17Aug 2021 by Katrina Kennedy 4 Comments
How To Use Four Creative Methods To Prompt Learner Responses

How To Use Four Creative Methods To Prompt Learner Responses

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We need connection. We need feedback. We need interaction in class. Asking questions of learners is one way we obtain connection, feedback, and interaction. BUT... You ask a question. And nothing happens. Nothing. What can you do to change this situation? How can you get responses from learners? Zoom fatigue is real. Screen time and Covid and social distancing and working from home have exhausted all of us. Everything feels like it takes a little more effort. Answering your question is hard. Learners will play the wait for someone else game until you change your approach. Here are four creative methods to prompt learner responses Give Me 4 "I'm looking for four responses. Who's got number one." This phrase prompts everyone to attention. We've got a goal. I hold my…
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27Apr 2021 by Katrina Kennedy 1 Comment
How To Use Questions To Reveal Possibilities & Deepen Learning

How To Use Questions To Reveal Possibilities & Deepen Learning

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Photo by Gary Butterfield on Unsplash Have you observed learners sitting quietly in the virtual classroom waiting for someone else to answer your question? Yes, you could have people respond in the chat. But what about that rich, verbal exchange you loved so much from the traditional classroom space? "People don't participate in virtual discussions." Thirty people in the Zoom meeting considered the problem for a moment. "Don't respond yet," I said. "We are going to try an experiment." I was willing to try anything. "For the next four minutes, please raise your hand and ask a question related to our problem. Two rules though, no justification and no excusing. Just ask your question. I'll record it. Our goal is twenty questions in four minutes." "For the next four minutes,…
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23Apr 2021 by Katrina Kennedy No Comments
How Do Learners Respond When You Ask A Question?

How Do Learners Respond When You Ask A Question?

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What happens after you ask a question in training? Do you have multiple people eager to answer, scrambling over each other? Or do you hear...nothing. Just uncomfortable silence. Our natural tendency is to fill that nothing with something. Usually our own words. Do you do any of the following? Restate your question in another way?Answer the question yourself.Call on someone.Pause until there is a response. In adult learning there is really only one correct answer. That answer is silence. The Pause. It's difficult. It's uncomfortable. And it's completely necessary. The pause signals to the group that you intend for them to think. You want them to ponder the question. It also honors the system that we each go through prior to raising our hand (real or virtual) before we answer.…
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21Oct 2019 by Katrina Kennedy 4 Comments
Create A Positive Learning Environment From The Moment Learners Arrive

Create A Positive Learning Environment From The Moment Learners Arrive

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You walk in and scan the room for THE SPOT to plant yourself for the next seven hours. The room's off white, windowless walls loom around you. This is going to be a long day. You take a deep breath, find a seat, and settle in. You shift around a bit, skim through the workbook in front of you, and take a long drink of the tepid coffee you brought with you. In an effort to avoid looking at your phone, you do it again. You get your phone out. It's habit. A few other people filter in, scanning the room for familiar faces before they select tables, leaving a canyonwide space between their mobile devices and yours.  Finally the poor soul enters who must cross the divide, choosing a…
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30Mar 2017 by Katrina Kennedy 1 Comment
The Power of Good Questions | How To Ask So They Will Answer

The Power of Good Questions | How To Ask So They Will Answer

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The Power of Good Questions Have you ever asked a question and everyone just looked at you like you were speaking a foreign language? Or even worse, they don’t look at you at all and act like no sounds left your lips? Yeah, I know those faces too. The awkward silence when you question your worth, your sanity, and why you got into this training thing anyway. Consider for a moment the questions you ask. Chances are they sound something like these: “Did that have value you for you?” “Who has questions?” “What does this all mean?” You can probably add a few more to my list. Take a look at them for a moment. Do you notice anything about them? Do they have anything in common? There are two…
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