Beauty Link - Volume 5, Issue 3 - (Page 57) et G CREATIVE! WHEN TEACHING DRY SUBJECTS, IT’S ESSENTIAL TO GET STUDENTS ENGAGED BY NICK GUSTAV I f John Halal hadn’t become a beauty school educator, he might have found his niche as a magician. Halal, director of education for the Tricoci University of Beauty Culture, uses all kinds of visual aids to keep his students’ attention, especially when teaching dry subjects such as electricity, chemistry, anatomy and how to sell retail. “The more visual aids we use in the classroom, the more the student is going to learn,” Halal said. “Pictures are good, color pictures are better, three-dimensional images are better yet, and moving images are best. Our minds are wired to detect movement.” When teaching students about pH, for example, Halal puts clear neutralizing shampoo in a beaker, then adds an alkaline substance that turns it bright purple. When an acidic additive is introduced, the solution turns clear again. “They gasp when they see that, and then they applaud,” Halal said. “I’ve had students tell me, ‘This is like a little magic show.’” Halal takes the same approach when teaching about emulsions. He puts oil and water in a jar to prove the cliché that oil and water don’t mix, but when he adds dish soap, the surfactant creates an emulsion. When teaching surface tension, he carefully lowers a paperclip onto the surface of a bowl of water and shows students that it can float. Then he adds dish soap, and the surfactant breaks the surface tension and makes the paperclip sink. For a lesson in electricity, Halal has removed the outer shell of a hair dryer and mounted the rest to a wooden board so students can see how it works. “Students need to be surprised,” he said. “They can’t know what’s coming next.” Rich Hansberger, vice president of curriculum and business development for Nuts and Bolts Training Co., a business and personal-development training company for the health and beauty industry, said his company’s approach to teaching involves three steps: reflect, engage and perform. In the “reflect” step, the teacher clearly states what her students will learn during the lesson. Hansberger encourages teachers to write these objectives on the chalkboard and to limit them to three items to keep students focused. Learn More “You’ll be amazed: Even if you’re teaching the driest subject matter in the world, most people will perk up when they hear that they’re going to learn something specific,” Hansberger said. “It’s human nature to be curious.” The next step is to get students engaged in the material instead of just listening to a lecture. Hansberger recommended that beautyschool instructors keep the book Active Learning: 101 Strategies to Teach Any Subject, by Mel Silberman, handy because it offers numerous ideas for short activities that get students actively involved in the learning process. As an example, he said that an instructor teaching electricity could divide the class into two groups for a short debate about the 120-volt standard in the United States and the 240-volt standard in Europe, discussing the pros and cons of each and which is preferable. And when teaching students how to sell retail items, an obvious activity is to have students practice their sales pitch on each other through role play. “Creating an activity that is fun and engaging does take some creativity, but we’ve found that cosmetology instructors are creative people,” Hansberger said. In the “perform” step, an instructor tests what his students have learned, but not necessarily with a graded quiz. Instead, he recommended giving students a multiple-choice test with as few as five questions. After students complete it, the instructor can go over each question with the group, asking them to raise their hands when the answer they selected is called out. Since no one is being singled out for an answer, students can have more confidence participating in discussion, even when the topic is complicated and foreign to them. More important, the instructor can better gauge if the class has learned the material and is ready to move on. “There’s no secret sauce when it comes to teaching dry subjects,” Hansberger said. “It really comes down to good classroom management and having a plan so that at every stage of the class, your students are doing something.” Nick Gustav is a freelance writer and editor living on the East Coast. The course ED111 – Active Learning Methods is available on the AACS Online Training Center at www. aacstraining.org. Members call AACS at 800-831-1086 for your VIP Discount Code. Visit the following URL to learn more about this course: http://bit.ly/CreativeTeaching. BE AUT YLIN K | T AK I NG CARE O F BUSI N E S S | 20 1 3 | 57 http://www.aacstraining.org http://www.bit.ly/CreativeTeaching http://www.beautyschools.org Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Beauty Link - Volume 5, Issue 3 Message from the AACS President and CEA CO-Chairs The Workings of Washington Celebrate the Power of Educators The Legacy of Madam Walker Outside the Beauty Box Part Art, Part Science Beauty School Malpractice Liability Insurance Leverage what Makes Your School Diff erent Encouraging Health Help Your Students Shine Multicultural Corner Small Business Impacts Voices from the Classroom The Best in Business Step by Step How to Improve the Process A Student’s Perspective Instructor’s View With a Little Help from Her Friends Motivating Your Students Beauty Changes Lives Get Creative! Superstar Graduate 2013 Spring Operations Conference People & Places New Products & Services Associate Member Profiles New School Members Upcoming 2013-14 Events Index to Advertisers Advertisers.com Beauty Link - Volume 5, Issue 3 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BSAQ/BSAQ0317 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BSAQ/BSAQ0217 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BSAQ/BSAQ0117 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BSAQ/BSAQ0416 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BSAQ/BSAQ0316 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BSAQ/BSAQ0216 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BSAQ/BSAQ0116 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BSAQ/BSAQ0415 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BSAQ/BSAQ0315 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BSAQ/BSAQ0215 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BSAQ/BSAQ0115 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BSAQ/BSAQ0414 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BSAQ/BSAQ0314 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BSAQ/BSAQ0214 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BSAQ/BSAQ0114 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BSAQ/BSAQ0413 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BSAQ/BSAQ0313 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BSAQ/BSAQ0213 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/BSAQ0113 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/BSAQ0412 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/BSAQ0312 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/BSAQ0212 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/BSAQ0112 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/BSAQ0411 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/BSAQ0311 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/BSAQ0211 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/BSAQ0111 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/BSAQ2011MediaKit http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/BSAQ0410 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/BSAQ0310 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/BSAQ0210 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/BSAQ0110 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/BSAQ0409 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/BSAQ0309 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/BSAQ0209 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/BSAQ0109 http://www.nxtbookMEDIA.com
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