trong facilitation skills. Participants explore qualities that signal trust in another person. After developing this list, participants are invited to identify those qualities they have themselves. This is the transition point to talk about credit being based on trust and how trust is determined very specifically. The take-away point is that people might be trustworthy in many ways but not qualify for credit, as credit trustworthiness is based on a narrow set of factors.
Doctor, pastor/rabbi/imam, or any job that people judge from a trust perspective can be substituted for child-care provider.
Ask people to get into pairs.
Have each pair come up with a list of qualities they would look for in a child-care provider.
After 4 minutes, generate a master list of qualities as a large group.
Note that one of the underlying qualities is trust.
Ask people to look at the list and write in the front of their IDA participant workbook which of those qualities they have.
After 3 minutes, summarize—“You all have qualities that make you trustworthy.”
State that credit history is only one piece, but is the one most often used in the financial world, to judge trustworthiness.
Explain that the session will focus on imparting skills to improve credit scores so that they are not barriers to achieving the goals of IDAs—getting homes, starting businesses, and getting additional training or employment.
The dreaded point in a training class: The energy seems to have left the room, comments are infrequent, voices are low, and eyes are glazed over. How can a trainer or facilitator inject new energy and involvement into the class? Using energizers is one method to get people on their feet, active, and engaged.
As the name suggests, energizers are activities designed to enliven and energize participants. To be most effective, they should be:
- Kinesthetic. This means they should involve people doing things with their hands or bodies. Generally energizers should be more than just talking at tables.
- Fun. When activities are fun, people become engaged.
- Unexpected. Part of the reason energizers work is that participants don’t anticipate them.
As a facilitator, you can benefit by having a few of these energizers ready for each training. You can use the energizers when the energy in the group is waning or the direction should be changed.
Following are examples of energizers used in financial education sessions:
General Description of the Activity and Instructions for Facilitating
(See Tool #1)
Materials Needed: Asset Bingo Card and pen for each participant.
About the Energizer: Participants try to get Bingo by filling in the blanks with other participants’ signatures. To sign a card, they must either answer the question or perform the action called for on the card.
1. Distribute cards (example in Tool #1).
2. Instruct participants that they get Bingo by filling in the blanks with other participants’ signatures, and that to sign a card, they must either answer the question or perform the action called for on the card.
3. Explain that participants may not have any repeats in terms of people signing a card, may not sign boxes themselves, and if the group is big enough, may not have the signatures of anyone sitting at their tables.
4. Instruct participants to move about the room and try to get Bingo; have people come to the facilitator if they get Bingo.
5. Allow the game to continue until five or so people get Bingo.
6. When people sit down, ask what people learned about their peers. Also, if there are content-related question as shown in the example be sure to answer these questions.
Asset Building Pictionary13
Materials Needed: Set of 5– 6 “pictionary cards,” scrap paper, and pencils/pens for each group
Samples of terms for your Pictionary Cards: “Credit Report”, “Net Worth”, “Investment”, “Individual Development Account”, “Asset Building”, “Predatory Lending”, “Credit Scores”, “Down payment”, Etc.
About the Energizer: Participants try to guess terms—without using words (written or spoken)—drawn by a team member. The team that gets through its stack of