Of all the trainings I have attended as a teacher over the past four years, the ones that did not seem to be a complete waste of time provided me with useful information and activities that would help me incorporate this knowledge into my classroom. Activities are extremely important in a training; not only do they break up the boring lecture, but they also bring actual meaning to what the trainee is learning.
When thinking of the training I am going to conduct, I have tried to think of some activities that will be beneficial to the teachers I am training. I have thought of a variety of different, yet meaningful, activities to keep the teachers involved and motivated. I am conducting a training on the set up and implementation of ClassDojo. ClassDojo is a digital classroom management tool which provides instantaneous behavioral feedback to students, when used regularly and effectively. The best thing about ClassDojo is how easy it is to access; it can be used on any iOS and Android device, Kindle Fires, and the Internet! VIDEOThe teachers I am training are part of a Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS) school; and the principal wants all of them to use ClassDojo as a supplemental tool to support the implementation of PBIS throughout the school year.
During my training, the various activities I want to
incorporate include a demonstration in which “trainees observe the performance
of a task or procedure as conducted by an expert, either live or on tape
(Piskurich, 2015, p. 219); a practice exercise where “trainees are asked to
practice performing a task” (Pirkurich, 2015, p. 220); and a simulation-style
role play in which “trainees enact a situation in order to try out new skills
or apply what has been learned. A training environment [will be] set up to
allow the trainees to practice a task under conditions as close to those on the
job as possible” (Piskurich, 2015, p. 221). The details of these activities are
detailed below.
Demonstration:
o
I will
personally demonstrate how to set up and use the ClassDojo program.
o
I will
also provide a video using Camtasia
including important information about the setup of ClassDojo and the tools it
has available to teachers. Camtasia is a tool that enables you to turn a screen
recording into a finalized video. It could be very beneficial in creating
tutorials for teachers or students; and I can also see how it would be
beneficial in a “flipped classroom” (“learners are given pre-class assignments
dealing with the cognitive content of the course that require completion before
the class itself” (Piskurich, 2015, p. 453). In my case, the teachers may access this video
after the training and throughout the schoolyear as a reminder on how to use
the program. I feel this could be a great reference tools for the teachers. I
oftentimes wish I had recorded certain trainings because I forget all the
interesting details provided. With this program, the teacher will have this
information at their fingertips.
Practice Exercise:
o
The
teachers will create a ClassDojo account and setup their classes after watching
my demonstration.
Simulation-Style Role Play:
o
The
teachers will take turns acting as students and teachers. The “student” will
have various cards depicting a real-life incident that could occur during the
schoolyear. (ex: The boy sitting next to me lost his pencil so I gave him one
of mine.) The teacher will identify what positive behavior (PBIS only focuses
on positive behavior) being demonstrated and award the necessary point type.
Hopefully the
teachers will find these activities useful and engaging!
Reference: Piskurich, G. M. (2015). Rapid instructional design: Learning ID fast and right (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Reference: Piskurich, G. M. (2015). Rapid instructional design: Learning ID fast and right (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
