EFA Training Module

Breaking the Ice: Introductions (30 minutes)

1. Welcome Participants

Materials

• Agenda (see sample agenda)
• Pads of paper, pencils
• EFA handout packet (this will help save time through the day

Procedure

• Review Goals of Training. Present these on a flip chart.
• Distribute the agenda

2. Ice Breaker: "Four Corners" (15 Minutes)

Objective
This activity is intended to help participants a) get to know each other in an informal, low-stress way; b) start thinking about why they are here today; c) learn a new ice-breaker activity that they can use in the classroom.

Materials

• 1 half-sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper (4 1/4 x 5 1/2), per person
• Markers (various colors), 1 per person
• Ice Breaker Sample (both pages)

Procedure

• Show participants the sample Ice Breaker sheet ("Karen") or your own example.
• Distribute a blank half-sheet of paper to each person in the room. Explain that they should write legibly using big letters.
• Demonstrate how this sheet of paper will be used. Ask a participant to volunteer as your partner. Facing each other, and holding your papers in front of you (so that your partner can see your answers), hold a brief conversation based on the information you see.
• Once participants have finished writing, have everyone stand up and hold their papers in front of them (so that others can see their answers). Have participants mingle in this fashion, so that when they walk up to a new person, they immediately see four things that they can talk about. Participants may talk with more than one person at a time.
• Remind participants to mix and mingle. (Keep people moving.) Monitor the time.
• If time permits, wrap up the activity with a group summary based on each question.
• Distribute (or include separately in participants’ packets) both pages of the Ice Breaker sample handout. Point out that step-by-step instructions for this activity are provided on the second page, so that participants can take this activity back to their classrooms.

3. What do we know? (15 minutes)

Objective
Assess participants’ needs and raise participants’ awareness of what they already know as a group. Information collected during this activity will allow the trainer to emphasize appropriate topics throughout the day.

Materials

• Flipchart paper taped or otherwise mounted in view of participants
• Markers (various colors), but save one color (e.g. green) for the end of the day

Procedure
Pose the following questions to participants. Write their answers on flipchart paper.
(Answers will be re-visited toward the end of the day):

• How many of you have used videos in teaching before?
  • What challenges might teachers encounter when using video in the classroom?
  • Possible answers: material might not be of interest to all students/ some people fall asleep/ I don’t feel like I’m teaching when I plop a video in the machine/ I’m not sure what to do with the video (other than watching it, of course)
• How many of you have used the Internet with students?
• What challenges might you encounter in using the Internet with students?
• Possible answers: students stray from the site/ students get lost in the site/ students close the navigation window accidentally/ students have trouble finding the site (typing in URLs)
• What do you already know about EFA?
• What do you hope to learn today?