking them. (Use your excellent handouts.)
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Give
them a list of the questions you will answer. (Answers mean more if you know
what question they connect to.) Lay out a roadmap of the session ahead.
Create easy-to-read handouts with diagrams, background info, and places to
take notes.
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Be
ready with the "front lines" info and "insider secrets."
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Students love lists like:
Here are the three most creative developments of the last
two years…
Here are the biggest mistakes to avoid…
Here are the five things you absolutely need to know…
Here are ten things that will save you time…
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Do
some original research if you can.
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A
simple survey can payoff with original findings. Think about how you could
send out a questionnaire to your colleagues to divine some great new
information to bring to class.
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Pick
your examples or cases with panache. A case study from Harvard Business
Review energizes students more than a case study from your Uncle Charlie.
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Have
pathways for students to continue learning.
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Give
them a list of web sites to visit, magazines to subscribe to, a
bibliography, organizations they can join, other classes to take. Make your
class the beginning.
