Last week, Lucas Wright and I co-facilitated a session titled “Facilitating Teaching: Approaches and Skills”.

For our ice-breaker, we led a speed-friending* activity in which participants had 45 seconds each to respond to the questions below before they switched partners and answered the next question with a new partner. The questions we developed all pertain to the theme of facilitation. (We used only 5 questions because of time limitations).

1. What are 2-3 ways you help learners get to know each other?  
2. What are 1-2 things you currently do in your teaching that you think draw on “facilitation skills”. Which ones come most easily to you?
3. Do you have any words you’re careful with when you teach? Say more…(if you don’t have any particular words you’re careful about, talk about that)
4. Do you like moving fast or slow when teaching? Say more about your pace as an instructor.
5. These words are often heard in the context of teaching and learning: “I want my classroom to be a safe space for learning”. What is your reaction to these words?
6. As a learner, what do you like most about the use of discussion as a teaching approach? What do you like least?
7. What are some techniques you use to memorize your learners’ names?
8. How, if at all, do you use silence, pauses, and/or or reflection in your teaching? (pick one or more. If you don’t use any of these approaches, consider how–as a learner–you use silence, pauses and reflection to further your learning).

The full workshop plan, including all our resources, can be found here.  Everything is in the open so you are welcome to use this.

*Called “speed-friending” only because I have a reaction to the words “speed-dating”. But, on thinking about this more “speed-friending” isn’t much more palatable!

Photo credit: Mike Cardus (cc-by-2.0) https:  //flic.kr/p/8FmMaN

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