New Teaching Method helps Students Pass Real Estate Exam
(Birmingham, AL) A new method of teaching and instructing students has recently shown amazing results in students who have attended Real Estate Success Institute in Birmingham, Alabama. The teaching method is referred to as "selective immersion" by the originator of the technique, Mike Carraway.
After spending years sitting through real estate classes and in many cases having trouble staying awake, Mr. Carraway decided to do something about the "old school" methods of instruction to make sure students were engaged and really enjoyed classes and learned from them.
"I have taken the pre-license class in 3 different states and also have had to sit through Continuing Education classes in all these states. One thing they all have in common is that all of them consisted primarily of lecture, lecture, lecture." Mr. Carraway says that is not effective in appealing to all of the different learning styles that students use.
According to Mr. Carraway, because some students are visual learners, some are aural learners, some are active learners, and some are tactile learners, the classroom content must address all of these styles of learning. In addition, classroom content must focus on one subject area at a time. The subject area can contain many subareas, but, all of the learning types and teaching styles must be used to insure that all of the students grasp the main concepts first, and then the sub-concepts second.
"The idea is to totally immerse the student in the subject, and engage them in many different ways", says Carraway. Real Estate Success Institute uses a 2 week or 10 day format for the required 60 hour pre-license class.
"The 2 week format provides an excellent venue for the selective immersion teaching technique.", says Carraway. His students are drawn into the subject with engaging stories that illustrate the main points, role plays that further illustrate the subareas, question and answer sections, challenge quizes, and games akin to Jeopardy. In essence, the student is totally immersed in that particular subject for that day through a wide variety of activities. But it doesn't end in the classroom.
"All of our students are instructed to do 2 activities each evening - read their notes - and make up flashcards." But, Carraway says, the students are told to spend no more than 45 minutes each evening on these activities. He says that during the classroom time, students form new neural pathways in their brains that make new synaptic connections. These new pathways quickly disappear unless they are reinforced a few hours later. That's why the evening activities are so important.
"The first thing we do the next day is a quick review of the day before, further reinforcing these new neural connections." Carraway says he can always tell which students have not completed their 45 minutes of evening activities: he gets blank stares the next day from those students.
The results from this teaching method have been nothing short of amazing. Most of the students that attend the Alabama 60 hour pre-license class pass the state real estate exam the first time they take it. His school, Real Estate Success Institute draws students from the entire state of Alabama from as much as 5 hours away. Some students even book a hotel room for their 2 week stay and return home during the weekend break.
"I am very proud of the students who are accepted into the class, who do the activities, and who are helping us produce a successful track record for this new instructional technique."
Some of Carraway's past students have interesting comments on the classes. Debbie from Montavallo said, "The in-class exercises really reinforced the information; you are actually learning this stuff and didn't even realize it at the time." This comment tends to substantiate Carraway's claim of selective immersion being a really new and unique teaching method. Another student, Joe K., said, "The classroom was filled with real life examples and a multitude of professionals from the real estate marketplace.", which is referring to quick appearances from professionals in the business such as attorneys, home inspectors, and a variety of others.
Carraway says that having quick guest appearances for 10 minutes or so provides even more stimulation for the students. According to Carraway, stimulating the students constantly is what it's all about. "We live in a video game, reality TV show world. Our teaching method takes that into account and uses continual stimulation to help students learn new concepts."
Selective Immersion as a teaching technique looks like it could be the next new wave in schools and instructional programs. "It takes a lot of work on the instructors part, but to me, it's worth it if all of the students pass the exam the first time."
Real Estate Success Institute can be found on the web at www.BirminghamRealEstateSchool.com and can be reached by calling 205-833-6325. The school is located just off of I-59 in the Roebuck area near Trussville, Alabama. The address is 1100 East Park Drive, Suite 104.
"If you are looking for a fast paced, exciting class where you will get the information you need, learn the concepts you need to know, and remember them, then our 2 week pre-license class is for you."
Mike Carraway is a Real Estate Broker, Certified Real Estate Instructor, Author, Motivational and Sales Training Speaker and is the Real Estate Success Institute administrator. The school website is http://www.BirminghamRealEstateSchool.com Mike Carraway has been active in the real estate business for the last 21 years and owns the 2 office company WEICHERT, REALTORS - Access Realty in Birmingham, Alabama and the website is located at http://www.access1000.com He also maintains a weblog at http://www.access1000.blogspot.com
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