| HANDOUTS THAT STAND OUT |
| Whether participating in face-to-face or virtual training, early childhood educators generally expect to receive a handout. Copies of PowerPoint slides may help participants follow along with the presentation and provide a place to takes notes. Interactive handouts, however, help engage the learner, reinforce key points, contribute to retention, and serve as a resource after the training. When designing a handout, consider including interactive strategies. – Leave blanks for participants to fill in using text from PowerPoint or Google Slides. Underlining the word(s) to be copied from the slide is helpful. – Ask participants to label a diagram, steps in a process, or other graphical elements. – Invite participants to highlight or star an important term or key point. Include agree/disagree, true/false, advantages/disadvantages, or self-assessment activities. – Create a matching task. – Provide space for participants to draw a picture that represents a concept. – Add lines in a list format to record ideas from brainstorming. – Support small group interaction in virtual breakout rooms or at tables in face-to-face training by including instructions for the activity in writing on the handout. – Incorporate space for participants to note personal ah-ha moments or key takeaways. Developing interactive handouts will take a bit of extra time and work; however, they are invaluable for engaging participants with the content. Create handouts that stand out! |