Plan.Meet.Repeat. Premier Issue book meet repeat premiere issue | Page 4
High Performance for
Outstanding Presenters
P
art way through my career as an educator in Utah
at an alternative high school, I added another
certificate to my tool belt. Because Summit High
School provided students who had been kicked out of
mainstream education, and we were a small school,
being a teacher with multiple certifications was a great
asset. I already carried four, so adding Career and
Technical Education (CTE) allowed me to teach two
more subjects. That rounded out my classes taught
with eight different subjects per term.
I love teaching, and I always looked for ways to
improve, so when I got all the lesson plans complete
with Power Points to download from the district office,
I was excited. I didn’t have to spend hours after school
prepping for my two new classes.
Those Power Points where full of information, and my
students took copious notes. I had never seen them
write so much before. I just knew they were going to
pass these classes with ease and grace.
But that wasn’t the case. After the second term of CTE
classes, my students were back to failing. I spent many
late nights trying to figure it out. I knew the reason
they were at Summit was because of failing grades,
and being in “the system.” Being in “the system”
meant they were in foster care or group homes because
of arrests for many different offences.
It would have been very easy to blame them for their
poor grades in the new classes; however, the fact they
had great success in my other ones told me it wasn’t
them. I started doing research on what else it could
be. During this time, I went to the National Achievers
Congress in California over spring break and was
introduced to T. Harv Eker and Success Resources.
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Plan Meet Repeat Magazine Premier Issue
I signed up for their Train the Trainer five-day
training, hoping to learn some new techniques, and,
hopefully, solve the problem as to why my students
were struggling. Success Resources is the world’s
largest training company, so I knew they were doing
something right. It was during that five-day training
I learned how to reach my students on a deeper, more
impactful level: the key was flip charts.
My students copied all the information off the Power
Point in my CTE classes. They would then put their
notebooks in a backpack, in their locker, or sometimes
under their beds to be looked at the night before a test
(if they remembered).
The morning of the test, they would be stressing. “No
amount of praying will take out what you never put
in,” I would say. It was clear to me they were not
reviewing their notes.
With flip charts, their results were totally different. I
relayed the information to my students and put a
diagram or words that summed up my points on the
flip chart. At the end of each class, I put the flip charts
on the walls of the classroom so they were easily
visible every day to the students.
When a student reviews material for ten minutes
within twenty-four hours for seven days, their
retention is 80%. That’s a B-, and if I considered adding
in studying the night before, my students would have
even higher grades.
I still use flip charts when I speak to audiences all over
the world of all ages during every speaking topic.
There is never lost time due to projector malfunction,
and my audience is more engaged because they want
to see what I’m writing on the flip chart. A mind that
is actively engaged learns more. I invite you to ditch
your Power Points and go high-tech with flip charts.
No more death by Power Point. Thank God.
By: Jeanie Cisco-Meth