10 Things I’ve Learned From Sharon Bowman

By Deborah Ward

#10 - John Medina Rocks

Lunch

Lunchdon’t

#9 - Humans need to feel safe in order to learn. By

connecting them to each other, we help create an

environment that is conducive to learning.

#8 - Collect feedback early and often

Learners LOVE to tell you

what they know.

Don’t wait for the

“evaluation” to find out if

knowledge transfer has

occurred. Leverage Sharon’s

tools (a sample here) to

collect feedback on

knowledge/ skill transfer

while you still have time to

do something about it!

#7 - Brains & Bodies Need Breaks

#6 - Content is KING

Every part of your lesson plan should connect learners to content

#5 - Signals trump Shouting

Establish signals with your learners at the beginning of the training that allow you to quietly and authoritatively regain their attention. Some ideas:

● Raise your hand, when learners see your raised hand they raise theirs and turn their attention to you. Soon everyone follows suit.

● Flick the lights on and off a few times.● Clap once if you can hear me, clap twice if

you can hear me … soon everyone is clapping and paying attention to the facilitator

#4 - Get them to Commit to Action

Give learners the opportunity to make a note (and a commitment) about what is important to them

I WILL ______________________________

#3 - Learning is FUN

Have a “snowball” fight inside, write with your butt … just a few of the ways to let learners laugh out loud while they learn

#2- Adults DON’T learn differently from kids

everyone learns best in an engaging, active, and self-

directed environment

…. and the #1 thing

drum roll,

please

#1 - Lecture is NOT a “must”

There are dozens of ways to introduce

learners to content that are more effective,

interesting and engaging than lecture - four

of them are pictured here - give learners a

framework, reference and access to each

other’s knowledge and background as tools.

They’ll connect with content, come up with

questions and solutions and improve their

ability to remember and access resources

long after the training is over.

Card

Partners

Standing Survey

Self-Correcting

Worksheets

Reality Based

Role-Play

Resources

1. Brain Rules by John Medina

2. Training From the Back of the Room (Active/

Accelerated and Brain-based Learning)a. http://www.bowperson.com/

b. Books

c. Micro-courses