Message of the Day - Tips from a Teacher

Good Morning,

 

My current read is ‘Teaching to Change Lives’ by Dr. Howard Hendricks (http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Change-Lives-Seven-Proven/dp/1590521382). Dr. Hendricks is a long time teacher and shares seven lessons with his readers on how to change lives.

 

Some of the points Dr. Hendricks makes in the book are:

 

1. Plan and use your own time…or someone else will do it for you. If you chose to do nothing, time still passes by. Things still happen and the day still runs is course. If you have no plans, you still do things, just not the things you planned. It is amazing how it works.

 

2. The second point I found interesting is when teaching, do not do the work for the trainees. If they can do something themselves, let them. People remember up to 10% of what they hear, nearly 50% of what they see and up to 90% of what they do. Let them do.

 

Dr. Hendricks refers to the ‘Don’t Feed the Bears’ signs in the National Wildlife refuges. We remember the cartoons of the begging bears. The reality of it is that bears who are constantly fed by the visitors will eventually forget how to forage for themselves as they become dependent on the handouts. Then the bears starve during the lean months. We saw a little of this at our house. We have five (5) cats, yes, five. One of them is a flaky cat named Spock, yup, named after that Vulcan on Star Trek. Spock would sometimes beg at the table, get nothing and leave. One day, one of my daughters started feeding him at the table. She said it was fine that we, the parents, were too overbearing, ah teenagers! I find it funny that a year later, Spock still comes to the table and bugs her for food, and she shoves him away, now bothered by constant begging. She created the behavior, and he has become somewhat dependent on it.

 

We create the behaviors in others by our actions. If we train people by doing the learning for them, and take away the learning opportunities, the trainee’s doing and learning, then we do them a great disservice.

 

Let others learn by their own involvement. As a trainer, ask questions and guide, but the trainees do.

 

And remember, it is your time, plan and use it your way. Or else someone will do it for you.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

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