Tips for facilitators: Reading the participants Timing and pacing • Work with the school contact well in advance of the workshop to design an agenda that meets participants’ needs. • Create an agenda (including times for items) to guide participants and yourself as you deliver a workshop. • Plan an agenda that actively engages participants and allows for: o group work o movement o sharing or reporting out o people to “show what they know” in creative ways o fun! o mini teaching of important content (limit this to key concepts) o individual reflection • Schedule breaks into your agenda (especially for three-hour or full-day workshops). • Start on time and end on time. • Be willing to change things on the fly as you read the room. • Ask chatty individuals to self-manage their talking time so that everyone has an opportunity to speak or contribute during the workshop. • Always scan the room as you present or work with individuals and small groups. Ask yourself: o Are participants actively engaged? o How do you know? o What might you do to shift the energy of the room? Modifying and adapting workshop content • Create a parking lot chart and post it in a visible place in your workshop. Explain to participants that it may be used for their “burning issues” at any point. This helps you control participants who may try to monopolize everyone’s time within the workshop, may be off topic, or may try to push a personal agenda. •
Check in with participants about their needs at different points during the workshop (individually or collectively). You may use visual cues or signals with them to check their understanding of workshop content. Be judicious about this in terms of your timing and anticipate how much time this will take. The more knowledgeable you are with the content of the workshop (and the topic), the easier it will be for you to adapt to participant’s needs as you teach.
If participants are not engaged, it is an opportunity for you to reflect upon what you can do differently.
Facilitators’ Institute Training 2022
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