“The man who can make hard things easy is the educator.“ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Today was another great, if jam-packed and somewhat stressful day. We had to begin Day 4 by finishing up activities from Day 3 related to accelerated learning techniques- and more specifically, selecting metaphors to enrich a learning program.
Then we were able to get into Day 4. Noor (a very bright, articulate young woman) brought me a gift of two magic tricks to use in training. One involves a scarf that you make disappear into a thumb glove (a pretty obvious hiding place). The other is much more interesting. There is one dice inside a box and you are supposed to ask the participants how many dice they see. The obvious answer is one. Then you hit the box and the dice (which is magnetic) sticks to the top of the box, letting 6 tiny dice that were hidden inside it suddenly appear. It was very sweet of her- and now I just have to figure out how and when to use the dice trick. Pretty cool!
Mohammad, who lives in Aqaba and is a dive master, got excited when he learned that I would be going to Aqaba on Saturday and offered to arrange my snorkeling adventure. Later that day, he informed me that everything was all set. I’m not actually sure what he has arranged. It may not be necessary, because I had told me that I would be staying at the Intercontinental (which is what Lina had initially told me) but it turns out that I will be staying at the hotel with a dive shop and immediate beach access. So I don’t think I’ll need to bus somewhere else. Anyway, I’ll clear that up with Mohammad tomorrow.
The poor guy, he was the only person from the class who stayed at the training hotel. Every day, he has asked me different questions about what he could study that evening- and checked with me throughout the day to make sure he understood different concepts or techniques (which he did).
He proudly showed me a completely new lesson plan and Power Point he had created using what he had learned in the class so far. It was wonderful!
Mousa (the young Christian “Don Juan”) told me that the first two days of the training, he wondered if he would be able to remember and apply anything. Then, when he did the home practice assignment to create a lesson plan, it amazed him how easy it was for him to do because everything fell into place.
Two different young women told me essentially the same thing. It was very gratifying to hear!
Today the participants selected an object from a bag and were instructed to create a 2-minute presentation about it: a story, selling us on its benefits and features, or working with us to find possible uses. Instead of poking around in the bag to find something that was meaningful to them, it appears that they simply put their hand in the bag and took out whatever they felt first.
That became apparent when one after the other came over to me to show me what they had selected (golf tees, a miniature orange traffic barrel, a top) and ask me what they were.
Twenty-four out of 28 participants were able to give their 2-minute presentations (some wonderful, some funny, some very creative) and get brief participant feedback before I had to end the class. A good 8 or 9 of them gave their presentations in Arabic, which Maha kindly translated. We’ll have to finish the remaining four presentations tomorrow.
May your learning be sweet.
Deborah
