Page 230 - The Creative Training Idea Book Inspired Tips and Techniques for Engaging and Effective Learning

lucas chap 06 11/20/02 12:21 PM Page 219
Grouping Participants and Selecting Volunteers 219
Playing cards can be used to divide people into four equal groups. To do this, find
out how many attendees you will have, then select that number of cards sequentially
from each suit in a deck of regular playing cards (e.g., assuming a group of 24, you’ll
need to pick out all the 1–6 cards of spades, hearts, clubs, and diamonds). Next, mix
the cards up so that the suits are not together. As people enter give them a card randomly.
When the time comes for an activity, you now have two ways to divide participants. You
can either have all people with a like suit join together, or you can have all 1s, 2s, and
so on group. Either way, you end up with four equal groups.
Using construction or colored paper in various colors is a second technique. Select the
number of colors based on groups desired. Cut the sheets into equal pieces or use entire
sheets. Either pass them out as participants enter or put the paper at their tables/chairs.
And, just as with the cards, when you’re ready for an activity, have people group by the
color of their paper.
The paper can also be used in an activity in which participants list items or share
ideas by passing written comments from one person to the next. Each person adds an
additional piece of information to the sheet, then passes it on. This is a variation on a
brainstorming process called brain writing often experienced using a flip chart page.
In that activity participants go from one flip chart sheet to the next adding comments
or ideas to a prestated question or issue at the top of each page. Basically, they use pre-
vious ideas stated by their peers to stimulate new ideas of their own.
Colored 3 × 5 (7.5 × 12.5 cm) or 5 × 7 (12.5 × 17.5 cm) cards also can be used to
group people. Another alternative to colored paper is to put various colored dots in the
corner of white 3 × 5 or 5 × 7 cards.
Cutout shapes can be created and used for many activities to gather information and to
group your participants. For example, you can create a variety of shapes (e.g., stars, hearts,
light bulbs, circles, squares) using the templates found in the Tools for Trainers section
of the appendices. Reproduce these on bright colored paper, cut them out, and put them
in a pile in the center of participant tables before a session. When ready to group, ask
each participant to select from the pile so that there are an even number of each shape
from each table (e.g., two stars, two hearts, and so on). Next, based on the subject matter
for your activity, have them write comments, statements or ideas on their shapes. They
then gather with other participants based on the shape they all selected. Once grouped,
they discuss the issue or topic. When they finish, the shapes are taped to a wall or flip
chart page. During the break others can view all the ideas, suggestions, or comments.

BRIGHT I DEA
Feedback
o gather feedback on how things are going during your session, pass out a
Tsingle-shaped cutout (e.g., a light bulb). Use a variety of colored paper—bright
neon colors add a splash of color and pizzazz to the room. As with other grouping
methods, ensure you have an equal number of colors.