ATD Blog
October Newsletter—Getting Strategic With Classroom Activities
Mon Oct 28 2013
October is one of my favorite months at ASTD. If you’ve had the opportunity to flip through this month’s T+D BEST issue, you got an up-close look at training as a true strategic partner in achieving critical business results—the kind of partner each BEST organization exemplifies. Congratulations to all 28 of this year’s winners, and it was an honor to meet many of them at this year’s Learn From the BEST conference.
This month, I’d also like to focus on how to take a classroom activity beyond simply fun, to strategic and smart. Here are few top stories for October, plus some classic posts\* from the blog, on activities, games, and other facilitator techniques:
Five Considerations for Selecting SMEs by Chuck Hodell
Radically Improved Action Planning by Will Thalheimer
It’s Delightful, It’s Delicious, It’s De-Lovely! by Bruno Neal
Why Games Don't Teach by Ruth Clark\*
The Long View: David Rock in T+D Magazine
Are You Using Games to Engage? by Barbara Greenstein\*
Boring to Brilliant: 5 Tips to Convert Your E-Learning to a Story-based Approach by Diane Senffner\*
Where to Find Stories for Your Presentations and Programs by David Lee\*
Five Tips for Success When Using Games in Training by Rachel Miller\*
Last month, I mentioned that I would have an update on a new app for classroom facilitators. Those of you attending the ASTD Chapter Leaders Conference will get a first look at the Trainer’s Toolkit App, edited by Elaine Biech. This app contains 20 original classroom and online facilitation activities for engaging and energizing your classroom. (with more than 30 additional modules forthcoming)
The really unique thing about this app is that it helps facilitators utilize activities as the valuable, strategic means to an end that they are. Those trainers who frequently use games or create their own classroom activities know that energizers, for example, are great for fighting off post-lunch malaise. But they can also stimulate short-term memory and help create a gentle transition between break time and active learning. By next month’s newsletter, I will be able to share the official website and more details.
I also promised an update on the Leaving ADDIE for SAM Field Guide (coming in early 2014), and readers and SAM fans can look forward to over 20 templates and worksheets, plus dozens of brand new diagrams and charts with useful how-tos. We are getting closer and closer! Stay tuned to the newsletter for publication date and online availability.
See you next month!
Juana