I have had the joy and privilege of working with the Ohio Bureau of Worker's Compensation for 5 years. I have spent many happy days in December with this terrific group of educators. Ed Violet, Training Officer for Ohio, shares a creative idea he uses in his classes:

First, before we break for lunch on the first day of class, I announce that there will be a "test" right after lunch. When the students return, I lay out the ground rules for the test. "Keep your paper face down until I tell you to turn it over; no talking; keep your eyes on your own paper; when I say stop, put your pens/pencils down; and so on." I basically play the role of the teacher in the "high school" learning model. The test is usually something fun like identifying NFL team names, identifying easy riddles, or some sort of trivia. After 2-3 minutes, I say "stop" and tell the students to add up the number of answers they have (not worrying about right or wrong) and put that number in the upper left-hand corner of their paper. Then, I tell the class that they will have another 2-3 minutes to finish the test, but this time, they can talk to anyone in the room to get the answers. At the conclusion of another 2-3 minutes, I have them count up their answers again and this time put the number in the upper right-hand corner of their paper. The whole idea is to talk about how, sometimes, when adults hear the word "test," something in their brain shuts down; they remember a bad experience in high school or college. But when they are allowed to talk and work with others around them, they relax and do much better. We then talk briefly about the high school model and the adult model, where instructors become more of a coach and facilitator. It is hoped these concepts will carry over to the type of training that they will be doing.

Thanks, Ed, for teaching us all an important part of working as an effective team member in a workplace learning environment. You have helped educators realize that workplace learning is far different from high school and should be valued as such. Thank you so much for sharing your idea!