Do you use groups while you train?
Forming groups to conduct activities during training is essential for engagement and active learning. Sometimes groups are formed to break up undesirable behaviors and to help move through material more quickly.
How do you create those groups?
If you said you count them like you did for third grade kickball teams, I’m going to scream.
Really. I’m going to scream. It’s not pretty.
Please stop. Everyone (including my third grade self) will appreciate it.
But, what are you left with then?
Okay, before we get there, let’s address a little bit of why you need to stop counting people. Quite simply — it doesn’t work. People forget their numbers. People confuse their numbers with other peoples. People aren’t paying attention when you say their numbers. The list could go on, but I think you’ve got the idea.
So, what’s a trainer to do then?
There are so many choices. Here are my favorites, but I bet once you get thinking about it you can come up with a few more too.
- Ask learners to form groups. Then they choose. This work s beautifully most of the time. Adults when treated like adults will often act like adults. If you have a disruptive group or have people you are trying to move away from each other, don’t use this strategy.
- Provide playing cards. Playing cards give you many options for group formation — by suit, by color, by four of a kind, or even poker hands. Have you cards sorted before class and consider hanging suit signs in the corners of the room if space allows. I’ve found this to be the easiest way to get groups together. People tend to love the novelty of this approach. You can buy really large playing cards here.
- Color code folders, name tents or other items. To avoid accessibility issues, add a symbol to your color coding system.
- Designate groups with stickers, stars, or colored dots (again, avoid relying on color alone)
- Provide terms and definitions to be matched. Have them find their matches and then their group categories. This is more time consuming but can be used as retrieval practice of previously learned content.
My one piece of advice…keep it simple.
You want groups to form quickly and easily so you can get to the activity where the learning occurs. Don’t be afraid to use the same technique over and over again. People will appreciate the clarity and speed of forming new groups.
Do you have a favorite method for forming groups? I’d love to add it to my bag of tricks! Share in the comments below.
