From Guest Contributor Laura Pouarz, Training Specialist for the Center for Learning and Organizational Excellence
“You can please all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot please all the people all the time.” After receiving some less than favorable feedback from a class, I thought about this quote and wondered how I could reach more of the people in my classroom. After talking to a developer, I got an idea. This person told me she gets distracted by things on the table during training (people’s water and coffee cups, pens, markers, food, fidget toys, etc.). However, she is still a kinetic learner and needs to have something in her hands to fidget with in order to concentrate. I am the opposite and do not care for distractions in class. How could I teach a class and please learners like me and learners like her? After a discussion, we realized it was a personal choice. Some people wanted to take the fidget toys, adult coloring books, word find puzzles and other people prefer to leave it. That’s when I created the “Take it or Leave it” table in my classroom. During the housekeeping part of class, I introduce the idea of the “Take it or Leave it” table in the back of the room. I encourage participants to take what they want or leave it. This gives them the freedom of choice and more control over their learning environment. The table is located in the back of the room with a sign that says, “Take it or Leave it”. It is filled with fidget type toys, adult coloring sheets, content and non-content related word find and crossword puzzles and of course a candy dish! The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Participants love it!
