Facilitating Brainstorming in the Classroom
May 27, 2016Changing Up Your Competitions
June 1, 2016
It’s no secret that today’s learners have shorter attention spans, want information, and want it quickly. We live in a world where we have become accustom to receiving immediate answers and are hungry for snackable content from newsfeeds, social media, snapchats, quick tips, and infographics. Students expect the same from our classrooms.
Today’s students often find the traditional classroom setting overwhelming, resulting in an ineffective way of keeping students engaged. It’s time to serve up “snackable” size content to students. Snackable learning allows you to deliver content to your students in small, easily digestible bits of information, making it easier to understand and more importantly, easier to retain.
- Think quality, not quantity. Split your lesson plans up into small manageable sections. Present information in small nuggets.
- Each bite-size piece of content should focus on a specific objective.
- Use a variety of methods to create snackable learning, such as beginning your lesson with a video to introduce the topic. Follow it up by having students do a quick read of no more than 3 -5 pages of information. Then, have them do a hands-on activity that allows students to try on the new skill. End your snackable size lesson with a short assessment activity; this will help you assess whether students understand the information before you advance to the next lesson.
Serving up snackable size lessons in your classrooms will keep your students engaged, interested and hungry for more!
Patti Wanamaker brings 21 years of experience to the Milady team, where she currently serves as an Academic Training Specialist. Her intimate understanding of the salon, school, and beauty industry comes from 18 years of hands-on experience as a multi-faceted training specialist, including 8 years of salon and spa ownership of 3 salons with annual sales of $5 million. Her experience in all 3 areas of our industry allows her to think outside the box and develop innovative trainings that not only inspire, but empower educators/trainers to create the most effective learning environments for their students.