Page 128 - ShowSight - February 2020
P. 128

                  Breed Education: It Starts With You BY CELESTE M. GONZALEZ continued
   AS YOU DEBRIEF THE CLASS OF LEARNERS ON THE IDEAL PLACEMENTS FOR THE CLASS, BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR RATIONALE FOR THE PLACEMENTS.
Learners should have the opportunity to ask questions or volunteer their own observations.
  Groups that have multiple breeds that are weighed and/or measured, ask if the coor- dinator has arranged for a weighing/mea- suring demonstration from the AKC Field Representative. For those Terrier breeds that are traditionally sparred, demonstrate a correct entry into the spar and execution of the spar with two, and no more than three dogs, including what the learner should be looking for during the spar.
Once all example dogs have been exam- ined and gaited, you may dismiss the han- dlers and their exhibits. You should ask the learners their opinions of the exhibits, perhaps asking for their first and last place- ments and why. As you debrief the class of learners on the ideal placements for the class, be sure to include your rationale for the placements. Learners should have the opportunity to ask questions or volunteer their own observations.
After the debriefing, remind learners to complete their seminar evaluation form and the hands-on breed evaluation form (with their name and date on the hands-on form if they want credit for attendance) and turn them in to the coordinator or you.
At this point, you will need to complete a seminar presentation evaluation for the seminar and workshop you have just given. Sounds odd, but you have to critique your- self and the materials used for the presenta- tion. You’ll also need to sign and date the learner sign-in sheets and each completed hands-on workshop form. It’s informational to go through each of the learners’ partici- pant evaluations of the seminar in order to glean information on how the presentation could be made better. If you would like a copy of the sign-in sheet(s) for your breed, a photo of each sign-in sheet taken on your smart phone is a quick way to capture the
information. You’ll be completing the sign- ing and dating of those forms while the coordinator is getting the next breed going on its presentation.
If there are leftover presentation or learners’ materials, please take them back with you. Offering a copy to the seminar coordinator for their judges’ group use is often appreciated.
SEMINAR COORDINATOR
As you wind through the seminars and hands-on workshops, it helps to keep each breed’s sign-in sheets, hands-on evalua- tions, seminar presenter’s evaluation report, and participant’s evaluations in a folder of its own. It avoids mix-ups!
Occasionally a learner will forget to pick up their certificate of attendance and you will need to mail it to them, or scan to PDF and email it to them.
Hopefully, by the end of the cluster of seminars all the snacks and water bottles will have been used up and you won’t need to haul those back. During your packing of materials and supplies, assure that all your hardware and electronic gadgetry is accounted for and packed up for its next use. If there are specific instructions on powering down on-site equipment, please follow through so the next group using that room/site will have working equipment. If something not owned by your judges edu- cation group broke during the seminars or was used up, e.g., a light bulb in the projec- tor burned out, please be sure to inform the facility’s management of that.
Once you’ve gotten home, it’s time to send all the completed sign-in sheets, hands-on breed evaluation forms, par- ticipant evaluation forms, the seminar presenters evaluation forms and finally your own evaluation form as seminar
coordinator. Even with completing the coordinator’s evaluation form, I have found it easier to complete a memo to the AKC Judges Department. That memo includes an overview of breeds offered, attendance number, at each seminar, presenter(s) for each seminar, what worked and didn’t work at a particular seminar or cluster of semi- nars. This let’s the AKC know that you and your judges education group are cognizant of where things can be improved and take it seriously. In telling them what could be improved, be sure to include your action plan for improvement at the next seminar or cluster of seminars. Then, follow through with those commitments.
Please try to get all seminar paperwork to the AKC within 2-3 weeks of seminars’ completion. Prospective judges are often counting on that paperwork being pro- cessed by AKC so that they can turn in an application for another breed/breeds. Prior to bundling (by breed) and sending all completed forms to the AKC Judges Department, I like to scan to PDF all the completed sign-in sheets and hands-on evaluation forms for each breed, as well as the presenter evaluations. Those scans have come in handy in the past as either a learner, presenter, and/or the AKC Judges Depart- ment itself has had questions.
Kick your shoes off, relax and before you know it the next seminar or cluster of seminars will be on the horizon and everyone, presenters, learners, and coor- dinators will be gearing up for the next learning opportunity!
Next month we’ll discuss continuing education for learners. After all, we are all learners all the time, I hope! As always, your questions and comments are most welcome, editor@aramediagroup.com.
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