Leaders influencing potential leaders with bikes

Merle Heckman

Service Learning Project

Title of Project: Leaders influencing potential leaders with bikes.

                 

Grade Level:  These are professional business people in a high potential training program.

Number of Students Participating:  17

Contributed by:

            Teacher:  Merle Heckman

            Business:      Emerson Power Transmission

            City:  Florence, KY

Overview/Description of Project:

    Leadership participants will work with local children to assemble bicycles that will be donated to the young people.

    I would like to incorporate Civic Engagement into the Leadership Development Training we do at Emerson.  The participants in the program need to have the opportunity to interact with needy families in the community.  The project will be one that causes the participants to look themselves and to see the needs of others.

     The 17 participants who are in the Leadership Development Group of Emerson Power Transmission will be the ones involved.

      One benefit will be to see the joy that comes to the face of a needy child when given a provision.  Another benefit will to see this as a company initiative that should be copied.

Goals:

1. To help business leaders to see the needs of people in our community.
2. To model for leaders who represent companies across the country and around the world how to reach out and connect with those in need.
3. To model to our local company how to reach others in need in our community.

PARC MODEL STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE
STEP 3: REFLECTION  ( Reflection is not sequential; rather it is encouraged throughout the lesson)

STEP 1: PREPARATION

1)     Contact a boys/girls club to find 17 needy children ages 10-12.  The nearest Boys & Girls Club is at 2312 Glenway Avenue  Cincinnati, OH 45204.   (513) 471-2142

2)     Purchase bicycles to be assembled.

3)     Get necessary tools.

4)     The service to provide is giving time and attention to needy children through showing how to assemble a bike that will be given as a gift.

STEP 2: ACTION

1)     The event would happen one afternoon and evening in February.

2)     The participants will have the opportunity to show a child how to assemble a bicycle plus to have a dinner with them to talk and interactive.

 Step 3) Reflection
     1.     The next day participants will debrief concerning the activity.

2.  They will present a presentation to executive management to relate the experience.
3.  We will ask them to reflect on the event to their own locations.

STEP 4:  CELEBRATION/DEMONSTRATION

1)     We will take pictures and give to the participants.

2)     A collage can be made for the final graduation

3)     A group picture with participants and children will be distributed to all.

Online resources making the difference !!

As we teach and instruct students,  we have the opportunity to create curiosity along with guiding the student toward knowledge and information.  A wealth of resources is available to instructors that can add creativity and stir interest among students.

I have three reasons why I believe online resources should be used in teaching.  Before I list, take a moment to see this video clip by Steve Jobs.  This is a presentation given in 2002 to explain to Apple followers about Mac OS 9 going away.  Notice his creativity.

Why use online resources?  My question is do you want to be like everyone else?  The instructor who just gives information is one among many.  The instructor who uses resources to show creativity will stand out and be known as a creative one.

Students are accustomed to video and pictures - this is another reason to use online resources.  This past week I was in Houston observing to learn to teach an Emerson class called "Advanced Leadership in Emerson."  The course has been revamped from an older version that was very PowerPoint slide driven  and quite honestly was boring and out of touch.  The new and improved course is 3.5 days of interactive dialogue and video clips to illustrate and reinforce the topics.  The participants hear, see, and feel the principles being taught.

A final reason to use online resources - hasn't the time come to throw away the old notes and breathe life into the drab information we have been providing?  For us as instructor, the opportunity to do something new and different sparks the creativity and exploration.  The spirit is passed on to the listeners and they capture the same spirit.

I want to add that an excellent online resource of presentations is www.ted.com.  This site has a variety of short talks - usually no more than 15 minutes.  They are called "ideas worth spreading."  TED stands for technology, entertainment, and design.

Here is a sample talk by Nancy Duarte on the science of outstanding presentations.

Learners as participants, not as spectators

Greetings to all....

In my realm of teaching, I work with two different groups.  The main group is conducting training classes for my company.  These courses cover a wide range of topics like leadership, time management, listening skills, conflict resolution, negotiations, presentation skills, interpersonal skills, and more.

I also teach several online classes for different universities.

Let me present three ideas that I use along the way to make the folks in the class to say, "Wow, that eight hours seemed like just a few minutes."

First, the student needs to be a participant rather than a spectator.  Just like in a sporting event, there are people who are sitting in the stands who are watching the action happen and there are people on the field who make it happen.  As someone described a football game - there are 50,000 fans in the stands who desperately need the exercise and 22 people on the field who desperately need the rest.  Students in the class need to be active.  I work to find a way to get them involved every ten minutes in some way, shape, or form. I do believe in the power of facilitation and involving the student.

Another way to help people participant is to use their first names.  This works both in house and on line.
Remember, people love to hear their first names.  Though you cannot say it over and over, the power of someone hearing their name gets the attention of people.  When you answer a person by their first name, they are more in tune with the course and topic you are discussing.  They feel like they are an individual and not just one of the group.  In discussion boards online, I make it a practice to use the first name when I make a comment about a statement the person has made.  This says you are attentive to the person and that your responses are not generic.

A final tool I use in house is eye contact.  The eyes tell you so much as a speaker.  The eyes tell you if they are with you, if they are sleepy, if the idea has clicked, if they do not understand.  Take the time to let your eyes connect with each of the student's eyes as you talk.  (Of course, this comes harder if you are reading off the powerpoint slide.)  (Powerpoint - BOO, HISS, WAY TOO MUCH DEPENDENCE and MISUSE.) As you look into the eyes of students, they should see your hunger to learn and teach.  They will see you view them as individuals with respect.

Keep the group active, involved, and engaged.

Merle