If the Future of REALTOR Instruction Were in the Hands Of Tina Daniel and Dale Carlton, the Profession Would be a Better Place

April 14, 2008 |

Last week, I spent 3 days at the Virginia Association of REALTORS participating in the REALTOR Instructor Training Institute. The last post I wrote was actually written moments before the first day of class began. As I said in that post, I wasn’t exactly sure why I was there. In fact, I probably would not have signed up for the class had I not seen Danilo, Candy, and Sarah talking about it on Twitter. I figured, hey, if these good folks are gonna be there, at least I’ll be in good company. Matt gave it a stellar recommendation (which means a lot coming from an actual REALTOR instructor), and much to my pleasant surprise, Ben and Tony were in the class, too.

The class instructors were Tina Daniel and Dale Carlton. Going into the class, I had no clue who either of them were. That being the case, the first thing I did was google them. I found the Arkansas Institute of Real Estate, and Carlton Seminars. I was also pleasantly surprised to discover Dale on LinkedIn. After connecting with him on LinkedIn, Dale sent me an email and alerted me to his Facebook profile as well– sweet. It was beginning to look like these would be two of the most interesting instructors I have ever had.

A Whirlwind of Learning and Instruction

This class was unlike any other REALTOR education class I had ever taken before. It was different because they class was not only about learning, but also about teaching. While all of us were in the class to learn something, we were made very aware that by the end of the 3rd day, we would all have practice teaching something as well– more on that a bit later.

The level of experience of the members of the class varied greatly, both in real estate experience and teaching experience. The class was made up of everyone from novice to veteran. All age groups were represented, and even different cultural backgrounds. It made for very diverse opinions and discussions. What also became clear, however, was that in many ways, none of that stuff really mattered. In the end, we were all there to learn, and to teach.

In doing an exercise about learning styles, everyone gained some insight into the way in which they learn things individually. I won’t go into detail about it, but it suffices to say that everyone has their own learning style (there are 4 categories), and addressing each of those learning styles is critical for an instructor.

After learning about our learning style and everyone else’s, we were given a strategy and a technique that instructors employ in order to make sure that all of the learning styles are addressed for any given subject. This is knowledge that is beneficial even outside of a class room. Teaching is something that every REALTOR has to do, whether it is inside a formal classroom setting, or writing a contract for a client. Knowing how to help people learn is a valuable skill, indeed.

Tina and Dale Were Awesome

I’ll admit it, I can have a pretty snarky attitude about REALTOR education. Many of the classes I have taken have been outright boring, and many of the instructors have been forgettable. It was evident right from the beginning of the class that this would not be the case with Tina Daniel and Dale Carlton. Their passion for the material and their dedication to the craft of teaching came through in everything that they did. Not only did they do a great job instructing us, but they also did a wonderful job explaining to us the process behind the instruction.

Giving information to a room full of people is pretty easy, when you think about it. All one would have to do is stand up in front of the group and read from a text book or some other such source (I’ve been in those classes, too). Teaching the information so that people not only hear it, but understand and are able to apply it, is truly a skill. It is a skill that Tina and Dale have in spades.

It has been a long time since I was in a class room of any kind where the instructors not only taught the information, but did in such a way that it was easy to understand and apply later. That is exactly what happened with this class. After just 1 1/2 days of instruction, every student had a chance to show what he or she had learned.

Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It. . .

Each student in the class was required to give a 7-minute presentation on a subject of their choice in front of the entire class. The only stipulation was that the topic could not be one that you had ever taught before. The presentation was videotaped and critiqued by everyone in the class.

First of all, 7 minutes isn’t a long time to teach anything. I’ve given presentations before, but none of them were ever this structured, or this short. It was tough.

Secondly, it was very interesting to see so many very bright, intelligent, confident people get so nervous. I was firmly among them. I have given presentations in front of hundreds of people multiple times before. I have stood in gyms where thousands of people were raining down boos, hisses and worse upon me. I cannot remember a time where I was as nervous as I was standing in front of those 25 other people in the room. We all know about peer pressure, but how many of us know about the pressure of being in front of our peers?

My Presentation

The topic that I chose for my 7-minute presentation was Power Point. Specifically, it was about how to design better Power Point presentations. I used as my inspiration Garr Reynolds and his book, “Presentation Zen.” You can check out the first 5 or so minutes of the presentation below (I lost the last 2 minutes because the batteries in my Flip died, oops):

What I Learned

I firmly believe that while I learned quite a bit during the actual three day period that I was in the classroom, the learning will not stop there. The material covered in this class will serve me well in all kinds of situations, and I can’t wait to discover uses for everything.

One thing that I definitely learned is that there are a lot of very dedicated REALTOR instructors out there, and about 2 dozen more that are going to come out of this class. I have often maligned the state of REALTOR education. I now know that as long as there are people like Tina and Dale to train new instructors and teach REALTORS, those that they teach will most assuredly be equipped with the tools and skills necessary to improve our profession.

Posted by Daniel Rothamel | Filed Under Blog, Fun Stuff, Industry Issues, Video Posts 

Comments

3 Responses to “If the Future of REALTOR Instruction Were in the Hands Of Tina Daniel and Dale Carlton, the Profession Would be a Better Place”

  1. Dale Carlton on April 15th, 2008 6:31 am

    In an attempt to speak briefly: Dale did nothing special, however Daniel (Real Estate Zebra), and 23 others in attendance were willing to learn. I also walk into many classes/seminars not expecting much, and I am always pleased when I feel that I learned something. In this case Tina and I were fortunate that each person present wanted to learn, listened to learn, and involved themselves in the learning. All we had to do is facilitate; believe it or not the class taught itself.

    I personally learned from the class the following:

    1. I can learn from anyone.
    2. Everyone has something to teach me.
    3. No matter where I am today, I can be better tomorrow.
    4. Listen more, talk less, guide them to what they need/want.
    5. Friends are found in the stranges of places.

    If every student was as willing to learn as The Real Estate Zebra and his classmates, then the future of Real Estate Education would be in great hands! I am thankful that a group of 24 helped me understand that success in education depends as much on the student as it does on the instructor.

    [Reply]

  2. Candy Lynn on April 15th, 2008 10:32 pm

    Thank you Zebra, classmates, Tina & Dale for 3 days of wheel spinning learning! Once again I am pleasantly amazed by the quality of VAR instruction & membership.

    Tina & Dale set the stage, as excellent instructors/facilitators for a top flight learning experience for our class. Dale is being modest when he says:
    “In this case Tina and I were fortunate that each person present wanted to learn, listened to learn, and involved themselves in the learning. All we had to do is facilitate; believe it or not the class taught itself.”

    [Reply]

  3. Danilo Bogdanovic on April 15th, 2008 11:18 pm

    Think we all took a lot from the course regarding teaching/instructing. Definitely an intensive and humbling three days. It was nice to be in good company as well!

    Great recap. And nice video of your presentation.

    [Reply]

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