Crossword Puzzles!

The Crossword Game
Don’t forget the tried and true crossword puzzles! Here are some new takes on an old favorite.

If you are creative with words and want something everyone will participate in and learn from, then use crossword puzzles. They are certainly not new on the adult learning scene, yet crossword puzzles are a hit every time. Who doesn’t enjoy a crossword puzzle!?

You will need a whiteboard or chalkboard and the tools to write with. You can use a variation as well by printing and giving the crossword on paper to everyone and have them each try to solve it for 10 minutes.

The clues to the crossword puzzle should be about words that are relevant to the topic you are teaching your group. The clues can be questions, answers, etc. Look at a crossword puzzle in a book or your newspaper to get an idea of how to format the clues.

If you do it up on a board as a group effort, then just let them blurt out the answers, but only give out one clue at a time so no one jumps ahead.

If you do this individually, you let each person work on their puzzle for 10 minutes, then have them pass it to their left or right depending on your seating arrangement so that the next person tries to finish the crossword puzzle. Do this again every 5 minutes until all the crossword puzzles are completed.

People retain the things they have to figure out and that they write down. The crossword is a great tool to get them familiar with your topic and to give them the basic information they need to get started with the training you are about to do.

Enjoy!

The Benefits of Mentoring: Tips for Trainers

When adults go back to school, either in the formal sense of pursing a degree, or going for any type of training or job-related skill-building, what they’re essentially trying to do is improve their quality of life. Maybe they want to be more productive or efficient, learn a new skill, earn more money or be considered for career advancement. Whatever the ends are they’re trying to achieve, one of the best means of ensuring success through any training program is having someone, any one, take the time to get involved, care about that person’s successes (and failures) and be there to help and support the student in his or her learning goals. To mentor. As a trainer of adult learners, you can be that all-important mentor to your students.

The best thing students can get from their mentors is a personal investment: assurances from you that they are worth your time and the encouragement that whatever they’re seeking to achieve, they can do it. Whether students have come to you to learn computer skills or to increase their life-coping abilities, it is their personal connection with you, as their trainer and mentor, that benefits them most. And this applies to all stages of learning.
How do you mentor? Start by building that personal bond with your students, it’s important that the relationship feels natural and uncontrived. Think of how close relationships are built with those around you in your own life, and model your relationship with your students in that way.
Here are three tips to help you along:

1. Show that you genuinely care about your students. This will make the biggest difference with them. If your efforts are forced or insincere, people will see right through you! You cannot be an effective trainer if you do not seriously give 100% to your students and live for their successes, big and small.

2. Exchange personal information where appropriate. Share funny or touching stories, ask about their weekends, vacations, hobbies – let them know that the classroom is an extension of their lives, and not an isolated cell.

3. Realize that fun and laughter are critical parts of the learning process. Students learn through humor and enjoyable activities. Cartoons and games can be educational, and will go a long way to helping students feel comfortable in their learning environment and ready to absorb your training message.
When students feel validated, appreciated, recognized, and valued their confidence increases. In addition, you will likely see them put more energy into what they are trying to learn. They will be on time, better prepared, and willing to put forth greater effort. Don’t just stand up at a podium and lecture. Get involved and mentor your students!

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A Quick and Easy Adult Learning Styles Quiz

Learning Styles Quiz: Which are you? (Auditory, Visual, Tactile)
A super simple method to help you identify the learning styles of your adult participants. For their benefit as well as yours.
This handout is not designed to explain the differences between learning styles. It’s just a short & sweet 10-question quiz and can be used as a fun classroom exercise. Take it one step further and after quizzes are completed, provide a brief lecture/discussion on Learning Styles 101. Your adult students will really appreciate the information!

The Learning Styles Quiz
1. You’re in class for an important lecture and presentation. Do you:
a. listen to what the lecturer is saying.
b. focus on the words written on the slides.
c. take good notes.

2. When making long road trips as a passenger, which of these are you most likely to bring along with you?
a. An audio book or something to listen to.
b. A book to read.
c. A sketchbook to write or draw in.

3. Which of these is most likely to wake you up quickly in the middle of the night?
a. A noise or disturbance in the room.
b. A light shining on your face.
c. Someone shaking you gently.

4. You are waiting at the doctor’s office for your appointment. Which of these do you do to pass the time?
a. Engage in small talk with the person sitting next to you.
b. Browse through a few magazines or picture/art books.
c. Write a grocery or to-do list.

5. You have to conduct a presentation on the new company email system. To prepare for the presentation you would most like to:
a. Ask someone to explain to you how the email system works.
b. Download the printed tutorial and review it.
c. Visit with an email systems engineer to walk you through the steps he or she takes to put a system together.

6. If you were a counselor at a summer camp for kids, which of these activities would you prefer to do with them?
a. Singing songs.
b. Writing songs.
c. Playing the guitar.

7. You just found out some very good news. What do you do?
a. Call a friend and share the news with them immediately.
b. Write a note to your very best friend telling him/her the news.
c. Find someone to hug.

8. You need to go to the grocery store to buy one or two items. What do you do to remember them?
a. Repeat their names a few time until you remember.
b. Close your eyes and visualize them.
c. Write down the items on a piece of paper, even if you don’t take the paper with you. As long as you write it down once, you’ll probably remember.

9. When finding directions to a location you are unfamiliar with, what works best for you?
a. Asking for directions.
b. Looking up the location on a map.
c. Wing it. You’re sure you will find it if you just get in the car and drive.

10. Think of a cause you are passionate about, like PETA. How do you show your suport?
a. Go and speak to audiences about the problem.
b. Make a poster or create a presentation about the cause.
c. Volunteer to work with kids or people affected by the problem.

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Scoring:

If you scored more a’s, then you are an auditory learner.
If you scored more b’s, then you are a visual learner.
If you scored more c’s, then you are a tactile learner.

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A New Take on an Old Favorite! The Memory Game!

Trainers and students will have fun with this Memory Game. You will verbally present four questions to your students. You may choose to ask the questions consecutively and then begin the "memory" time or you may pause between questions and have the "memory" time following each question. This game is appropriate for any new group in the ‘getting-to-know-each-other’ phase.

To begin, decide which format (from above) of the game will be played. Each student will need one sheet of paper and pen. Instruct students NOT to write names or other identifying marks on the paper. Next, ask the following questions, one at a time, until all students have answered: (1) What is the strangest thing a customer has ever said to you? (2) What is your most unusual talent? (3) If you had to pick one adjective to describe you, what would it be? (4) What Country, State, City are you from?

Go around the room and have each student share their answers with the group aloud. Encourage respectful chatter, laughter, and a light tone. Make sure every student has a turn to share his or her answers out loud.

There are two ways to end the game. One: gather all papers, mix them up and draw one out at a time. Call out the answers and see if students can call out the correct person to whom the answers belong. Two: Post papers along the whiteboard and have students write their guess on each papers. Give them until the end of the day to put names on every paper. For example, let’s say Robert thinks a particular set of answers belongs to Jane. He would write something like, “This paper belongs to Jane by Robert.”

Right before breaking for the day’s session, quickly call out how many and who voted on each paper, have the owner identify him/herself and move on to the next until all students have identified their paper.

For the finale, see which student had the most correct answers and pass out a treat to one or all! Have fun!

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